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--Since all the parts on the AR were originally designed around the 20" barrel a

nd rifle length gas system, the rifle will have a slight edge in durability and
reliability. However, they now make 16" barrels with midlength gas systems that
reduce the gas pressures to make it more inline with the rifle and give you a li
ttle extra sight radius as well.

It is a very minor issue for most people. First it only applies to ARs that use
barrels shorter than the original 20" design. You would need to run several carb
ines very hard before you noticed the difference in reliability and durability b
etween the two systems. If you had maybe 20-30 rifles, you would see a costs sav
ings over time with the longer gas system. With a single rifle, you likely would
never notice the difference unless something else in the rifle was already marg
inal (like a chamber that was too tight or rough).
The issue with a carbine gas system is that the timing is off. The components in
the AR15 were designed with the 20" system in mind. The carbine has different p
ressures and timing; but uses the same parts as the 20". Not only is there highe
r pressure at the gas port; but there is a shorter distance for the gas to trave
l. As a result, the gas is trying to cycle the action while pressures in the cha
mber are still high and the brass is still expanded against the chamber walls. T
his means more stress on the bolt and on some rifles, you can see some reliabili
ty issues pop up that are related to this. The other issue is that because the c
arbine cycles harder and faster, there is less margin of error for the magazine
to position the next round for feeding. The small difference in cyclic times bet
ween a rifle and a carbine can mean that marginal magazines will work in a rifle
; but not a carbine.
Now there are several things you can do to address these issues and increase the
reliability of the carbine gas system. One is to run a heavier buffer - this sl
ows the unlock time of the bolt a bit and gives more time for the pressure to dr
op as well as slowing the speed of the cycle. Replacing the stock extractor and
ejector springs with heavy duty models designed for the carbine help the bolt de
al with having to yank out the brass at higher pressures than the rifle. Also, r
eplacing your magazine springs with heavy duty or +10% Wolff springs and USGI gr
een followers (or Magpul self-levelling followers) help make sure that your mags
will have the rounds in position quickly. Finally, you must pay special attenti
on to keeping the bolt clean and lubed with a quality protectant. If a bolt is n
ot properly maintained, corrosion likes to form at the base of the lugs and beca
use the lugs are already dealing with pressures beyond what they were initially
designed for, the lugs will snap off if corrosion is allowed to undermine their
strength much (a carbine can actually run with several missing lugs).
However, the easiest way to address this problem is just to move the location of
the gas port further forward. The location of the carbine gas port is a result
of the original 10.5" barrel of the Colt Commando. With a 14.5" or 16" barrel, t
here is no real reason to have the gas port in the same location. Yoiu can move
the gas port forward 2" forward on a 16" barrel and you reduce the gas pressure
at the port and increase the time it takes for gas to travel back to the carrier
and begin to unlock the bolt. These gas systems are called "midlengths". As a b
onus, you get a better sight radius (helps accuracy with irons), softer recoil i
mpulse, and more of the barrel is covered by handguards (helps protect you from
burns when the barrel gets toasty)
I really like the midlengths and have converted all of my carbine gas systems to
mids; but you woud be perfectly well equipped with a carbine length system. The
re are documented instances of 16" barrels with carbine gas systems running for
thousands of rounds with no cleaning or maintenance. The carbine gas system isn'
t as rugged as the others; but it is still more rugged than 90% of the world wil
l ever need. The link 1911user gave shows the difference between the carbine and
the midlength.

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