AR15

Blitzkrieg Components’ New Color Options For AR Front Sight Posts

(Article originally published on Tactical Life)

The following is a release from Blitzkrieg Components

Blitzkrieg Components, LLC has just released several new options for their series of AR style front sight posts. First is a new bright orange color option that is now available in addition to the black, white and luminescent green options previously available. The new orange stripes are now available on their patented AR Chevron sight post and AR Tritium Chevron sight post, as well as their Spike shaped sight post for the Magpul® MBUS PRO® sights.

RELATED STORY: Sharper Reflexes – 11 Red-Dot Sights For Fast Targeting

White stripe options have also been added to their line-up for the AR Tritium Chevron sight post and the Magpul® MBUS PRO® Spike sight post. The luminescent green color remains the only luminescent (glow) paint option. More white and orange models have been added based on customer demand. The popular AR Tritium Chevron is now available with white, orange, and luminescent green paint options.

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Image courtesy of Tactical Life

Springfield Armory® Announces The SAINT™ Personal Defense Rifle

GENESEO, IL, November 1, 2016 – Springfield Armory® is pleased to announce the SAINT™. Built to equip those who wake up every day determined to protect what they have, believe that safety is their responsibility, and are unapologetic and uncompromising about defending their legacy, the SAINT™ is what an AR-15 should be.

While equally at home on plinking and competition ranges, the SAINT™ is built for defense and packs features valued by warriors into a carbine with a price point at a fraction of what one would expect. With an MSRP of just $899, the SAINT™ brings affordable reliability to the market.

“Throughout our company’s history, we’ve been aggressive about launching new products to give our customers the best tools possible,” states Springfield Armory® CEO Dennis Reese. “Back in 1985, we moved into the 1911 business because we felt that customers deserved more than the market was currently offering. Again in 2001, we decided to invest in the XD family of personal defense guns to serve an unfilled market need for personal defense. Now, we’re offering a defensive rifle built the way an AR-15 should be.”

The SAINT™ is an optics ready flat-top design that includes an A2-style front sight and gas block. Type III hard anodized aircraft-grade 7075 T6 aluminum upper and lower receivers are joined using Springfield Armory®’s Accu-Tite™ system. Designed to lock upper and lower receiver into a rigid and accuracy enhancing platform, the system virtually eliminates the movement and shake normally associated with AR-15 rifles. The upper receiver houses an M16 bolt carrier group machined from Carpenter 158 steel that is shot peened and magnetic particle inspected for long-term durability.

The SAINT™ features a 16-inch Chrome Moly Vanadium barrel. The 5.56mm NATO chamber feeds a 1:8-inch twist rate barrel capable of stabilizing a broad range of ammunition types and projectile lengths. Chamber, bore, and barrel exterior are treated with Melonite™ for longevity and corrosion resistance.

All trigger components are micro-polished and treated with Nickel Boron. The result is a mil-spec weight trigger that operates smoothly and with no detectable grit. The SAINT™ includes a mid-length gas system paired with an “H” style heavy tungsten buffer designed to mitigate jerky recoil impulses and enable fast and accurate follow-up shots.

Out of the box, the SAINT™ includes upgraded stock, grip, and handguard components. The exclusive Bravo Company PKMR two-piece handguard features KeyMod-compatible attachment points at the eleven, one, and six o’clock positions for accessories. The handguard covers an internal aluminum heat shield yet remains slim for easy handling. The Bravo Company BCM Gunfighter stock offers a generous cheek weld comb, rubber butt pad, and QD and slotted sling attachment points. As with the Accu-Tite™ receiver tensioning system, the precise fit between receiver extension tube and buttstock eliminate distracting movement. The Bravo Company Mod 0 Pistol grip provides grip-enhancing texture and a vertical orientation designed to complement the modern combat stance. Last, but not least, the BCM trigger guard allows ample room for operation with or without gloves.

