FN AR heavy or light barrel?

Buy one of each. Supposedly, they're hot swappable.

 

I always look at it this way. If it is going to be a gun that I mainly use for target/bench use,I will get the heavy barrel.The heavy barreled gun will be more accurate than the lighter one. Now if I was going to be walking miles & miles on a hunting trip I might want to get the lighter one. But I have toted my Savage 110FLP around on an elk hunt in Montana a couple times and it is one heavy beast,and it didn't bother me that much.

 

I would buy the light barrel. The price and availability of maks would turn me away however. Have you considered a DSArms FN FAL? The mags will cost you much less. I would also look into an AR 10 platform -- Rock River Arms makes an AR 10 type that takes the FAL mags.

 

Kent - If you have your heart set on the weapon, then your decision is made.

However, I have to ask what is your goal?

Do you want a semi auto, mid to "long" range shooter?

Because a .308 round is really only good to about 600-650 yards and with a 20" barrel, you are not going to get MOA accuracy out of a semi auto platform, with that configuration, at that range.

What is your definition of "learn to shoot long distance"?

JD

 

Heavy barrels help by providing "at rest" inertia. This mildly lessens recoil and damps barrel whip/harmonics.

 

Okay, first off, whoever is telling you that a production built rifle, with a 20" barrel in .308 caliber, will shoot .4 MOA at 600 YARDS has ONE HELL of rifle in his/her hands, and is an AWESOME shooter.

I am not saying it's impossible to create such a thing, but in a production environment, I would find it EXTREMELY hard to believe that this is a common occurence.

Shooting 600 yards is a LONG ways. 6 football fields is easy to throw out there, but actually stand on a football field and look at the other endzone, that's 100 yards, short of the end zones.

.4 MOA is a three shot group ( NOTE: we do a 5 shot group at our shop after a fouling shot ) that measures, what, like 2.4 inches?!?! That is impressive by anyone's standards, but with a production semi-auto with a 20" barrel and factory ammo?

I am skeptical to say the least, but I have been wrong before and will be again, I am sure....

As for your question concerning the thin versus thick barrel.

A thick barrel will ALWAYS beat a thin barrel in multiple shot groups with all things being equal. The reason is many:

Barrel Harmonics
Heat Dissipation
Outside Influences ( stock contact, sling tension, barrel "whip", etc. )

The greater the force ( the round pressure in question ) is on the density of the material in question ( the thickness of the barrel ) is always going to be greater on a thin barrel versus a thick barrel.

If you don't have to pack it for hundreds of miles - a thick barrel is ALWAYS the correct choice.

JD

 

Kent - After reading the links I have two thoughts....

1) 50 Yards?!?!? My Sister can shoot at 50 yards - with ANY long gun, that is not a measure of true "accuracy". I frequently shoot 50 yards outdoors with my 1911's at a 10 steel "gong" and ring it out....

2) That guy in the review is shooting handloads. I didn't read enough to see if he was shooting fire formed brass, but still, it's easy to handload better ammo than you can buy "off the shelf".

I don't know if this production rifle can shoot, or not, so you are kind of venturing into dark territory.

I can tell you this, using a 20" barrel to shoot 50 yards is like nailing a porn star - it's a sure thing & anyone can do it.

Good luck with whatever you decide, but I would definitely price shop the FN versus a "Standard" .308 AR.

JD

 

Good Answer

Dillinger:
Way to lay it all out there. Good post I, I fully agree...... not much else to add.

 

I personally went with the heavy barrel. My AR has a 16" heavy, and also a 24" bull barrel. It (bull barrel) gives me about a 1-1.5" group at 200yds. My 16" has similar results at 100 yds. I don't have the oppurtunity to shoot any further. But I swear by the heavy weights.

 

Kent - That is a pretty good range report I have to agree. For a factory gun, that is a nice final 3 shot group.

A couple of things though - The guy was handloading for the rifle and he did say that was the best group after he got "into the swing of things" - I don't know if that means getting on paper with his rifle, or adjusting to the wind, or what.

Just to keep in perspective.

Still, that is some impressive shooting for a final result.

JD

 

Agreed. She isn't a beauty queen, but she seems built for stout. If the weapon can prove to cycle with different types of ammo, for a SHTF scenario, you might be on to a winner there.... Never hurts to have a good .308 in the safe.

JD

 

I dunno', I actually think they look much better than the AR. ARs are butt-ugly to me., they just look like toys.