What's the deal with 16 inch 308 barrels
I have talked to so many people, face to face and on the internet, who say a 16 inch barreled m1a or FAL creates a loud boom and a giant fireball even with a flash hider. Personally me, I like 18 inch barrels for my 308 semi auto rifles. I think they balance very nice. But the problem is, after I hear people talk down a 16 inch barreled 308 they go out and by a SCAR 17 or AR10 with 16 inch barrel and say it works for that rifle but not the others. WTF??? I don't care if you want an 11 inch barrel or 30 inch barrel, whatever floats your boat, but how can one rifle with a 16 inch barrel be different from another? How loud it is shouldn't be different. The "excessive," as I have heard it called, fireball produced would be the same since the powder is still burning at the same rate. Am I missing something here? Sorry for the rant, I just been hearing it a lot lately and trying to understand what, if anything, is different.
GR00VY