AR barrel length

A suppressed 18" barrel will kill just as effectively as a suppressed 24" barrel out to 300 yards... there's nothing to debate. Anyone familiar with internal ballistics is aware barrel length effects velocity... there is no uniform formula to apply as each individual barrel can be different for obvious reasons. Personally, I've found the 18" barrel in the AR15 to be my sweet spot for weight, length, performance, and I love the overall look and feel of an 18" rifle.

The terminal effects are scientific in numbers and basically worthless in the field (edited to mean within the defined range of 300 yards).

A suppressor on a 22" barrel makes for a long stick... like mentioned earlier, how you will deploy the rifle might matter or it might not.

Congrats on the new can... what kind did you get? It should help increase accuracy, it's not uncommon to see a little improvement in the accuracy department, rare to see a loss of accuracy.

Look forward to a range report once you get it all together.
 
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10-4.....

Another thought, there's tests done in the past cutting off a barrel an inch at a time, and the loss per inch in not linear in fashion. Some cuts lost very little, while others took a big jump. Who knows why, but it happens.

Yep, kind of a "won't know until you do it" results.
 
Well back in the 80's I did run into a few guys running around with the Remington XP 100's shooting off the hood their trucks
Nothing wrong with that ...
 
As I age things change. I have a 20" heavy barrel predator pursuit. I quit carrying several years ago. I started carrying a 16" A4 because it is light and quick. Then got a can for it. Back to not enjoying it. I just built a 11.5" AR pistol. My hope was to end up with a SBR. I built the pistol first to be sure it would be for me before getting a tax stamp. After getting it put together I am really happy with it! After sight in the first 100 yard groups were 1/2" and just under 3/4" with a really bad mil spec trigger. I know there will be a velocity loss and I am ok with that. I will shoot thru a chronograph to satisfy my curiosity.

i was told by my local gunsmith that mil spec barrels will heat up pretty quick and some will start spreading groups because of the thin barrel. i switched to my heavy 223 wylde and my groups improved dramatically.

when sighting in a thin barrel he said its best to shoot a few rounds then wait 5 to 10 minutes to cool the barrel. when i did that my groups also stayed decently tight.
 
i was told by my local gunsmith that mil spec barrels will heat up pretty quick and some will start spreading groups because of the thin barrel. i switched to my heavy 223 wylde and my groups improved dramatically.

when sighting in a thin barrel he said its best to shoot a few rounds then wait 5 to 10 minutes to cool the barrel. when i did that my groups also stayed decently tight.
I wish I got into coyotes where I had to worry about heat. That would be cool
 
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