While optics ready, the SAINT™ includes a flip-up rear sight to pair with the fixed front sight equipped with an elevation-adjustable post. The dual aperture rear sight features ½ minute of angle windage adjustments.

The SAINT™ weighs six pounds, eleven ounces unloaded and measures 35.5 inches long with the six-position stock fully extended.

Created for the free and independent, Springfield Armory®’s SAINT™ represents the next generation of America’s personal defense rifle. Built with relentless dedication to reliability, it’s made to support the awesome responsibility that comes with defending one’s legacy.

For more information, please visit www.defendyourlegacy.com.

About Springfield Armory^®

“The First Name in American Firearms,” Springfield Armory® was founded in 1777, when George Washington ordered the creation of an armory to store ammunition and gun carriages during the American Revolution. In 1794, the armory began to manufacture muskets and spent the next 150 years supplying firearms for every major American conflict. The original armory closed in 1968. In 1974, the Reese family took ownership of the Springfield Armory® name and began making the M1A™ rifle. Today, Springfield Armory® develops many products loyal to the company’s heritage, like the 1911 pistol, while ensuring its future with innovative products, including the XD®, XD® Mod.2®, XD(M)® and XD-S® polymer pistols.

PRODUCT REVIEW: THE ANDERSON ARMS PATRIOT RIFLE

(Article originally published on Spotter Up by Jay Amra)

Out of the box the weapon looks quite impressive. The first thing I noticed was the 15 inch Keymond hand guard. This gives the Patriot an aggressive look that’s sure to appeal to most shooters.

The hand guard houses the standard 16″ barrel afforded to civilian enthusiasts, leaving the Birdcage flash hider all that is exposed of the barrel itself. Working towards the back of the rifle, it features a Phoenix Technologies 6 position collapsible butt stock, the same variant of butt stock common to most of the entry-level AR’s you’ll find today. It also comes optic ready, providing plenty of room to mount your choice in optic, from red dots to longer range variants.

As promised on the Anderson Arms website, they are “the Worlds only no lube rifle.” So I put this to the test with 300 rounds of .223 and 5.56 mix, straight out of the box.

I mounted the Vortex Strikefire 2 red dot optic. The first 10 rounds were spent getting the zero dialed in which was a simple task. The Patriot proved to be a capable weapon immediately, despite the reduced recoil associated with smaller calibers, the Patriot was able to dissipate it much better than other AR’s I’ve fired. I did some supported slow fire, a bullet every 15 seconds at a distance of 75 meters. During the slow fire I was able to keep a tight group. The weapon operated extremely well for the entirety of shooting and I experienced no malfunctions with the cycle of operations.

Continue reading on Spotter Up

(images courtesy of spotterup.com)

Gear Review: Cry Havoc QRB Kit

The AR-15 is probably the most versatile firearm in the world: easily configurable to meet any situation, lightweight, accurate, and reliable. It would be the ideal backpack rifle…if you could fit one in a backpack. Thanks to the National Firearms Act you need a 16-inch barrel (unless you’ve completed an annoyingly time-consuming amount of paperwork).

With a standard length barrel, that usually means the shortest you can make your rifle is roughly 25 inches, the length of the barrel and upper receiver assembly together. That might not seem like a lot until you try and shove that into a bag. That lead Ralph, the proprietor ofCry Havoc Tactical to come up with a solution: instead of disassembling the upper and lower receiver for travel, why not just take the barrel off?

There have been a couple designs that have tried something similar in the past, such as theMGI Hydra which I reviewed back in 2014 (now made by Windham Weaponry). Their mechanisms have always seemed a bit overly complicated which makes Cry Havoc’s design a breath of fresh air. Its simplicity is what makes it so good.

Read more – The Truth about Guns

(featured image courtesy of thetruthaboutguns.com)

Gerber SHORT STACK AR TOOL

I have spent many hours cleaning, taking apart and replacing parts on M4 and AR15 rifles and if there is one thing I can say is “I would love to have a single tool that could take care of all aspects of maintaining said weapon platforms.

