Category: Firearm Components

After my tour of the POF facility yesterday, I was temporarily loaned two POF upper receiver assemblies, one of which is photographed below. The upper assembly has a 16" fluted barrel with a carbine length gas system. It is built around the reinforced POF upper receiver and uses the POF modular rail system, which is equivalent to a 9" free float rail in terms of length. It's remarkably light and well balanced - this rifle would have a neutral center of gravity with a lighter stock. For those of you… Read More

What do you get when you order an upper receiver group from BCM? You get a box... Inside the box are a hat and a shirt (you may not get a shirt)... There are also some stickers and a catalog... A generous amount of bubble wrap is also included... Inside the bubble wrap is some sort of long, cylindrical shaped object... It's a faithful representation of the military Mk12 Mod0. For those of you not familiar with the Mk12 program, click here. I'll be getting many more close up shots… Read More

I've long been a fan of Bravo Company uppers. I have a supply of BCM hats to last a long time (you receive a BCM hat with every upper purchase). One of the things that most impressed me about Bravo Company was something pretty minor: barrel extensions. Bravo Company products are held to such a high standard that the lack of properly hardened barrel extensions stopped production of Bravo Company upper receiver assemblies for two years. Two years. Keep in mind, we're not talking about the lack of any old… Read More

Among the various carbines offered by Spike's Tactical, I spotted an 18" SPR upper on their website. Because of my previous experience with the Spike's CHF upper, and the reasonable price of the upper considering the features offered, my interest was piqued. However, I had plenty of spare parts with which to almost complete such an upper. After contacting Tom at Spike's about a barrel, I wound up with an 18" LW50 barrel that had been IonBonded black and a Spike's M4 upper receiver. The Spike's barrels are manufactured by… Read More

Not too long ago, I wrote about the Spike's Tactical CHF (cold hammer forged) upper that was sent to me for T&E. It's fast become the standard by which I judge similar (M4 type) uppers. Well, Spike's has a new upper out, and it's definitely worth taking a look at, for several reasons. First, it's of the highest quality. The only difference between this upper and the CHF upper is the method by which the barrel was manufactured - hammer forging versus the more traditional button rifling. The hammer forged… Read More

There are a number of muzzle devices available to the AR-15 shooter, ranging from a $5 A2 flash hider to exotic suppressor mounts in the $400 range. I've collected some of the more popular examples and taken video of their performance at night on two different rifles - one in 5.45x39 and one in 5.56x45. The video will do most of my talking. Within the week, I hope to complete a similar comparison during the day, which will focus on different attributes of the devices. I must apologize - several… Read More

I'm going to be honest. If I had never been given a PWS muzzle device, I probably would never have bought one. "Nearly $100," I said. "What does it do that's worth $100? I thought the Smith Vortex was too expensive at $50." Well, I would soon find out. At the 2008 SAR West show, PWS was handing out their FSC 556 muzzle device like Halloween candy, so I gladly took one. Since then, I've fallen in love with it. I've moved it around between a half dozen rifles before… Read More

Bravo Company USA is a well-respected manufacturer of AR-15 components and rifles, as well as a major stocking dealer for companies like Vltor and LaRue Tactical. Their upper receiver groups have achieved high regard in professional circles because of consistently high quality and attention to detail. For several years, Bravo uppers were not available, due to the low supply of a certain small part. Paul Buffoni, who runs the company, wasn't willing to sacrifice quality for profit, so he stopped selling his uppers. That should tell you something about the… Read More

Recently I was sent an upper receiver by Spike's Tactical for test and evaluation. In the interests of fairness, this upper was provided to me for free. I still approached it from a critical angle and tried to find problems with the upper - of which there were none to find, making my job a little harder. If you're familiar with Rob Sloyer's infamous "Chart" detailing what makes a good fighting carbine, well, this upper checks every box but one. The bolt is not HPT'd, also known as "proof tested."… Read More