AR15 Opinion
- Thread starter TxCoyote
- Start date
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A 5.56 is essentially the same as a .223. A barrel rated for 5.56 can shoot both, but a barrel rated for .223 can only shoot .223 because a 5.56 cartridge creates more chamber pressure. If you buy an AR, you DEFINITELY want to get one with a 5.56-capable barrel.
I have a S&W with a 16-inch 1:9 barrel. It's a great gun, and you can't go wrong getting the long-barrel version. A 20-inch one is going to be really heavy at the front. BTW, make sure it has a floating handguard, whatever you end up getting. If you want to reach out and touch something with it at extreme ranges, you want all the accuracy enhancements you can get.
The original M 16 was a victim of bureaucrat thinking (or lack thereof). It was engineered for one powder and then the military changed powder. They actually told the troops the gun NEVER needed cleaning! There was no cleaning kit included. The barrel was not chrome lined to save money. Once the brass got enough troops killed they fixed the problems that they had created. And the M 16 rolls on today. Also there is no reason that the original M 16 could not have been built with the gas piston system that is so popular today. Russia was using it in the '40s.
Its the same thinking that sent the British off to WWII with the same bolt action rifles they used in WWI. If they had a select fire rifle, they would waste ammo.
Its the same thinking that sent the British off to WWII with the same bolt action rifles they used in WWI. If they had a select fire rifle, they would waste ammo.
The 5.56mm chamber has slightly different dimensions. One reason a person would use a .223 chamber instead is if they're building for accuracy. .223 gives you more options for bullet weight and the tighter chamber gives better accuracy potential.
There still is no reason for the M16 to go piston. The only rifles that can benefit from a relocated piston are those that are fired full-auto with suppressors and very short barrels.
The piston system does nothing to improve reliability and depending on whose kit you're using can actually degrade it. It also decreases the accuracy of the platform. I forget which country it was, but they actually rejected the HK417 because it wasn't accurate enough to use as a DMR. Throw a decent barrel on an AR platform rifle that has the same gas system Stoner designed and you have something as accurate as any bolt action out there (provided you run good ammo, too). It's rifles with pistons that run parallel to the barrel take tuning to run even close to that accurately, and usually can't reach the same bar.
I like em all, if they work. The best AR's I have ever had were all home built. Use the " whats good at the time" to build one.
