AR with 14.5" and permanent flash hider question

[Khromo]

I have a question regarding an AR-15 assembly project I'm trying to finish!

I am assembling an AR in 5.56 for home defense. I would like to keep it as short as possible since I am talking about inside my midget house! I don't want to go through the grief and aggravation of assembling anything with a barrel shorter than 16", so in my inexperienced little brain I figured I would get a 14.5" barrel with a permanently attached flash hider, and get a two-piece low profile gas block so the hand guard could extend over it.

I'm not finding any 14.5" barrels with permanently attached flash hiders anywhere, except the Yankee Hills, which I haven't seen in stock since I got interested in AR's early last summer. I also am not finding any two-piece low profile gas blocks.

I have figured out that I must be wrong in my thinking, somewhere, which doesn't surprise me, but I need to reach out for help. I think I can do this with a regular low pro gas block if I install it prior to getting the flash hider attached, but there don't seem to be any living gunsmiths left in San Diego, and my project, which is complete except for this last hurdle (and a Seekins enhanced bolt catch), would be more complicated if I have to start shipping components, etc.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Sorry for the stupid, confusing question, but I tried to search for an answer and came up empty.

[monk]

Palmetto state armory and rifle gear both have them. You don't need a gunsmith to install a new gas block to an ar. There's tons of videos out there, check YouTube.

[SB1964]

You'll prolly need to buy the 14.5 & have a FH welded. I wanted the "shortest possible" for another AR & decided against it. I'm glad I did, haven't exactly tripped over the extra 1.5"

[kcstott]

Thing is the barrel is going to be 16" when complete. I don't understand the worry over 1.25" if you look at the muzzle brake. your over all length is not changing much.

[Khromo]

Palmetto state armory and rifle gear both have them. You don't need a gunsmith to install a new gas block to an ar. There's tons of videos out there, check YouTube.

Thanks for the reply, Monk. I can install a gas block, but I wanted to get a barrel with a flash hider already permanently attached so I wouldn't need to find a smith, since there are not many at all here in San Diego. I haven't found a two-piece block with a low profile.

[cowboyup]

Adco can sell the barrel and the gunsmithing to install the flash hider. Adco has a website.

Dave's metal works in Covina can hook you up as well.

Parallax Tatical in SD can do it also.

Choose the barrel nut, and install first, and you may want to just slide on a gas block before welding it up to.

Rifle Gear will do it as well.

Good luck and post up some pics when your done.

[dls]

You could buy the barrel, and have it shipped direct to theses guys to have the flash hider pinned.. ?

http://www.adcofirearms.com/shopservices/

[Khromo]

Thanks a lot for the replies, gentlemen! All help is honestly appreciated. I need it!

I went ahead and ordered a BCM 14.5" barrel and extended A2 flash hider this morning. This assembly should total 16.1" when it's done, keeping me out of trouble, and providing the best handling package I can manage at this time.

Back in the distant past, when I had a job, I learned that when manuevering around indoors with a long arm:
shorter is always better
door frames are unforgiving, and
an inch or two can make a difference!

Since I've been fantasizing about getting some work done on a Remington 700 bolt, I think I will pm Randall and see if I can get him to handle both jobs for me.

Thanks again, and stay safe!

[SJgunguy24]

In my experiance from working in the industry is, people like to change their minds. So if I only sell you an upper I'm not going to pin and weld the muzzle device. Too many times I've had people tell me they want to change something and when they find out the muzzle device will be destroyed when removing it they get pissed.
If they want to change the gas block, destroyed muzzle device. Want to put on a rail that has a special barrel nut, destroyed muzzle device.

[monk]

In my experiance from working in the industry is, people like to change their minds. So if I only sell you an upper I'm not going to pin and weld the muzzle device. Too many times I've had people tell me they want to change something and when they find out the muzzle device will be destroyed when removing it they get pissed.
If they want to change the gas block, destroyed muzzle device. Want to put on a rail that has a special barrel nut, destroyed muzzle device.

What's the alternative on a <16" barrel?

[FORD4LIFE]

What's the alternative on a <16" barrel?

AR Pistol

[Khromo]

In my experiance from working in the industry is, people like to change their minds. So if I only sell you an upper I'm not going to pin and weld the muzzle device. Too many times I've had people tell me they want to change something and when they find out the muzzle device will be destroyed when removing it they get pissed.
If they want to change the gas block, destroyed muzzle device. Want to put on a rail that has a special barrel nut, destroyed muzzle device.

SJ, I hear that one loud and loud! Clear, too!

I used to build musical instruments, until I figured out that trying to sell things to a group of people who mostly had no money wasn't my best idea. That, and musicians are a generally screwed up bunch of people! Talk about changing their minds! I was starting to dislike my customers as a group, and that felt way wrong, so I found other ways to spend my time!

I understand the concerns about welding the muzzle device and burning the bridge to something different down the road, but I've got a day at the range or the desert covered, and this one should fill a different niche. It'll get shot once in a while for familiarity and function testing, but this one is for the night the Boogieman comes calling!

[Khromo]

Thing is the barrel is going to be 16" when complete. I don't understand the worry over 1.25" if you look at the muzzle brake. your over all length is not changing much.

When I was working in law enforcement, we had some Remington 870's with 14" barrels. I put a youth stock on one, and that thing was not very much wider than I am! Crashing around in unfamiliar indoor environments, often in the dark and in a state of heightened stress, I found that gun comforting to carry. Comforting in that it felt like the best tool I could find for the job.

It was just a few inches shorter than the shotguns I had used previously, but in use, it felt a foot and a half shorter! I felt like it was much more manueverable and quicker to point, and a lot less prone to hang up on a door frame or inconveniently placed piece of furniture. (The fact that I am clumsy factored in here!)

That's what I'm trying to achieve with this gun. I'm looking at this project as a purpose-built (I think that is what I mean) gun, intended for home defense only. Since I think the flash hider is the best choice for the muzzle, I can assemble an AR that is 16.1" or one that is 17.5". It only takes a quarter of an inch to catch on a door jamb and screw up my whole day!

I think the 16" overall barrel assembly with a collapsible stock adjusted a click or two short will be the best tool for me. I'll put fixed sights, a light, and maybe a sling on it, and if it doesn't feel right, it will give me an excuse to buy that railed 1911 I've recently started thinking about!

Not that I need an excuse!

[dls]

I went ahead and ordered a BCM 14.5" barrel and extended A2 flash hider this morning.

I got the same one.
Pretty much for the same purpose.
+ I already have an 18" & 16"
Just need a 7.5" now.

[Khromo]

You'll prolly need to buy the 14.5 & have a FH welded. I wanted the "shortest possible" for another AR & decided against it. I'm glad I did, haven't exactly tripped over the extra 1.5"

SB, I'm thinking the use I have in mind for this gun dictates the shortest possible length without building a pistol. Indoors, in the dark, half asleep, that's enough!

I think we might as well take advantage of the versatility of the AR platform. What else am I going to do with my time and money?!?!