Good Morning Gent’s, After much thought, I’ve decided that my primary carbine will have a 14.5" M4 profile bbl. Currently, I only have 2 5.56 AR’s, both Colt, an R6520 & a LE6920. ( Also have a beautiful, early production STAG M5 in 6.8 SPC, & an LMT LM308MWS in 7.62 ) I’ve been trying to decide between having my LE6920 converted to legal 14.5", preferably by Ken Elmore at SAW, or possibly by ADCO, which I’m sure will run me a good deal less that by SAW. Another option is to just buy a new complete 14.5" upper from BCM, with of course their over length A2 style F/H permanently affixed. In terms of cost, the least costly will be the ADCO solution, followed by SAW, with the BCM complete upper being the most costly. Sooooo, my QUESTIONS are as follows; 1) How “neat” is the “cut, pin & weld” job as performed by ADCO ? Is is neat & well finished, or is left somewhat visible, so as to leave no doubt that the F/H has been affixed as per ATF reg’s ? 2) As for the BCM complete upper, I recall reading that when BCM creates a non-NFA 14.5" bbl’d upper, they purposely leave the work obvious & visible to remove any doubt that it’s been legally done. Just how visible is the BCM perm. F/H ? I’ve searched around a bit, but I can’t seem to find any close up photos of a BCM produced version. 3) Lastly, I have seen photos of Ken Elmore’s 16" to 14.5" “conversions”, & I have to say, you can’t tell it from a Colt factory job ! Yes, SAW gets $295 for it, ( Not sure if shipping is included ? ) but if you value full quality workmanship as much as I do, then the price may just be worth it. Well, there it is. I’d very much appreciate any input as to the ADCO & or BCM options. I’ve read many good reports here on the Forum as to ADCO’s work & prices, but would prefer to view some photos prior to making my decision. As always, any & all replies will be very much appreciated. THANK YOU
@ 295 dollars you’re about 140 dollars shy of a new upper, albeit one without a charging handle or BCG and you’d have to pay whatever they charge for the permanent muzzle device installation. I have no experience with ADCO, but so many folks use them I can’t imagine it’s bad. Either way, I’d leave my colt upper as is and save up a bit more scratch for the dedicated 14.5 upper. But, FWIW - I went through a phase of 14.5 inch uppers and I prefer 16 anymore for ease of customization.
I’ve had a Colt 6920 cut to to 14.5", pinned and welded by both ADCO and SAW.
They both do good work but I preferred ADCO by a huge margin.
SAW thinks it’s cute install the flash hider without a crush washer, and then machine the wrench flats off the flash hider making it look like part of the barrel. The first time I saw it I threw up in my mouth. After the initial impression, it just looked worse as time went by so I sold it for a huge loss and quit messing with 14.5" barrels altogether. They won’t do it any other way and they really should warn their customers before they spend an exorbitant amount of money to dick up a barrel. Especially when the whole point of sending them the barrel in the first place to was to replicate, as closely as possible, an issued M4.
ADCO will do whatever you want. Reasonable price, quick turn around, good work.
I can tell you that nobody does front sight bases like Colt. Colt gets 'em on there straighter than anyone. Back when 6920s came with carry handles, you could bet on pulling it out the box with the rear sight set to mechanical center and leaving it there. Can’t say the same about BCM.
Nobody does that type of upper as well as Colt does.
My experience differs from yours. Colt doesn’t quite make em’ like they used to when their 6920s came with carry handles. I’ve seen too many Colt uppers with misaligned FHs, canted FSBs, and improperly torqued barrel nuts to believe the kool-aid. Colt barrels are excellent, but so are BCM’s. OP: BCM is the way to go, especially since Colt doesn’t make a 14.5 pinned upper.
for what a colt 6920 is going for RIGHT now… it literally cannot be beat. Unless your have a DIAS. then it can be beat. Or you want mid-length, pinned and welded 14.5 etc.
I’d just go BCM. SAW is expensive, and potentially a long turn around. I don’t trust ADCO based on mixed reports/reviews here… and the ADCO Custom Cruiser I personally own.
Why do you want a permanently attached flash hider/muzzle device? What will it do for you? The perceived OAL benefit really isn’t worth the cost or handicap. If you go the SAW route, be prepared for a wait.
An antique word it is not. By failing to understand the difference between the subject of a clause versus the object of a clause, you expose your ignorance. Next time, please do not contrive to justify incorrect usage of the English grammatical rules.
If you’re cutting down a barrel I’d consider 14.7" so you can use pretty much any muzzle device rather than 14.5" requiring an extended muzzle device.
I’m not a big fan of M4 profile. I’m not denying that they can be accurate, and many are, but it’s an inefficient use of material compared to a gentle taper in diameter from the breech to the bore. For the same weight the tapered profile should point better and be more accurate (given equal quality). However, it’s your gun and you get to do what you want with it.
I had Adco cut a few of my barrels; one a Colt 6920 barrels to 14.5" and the other a LWRC barrel to 10.5". The 10.5" barrel came out great, but the 14.5" barrel they didn’t do the M4 .700 X .700 muzzle step because I thought it was part of the barrel cutting process, and not an extra $60 USD. I wish they would have told me, and would have paid for it
A third option would be to buy a 6921 upper from G&R and have Grant pin it for you (he’s out of stock at the moment, but I’m sure he’ll get more in soon):
I’m sure you could recoup a decent amount of your investment by selling the 6920 upper. I haven’t seen Grant’s pin/weld work yet, but I’m hoping to order one soon.
It sounds like they changed their process at some point, because their website describes it now as a one-piece, machined muzzle device that is made to look like an A2 flash suppressor:
Personally, I think it looks odd without the crush washer, so while it looks like they put a lot of work into it, I feel like a pinned/welded A2X on a true 14.5" barrel would better replicate the appearance of a real M4. That’s really the only reason I’m considering a pinned 6921 upper, because I’m trying to get as close as possible to the look of a military M4, for sentimental reasons.
Veeklog pointed out an important aspect of the 6920 conversion too - the difference in the 6920 barrel profile forward of the FSB, compared to a true 14.5" barrel, if it matters to you. Something to consider if you plan to have someone do the conversion for you. That’s another reason I’d like to have a 6921 upper pinned, as opposed to cutting down a 6920.
This and this. With a few exceptions perma fixing something to the end of the rifle just doesn’t make sense and the “it be shorter” argument has yet to impress me. If I want shorter I’ll grab an SBR and be done with it.
That is sig line worthy right them. I may need to steal that.