When I first received the Gerber Short Stack AR Tool my first impression was “wow, this is a pretty cool looking tool”. It is versatile tool and does fit all of the different parts, areas and able to function together with other maintenance tools and AR accessories as advertised. Taking this tool apart and setting it up for each use is difficult at first because of the magnets that hold it together. I had to walk away from it, after my first 6 futile but successful attempts at separating the pieces of this tool (ha ha ha…arrgghhh). Once I stumbled upon the magical way to separate the three pieces, it is quite simple. It is easier to show with a video then it is to describe, so here it is.

Once you get it apart, it is very easy to set it up for each use as described in the IKEA style instructions. I am still trying to wrap my brain around who actually tested this tool within the Gerber company? After watching the video, I realized that they did test it as advertised, but only to show that it fit properly. I had to figure these questions out, so I decided to look it up on Google and found Gerber Gear , where this tool has a video that, showing the different functions of the tool, but do not actually show it doing the actual job. Some of the functions that it does are true and take practice. Would I use this tool for most of the functions that it says it can do? Probably not. It is not that I am stuck with my quote-unquote “old school ways” I just know what works for me and just not a huge fan of this particular tool.

The tools that I use in the field are:

A fixed blade knife with hard rubber handle or metal handle (usually the old school UDT-Kbar) for banging, prying or hammering. I usually used a cold steel tanto.
I used a Gerber Multi tool for field problems, or taking my M4 (when I was still in the SEAL’s) or AR15 (what I own now as a civilian) apart to clean or inspect/repair.
A bore brush worked great where the chamber meets the upper receiver.
The tooth brush that comes with the cleaning kit is great for cleaning all the other areas of the AR platform that it will “FIT” in.
Back in the day, we would screw three rods together with a 556 brush on the end, push the rod down through the barrel from the front and pull it back out (repeat one or two more times depending on severity of shooting). The gauze square would get used next with a little bit of oil and run back and forth to lubricate and pick up any leftover residue from shooting.
1. These days I just use a bore snake, which accomplishes the task in about a 1/4 of the time. I am not going to go into detail on this one, because I am sure that most readers know what it is.
Last but not least a red lens flashlight (tactical, during exercises and operations), white lens flashlight (admin situations) and a long flat head screwdriver in case you have to pry a jammed round out of the chamber.
I have used the short stack tool on everything. What I will say, it does most of the jobs as described and fits all areas as advertised.

What it does not do by itself is loosen the flash hider. I have found that it actually marks and damages nut portion of the Flash Hider. It is not as snug a fit as it should be and the handle digs into your palm. I give this portion of the GSST an “F”.

The buffer tube lock nut wrench is a good solid fit, but the handle digs into your palm once again. I give this portion of the GSST an “F” as well.

I tried using it on flash hider and buffer tube lock nut, but was unable to loosen either one of them with just my hand and the tool itself. The GSST does not have the necessary leverage to do the job by itself. You would have to do one of two things, I was not willing to do on my own rifle.

Use something to increase the leverage length and torque of the SST. I don’t know if it is designed to handle this kind of pressure. I have tried this already on my own AR and was unable to loosen either the flash hider or the buffer tube locking nut.
I used a wrench to bang on the GSST to loosen the parts, but was unsuccessful. I did not push this tool, because I did not want to damage my AR.

Given my constructive criticism of this tool and the abilities and inabilities of each part of the tool as a whole, I will say that some may purchase this tool out of plain curiosity and just to have it on hand, because it is compact and there may be only one or two things on the tool that you really need. Some may purchase it to test how tough it is and if they can use it with extra leverage or banging on it as I have described above. Others may just pass up on the whole idea of testing it and stick with what they know to work without any doubt in their mind.

I can say that I will not be using this tool, because I have other means of maintaining my AR an servicing/repairing it.

