Gonna hang a suppressor off the end sometimes? Seems a shorter, thick barrel would be better than a skinny or long barrel to minimize POI changes between suppressed/unsuppressed. I've read/been told hanging a bayonet off your rifle will change POI. I figure a suppressor weighs more
Will you be shooting it fast/heavy? Heating up the barrel bigtime? If so then a good chrome lined barrel will outlast the stainless and nitrided barrels. Or so they say on arfcom. I read the FN CHF barrels are double chrome lined as well as being made out of type of steel that is more resistant to heat/warp/flex while hot. They call it "machine gun steel" and supposedly use it in the machine gun barrels they make/sell to the US military.
Heavy/fast use means the barrel heat will radiate out to the handguards/free float tube as well. I have no idea what would be cooler on your support hand, an aluminum ventilated free float tube or a GI type hand guard with the heat shields inside it. Then again, maybe a vertical grip attached to the bottom of the handguard would work better than holding on to the handguard itself.
Overall length with a suppressor important?
