AR Platform for F/TR - barrel length?

[LVLAaron]

85.5gr Bergers

They can be fickle, and you need a little more throat. Hornady 75's or Berger 80.5's are the winning ticket in your combo.

 

[Acyr]

Damn you guys, now I have to build another gun!

 

[Andy Legg]

They can be fickle, and you need a little more throat. Hornady 75's or Berger 80.5's are the winning ticket in your combo.

The Hornady 75 ELD-M’s work great also. We shoot them out to 1000 yards as well. Out of a 20” 1/7 tube they are supersonic to 1000 at Sea Level….. sometimes (depending on atmospheric conditions).

 

[Fuj]

Just received this in. It could change quite a bit of the conversation.
Drop in and go !! Play time never ends......With no gas tube, your barrel
options just got sweeter.

 

[Andy Legg]

Just received this in. It could change quite a bit of the conversation.
Drop in and go !! Play time never ends......With no gas tube, your barrel
options just got sweeter.

Since these came on the market, I have wondered if one could be considered an “equivalent” rifle in AR-Tactical competition (NRA and/or CMP) for someone who resides in an area that prohibits AR15 possession/ownership.

Not sure how I would ultimately feel about one in competition, but the thought had crossed my mind. I do like the idea of more folks shooting.

It does seem it should be more accurate than a gas gun as it would be truly free floating with no gas block/tube hanging off of it.

 

[Fuj]

Could go with a substantially thicker barrel or what ever the nut will
allow. And yes there are rules always to consider and people that will
probably complain ?? I did not get it to compete. I picked it up to have
a look, and have the grandson whack chucks with it. We are allowed in
Pa. to use a gas guns on varmints, but this seems a bit more appropriate.
Looks like it would be a Pa. legal deer rifle now ?? It would be very light
to carry around. Either way, it's all about options. With the 18 inch barrel
with a 5.56 Wylde chamber, it was at my door for under $250......I have two
Rock River lowers I can just drop it on. Maybe do a separate write up in a
week or so......

 

[charlie b]

Do report on how it shoots. Why does no one make a straight pull setup for the AR? Seems like it would be a no brainer.

 

[jelenko]

Lantac did offer a straight pull add on for right side charging.
For me, it was too much effort to extract a fired case.

 

[Laurie]

Do report on how it shoots. Why does no one make a straight pull setup for the AR? Seems like it would be a no brainer.

There are plenty of straight-pull AR-15s in the UK as we're not allowed to own semi-autos (or even gas-assisted extraction). A good one with a heavy match barrel shoots really well.

As @jelenko says, manual extraction can be an issue with higher pressure ammunition. Cases from full-house loads, especially some arsenals' military-spec, 5.56 stick in the chamber until you break the seal - and that takes a hard pull! When I had one of these rifles I ended up using nothing other than handloads, latterly all 80s, and had no problems simply through keeping pressures down a bit.

The UK Practical/Tactical/Civilian Service Rifle fraternity tried fatter, higher performance cartridges such as the 6.5 Grendel and wildcats based on it. No go - far, far too hard extraction! 6.8 SPC is fine but that's about the only alternative to 223. Various cranked/cammed bolt carrier handles have been tried over the years, but AFAIK none caught on.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=238038331585696

Note how quickly competitors cycle the actions without any disturbance to the hold or aim. (CSR = Civilian Service Rifle)

 

[Fuj]

Laurie.....You watch some of the videos struggling to cycle the bolt
in some testings of the BCA bolt upper, then some shows smooth
as silk. In standard bolt guns, i have shot quite a bit of the IMI 5.56
77's with a Wylde chamber. Extraction has been no problem. The 62's
however can be sticky. Fortunately, most of my stock are the 77's
with Sierra bullets. With mag fed AR's, I just stopped loading for them,
as I found IMI to be quite good......Hope your staying well.

I need to study it more but I believe the BCA may be basically a straight
pull ??. The bolt handle itself just drops into a notch and if gently pushed
up, it pops up due to an added spring on the bolt. After that. it's just in
and out. You do have to physically drop the bolt handle back into the
notch, but not sure at this point if it has anything to do with the turning
of the bolt head ?? Either way.....Back to barrel lengths. My only thoughts
on this is, the diminishing return of speed and length, plus added weight.
Sometimes, weight needs placed elsewhere and not hanging at the muzzle.
.223/5.56, I find my happy place with a 20" bull barrel.

 

[Laurie]

You do have to physically drop the bolt handle back into the
notch, but not sure at this point if it has anything to do with the turning
of the bolt head ??

Interesting! I know that there have been various improvements on straight-pulls since my days 15 plus years ago with one, so there may be some primary extraction added here. I shot very little in the way of factory ammo in my Southern Gun Co SSR-15 which was a true straight-pull version of the Stoner design - no changes except the gas bits were removed and it had a redesigned bolt / carrier that didn't have the standard AR-15's gas rings, but there were some big differences on the extraction force required. The worst was the standard UK military L2A2 5.56 made by BAe Royal Ordnance Radway Green in northern England. One box of 20 rounds was enough. (Not that you can get it anymore as RORG made a decision to only sell its output to governments many years ago.)