Easiest way to non-NFA 14.5"?

[.Scarecrow.]

Wanting to build a 14.5 AR and pin and weld a Griffin MD on so I can still use a suppressor. After doing some thinking, I thought the easiest thing to do might be to buy a 16" barrel and have it turned down to 14.5" and have the smith then pin and weld the MD, after of course the gas block is put on. I was wondering if I would have to mess with gas port diameters, I believe I read that 14.5 mid lengths have roughly the same gas port as a 16 mid length. My other option would be to contact a manufacturer and have them do all this for me, if that's even possible.

I'm open to ideas, thanks.

 

[Jackal]

Easiest way would be to buy a 14.5 and have a smith pin/weld the muzzle device. Then again, saving 1.5" in overall length is not at all worth the hassle of going 14.5" in the first place, in my opinion. I sold my 14.5's, they just weren't worth it. If you want short, I'd recommend going to a pistol. A 10.5" 7.62x39 pistol is very tempting when I get my Recce 7 out of NFA jail.

 

[Robert]

If you are buying or already have a suppressor why not pay for an SBR stamp and just go with the 14.5" barrel. Otherwise I'd just go with a 16" with muzzle device of your choice.

 

[jmorris]

Wanting to build a 14.5 AR and pin and weld a Griffin MD on so I can still use a suppressor. After doing some thinking, I thought the easiest thing to do might be to buy a 16" barrel and have it turned down to 14.5" and have the smith then pin and weld the MD, after of course the gas block is put on.

Seems like the easy way would be to just put it on a 16" barrel if you can't drill, pin and weld yourself. Make sure they put the barrel nut on before the gas block if you go with your plan and pick a hand guard your willing to live with.

 

[justin22885]

as others have said its a lot of trouble just for 1.5 inches, is it truly that big of a deal? id rather a 20" barrel myself to be honest for the added muzzle energy

 

[Crunchy Frog]

Factor in the cost of having the 16" barrel shortened, re-crowned and the muzzle threaded. I'd go with the brake on the 14.5 or 14.7 inch barrel.

I have a Palmetto State Armory retail store locally. I was looking over a bunch of uppers they had for sale. I handled a standard 16" upper next to a 14.5 (already pinned and welded) upper that was outfitted with a lightweight contour barrel. There seemed to me to be a significant difference in the weight and balance. With barrels of the same contour, it may not matter as much.

Check PSA's website; they put the "pinned and welded" complete uppers on sale from time to time. If you can live with the handguard or rail that they supply, this is often much less expensive than building one. If what you want is out of stock sign up for an email notification.

 

[.Scarecrow.]

I'd say you guys are right, it's not worth the 1.5 inches. I guess part of me just liked the look of the shorter gun. I have a Recce style AR and I wanted to make a more close range rifle with a dot and a 14.5 barrel sounded like fun. If I do go short, it'll be actually worth SBR Paperwork, to me 14.5 is not work SBRing.

Thanks again.

 

[jmorris]

Need someone to make a QD suppressor mount that could be pinned and welded that would make 16" OAL.

If I find someone that makes one for a 14" 44 mag barrel, I'll buy it.

 

[Theohazard]

If you run a silencer most of the time, then I highly recommend going with a 14.5" pinned-and-welded barrel. Sure, 1.5" doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're adding over a pound of weight to the end of your rifle and swinging it around, it makes a noticable difference. I used to run my rifle silencers on a 16" barrel, but I sold that upper and went to a 14.5" setup and never looked back.

I'm guessing most of the people in this thread advocating for a 16" barrel don't primarily use a silencer on their rifle. But think about it this way: Considering the most popular rifle silencers are about 7.5" long and weigh about 20 oz., that 1.5" of barrel all of sudden makes a noticable difference in both length and weight; the part of the rifle where weight is most noticable is out on the end of the barrel, and the further out you put that weight the more noticable it is.

My gunsmith will pin-and-weld a muzzle device for $45 and he can switch out a pinned-and-welded muzzle device for $80. For me, that's a small price to pay for a noticable improvement in manuverability with a silencer attached.

 

[yugorpk]

If you run a silencer most of the time, then I highly recommend going with a 14.5" pinned-and-welded barrel. Sure, 1.5" doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're adding over a pound of weight to the end of your rifle and swinging it around, it makes a noticable difference. I used to run my rifle silencers on a 16" barrel, but I sold that upper and went to a 14.5" setup and never looked back.

I'm guessing most of the people in this thread advocating for a 16" barrel don't primarily use a silencer on their rifle. But think about it this way: Considering the most popular rifle silencers are about 7.5" long and weigh about 20 oz., that 1.5" of barrel all of sudden makes a noticable difference in both length and weight; the part of the rifle where weight is most noticable is out on the end of the barrel, and the further out you put that weight the more noticable it is.

My gunsmith will pin-and-weld a muzzle device for $45 and he can switch out a pinned-and-welded muzzle device for $80. For me, that's a small price to pay for a noticable improvement in manuverability with a silencer attached.

Yep. The silencer makes it worth lopping that 1.5" off. Since your'e going to have it (the adapter) on there all the time anyway it would turn that 16 inch into an almost 18 inch without the silencer .

 

[thump_rrr]

Need someone to make a QD suppressor mount that could be pinned and welded that would make 16" OAL.

If I find someone that makes one for a 14" 44 mag barrel, I'll buy it.

Edit: I missed the 44 mag part
Surefire SFMB-556

 

[.Scarecrow.]

Well the Griffin Recce 5 is 6.2" and only 14.5 oz so it shouldn't be too bad on my 16. Can I purchase a 14.5 barrel online without filing NFA paperwork? Because if I could do that and simply hang on to it until I'm ready, that would be more appealing to me.

 

[Theohazard]

Can I purchase a 14.5 barrel online without filing NFA paperwork? Because if I could do that and simply hang on to it until I'm ready, that would be more appealing to me.

Yes you can, just don't store it nearby to the rest of the parts needed to build an illegal SBR; the specific wording the ATF uses is "close proximity". Now, what does "close proximity" mean precisely? Nobody really knows. Me, I'm fine with storing the barrel downstairs while I have the rest of my parts and rifles upstairs. Some people go even further and store parts like that at a friend's house just to be sure.