Home AR-15 Which barrel length is best for an AR-15? We perform the ultimate...

Which barrel length is best for an AR-15? We perform the ultimate tests.

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Everyone argues but few do, today we put our money where our mouth is and perform some testing on different barrel lengths to find the best barrel length.

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44 COMMENTS

  1. For shorter rifles, a 300blk would be better for close range engagement under 150-200yds.. if youd be CQB but might need to stretch a few shots here and there out to 3,400yds.. a 556/223 would be optimal in a 12.5-14.5" barrel.

  2. Man. Why leave out the 20"+ rifle length barrels? 20" cracks the 3000 fps barrier. Longer range, accuracy, energy on target. I know the current meta has more focus on CQB/home/personal defense not optimal for long barrels, but they've carried us through since Vietnam. Run a 24", and you're comfortably in small game and long range target territory. But hey. We like tactical more than practical. I have everything from a 10.5", 12", 14.5", 16", 20" to a 24", with shorter in .300 BLK, and a .458 SOCOM, and an 18" 6.5 Grendel. My preferred method is to pick the purpose, and then optimize caliber to length, and make sacrifices from the optimal point if I need to shorten it for muzzle devices/suppressors, overall length requirements, or cool factor. Like, I needed a build to fit in a very tiny bag. Why sacrifice 400-500fps to nerf a 5.56 when I can optimize a 9" barrel for .300 BLK subs? Conversely, why bother with .300 BLK at 16" for legal reasons, when a 5.56 loves the length?

  3. apparently you very much need the guy on video, who can come up with "snoring dormant insurgents", "eating snickers institute", "Dora Snortz institute" etc…

  4. Now do the same test in the “mannlier” harder hitting and more wind resistant .308 and/or 7.62x51mm cartridge. I purchased a Socom 16 CQB for it’s ability of operating at all ranges. Short, mid, to long ranges. I know a 20+ is more desirable at distances over 300m.

  5. this could not have come out at a more perfect time, i was just wondering what should be my first rifle's length.

    would you consider doing a video like this for 7.62 aks or 300bk ar's?

  6. Interesting stuff.
    – A canuck with an 18.5" X95 and 20" Tavor 7 because politicians who don't use guns decided the AR15/10 are only made to kill people.
    My sadness is immeasurable 😢

  7. Be interesting to see a comparison of the different barrel lengths in your wall test. (With the multiple walls to see if there's a difference between the penetration of the different barrel lengths–also if you could try different ammo, like ball, green-tip, and HP.)

  8. I think this is something a lot of people have made a video on, but we wanna hear it from you. Does a suppressor make a difference? If so how much? And what suppressors do you recommend for the various calibers?

  9. You should do a suppressor muzzle velocity point of impact shift test. I think I wanna 10.3 with a 6 to 36 magnification now. I have an 11.85 and 16 PWS uppers and they are great, Piston Gang

  10. I personally like my 14.5” Grendel. It’s a bit lighter than a 16”, which is what I’m looking for. I could follow that logic further but Grendel shines out of longer barrels with more space to burn the straggling powder that wasn’t already burned near the chamber. It’s a great round for Arizona, shoots quite far and very accurately out of my gun, takes deer pretty good too

  11. AR15 pattern to Bullpup barrel length conversions at equal overall system length

    13.7‘ -> 20‘
    10.3‘ -> 16‘

    Now you might have really good reasons not to like bullpups, manual of arms, available options, reliability, price, …

    But on 5.56 ballistics @ system length they are running circles around the AR based systems

  12. Shooting at night changes everything as well. The flash that interferes with your vision and what it looks like down range. The difference between 10.3 and 14.5 is a deal breaker. 14.5 to 16.5 in those conditions doesnt change in any noticeable way.

  13. I have a 5in SBR just to show this same thing. The 5in is a Douglas blank I screwed up in gunsmithing school. Now I keep it to get rid of myths. It's just as accurate as a 16in and will still penetrate a full block of gel.
    Have a 7.5in galil ace sbr too.

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