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 who are not familiar with how I define various centers of gravity, and why this is important, click here. (Parts 2 and 3 are coming very soon, I promise).
It has a two position adjustable gas block – “normal” and “suppressed.”
The large barrel nut functions as a heat sink, shedding heat rapidly.
The gas key has been clearanced to allow for installation of the POF Roller Cam Pin….wait a second…the gas key?
That’s right, this upper has a gas tube, not an op rod!
This upper retains all the features of the POF P-415 uppers, with the important exception that it functions much like a standard AR-15. There are important differences – the gas tube is of a different design, is held in place using a dowel pin instead of a roll pin, and, of course, the gas plug regulates how much gas gets back into the action. Hence the name – Regulated Direct Impingement Kit. I’m told that it may be offered in various forms. As this is a prototype, details may change. I’ll be comparing this upper to a POF op rod upper as well as standard AR-15s in the next few days.
When is that stainless steel POF upper coming out? I’m waiting to finish my POF build until it does.
It’s actually not stainless – the barrel was left “in the white” or unfinished. This was a prototype, the production uppers wouldn’t be manufactured that way.