I have a 20" Colt 5.56 H-Bar AR15-A2 1:7 but it has a carry handle. I was thinking of buying another upper but, I got a rifle shipped in last week I'm thinking about. it is the Remington R-15 carbine with a 18" heavy barrel 1:8 with a collapsable stock. for shooting 223 ammo this will be more accurate than the 5.56 chamber but I started wondering. comparing 2 guns that are the same otherwise like the Rem. R 15 20" heavy barrel to the 18" heavy barrel, both in .223 on a 1:8 twist, do you think there would be any difference in accuracy? the shorter barrel would be a little stiffer in relation to barrel dynamics when firing it seems. I was just wondering what others may think on this before I jump up and buy one. (once I buy the upper and the stock for the 5.56, I'm not really going to save much over just buying another one)
I have a 20" Colt 5.56 H-Bar AR15-A2 1:7 but it has a carry handle. I was thinking of buying another upper but, I got a rifle shipped in last week I'm thinking about. it is the Remington R-15 carbine with a 18" heavy barrel 1:8 with a collapsable stock. for shooting 223 ammo this will be more accurate than the 5.56 chamber but I started wondering. comparing 2 guns that are the same otherwise like the Rem. R 15 20" heavy barrel to the 18" heavy barrel, both in .223 on a 1:8 twist, do you think there would be any difference in accuracy? the shorter barrel would be a little stiffer in relation to barrel dynamics when firing it seems. I was just wondering what others may think on this before I jump up and buy one. (once I buy the upper and the stock for the 5.56, I'm not really going to save much over just buying another one)
I have the 20" HBL in the 1:8, and it works just fine. The "stiffness" of the barrel, when we're talking about a 2" difference in something made of fairly thick steel less than 2' long, is negligible. If anything, I'd be looking at barrel length with regard to the number of rotations being forced upon the round before it leaves the barrel...but again, when we're talking about two inches, you aren't gonna notice a difference.
In fact, even the weight savings you'd get from losing those two inches wouldn't even really be worth mentioning.
The only advantage I'm seeing here is an 18" barrel being slightly more maneuverable when being hauled around inside a vehicle while not cased, and again...not likely to be an issue.
My guess? Go with whatever is cheaper. If they're the same price, go with what you think looks coolest.
my mistake. the standard model has a 22" barrel. I set the 18" carbine in the hold area with my name on it. I kind of like the shorter barrel. if I'm not really giving anything up, I'm going to go with it. it is short, light, and manuverable. I'll play with it using a red dot till the break in is done. than drop a scope on temporarly to see what it can do later. I got tomorrow off and heading to the range, kind of wish I had picked it up today to take with me. thanks for your help.
criss
the book says 18" on the R-15 VTR Predator carbine CS model and 22" on the R-15 VTR Predator rifle. but sitting side by side on the gun rack it looks like only a 2" difference. thats why I thought it was 20". as soon as I find where one of my employees decided to put my tape measure, I'll know for sure. but it don't look like a 4" difference.
I have the 22 inch version of the R-15. I will admit that I wish I would have been able to get the shorter model only because of the reasons stated about maneuverability, but they didn't have one at the time so I bought the 22 inch model. I am quite satisfied with it's accuracy and since I'm using it as a bench rifle the length is actually a plus. The R-15 is a great rifle.
