Does anyone know the gas port sizes on BCM’s CAR 14.5 and 16 inch barrels? Or do they use the same size on both lengths like Colt and DD apparently do with their carbine barrels?
I’ve done quite a bit of searching and most of what I’ve found pertains to mid-lengths, which isn’t what I’m looking for.
Thanks.
Same, .0625"
They’re gassed great. Just rolled out a SOCOM 14.5 and it runs just right.
Thanks guys.
I have a buddy who has owned a perm’d 14.5" BCM M4 carbine gas w/ A2X FH and he says it runs smoother than his issued M4 ever did. He is currently using a PSA CHF 14.7" middy w/ a perm’d A2 and the middy is smoother…but he still says that the BCM is the smoothest carbine gas gun he has ever shot.
Take that anecdotal evidence for what it’s worth.
It really is amazing just how good the carbine gas system will run when they’re gassed right. :eek:
I’ll find out how good mine runs later on today I hope. The reason for my original question stemmed from a potentially questionable decision to have a BCM 16" lightweight barrel cut down to 14.7" with a permed A2, I was trying to put together something approximating a Colt 653/723 and only after I got the barrel back from Adco did the gas port issue occur to me. If the ports are the same size in both lengths though it shouldn’t matter. I kinda drifted away from the original intent of the build along the way though, and now I want to go SBR anyway…but I digress…
So later today I’m planning to run a few mags of mixed Russian steel case (including the dreaded green lacquer/red sealant stuff) through it and see how it does.
If anything, the GP will be a little on the small side…but this means softer-shooting as long as it functions properly.
Let us know your results.
I fired 140 rounds of mixed Russian steel case out of two Bulgarian 40 round IK-520 mags and three GI 20 rounders relatively quickly. Not a really high round count obviously, but there were no issues. I figure if it were going to hiccup with anything it would be that stuff. I did fail to notice that my sling had looped around the barrel when I set the carbine down after I emptied the mags though, so now I have melted nylon on the barrel…oops.
14.5’’ SOCOM profile barrel + carbine gas system + VLTOR A5 + LMT Enhanced carrier = best non-SBR setup ever. IMO.
Good to see you posting, man.
With the exception of the LMT carrier, that’s what I’m running. I have the NFA upper and am running it on one of my SBR lowers. 
Seems a bureacratic waste… but I don’t want to perm anything to the barrel.
Perming shit to the barrel is stupid anyway. I’d rather pay the $200, and wait a few months, than totally ruin a barrel.
Yeah, I don’t understand the fascination with 14.5" barrels with perm fixed muzzle devices. Either SBR it or stick with a 16" barrel.
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LOL, i thought i was the only one around here who thought that…
Depends how much that 1.5’’ means to you.
For me it’s worth it, because I rarely change muzzle devices and the length difference to 16’’ is appreciable to me. Not to mention, the pin does not ruin the barrel… it just ruins the muzzle device if you decide to change and it’s necessary for this barrel length in certain states, namely Washington, were I live. But yes, the need to have to pin in the first place is totally retarded.
One of the more annoying facets of WA state law…
For the record, I don’t think getting a permed muzzle device on a 14.5/14.7 barrel is something I’d do again. It made sense at the time when I was trying to do a quasi-retro build though, and I have a second AR without a permanently attached device anyway. I’m giving serious consideration to going through the SBR process.
Another myth about 14.5" barrels with pinned flash hiders…
“It saves 1.5”!!!"
Being that a standard flash hider only adds about an inch to the barrel’s OAL, it will only save you an inch or less.
12.5-12.7" is my favorite length for an SBR.