04-08-2021, 01:31 PM
Klem Wrote:...
If you are going to pin and weld 16" for legal reasons then you may as well just get a 16" barrel with no muzzle brake and enjoy the extra velocity for the same length.
On paper and performance, this is probably true. For some, the muzzle device is an important aesthetic and performance component of an AR platform. After living through Clinton's '94 AWB, I won't run a bare AR15. But others might not be so particular. That, and muzzle devices are natural crown-protectors. As well as help with flash and recoil. I will say, for a .223, the extra barrel length performance of a 16" vs 14.5" is actually a good bit more substantial than one might think, and notably increases the range of that 2700 FPS distance; which is why I've never bothered with that in .223. With Grendel, the round is a lot different, and is a lot more forgiving in performance to barrel length decreases. Which is why a 12" grendel performance is so good. 14.5 will be better, but the incremental increase to 16" from 14.5 isn't nearly so drastic, as is it in .223.
So in the end, it's a matter of personal taste. a 12" is typically closer 14" after muzzle device. it's only ~2 more inches if doing 14.5 pin and weld (or bare 16). But in the end, the pin and weld looks cooler; and that's super important. :o