Cutting down 300 blk barrel possible?

[RAPR]

I just purchased a new Noveske 16" 300blk barrel with the pistol gas port. I was curious if it was possible to have a gunsmith cut down this barrel to 10" in the distant future, if I ever decide to go SBR with this rifle? Who there be any problems?

[bottle-buster]

Not an Expert but i say it would be okay, i have the same barrel and my understanding is it has the pistol gas tube to allow for some tinkering. IE suppressor ,short barrel , etc. Mike with Accumax will know.

[-k-]

The gas port will need to be larger, and not as many gunsmiths know anything about gas port sizes for the 300 BLK.

[RAPR]

Does anyone here know the gas port size difference between Noveske's 16" barrel vs the 10" barrel? Would it really be that hard for a local gunsmith to drill out the port hole to the specified diameter, if I ever have them cut the barrel down to 10 inches?

[bottle-buster]

its not hard to drill the gas port. just need the right size drill. suggest using smaller than you think needed. You can always go bigger if needed.

[gds]

Honestly depending on the Gunsmith it May be cheaper or easier to buy a new barrel. Other than that, I do not see why it could not be done. As already stated may have to enlarge the gas port hole depending on the current size. If I was going to a 10 inch barrel with a pistol length system, I would probably open it up to .125, but that is just me.

[-k-]

Honestly depending on the Gunsmith it May be cheaper or easier to buy a new barrel.

It usually is cheaper. Plus you get a gas port that was tested to be the right size, .125" is way too big but your gunsmith might do it just so you don't have to bring it back again...

[HotHolster]

http://www.ar15barrels.com/services.shtml

http://www.ar15barrels.com/faq.shtml

[RAPR]

After reading HotHolster's links, it seems that cutting down the barrel might be the cheaper route. The reason I say this is because of the point brought up in the article about recommending the use of a new bolt with a new barrel. If the bolt has been used for a while with a barrel, they start to match each other in imperfections...so a new barrel might require a new bolt. Since I'm building a fully lefthanded AR (STAG upper and BCG), it is a few dollars more and much harder to hunt down. With me having a Syrac Adjustable Gas Block, it would likely just need the gas port opened to the larger end of the recommended range (whatever that may be) and tune the gas block from there.

On another note, I just got my Noveske barrel and Syrac gas block in last night and did a fit test. I noticed that the Noveske gas block is a VERY tight fit (had to use some effort to remove), while the .750 Syrac gas block fits snug but took little/no effort to slide into place. Is this an acceptable fitment? This is my first build.

Also, The Syrac comes with 2 set screws to secure it in place but has a spot that looks like a hole can be drilled if the use of a pin is desired. Should I just use the set screws right now, if I have the possibility of taking it apart later to cut the barrel? If using the set screws, what loctite do you guys recommend for disassembly down the road Blue or Red (non-permanent or permanent)?