Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 16 vs 18

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a 16 inch barrel versus an 18 inch barrel? Also, what are the advantages of the .223 wylde chamber?

The wylde chamber is usually more accurate . With the 18-inch barrel you can run a rifle length gas system which is usually a little smoother with slightly less recoil

16" loud and almost 100 fPS slower than an 18"

But all I own are 16's

Can you not get a Wylde chamber in a 16 inch barrel?

Of course you can, He was answering both the OPs questions separately.
Although many 16” barrels are 5.56, while most 18 are .223 wylde

Advantages & disadvantages are whatever you perceive them to be.

Some of the differences are that the 16" gun will be a little more nimble to handle, it will have more muzzle blast, given the same barrel profiles, the 16" will be lighter & will give up about 80 FPS of velocity with the same loadings as the 18"

Even though the guns are generally heavier, IMO & for my tastes, the 18" guns tend to balance & point better for me than the shorter guns, at least to a point. The 16" & 14.5" guns feel considerably more nimble to handle especially are vehicle & are easier to move around with.

Wylde chambers are available in most any length, depending on the barrel maker.

Choices are highly dependent on your intended use & personal preference.

MM

The Wylde chamber is more generally accurate with match bullets like the 77 grain SMK/TMK. The regular 5.56mm chamber is generally more accurate with the most "terminally effective" rounds like the Barnes 70 grain Tac-X and the 62 grain Barnes TSX.

Barnes bullets like to jump, and the regular 5.56mm chamber affords more of it over the Wylde. Decide which you want to run first, then decide on the chamber. On barrel length, if you going to run a brake, or flash hider or a can, the 16" will handle much better than an 18" barrel and will provide little disadvantage for shots under 300 yds..

If you want your rifle for the majority of shots over 300 yds, then pick the longer barrel.

IMHO and YMMV....

Sure you can. I was just answering his last question regarding the wylde chamber.

Thanks. Exactamundo. If it were me, I'd be getting a compass lake chamber and 20" tube, but like you said, I was merely answering the op's questions...

Chamber dimensions

MM

I've had really good luck with the Wylde chamber and have never heard about the Compass Lake chamber until now. What benefit do you get with a CL chamber over the Wylde and with what ammo?

If I ever put one together it will be 18" crowned.
No screw on stuff.

the 18 is more suited to hunting in my opinion, especially if you take a shot without ear pro.

As mentioned you can. I have a 16” Wylde chambered barrel, but I’m thinking of upgrading it to an 18” barrel. If you do go 16”, I’d suggest mid length gas over a carbine length one. From what I have found looking around, your better barrel manufacturers Put mid length gas systems on 16” barrels and cheaper ones use carbine length. Not saying the cheaper barrels can’t be accurate though. I’ve got. 16” 5.56 Red-X Arms upper I won with a 1:9 twist pencil barrel. It will out shoot my BCA (the only BCA I’ll ever buy as well) 16” Hbar 1:8 twist 223 Wylde upper everyday of the week with up to 62 gr ammo in it.

It's a tighter chamber that, on average, gives slightly better groups than a Wylde. It has a shorter throat too that may be good for longer accurate barrel life under certain circumstances. Because of these two differences, it also uses about a 1/2gr less powder than a Wylde.

It is also more finicky about brass, being slightly tighter at the base and significantly tighter at the shoulder. The Wylde is more of a compromise between accuracy & reliability, the CLE being more accuracy oriented.

The only gun other than a Compass Lake-built rifle that I'm aware of that used that chamber was old Bushmaster NM rifles. I think White Oak may offer barrels with that chamber as well. John Holliger and Frank White seem to be pretty good friends, they do work for each other.

My Windham weaponry barrels have compass lake chambers and they do shoot pretty good. No complaints here. Both rifles shoot sub moa in the black rifle challenge here

The CLE chamber is virtually the same as a 223 chamber so be careful what you put into it; & the accuracy gain over the Wylde based on the chamber alone, it not a deal breaker/deal maker for any except genuine very high precision shooters in competition, & maybe not even then. IMO.

YMMV

MM

Same here. Haul an 18 around for a while and then tell yourself why they're better again.

Get a couple of each. Problem solved.

Or several..............................

MM