michael1778

Will he be wearing any hearing protection while hunting? I think that might change up recommendations.

Do their Rem and Savage barrels come chrome lined in the same way as their AR10 & 15 barrels?

This. ^^^^^ Or a Criterion hybrid profile at Brownells (they seem to have the exclusive on 223 Criterion barrel sales). At the moment, it looks like only the Nordic 18" is in stock at the Nordic Components web site. The Criterion barrels sold through Brownells are back ordered, currently. So, we're back to the Nordic 18" since it is in stock. A great choice. I have an 18" Criterion and a 16" Nordic. Both brands are amazing.

That seems counter-intuitive. To control muzzle rise, you normally want the most gas possible engaging the compensator.

You'll need a railgun. Try asking at DARPA.

Yes, I bought it within a day of your recommendation. Been studying up! Thank you.

I have to respectfully disagree. I decided to consult the book "Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting", 2nd edition by Bryan Litz of Berger Bullets. I looked at his table for Sierra MatchKings in 69 and 77 grains. The 77 grain bullets are iffy. Under best case conditions you would be able to stabilize them, but you would be unlikely to have consistent results across different shooting conditions. However, the 69 grain SMKs show stability across the three cases he gives in the text ("Best case", "Nominal", and "Worst Case") Given that, the question becomes do you bother with it or not. Try using the tools at JBM Ballistcs and you could feed in reasonable muzzle velocity values from here: http://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=213 It's a tabulation of factory chronograph data for various barrel lengths, bullet types, bullet weights and ammunition manufacturers. At least you could get an idea of what trajectories would be for different bullets out of 16" barrels. You might find that the differences are modest and may not be worth the effort and complexity of setting up for two different types of ammunition. Or you could decide to do all 62 grain, 69 grain or whatever instead of all 55 grain. I like simple myself. Good luck.

My first 3-gun rifle was a S&W M&P15 Sport (16" barrel) that I heavily modified. It had carbine length gas (my ignorance was evident) so the pressure was too high for such a long dwell time in a 16" barrel. So, here is what I did: Syrac adjustable gas block JP Low Mass bolt carrier Nordic Corvette compensator Recoil tamed. The difference was startling. I made no changes to the buffer or buffer spring. They were whatever S&W put in at the factory. At that point the only thing holding me back was the crummy optic mount I had.

Agreed. You need a "do over" on the attachment. Something isn't quite right.

I am not speaking of any rail movement because my AP tube has no rail segments attached.. That said, if I wrap my fingers around my 18" barrel and press very hard with the heel of my hand on the very end of my 15" AP hand guard, I can get it to deflect a small amount. Once I release the force on the tube end, it returns to the original position. The force I have to exert on it to get a noticeable deflection is relatively large. My gas block is untouched under normal use and the barrel and attached Syrac gas block are completely "free floating." I had an 11+ inch Samson Evolution on a carbine and of course it would not meaningfully deflect on a similar load because it was very think metal, by comparison. All these free float rails are cantilever beams, after all. There will be some degree of deflection, even if you cannot see it with the naked eye. My local gunsmith installed the AP on my request, so I don't know all the details of what he did in the installation process. In all past rifle use the barrel hasn't been contacted by the hand guard. That's all the matters to me If you want carbon fiber that has a different attachment scheme as well as more continuous fiber reinforcement (the AP has lots of holes cut in it) then may I suggest the Carbon Arms items here ( I have an earlier version of it on an upper they built for me. It's a fine unit, no doubt. Furthermore, I like the new attachment scheme even better than before. It's even in 308. :-) Every Carbon Arms product I've bought (4 or 5 different ones) has been top notch. If I ever decide to replace the AP, I will almost certainly use a Caron Arms unit.

Except the one time I incorrectly manipulated the XRAIL while loading before a stage, I didn't have functional problems at the few matches I shot where I used it. It was on my 26" Versa Max. At the time, Tec Loaders were essentially unavailable so I was loading it up and using Load Two as needed. In your case, it might not be such a big deal if you can load quickly in transition from one area of targets to another. In the end, the gun balance was "off" just enough to make me decide to try a mag loaded shotgun.

Nice slick, modern look for those. What is the receiver coating?

