The gas impingement system gets messy, but that is why the recoil is so small (Eugene Stoner was a genius).
Good ARs need no tuning like barrel floating, only trigger work. The barrels can be pulled off point of aim if you use a sling to pull on them in certain shooting positions. I had a number of small barreled 20” and 16” barreled ARs that shot just as tight or tighter groups than heavy barreled ones off the bench.
A simple tool will allow you to replace the handguard with a floating one if yours is not made with it. The genius of the AR in that the bolt locks into the barrel, and it requires no special skill or tools to set headspace when changing barrels.
You can also change calibers from .556/.223 to .300 Blackout in seconds with different uppers. The triggers on mil spec stock ARs kind of suck, but the brilliant design allows you to drop in match triggers with only punches to remove pins.
Thanks for the tips!