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Post by jkrispies on May 29, 2015 20:14:01 GMT -8
I'm looking at building an upper around an 18" BHW barrel in 5.56mm. I'm favoring the Lightweight contour and wondering how it handles heat (ie, groups opening up) under the sort of firing you would see in multi-gun matches, relative to the Slim and Standard contours. Slim is more in my preferred weight range but I'm concerned with the barrel being too thin to handle heat as well as it could, whereas Light squeezes into the upper end of my weight range and looks like it still has decent thickness... but I'd like to hear input from folks with actual experience using the Lightweight profile. As a frame of reference, I'm looking at stages with, say, 20-30 rounds of hoser, followed by a 200, 300, and/or 400 yard shot. Also as an FYI since we're discussing heat, I'm steering away from fluting. Thanks for sharing your experiences, John
(On a side note, I really like photos of your Gen 2 M4 cuts. Is that an option I have to choose, or is the Gen 2 standard? I don't see a choice in the barrel order pull downs.)
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Post by GLSHOOTER on May 30, 2015 5:54:17 GMT -8
I'm looking at building an upper around an 18" BHW barrel in 5.56mm. I'm favoring the Lightweight contour and wondering how it handles heat (ie, groups opening up) under the sort of firing you would see in multi-gun matches, relative to the Slim and Standard contours. Slim is more in my preferred weight range but I'm concerned with the barrel being too thin to handle heat as well as it could, whereas Light squeezes into the upper end of my weight range and looks like it still has decent thickness... but I'd like to hear input from folks with actual experience using the Lightweight profile. As a frame of reference, I'm looking at stages with, say, 20-30 rounds of hoser, followed by a 200, 300, and/or 400 yard shot. Also as an FYI since we're discussing heat, I'm steering away from fluting. Thanks for sharing your experiences, John (On a side note, I really like photos of your Gen 2 M4 cuts. Is that an option I have to choose, or is the Gen 2 standard? I don't see a choice in the barrel order pull downs.) Based on my shooting of 3Gun the past 30+ years I would go with light. The pencil might be edgy and the slim would probably deliver. Buy the belt and suspenders. I shoot standards but then I grew up with the H-bar style. I always prefer a bit more thickness and weight for balance when I'm hammering on the course. I have shot some light barrels in 6X45, my wife's gun, and they handle heat well. Most 400 yards targets I've shot were full Milparks or 8 disks. Never have had an issue there. The new BE is not an option. It will be standard in the BLK, the 6.8 and LBC barrels.It will not be used in the smaller bore 223 based rounds the last I heard. It was designed with heavy bullets and bigger cases in mind. Greg |
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Post by jkrispies on May 30, 2015 8:24:25 GMT -8
Greg, thanks for the reply back and sharing your experience. I do theorize that Light is the best choice and appreciate your helping to confirm that theory based on your experience with your wife's gun. I've found that shooting is full of "facts" shared in garages by armchair generals but are never actually tested by any reporting source, so I like to seek folks with firsthand experience where I can.
Too bad that the improved barrel extensions aren't available for 5.56, but then not that big of a deal either. In the past I've had the jackets of rounds sliced by the sharp edge of feed ramps (not on a BHW barrel by the way-- I've yet to own a BHW product) so I've taken to slightly buffing the edge of the feed ramps when I get a new barrel. It's not exactly a difficult process!
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Post by GLSHOOTER on May 30, 2015 10:25:50 GMT -8
Greg, thanks for the reply back and sharing your experience. I do theorize that Light is the best choice and appreciate your helping to confirm that theory based on your experience with your wife's gun. I've found that shooting is full of "facts" shared in garages by armchair generals but are never actually tested by any reporting source, so I like to seek folks with firsthand experience where I can. Too bad that the improved barrel extensions aren't available for 5.56, but then not that big of a deal either. In the past I've had the jackets of rounds sliced by the sharp edge of feed ramps (not on a BHW barrel by the way-- I've yet to own a BHW product) so I've taken to slightly buffing the edge of the feed ramps when I get a new barrel. It's not exactly a difficult process! If I'm getting those scratches I go in and break the back edges of the lugs ever so slightly and that takes care of the issues. Sometimes machining is almost too good. There are guys on here that go from bench rest to the high speed low drag 3Gun. Long range and CQB can be addressed with what ever you need by some of them.  Trust me the original extension is fine and is made by one of the most respected machine shops in the world. Greg |
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Trust me the original extension is fine and is made by one of the most respected machine shops in the world.