Mid-length or carbine?

strain on your support hand ?

can you please explain that ?

i like the lots of room on mine. i crawl all over it,

but i haven't noticed any strain on my hand....?

peabody

either is fine.

WRIST strain, most noticeable when carrying the carbine in indoor ready position, a sort of position SUL for long guns, in which the muzzle of the carbine is located midline of the torso.

The slightly longer mid-length fore end allows the shooter place his support hand farther away from the receiver, which reduces the acute angle of the wrist and wrist strain.

I performed a quick search and found a related thread: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=235244

For a 16" barrel, the midlength is an upside without a downside. The only reasons to go with a carbine-length gas system on a 16" barrel is aesthetics (though, most people think a 16" carbine with a flash suppressor will look odd with carbine gas) and carbine parts/accessories (handguards, etc) are slightly cheaper/more common...though this has really become even less of a concern as time marches on.

If you have a 16" barrel, get a midlength. 14.5? That's a little less easy to answer.

Mike

carbine, its what i have. and i like it.

If you're going with a 16" BBL, I think the Midlength makes more sense. But if you're going with a 14.5" than go carbine.

as time marches on, amazing what learn ..

ya, a middy on a 16''... rifle on a rifle.

cept those dissy's with rifle gas ... love those.

peabody

This thread needs pics.

Middy FTW

I think some folks confuse a 16" barrel with a short bird cage flash surpressor threaded on the end and the typical M4gery with a 14.5" barrel with an over long 1.5" surppressor welded on to make the overall barrel length civilian legal.

This will present a slight balistics difference...

Do I have this correct, or am I the one in a state of confusion?

What are you asking? If you're asking if there is a ballistic difference, yes, there is. It is a fairly small one, but it is tacked onto the also small-ish ballistic differences from dropping from 20 to 16 inches. At some point, the ballistic penalties add up, and for me it is right around 16" (as in, I'd prefer to not to go too far below that). Add in the PITA it can be to remove the "permanently attached" FH if you want to do anything with the barrel, and the very reasonable advantages of going with a midlength gas system on a 16" barrel, and I personally don't find it worthwhile to go the 14.5" route. That, however, is me. Also, if I found a nice upper for a nice price in 14.5"/perm-FH configuration, I would not pass it up. Like I said, the differences are small.

What I REALLY don't get are the silly 10.5" barrels with looooooooong FHs. What the heck is the point?

Mike

I think some folks confuse a 16" barrel with a short bird cage flash surpressor threaded on the end and the typical M4gery with a 14.5" barrel with an over long 1.5" surppressor welded on to make the overall barrel length civilian legal.

This will present a slight balistics difference...

Do I have this correct, or am I the one in a state of confusion?

Click to expand...

You're not relating this to the midlength vs. carbine question, are you? I'm not following the question.

You're not relating this to the midlength vs. carbine question, are you?

Click to expand...

I have a middy with a 16" barrel. I understand the differences in the gas system.

As I read this thread from the beginning (I was one of the first to post on it back in the dark ages from whence it was spawned) it sounded like people were saying that a 16" M4gery had the same length barrel as a 16" midlength.

I do not think this is typically the case and my second post on the thread was intended to either point out the difference (civilian M4 = 14.5" barrel with extended flash arrestor welded on and not a 16" barrel) or to learn something new if I was to be corrected.