Thread: Cutting down a Bushmaster Super Lightweight barrel to 14.5?

As I am fairly new to the AR I figured I would post this queston: does anyone know if its possible to chop the barrel down on the Bushmaster super lightweight barrel, which has a diameter of around .570 towards the muzzle. It says only to use threaded FH and not a "pinned" style but even that might be iffy if it flares wider for the FH at 16". Some forums say its possible but figured id check here as well.

OK....I have to....WHY?

Lots of money to lose a whopping 1.5" of barrel and the ability to change muzzle devices.

....and no, that didn't answer your question...

I gave up questioning the wife long ago and this is no exception.

I don't understand the question . If its for a rifle and you chop it to 14.5 you will need to register it as a a SBR fill out all the paper work get finger prints taken get sheriffs approval pay the tax yada yada or you will need to to pin a new flash hider or muzzle devise to bring it back to 16" not to mention putting a new crown on it and rethreading it . if your having it cut by a professional he will do it on a lathe removing the flare if i understand you correctly will be turned off and he will re thread it . if you do it yourself without the right tools your gonna end up with a real mess if the crown is not done right, that wont be very accurate at all that is if what if your saying what i think your saying .

It would be getting a pinned and welded device. I am just not sure how easy it is to pin and weld a device to a barrel if the barrel diameter is .570 as that may provide a problem that I haven't thought of yet. The link to Bushmaster is here and the item is about a third of the way down called the super lightweight barrel.

Bushmaster Barrels

So my question in short is will I be able to cut the barrel down to 14.5 and still be able to get a device pinned and welded without a serious problem?

depends on the flare part or if you have a lathe to remove the flare part yes . if you car able to cut the flare off and find a muzzel devise the that can slip over it yes if if not no. plus you will need to re crown it before you pin and weld your flash hider

On my 7.62x25 barrel i used a Fal flash hider i was able to press it on then pin and weld it

a fal flash hider would be a good option ( i could sell you one ) as they have a sleeve that slide over the barrel then the flashider part is longer than most ar15 flash hiders so you for sure could cut behind the flare

Why don't you call Adco?

I don't get it....I can see doing a 14.5+perm brake on an M4 profile for an "M4gery" project....but what's the point on a light weight?

My wife is petite so less weight overall and less weight out front.

You're talking a few ounces though....what lower are you running? With a Cav or Plum Crazy and a SL barrel, you'd be real close to 5 pounds. If it's muzzle heavy, put a little weight in the stock to balance it out.

It's a Plum Crazy lower with a DPMS lite upper but I'm not happy with the current barrel contour and she wants it cut down. Right now there is a modstock on it but she also wants to try the Ace Ultralight stock

It would be less of a hassle to just buy a new shorter barrel for it imho.

Originally Posted by millwrt52

Why don't you call Adco?

+1

I had Adco cut down a barrel and permanently attach a flash hider. They did a great job. Email is probably a better choice then calling them as they are quite busy.