On their Facebook page I asked if they had a weight limit on scopes. The responder from the company said he ran a SWFA 1-6 in their Aero mount all last season and it held zero. Take that for what it is worth. I've never even seen one in-person, lat alone actually used one.

Smooth top on both my builds that have the AP tube. If I wanted a sight up front (and shooting Open, I don't) I'd put a sight base as far out on the barrel that I could. My little rail pieces are underneath for my bipod.

Great to hear. Do you know what gas port size it has? I don't have an adjustable GB. If I recall correctly from MarkCO's comments (and he makes uppers with that Nordic barrel), the gas port is nicely sized for a non-adjustable gas block. The barrel port isn't over gassed. It may not be in stock now but I have an upper he made for me with a 16" Nordic barrel. Sub-MOA shooter, proven. Fixed gas block. I don't see it in stock at CarbonArms.us or over at Nordic's site (http://nordiccomp.com/retail/shop/product-category/ar-15-10/barrels/).%C2'> That's a pity because that is a sweet barrel (either length).

Sweet. Thanks!

Interesting looking design. If we are nerding out here, could you summarize how you modeled the gas dynamics of the problem? Did you use a stock industry standard CFD code or a different simulation technique? I'm very curious because it seems like a very difficult fluids problem. I have a bad enough time simulating rocket plumes and wouldn't touch this problem with a ten foot pole! Thanks.

"Reduced Reliability"

I never found the 26" barrel version to be a problem. I enjoyed it, actually. I'm selling my 26" because I moved to a magazine fed shotgun for Open, but for a tube-fed shotgun, I like the VersaMax *very* much. Not selling it because anything is wrong with mine at all. It just runs and runs. Shot any ammo I ever fed it. I don't have plans to do other shotgun sports that would be suited to the 26" VM, so...... :-( I had the CarbonArms tube before selling that on its own (I put an XRAIL on it instead). That tube is very nice indeed.

This BIG "if" is that you would need the right torque wrenches, vise, vise blocks, etc. In my case, I decided that I'd have a local smith assemble a complete upper for me. I don't have any of the needed tools for an upper. I did manage to make my own lower at one point. He built up the upper from a box of bare parts that I selected and purchased for a very modest fee. Less than what AR vise blocks cost. A good barrel, gas tube, gas block (adjustable if desired), and muzzle device would be a much cheaper route since you already have the receiver, etc. That's be about $500-$600 depending on components, I think. Unless your local smiths charge an arm and a leg.

The decision making process between just those six cartridges is difficult enough!

There have been plenty of times that the flat bottom on that Seekins would have been a big help to me. The flat sides would have helped a few times, too. For the game, the Seekins might be a little better. But, I use carbon fiber hand guards to reduce weight since I've got other "junk" on my rifle. After the above post editing to add: If you want irons you might want to consider putting the front sight far out on the barrel instead of the hand guard. Gives you more sight radius.

Using a 1919, I'm obviously shooting Open so I can use all sorts of chokes or muzzle treatments within that rule set. Thought I'd make a thread to collect the latest thinking after the new year. Besides extended and ported chokes are there other muzzle devices or innovative chokes I should be considering before this season gets into full swing? Even in the more traditional choke department, what vendors do you recommend? In the past, I used Briley extended (but not ported) chokes on my Versa Max open gun. Before I made that a habit and purchased without thinking, I thought I should consult the group. Thanks for your help, Mike

Holy cow! That must be long. I didn't know T&N had come out with that. Thanks. I have plenty of their gear in and on my 1919.

I may be a Criterion fan, but I also love Nordic barrels. My Nordic happens to be a 16" mid-length gas on a Carbon Arms built upper. I use my Criterion 18" upper for most competition, but the Nordic barrel upper is for shoot houses and other shorter range stuff. But it doesn't give up anything in intrinsic accuracy to my 18". It shoots under 1/2" groups with Nosler 55gr BT. Seriously, that's crazy good. My 18" may 'graduate' up to a Designated Marksman Match upper and then I'd shoot the Nordic 16" for 3-gun. Given that one is rifle length gas and the other is a mid, I suppose I'd go for the Nordic. 18" mid-length seems like an awfully long dwell time. At least much more than needed. Although it's a tough call with great brand reputations for both, I'd give the nod to the Nordic model. I think it has the better feature set of the two.