Howdy folks-
Gonna be picking up a 16" BCM middy upper soon. Trying to decide between the ‘standard’ profile, and their lightweight version. Any thoughts on which would be best?
This will primarily be an uh-oh/home defense gun, and of course there will be a lot of range use (and training down the line) to go with that.
For a heavy use weapon I would personally prefer the heavier barrel.Im partial to a medium contour barrel anyway,so Im probably the wrong person to comment.
I have a standard weight BCM middy, looking to sell or swap for lightweight if that tells you anything…
I think BCM stated the standard vs lightweight has a 4oz difference or so. This is 4oz removed from the far end of the barrel so it shifts the center of balance towards the shooter. The carbine lightweight will be slightly lighter vs the standard carbine because there is more barrel in front of the front sight post to machine down. Underneath the handguards on either type is pretty much govt profile. Im gonna guess carbine lightweights weigh 1-2 oz less than middy lighweights.
For Daniel Defense, I think they stated their carbine govt vs carbine pencil is 6 oz. DD uses .625" gas blocks tho, so its going to be slightly lighter than BCMs lightweights. BCMs isn’t truly a pencil build but they opted to use .75" gas block due to parts normality. So if you have to get a new gas block you can use any standard gas block on a BCM lightweight. Good decision IMO. Somewhat of a PITA to find .625" gas blocks
Are you planning to make this build a lightweight build? If you start adding all these rails and accessories to one then its kind of not utilizing it fully. I made a Cavalry Arms polymer lower + BCM lightweight middy build and it weighed 5.75 lbs before optics. You can get it a little less if you use a carbine upper. They are both the same price tho.
if you want a free float LW setup:
http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-16-Mid-Length-LIGHT-WEIGHT-Upper-Receiver-p/bcm-urg-mid-16lw%20vtrx11.htm
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I recently got the BCM 16" LW middy with DD 12" lite rail. Even with the rail, there is a considerable difference in felt weight between my old M4 14.5" perm pinned upper with Troy MRF-CX FSP rail. Now I am running the new Magpul RVG up front with MBUS front and rear and a Surefire M300 mini scout. The package is capable and still a very reasonable weight even with the Comp M4 mounted (though I may swap to a T1 or H1) to cut weight even more. I am alow swapping my ACS for a CTR because I realize I don’t need all the battery storage and could stand to shave even more weight.
All in all I am very glad I went with the LW middy option and the 12" rail. For my preferences it is the best of all worlds. I also would not let barrel durability be a point of concern. The only part on the BCM LW that is shaved down is in front of the FSP, the rest in standard profile.
I’m looking at the same upper you have from BCM, but I thought the barrel between the FSP and the barrel nut was 0.625 as well, minus the area that is tappered up for the chamber and nut.
I say go light weight on the upper…every ounce you can save will be worth it in the long run. I could only imagine how much better a slightly lighter rifle would be to carry for an all day class, not to mention it trades weight for all the ninja-fide stuff you want to hang on it…
JMO
Shane
You may be right about the barrel profile behind the FSB, to be honest I did not check. I was under the impression that it was the standard profile behind the FSB. Would not be the first time I have been wrong:D
It appears to be govt profile behind the barrel on a BCM lightweight, I used a tape measure to check the circumference when I first received it and it was the same as the 20" govt.
20" BCM govt profile, 16" BCM middy lightweight, 16" Delton middy heavy in these pics. Behind the front sight on the 16" lightweight you can see there is extra material removed as compared to the 20" govt barrel in addition to whats removed ahead of the front sight
Thanks for the advice and pics guys! It doesn’t sound like there’s a downside to the LW, so I’ll be picking up one I believe. I’ll have an AFG and surefire up front so the weight savings will be appreciated.
Oh, it also looks like I scored an Aimpoint ML2 for cheap, so I’ll be hunting for a cheapish mount now too!
LW is the way to go and believe we have 1 or 2 left in stock!
C4
There is a very slight difference under the handguards (towards the FSB) between the BCM Middy Govt profile and BCM Middy LW:
As for the actual dimensions of the taper:
I love my BCM Middy LW
i took some weight numbers a while back with my postal scale. This is without a BCG, CH, rear sight, handguards. Upper has a standard front sight.
BCM 16" Midlength Lighweight Upper: 2lb 11.2oz
What kind of lower do you have on that BCM lightweight Upper? Thinking about a DD Lower from G&R. Those BCM Lowers are hard to come by:rolleyes:
I weighed my LMT m4 upper and lw middy upper, bith came in at 2 lbs 8 oz 
I think you’d be happy with either lower. The DD has a flared mag well that should help with reloads.
That’s exactly what I just did -
Cavalry Arms MkII Lower
Is your wife going to shoot it too? If so, then it is likely she would prefer the LW. 8 ounces or a pound less weight seems to matter to new shooters, women and kids (in my experience). Maybe you can spring for a LW for her, and a regular for yourself and put the high volume shooting through the regular.
While were on the subject, why does the govt profile barrel have the front of the barrel heavy. Is there some use for this extra thickness.