Ar 15 barrel length

[Julien Boit]

Hi all,

I plan to purchase a new AR15, and I wanted to know what's the most used barrel length these days.

Is it 20 inches ? 18 inches ? 16 Inches ?

I'm looking very hard at an 18 inches long barrel, 1/8 twist Stainless from Lothar Walther.

Is it a good choice ?

Thanks in advance.

[Ulwembu]

I use a .920 18" 1/8 stainless Double Star barrel. Shoot 1/2 MOA at 110 yards (100 meters). Must admit that I have had the barrel turned down under the handguard to .650 to reduce weight. In combination with the Benny Cooley brake and a lightened carrier and buffer (not the LMOS system but reworked carrier and took 3 weights out of the buffer) it shoots very nice and light.

Will you be using it for IPSC Rifle or are there 3-Gun matches in France?

Edited November 5, 2010 by Ulwembu

[ken hebert]

I hate to be the "search nazi", but there is a ton of info and personal preference information on this area of the forum if you'll do a little looking. I do believe you will find that 18" is the preferred length for most, although some opinions vary. You can get away with a 17" with rifle gas if its set up right, and some prefer a 20" over 18"... But, my $$$ is on 18", seeing as damn near every AR I have is that length.

[Vlad]

Some of it is a matter of preference. I'm quite happy with 16" and I prefer the shorter guns but I don't shoot any matches where targets are at 400+ yards so I don't care about the extra velocity. Longer is softer but then a midlegth gas system, with a rifle recoil system is pretty soft anyway and adjustable gas blocks can make that more so.   Your best bet is to see if you can shoot a few different configurations and decide what you like best. 

[Corey]

16 or 18 is most common. i have a 16-midlength now and my next will be an 18-rifle

[wannabe]

My 16" midlenght is sweet. 16" barrel lenght gives the comp lots of gas to work with but not as hard of a reciol impules as regular 16" gas system.

[Cardinal]

I think in Europe the majority of top shooters use 20". A few might pick 16 or 18", but from what I've seen here (and at the ERC) most prefer the longer barrels.

[ac4wordplay]

I think in Europe the majority of top shooters use 20". A few might pick 16 or 18", but from what I've seen here (and at the ERC) most prefer the longer barrels.

Interesting. Any thoughts why? Is this due to stage design (a higher percentage of long distance shots (vs. U.S. stage design), therefor competitors prefer the slightly higher velocities of the 20" barrel? Is this due to equipment divisions (a higher percentage of competitors use iron sights (vs. U.S. competitors), therefor favoring the longer sight radius of a 20" barrel)? Something else?

Best,

ac

[kellyn]

The majority of top shooters in the U.S. shoot a 20 also!

[Alaskapopo]

I am going with an 18 based on advice I have received here.

Pat

[Chills1994]

I asked this same question about 2 years ago. heck, I might have even set it up as a poll.

the advice and concensus I got from my thread was buy a 20 inch. if I don't like it at least I could always get it cut down and rethreaded at 18 inches long.

at that time, it seemed liked there were only two places offering 18 inch stainless fluted barrels and if I remember correctly both wanted close to $500 for their barrels. too expensive for me. so I bought a 20 inch semi-complete upper for $450.

[EkuJustice]

Optics or Irons?

[Julien Boit]

I'm still not decided between optics and Irons.

I'll give a try to both. If I go optics, it should be with something like a Burris 1-4 and a red dot (probably a CMore STS) on a 45 degree mount.

[XD Niner]

I'm still not decided between optics and Irons.

I'll give a try to both. If I go optics, it should be with something like a Burris 1-4 and a red dot (probably a CMore STS) on a 45 degree mount.

I use the same setup except my scope is a Millet DMS-1. If you're not going to be shooting over 100 yards, you'll likely be better off with a Eotech or similar red dot. I found the dot is much faster than the scope and will be changing to an Eotech in the next few weeks. I'll use the scope/C-More setup if and when I encounter shots greater than 100 yards.