Mid-length AR

[fal762]

Are there any advantages to the mid-length AR vs the standard carbine?

[Bullet94]

I have both and believe the mid length is supposed to be more reliable. Both of mine have worked perfectly. The mid length does give you more to hang onto and a longer sight radius.

[Handy]

If you look at either an M-16 or M-4, you'll note that they have the same amount of barrel hanging out in front of the gas port in the front sight. This is the optimal length (call it 5 inches). When people first started making 16" barreled AR-15s, they used the short handguard and gas tube from the 14.5" barrel M-4, and added another 1.5" of barrel onto the front, making the barrel length in front of the sight approximately 6.5".

What a mid length handguard does is put the gas port the correct distance from the muzzle (5"), decreasing pressures to the correct range. As a bonus, you get the extra sight radius, a bayonet will attach (try that with a regular M4gery), and the barrel doesn't look as silly sticking out. If the military had wanted a 16" barrel, this is what they would have gotten.

[Onslaught]

Now that there are so many mid-lengths to choose from, and every company who makes accessories offers something for the middies too, there's no reason NOT to choose one for a 16" or 18" rifle.

I have one of each, and I prefer the Mid-length because of sight radius, softer recoil (according to my son when he was 10), and more balanced look. I believe I can "feel" the difference in the speed that the bolt cycles between my carbine and my mid. Although not at all painful, the bolt seems to come back much more violently on my Bushy.

[ScottsGT]

I went with it because it just looks good! Didn't want the 20", the M4orgery has too much barrel sticking out. The mid is a perfect look for a short barrel rifle in my opinion.

[fal762]

Thanks for the comments! All i have to do now is decide which brand I want to get.

[AK103K]

Armalite, but of course.... :)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid161/p74ab2326e64202724bf0e01456e279f8/f4c8daae.jpg

[jonathon]

Dissy with middy gas system.. mmm good. :p

[ScottsGT]

Aww heck, they're all mil spec, look the same, feel the same, fit the same. just pick the coolest looking logo and go with it! :D
Mines a RRA
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/ScottsGT/melissawithAR-15.jpg

[Seraph]

When people first started making 16" barreled AR-15s, they used the short handguard and gas tube from the 14.5" barrel M-4, and added another 1.5" of barrel onto the front, making the barrel length in front of the sight approximately 6.5".
Actually, I'm pretty sure 16" AR's (CAR-15) predate the M4. If anything, the M4 inherited the CAR-15's gas tube (which might have come from the earlier XM177), and its 14.5" barrel was shortened from the CAR-15's 16" length, possibly so they could attach a bayonet.

Anyway, the comments about pressure, cycle time, and sight radius all make good sense to me, and are the reasons I'm going with a mid-length upper on the AR that I'm building, on a Rock River Arms lower (which will be my first AR build). I've heard a bayonet might not fit on a middy, but it would be a nice bonus if it did. Nice looking carbines, guys! Seeing them kinda reaffirms my choice to go with the fixed A2 stock on my build.

[Handy]

If you're talking military weapons, CAR-15s have even shorter barrels than M4s (10.5"?). The length you see is due to the long flashhider. CARs were never as reliable as the 16, which is one of the reasons the M4 was developed.

[Seraph]

If you're talking military weapons, CAR-15s have even shorter barrels than M4s (10.5"?). The length you see is due to the long flashhider. CARs were never as reliable as the 16, which is one of the reasons the M4 was developed.
Certainly the original CAR's had 10.5" barrels, and there have been 16" CAR's in the military as well, but that wasn't the point I was after. My point was simply that the short CAR-length gas tube predates the M4. I believe the main reason the M4, and 16" CAR's, for that matter, are more reliable than a 10.5" CAR, is the extra length of barrel ahead of the gas port.

[Handy]

I have never seen a 16" military CAR - do you have a link, perhaps?

My point was simply that the M4 was designed the way it is to have the optimal barrel length for the gas tube it uses - which, as you point out, was first developed for the XM-177/CAR. The M4 is the only short AR to be given the multi-service "M" designation, probably due to it's reliability performance.

[Seraph]

I have never seen a 16" military CAR - do you have a link, perhaps?

Nope, I don't have a link to any text. I saw 16" CAR's while in the Army, before the M4 was adopted. The Army procures and uses weapons and other gear that one might never read about in a book or on the internet. Anyway, reviewing your posts, I see that you did mention the barrel-length-ahead-of-gas-port deal a while back. So, we're just bantering in agreement, really. I just wanted to point out, for historical accuracy, that CAR-15's, XM-177's, Commandos, etc, with short gas tubes, predated the M4.