AR-15 Barrel Length Reduction

[Abellmio]

I was looking to get my 20 inch AR knocked down to 18 just for practicality, and Scott's would normally be my first choice, but I called a week or so ago and they have a two month wait. Does anybody know of a gunsmith in the area that can chop/thread AR barrels?

 

[BradMacc82]

For what you'd pay a 'smith, you're almost better off just buying an 18" barrel and swapping it out at home.


If you're able to anyways.

 

[Boom Boom]

It's been my experience that good gunsmiths always have a backlog, usually months or longer.

 

[Abellmio]

I hadn't thought it'd run me that high. Maybe I should consider other options. Basically, I have a 20 inch pre-ban AR with a DD rail on it I'm looking to modernize a bit. I was gonna put a BCM 15 inch KMR on it, and thought it might look kind of dumb with an extra 5" of barrel sticking out.

 

[Abellmio]

For what you'd pay a 'smith, you're almost better off just buying an 18" barrel and swapping it out at home.


If you're able to anyways.

Hadn't thought it'd be that much. I was just looking to put a 15" KMR on an AR with an old DD rail on it and thought it might look dumb with 5" of barrel out in front.

 

[dontpanic]

ADCO does that and threads it for $80. About 2 wk turnaround (call and make sure)

I don't think anyone does it for near that price. They have a great reputation.

At least they are a fall back if you don't find someone local.

Edit:just looked it up. They charge $65 to cut, crown and thread an AR barrel. The barrel has to be by itself or they have other service charges.

 

[Pinecone]

Just make SURE you and ADCO agree on what is going to be done and what the final result will be.

I had them mill a sear block out of a post-ban Colt HBAR Match. After their work, I still could not install a Giessele trigger. So I contacted them about the issue. NEVER suggested it was their fault or that I wanted it fixed for free.

Got nothing but a load of crap from them.

All I wanted was to figure out if and how much to actually get the work done that I needed.

 

[303_enfield]

If sending it to ADCO, make sure to tell them you are going to run a can on it. Otherwise, you'll be sending it back if you want to run a can. I sent a V Match barrel for a thread job. It was fine for the muzzle break, but my laser hit the baffles. Back the barrel went.

https://www.adcofirearms.com/shopservices/shop_qnew.cfm?code=Barrel Threading

 

[fabsroman]

Think I'd just buy a new barrel and sell the old one or keep it as a spare.

 

[silver78]

Personally I would buy this and sell the old barrel.

http://www.whiteoakarmament.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17518&cat=312&page=3

Unless you have a high end barrel on your rifle right now this would probably result in you having a better quality barrel than shortening your current barrel.

Also swapping barrels is what I consider a low risk modification. Cutting and threading has more opportunity for problems/errors.