r/canadaguns • u/Panjaab1 • May 21 '26

Misc Barrel change on Makasi

Saw some people in the comments of the new IWI post talking about how it is a big plus for the Makasi to change barrels via the simple castle nut.

Does anyone know the gas system length of the Makasi as I was not able to find anything on google. Is it carbine length? Personally it would be nice to swap something like a socom profile barrel but everything I see shows the longer barrels 18+ as rifle length gas systems and this would not work with the op rod for the Makasi. Does anyone have any ideas regarding this as to what would need to be done for this?

Also a carbine length gas system would be quite aggressive on the components of the rifle and recoil impulse with an 18.6" barrel so I am wondering if Brigade made any adjustments to the recoil spring or changed the length of the gas system.

13 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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7

u/No_Promise_9803 May 21 '26

It's carbine length, M4 profile barrel based on various YouTube reviews. Gas block is pinned. Rebarelling will require some gunsmith work it seems.

6

u/MBGLK May 21 '26

I read somewhere it was carbine length. Don’t quote me though.

6

u/zaphodbssecondhead May 21 '26

You can email them your questions and share their answer 

3

u/Puzzleheaded-Tie35 May 21 '26

We don't know yet, because the 18.5" barrel version isn't a standard offering for them in the US, but there are companies in Canada that will turn a new action rod for you if you want to swap to a different length gas system.

3

u/UnderstandingSoft165 May 24 '26

Should be good to name drop those companies, if you have experience

2

u/Puzzleheaded-Tie35 May 24 '26

I know TNA was doing it for people swapping barrels on the 180s, but any gunsmith with a lathe should be able to

1

u/escv_69420 May 28 '26

I could do that in minuets but I'm unsure about any laws relating to making gun parts for others.

2

u/DecentCompetition754 Jun 23 '26

Im based in the U.S.

Just got a Makasi rifle, and I upgraded the barrel to a chrome lined.

Can confirm, the Makasi is a carbine length gas system, for the 16 inch barrel, gas port was the same size between the factory barrel and my upgrade barrel.

Barrel I used is an AR15 Criterion Hybrid 16 inch carbine gas, 1/8 twist .223 Wylde chamber chromelined.

I used the BRD Engineering MK4 jig.

https://brdengineering.com/shop/ols/products/mk4-universal-gas-block-drilling-jig

The drill bit guide that comes with it is around 1/8 for 1/8 roll pins, but the Makasi gas block uses a 3/16 roll pin. I found a bushing that fits the 3/16 drill bit and will also install on the MK4 jig I used, part below.

https://www.mcmaster.com/product/2868T37

Drilling the barrel was pretty straight forward. The MK4 Jig uses extended screws that thread into the gas block set screw holes, then the jig slides over the screws and gets sandwiched between the base of the gas block and the nuts on the screws. The Makasi gas block set screw holes sit very close together so I could only use one screw to secure it instead of 2 for both set screw holes (the jig uses nuts threaded on the screws to tighten down, gas block screw holes were so close together, the nuts would get in each other's way).

I used a vice to lock the jig in place, then used the one screw and nut to manually align the gas block and barrel on the jig. Once I locked the barrel/gas block down with the one screw and nut, it was pretty straight forward from there.

Im gonna start looking into the recoil springs and possibly the piston spring. See if I can find some that are the same size/length but heavier spring weight. Would love to be able to convert it to a 6.5 Grendel, would really make it like a mini FAL.