No purpose in continuing this thread.
Both are solid choices, but I would end up putting a rail on any carbine I bought. With that in mind, I would go the BCM route for my own needs. That doesn’t change that Colt is an great brand.
I’ve only handled the Colt, and it’s a solid shooter. The SOCOM barrel is surprisingly accurate for a govt M4 profile barrel, and when combined with an H2 buffer pretty soft shooting as well.
There was a Colt SOCOM “property” in the shop by me that Pappabear saw. We’re both beside ourselves for not grabbing it. (I’m not sure was the MCMR model is) But like Stick said. Can’t go wrong with either.
I thought the Colt SOCOM was being hyped until I built one and shot it. Reality can be pleasant at times.
At OP,
Have you looked at the BCM Enhanced MID weight 14.5 upper? Granted I don’t believe they make one in total rifle package, but everyone I’ve talks to says their great, save that I have yet to actually shoot with said barrel. Just thinking it’s probably a decent sweet spot between the 2 choices
I have one of these setup for my NV gun. It’s a sweet machine. I have 12” QRF I’ve been debating switching out.
Dont pass on that “US Property” gun, you might start cutting yourself. I love BCM gear but that Colt is equal to the BCM with a bit a nostalgia cool factor. I have an old BCM roll marked lower that is kinda cool that I stamped, so it aint going nowhere. Rollmarks are cool as long as they say the right names.
I say fke it, its Christmas, buy both and put one under the tree. My wife buys me guns all the time around Christmas. What she don’t know…Get in the spirit brother! The amount of 9mm she has bought me lately is out of control.
I looked at some BCM full guns and they priced competitively for a gun ready for action with rail etc.
PB
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I have that middy, ELW upper. Bought mine 1700 years ago when they first came out. I run a AAC mini4 on it. Mark tossed a BRT tube in it to make it shoot better. Those AAC cans are GASSY and its light AF so it needed it badly.
PB
Save money and get a Colt EPR, Trooper or 6960. If you’re gonna use an NX8, might as well make the barrel free float and make the gun as intrinsically accurate as possible.
These two uppers are hardly an apples to apples comparison, so what do you prefer…a medium contour barrel that’ll probably deliver sub MOA performance and isn’t free floated, or a really lightweight profile barrel that’s unlikely to do much better than 1.5 MOA with a really light weight free float rail.
I have a couple BCM 16" ELW uppers, but I have no desire to spoil their light weight, great handling properties by attaching an LPVO to them. They have micro RDSs,and that’s not going to change. I have a few uppers with 16" medium profile barrels that are likely equal to the SOCOM barrel, but they have robust Geissele and Centurion free float rails attached (and LPVOs) to take advantage of the performance delivered by the barrels.
The Colt SOCOM barrel is not a “govt M4 profile barrel”. That’s the whole point of it.
…
Bravo Company 14.5” ELW Accuracy: A Quick Look
ELW stands for enhanced light-weight. This barrel is from Bravo Company’s cold-hammer forged series of barrels. The barrel has a “continuous taper” design with a smooth shoulder at the gas block journal, which reportedly improves barrel harmonics. This barrel has a mid-length gas system and a 0.625” gas block journal.
According to Bravo Company, this barrel has a stripped weight of 1 pound, 5 ounces. For comparison, a Colt 14.5” M4 barrel has a stripped weight of 1 pound, 9 ounces.
BCM 14.5” ELW
Colt 14.5” M4 barrel. (not stripped)
I purchased this barrel as part of a BCM factory assembled upper receiver group with the MCMR 13” free-float hand guard. The barrel has BCM’s pinned and welded A2X flash hider.
Shooting off-the-bench at a distance of 100 yards (using a high magnification scope), this barrel produced a 10-shot group that has an extreme spread of 0.946” with a mean radius of 0.33”.
….
