So the Noveske Afghan and n4 Light Low Profile are roughly the same rifle. N4 has the TDP/M249 barrel, and the Afghan has the SS Barrel.
I’ve never owned a rifle with the SS barrel. Does anyone here know the weight difference? Is it heavier? Is it harder to clean?
Any advice on advantages of one over the other appreciated. Using for some heavy training this year. Already have a 6920.
Edited to add: I’m at the foot of the Oregon temperate rain forest, so very high humidity here.
Noops
I wouldn’t say they are roughly the same rifle. The afghan barrel weighs in at more than 2 lbs (almost a pound heavier than the N4), has polygonal rifling, a match grade chamber, and a different profile. I haven’t shot the N4 light and Afghan back to back, but against my LMT 14.5" barrel the Afghan is clearly the more accurate barrel. The N4, on paper, should hold up better to sustained fire, high round counts, and yield longer barrel life. The SS barrels are designed to withstand F/A fire yet maintain match grade accuracy. Kinda apples to oranges.
So far the Afghan hasn’t proved to be any harder to clean than my other barrels, you just have to make sure you don’t use ammonia based cleaners with it. Either one will stand up fine to the elements provided you keep the bore coated with a light layer of oil when in storage.
My LMT and Afghan are almost decked out with the same gear yet the Afghan feels MUCH heavier as the day goes on.
the lmt for comparison, the N4 barrel supposedly weighs the same as a gov profile m4.
Here is a Defense review interview with John Noveske. Among other things he discusses the light barrel vs the stainless barrel along with the unique chamber Noveske rifles use. He concludes that although both give excellent accuracy and service life, the stainless barrel is a tad more accurate (on average and not by much) while the light chrome lined has a little longer service life (big surprise).
Talked to Noveske yesterday about this. Short answer is the Afghan is a accuracy set up and the Light is a high use duty rifle. A VIS Light Recce is in my future.
Molon has some good write-ups on the real world accuracy of Noveske SS and N4 barrels.
here’s one:
Thanks you guys. I’m no super duper sniper shooter, and this is for a working gun, more rounds and classes. So I don’t think I’m a good enough shooter to justify the MOA difference talked about here and in the Defense Review article. I think I’m going to go for the N4 Light Low Profile. Which is way fancier than anything I’ve owned before.
Thanks for the help.
Noops