If no NFA I’d have a 11.5 or 12.5" barrel as its much shorter/easier to handle in tight spaces and still able to reach out as far as I’d ever have to shoot. As a civy it is way more likely id have to use it indoors than take a shot past 100yds.
That said, for what its worth, I think its good to have a 14.5"pinned/16" first then move into sbrs just for ease of transport(legal issues). Also, a 16"oal ar is still very easy to move around indoors with, just not optimal.
I honestly don’t know. The shortest rifles I’ve shot have 16" barrels. I don’t know if I’ll like an SBR as much or more than a carbine for what I use it for.
I do know that, in my mind, there are only two general configurations of ARs that are different enough to consider- short barrel carbine and full sized rifle. I don’t see any reason to have a 16" CQB carbine and an 18" precision rifle, for example. The real difference between the two is optics and with modern quick release mounts, they effectively become the same rifle. It may be the same is true between a 20" rifle and a 16" carbine as well. However, I prefer my 20" rifle for precision shooting over my 16".
It may be that an SBR is a better carbine than a 16". I just don’t have enough experience with SBRs to know
I’ll tell you from shooting experience that this:
Is faster and easier to handle than this:
Not a lot, but some. My question more stems from seeing guys with SBR’s still choose to run the 14.5/16" gun.
I turned my 16" gun into this:
But them I’m like, “Am I missing something?” Should I maintain a 14.5/16" gun with a dot on it?
or make it a .308 if your bored
A good shooter will master whatever bbl length AR he or she has available. The shorties have the advantage during movement indoors. The longer rifles have the advantage of control because you can get your support hand further out (especially important for shooters like me with long arms).
The real advantage for me to an SBR is transportability. It’s easier to take with me, especially discreetly than a full length rifle. Add that to some of our forum members making 500+ yard shots easily with SBR’s… and if I had to have just one, and NFA was not an issue, I’d get a 12" bbl with an 11" handguard.
I would, and am, going with an 11.5" carbine for pretty much the same reasons everyone else is stating above…it fulfills pretty much every role I could ever need a rifle for (short of hunting deer)
If I could have only 1 rifle:
If I could have 2 rifles:
I can basically cover all my needs/wants and shooting fun with 4 firearms:
Done 
…Well, that being said…I can’t stream-line my collection TOO much…So throw in an MP5 and Suppressed .22 for nothing but shits-n-giggles!
but not an 11.5". Or a 12.5".
+1 the $200 has nothing to do with processing fees. When it was originally instated, its sole purpose was to discourage people from buying such weapons. It came about after the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre when two full auto Thompsons were used. By todays standards with inflation it would be equal to like $1300 or some shit.
Guess I’m in the minority; I prefer a 14.5 or 16".
I started a few years ago with a 10.5 and I’m sure mostly it was my inexperience to shooting but my shots under time at anything more 15 meters started to open up drastically. I’d rather have a 14.5" or 16" putting more rounds in the zone at distance…again, obviously my inexperience; hopefully my position changes as time and training commence.
I’ve been a fan of my 14.5" with RDS (Aimpoint micro) mounted, and my 16" Light Recce setup with a 1-4X scope. That said IF I could have anything I think it would be an RDS setup with a 12.5" barrel and an 11" VTAC handguard. This would alow an aimpoint (3X magnifier) and give the MAX performance in a minimal frame.
I pretty much agree with the above. At least when talking about a carbine. If you throw in rifle length guns I really like my 20 inch ar’s. For iron sights I like the longer site radius and the softer shooting setup the longer gas system gives me. With the short range I generally shoot at(or foresee ever really needing to shoot my ar at) I don’t see the advantage of a 16 inch ar vs a shorter one. Thats not to say I can’t foresee the use for a non-sbr’d carbine. It just will not generally be my first choice.
Bingo and why I have several of each.
OP states non mag optic so somewhat CQC usage. Add in the advantages of suppression and short bbl makes the most sense.
LMAO!! Precisely!
The 5.56 is not overflowing with terminal perfomance. I will take all the barrel length and velocity I can get with a 16 to 20 inch barrel.
FWIW, here’s a ballistics graph I did based on chrono data from my 16 inch mid-length vs my 11.5 inch SBR.
Plenty of Ali Babas are dead from 10.3" barreled 5.56mm weapons, even at ranges beyond 300 yards.
But, when not limited to .mil ball ammo, I cannot see any reason to justify a 16"+ AR15 over a 10.3" AR15 in a home defense scenario.
SBR for sure. 16" or greater is fine for a “target/precision” rifle, but not very handy. Heck my 5" 1911 can get decent hits at 100yds on man sized targets.
:stop: Following this line of logic, if you’re 1911 is so decent at 100, then whats the need for the SBR at all? Just saying! As to the SBR v carbine thing, IMO the carbine offers a better interface with the operator, it having more space with which to work, that said, SBR’s offer a significant advantage in portability, especially exiting from an air ship, or an APC of some type…I think both have upside.
And many, many, many more were just wounded and lived to fight another day.
This. Honestly, if I could only own one, I’d keep my 10.5" LMT and not feel bad about it at all. I can smack ass out to 400 with just my Aimpoint. If I had an ACOG or a 1-8x of some description, I could do anything I needed to do.
Trusts are not slowing them down. i had to make a correction and send my whole trust in. it was approved the day after they got the corrections and full trust. no way a lawyer reviewed it that fast.
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