Tag: ar-15

Vltor Weapon Systems is probably best known for its excellent AR stock series: the original Modstock, the EMod (Enhanced Modstock), and the IMod (Improved Modstock). It's also known for the MUR and VIS AR-15 upper receivers and the CASV handguard. What many people don't know is that they make an astonishing variety of other products - to include PKM machine guns for foreign militaries, handguards, components, and stock adapters for other weapons, and so on. I considered myself familiar with their product line before a recent visit, but was, frankly,… Read More

I had intended to make a longer review, but I'm unable to do voiceovers at the moment, so I'm just going to go with an "at the range" overview that I filmed last weekend. In my opinion, these sights are less than functional, and the reasons why both the front and rear sights have major problems are very obvious. The front sight's release latch doesn't always return to the "forward and upright" position, meaning that some of the time you want to fold the sight down, you have to physically… Read More

Same ammunition, same shooter, same day...I was too far from the camera with the RFR, so it may appear to have less movement than the X7. I'm going to Vegas to marry the Geissele S3G trigger in the X7 later today. Full report to follow (on the rifle, not the wedding).

Ah, the dreaded "double feed" - something you need five hands, special tools, and a blessing from Odin to clear quickly, right? Watch as this shooter clears and fires 8 rifles in just over 3 minutes - 4 of them while blindfolded. Two each of the following malfunctions: - Bolt override double feed - "Dead man's chamber" - Stovepipe - Empty case override

Much more to come.

After 4 months with the Vltor A5, I have found that it just works - with everything. Every possible 5.56mm upper, and many other calibers, have been tested with the A5, and the results are always more than satisfactory. It builds on the reliability of the rifle buffer system while expanding the length of pull range of the traditional collapsible stock system. In addition, it offers increased durability when longer stocks such as the Vltor EMod or Magpul ACS are used.

I'm going to be honest. I would probably never purchase this rifle. It just has too many drawbacks, in my mind - it's heavy, it has an extreme forward CG, it's not fully end user serviceable, you're effectively limited to one rail system, and it's a gas piston/op-rod weapon. These are the items that came to mind when I first examined an SR-556 at the 2009 NRA show in Phoenix. Evidently, Ruger heard enough about weight from customers that they recently introduced the SR556C model, which has a shorter, fluted… Read More

Hot on the heels of my weight calculator comes a balance calculator, which will tell you where the center of gravity of your AR is. Right now it doesn't have nearly as many components as the weight calculator, but I'm continuously adding more. It's meant to give you an approximation of CG, because to be exact would require knowing the CG and exact location of every component on the rifle, but it has proven to be quite accurate, within .15" in almost every case, and within .05" in a large… Read More

I've updated the AR-15 weight calculator with drop down style selections for most parts. This should make it much easier to use. I've added a wide variety of parts and will continue to add more in the future. The original calculator will still be available for those who have a configuration not listed in the drop down boxes.