open or closed ear? buy a spare barrel?

[anothergunnut]

So I see the terms open ear and closed ear thrown around a lot but I searched and couldn't find a definitive answer to my question. Is buying a spare Argentinian barrel with open ears a viable option or is it non-standard and therefor creates problems that make it a poor choice?

I compared my Argentine kit which has a gas block with an open ear to another FAL with closed ear gas block. I can see that they use different front sight posts and different rear sights; the Argentine kit rear is much higher.

The Argentine barrels are $180 for chrome lined, bipod cut or $170 for non chrome, non bipod cut while a new, DSA barrel is $250 (non chrome, bipod cut) and comes in your choice of lengths. Since the current status is no more importing of barrels, the Argentine barrel seems like a last chance opportunity and is $70 cheaper than the USA equivalent. If using an Argentine barrel on a generic metric kit is going to require hunting around and purchasing a special front and rear sight, the savings don't look as promising. Particularly since the DSA barrel is avaiable in a variety of lengths.

Should I scoop up an Argentine barrel for a rainy day or just plan on getting a US made barrel when the time comes?

[gobbler]

I would go with one of the closed ear Argies or a good Stg barrel from the MP just for an investment. Most of the kits around use the low gas block closed ear barrels except for the Argy kits, BGS kits & I guess Izzy. If you have one of the new Argy kits you should be good to go.....will take a lot of rounds ($$$) to shoot out a barrel IMO.

gobbler

[J. Armstrong]

You are never likely to shoot out any FAL barrel, so providing you clean properly, don't worry. However, being a sparepartsaholic myself, I understand your position. I'm afraid to open the spare barrels stashbox, myself !!!!!
If you ever DID rebarrel, you'd need the wrenches and guages to do it yourself anyway, not worth the investment for one job. If you would be having a smith do the rebarrel, a good one can simply use your existing gas block, so a stripped barrel is another option. In any event, finding an open ear barrel shouldn't be that hard.

[garyd1961]

You all know there is no such thing as a spare barrel. It's just another rifle waiting to be built. I know I have had 6 of them and have one standing in the corner now.