So there is a titanium .308 AR out there, and the manufacturer wants an absurd amount of money for it.
I don’t like it, and here’s why.
– Titanium is lighter than steel, but a good bit heavier than aluminum. Essentially every component of the rifle that has been machined from titanium would previously have been aluminum. The net result is a needlessly heavier rifle.
– The one named steel component that has now been made from titanium is the bolt carrier, which is nonsensical. In my opinion, .308 ARs need all the reciprocating weight they can get, within the limits of the original dimensions of said reciprocating parts. They do mention a stainless steel buffer, but .308 ARs with steel carriers should have steel buffers anyway. By making the carrier out of titanium, they have needlessly sacrificed function for “cool factor.” It is, of course, possible that the carrier has been designed and machined to be the same weight as a steel carrier, but this is not specified.
– The gas system appears to be a standard AR-15 carbine length, but the barrel is 16″ inches long, and this is a .308. This is less than optimal. The selection of this gas system length (in combination with the lighter reciprocating weight) does not display a mastery of the design knowledge required to ensure flawless .308 AR platform function in all conditions.
– The handguard rails are attached with YFS screws. I’ve got nothing against the Taiwanese, but if I’m paying AMG Mercedes money for a rifle, I’d appreciate US-made hardware.
– Finally, the handguard design is not exactly what I would associate with the name “New Evolution Military Ordnance” – the attachment method is nothing unique and does not appear to be either lightweight or of the most durable and reliable known methods for securing an AR handguard to the rifle.
I appreciate the fact that they wanted to show off what they can do, but I just don’t see that this was the proper vehicle for that mission. However, as they say in the video, they made it to be a “conversation piece.” Also, it is shiny. Therefore, this “serial number one” rifle is probably going to end up on someone’s wall for all time (if it sells), so none of my criticism really matters.
I’m kind of pissed the Dick and Adyn Sonju let this big lame company buy them out. At least SI Defense is still autonomous for the most part and still functional. I just bought a lower from them last week. That Ti toy doesn’t make sense to me either…woopidy doo, they can machine some titanium parts and make a novelty toy. If they came out with true, useful innovation as their fresh entrance to the industry, then yes, I might take note.
It’s an “I don’t want to sell this, but want you to talk about it,” price.
As far as I can tell, building that rifle was very effective advertising dollars spent.
Finding NEMO? Maybe this is their attempt at a joke. Aren’t clownfish supposed to be funny?
Actually, that’s a common misperception, clownfish aren’t any funnier than any other fish.
I was under the impression that it was to show off that they could competently machine titanium, which is a huge bitch.
The details of the design, at that point, become basically unimportant.
The AR probably has already brought people to their door, since that capability is highly sought after.
Since they wish to charge such an obscene price anyway, why didn’t they use more exotic materials that would have more benefit. Scandium/Aluminum alloys are stronger than Aluminum alone and would all thinner spots where weight could have been reduced more. Sure it is expensive, but at least you would be getting something for the 50-100k price on this rifle. What about a magnesium lower? Magnesium is pretty light. I don’t know if a magnesium alloy would be lighter than what could be done with Scandium but it would be lighter than standard aluminum or titanium. This is just a novelty rifle and it is pretty “cool” but there could have been a lot more novelty to it for the price.
This rifle was a show piece, it says that NEMO can manufacture things from difficult materials and do it well. It was also a huge draw at the NRA show, people waiting in line just to pick the thing up and take a picture with it. I stopped by just to see it, and it was very heavy, and nothing really special as far as design goes, but it did what it was supposed to. Nobody knew about NEMO and now there are blogs, articles, and forum posts all over the place.
If it sells….
Only person that could afford it probably would never shoot it anyway. Or we will see it on American Guns in a few years…
Like Nathaniel said, this was purely done to show the company’s abilities. The company machines custom parts for various project and being able to say you made an AR out of titanium is a seriously impressive accomplishment.
Doesn’t impress me all that much – and the rest of the rifle is basically DPMS Sportical in design – so why should I care?
I’ve shot one of Hogan’s Short Stroke piston 308 ARs and will say it was actually really nice. Had a soft recoil. As fancy as I will go is NiB coated parts.
I am pretty sure you added to their hit list with this article…..at least they don’t state anything on the website about it being better in anyway (not that I saw at least), pretty much say they built it….well, because they could.
IMO, if you are going to go bling like that though, they should have went a bit further and tried somethings that might make a better gun, but economically are just not viable….and some carbon fiber, everyone that likes titanium loves carbon fiber!
While it may not impress you, it could (and should) impress anyone that deals with the machining of titanium.
Is it a stupid example? Yes.
Should it be something people spend money on? No.
Is the fact that they were able to reproduce the level of detail and machining tolerances usually reserved for billet aluminum with titanium damn impressive? Yes.
We often see (especially in the automotive world) use of…um…exotic materials in the creation of parts/cars not just because there is a realistic value to using them, but because the company is showing off. Hell, car companies often create parts/whole cars that are nothing more than a proof of concept. Doesn’t mean what they create is realistically worth the cost or that the items couldn’t be recreated using different materials for less money or with a more appropriate material for the job, it’s proof of concept.
I think it’s very cool and quite the achievement that they created an AR10 out of titanium, just like I think the Zonda R with its carbon fibre-titanium weave body is an awesome automotive achievement. But I’d rather buy a M1A and a Corvette C6 Z06.
The Zonda R is demonstrably faster around a race track than a C6 Z06 (both of which are cars I lust after).
This titanium AR is by all objective measurements inferior to the vast majority of .308 ARs on the market, all of which are much cheaper.
If it performed any better, I wouldn’t be complaining.
It doesn’t.
So I am.
I love guns and I love reading about them. That article was so not interesting I didn’t even bother to read it. I could tell it was for publicity and nothing more, well it worked, so many are talking about it. I don’t even remember the name of the company. If I need anything made of Ti I will look them up, of course I never will.
I am more interesting in reading about true innovation or firearm history.