Colt M4A1 SOCOM Barrel Accuracy: Another Look
In 2010, I posted one of the first publicly available, in-depth accuracy evaluations of a Colt M4A1 SOCOM barrel. At that time, the Colt SOCOM barrel was relatively new to the civilian market. Many people, including myself, were pleasantly surprised by the level of accuracy/precision that I obtained with the SOCOM barrel; particularly since it is a chrome-lined, NATO chambered “military-grade” barrel. Since that time, the Colt M4A1 SOCOM barrel has developed a significant appreciation amongst AR-15 enthusiasts.
The M4A1 SOCOM barrel
More recently, I assembled another upper receiver group based on the Colt M4A1 SOCOM barrel. This new build features a Colt cage-code marked M4 upper receiver, a Colt “C” marked bolt carrier group and a 13” Geissele MK14 M-LOK free-float hand-guard.
A genuine Colt M4A1 SOCOM barrel is 14.5” long and has a medium contour; it is not an HBAR. The barrel has a 5.56mm NATO chamber and a 1:7” twist.
Colt SOCOM barrel
Colt HBAR
A genuine SOCOM barrel has the typical M4 circumferential cut-out located approximately 1.4” forward of the gas block for the attachment of an M203 grenade launcher, as well as rectangular shaped cut-outs underneath the hand-guards on the port and starboard sides of the barrel, located approximately 1.4” aft of the gas block, for the same reason. The gas port on a genuine SOCOM barrel has a diameter of 0.062” and the barrel employs a carbine-length gas system.
The SOCOM barrel has a stripped weight of 1 pound, 14 ounces. That is only 2 ounces heavier than the ubiquitous 16” government profile barrel found on the Colt 6920.
Colt SOCOM barrel
Colt 6920 barrel
The stripped weight of the SOCOM barrel is 5 ounces heavier than the stripped weight of the standard Colt 14.5” M4 barrel. The pic below shows the difference between the standard M4 barrel and the SOCOM barrel. From the gas block journal forward, the two barrels are identical
SOCOM barrel on top, standard barrel on bottom
The next pic is a close-up comparing the two barrels in the area between the chamber and the gas block journal, showing you where the extra weight is added.
The date-code on my original SOCOM barrel was “11/03” and the date-code on my newer SOCOM barrel is “02/18”
My original SOCOM barrel had an “F-marked” front sight base. Colt no longer stamps an “F” on their front sight bases, but their newer front sight bases maintain the length of 1.98” from the top of the barrel to the shelf for the front sight post.
My original SOCOM barrel was stamped:
“C MP 5.56 NATO 1/7”
The newer SOCOM barrel is stamped with Colt’s cage code.
“13629 M P 5.56 NATO 1/7”
Both of these SOCOM barrels have the “O” stamp near the chamber portion of the barrel. Naturally, the M4A1 SOCOM barrel has M4 feed ramps.
Accuracy Conmparison
In 2010, my original SOCOM barrel with the “11/03” date-code produced a 10-shot group fired from a distance of 100 yards that had an extreme spread of 0.90”. That group was fired from my bench-rest set-up using match-grade hand-loads and a high magnification scope.
My newer SOCOM barrel with the “02/18” date-code produced a 10-shot group fired from a distance of 100 yards that had an extreme spread of 0.93”. This group was fired off of sand-bags using match-grade hand-loads and a high magnification scope.
. . . .
Excellent information Molon, thank you!
I would say it depends on what your intent is. As Molon has showed both barrels are capable of very good accuracy, with the Colt being a slight edge. The biggest difference is weight and handling, the ELW is a decent bit lighter. So depending on the optic/setup you want that may tip the scales either direction. But they are both wonderful barrels as Molon has demonstrated
When putting a 1-8 on it, id definately go with the lighter barrel and ff handguard.
You are correct. I meant to say that it’s a standard off the rack button rifled chrome lined barrel, for a standard off the rack carbine. Issued to every Joe in the Army, it’s not a stainless match grade barrel, yet it holds very impressive groups.