Good luck with this tool if you decide to buy it and I hope that the information that I have provided here, assists you in the functionality of the GERBER SST or another option.

When I am provided the opportunity to review, test and evaluate each item that is sent to me, I give it a “no-bullshit” review and opinion. After all, this is what everyone is looking for and all of you are entrusting in the LOR writers to do exactly that.

Now, I know that there are going to be some haters or people that don’t agree with what I have to say. That is your choice and right.

There will be others that will take the advice, out of appreciate of our honesty and run with it or discard it as a true professional would.

I have learned very valuable lessons as a special operator in the military. the most important lesson is, test your gear and see if it has any breaking points or limitations, without exceptions. PERIOD.

(featured image courtesy of ar15news.com)

Guide To Purchasing an AR-15 Rifle and Accessories

ALRIGHT! All of you existing and future AR-15 rifle enthusiast out there! Here is some awesome info for the purchasing process of the first AR-15 rifle that you’re looking to throw down some greenbacks on. There is a lot of accessory info for those of you that already have said rifle and want to upgrade, tweak or add another AR-15 to your collection that is decked out “Special Forces” style!

If there is one thing that I have learned over the years when considering the purchase of something like this is RESEARCH….RESEARCH….RESEARCH! If you even think about going into purchasing an AR-15 half cocked or any accessory to add a little “turbo” or “high-speed” to your current platform, step back, take a breath, put your eyeballs back in their sockets and pick your chin up off the ground. These platforms are like computers, they are constantly changing, evolving and becoming more advanced everyday.

At the same time, when looking at purchasing the latest and greatest accessory or rifle, you should make sure that they have been thoroughly tested and the reviews are high. There is nothing worse than spending a butt-load of money and having your new rifle or accessory “gizmo” malfunction straight out of the box.

Let’s start with the whole ‘Mil-Spec’ (Military Specifications) rating. Only rifles made for the U.S. government and military are Mil-Spec. These testing parameters inspect every piece and part of the AR-15 for overall performance. The only downer to this information, mil-spec is only for U.S. government and military contracts. These are not commercial standards that Dick or Jane can get at the local “five-and-dime” gun shop. If they tell you that they are mil-spec, back away and go someplace else. These are not the people who you want to trust your money with. Which configuration should I buy? Well, that all depends on what you plan to use it for.

A professional competition AR-15 configuration will be different from that of an AR-15 for hunting or home protection. Let’s talk about some of the specifics of the different parts that go along with or are included in your AR-15 package. You will notice as you are looking at the AR-15’s on the back wall or the stand alone rack on the floor that they may look identical while having extremely different prices. This could mean that there is different aspects to the barrel, trigger system, rail system, etc. With that in mind and not to have you thinking ‘holy crap, where is he going with this?!’ I will try not to overwhelm and keep it easy to understand. Let’s start with the barrel. You can purchase many different barrels for many different reasons. It all comes down to the primary use of your AR-15. The primary barrels today are either chrome lined, stainless steel or melonite lining. They are all quality barrels, but have different purposes. There is also something that is called minute of angle (MOA) which “contributes ” to how accurate you are at different distances. If you ask a professional long-range shooter, hunter or military sniper, they will tell you there is a lot more to it than just the MOA. They are 100% correct. This is not about long-range shooting, but about the AR-15 platform and its parts.

Chrome Lined Barrel – The chrome lined barrel is the primary barrel for the military gun fighters and most likely the stock barrel at your local gun shop. This is probably the most common barrel for the AR15 platform that is out there for the general public. Whether I was diving underwater and coming into a beach to go on patrol, or crawling through mud and sand, or navigating through a marsh, this barrel never let me down. This was the barrel that I used in the military and definitely stands up to the rigors and different extremes of environmental change that I put it through.

Guide To Purchasing an AR15 Rifle and Accessories — Courtesy of: www.thenewrifleman.com

Stainless Steel Barrel – The stainless steel barrel is more commonly found in hunting rifles and long range shooting rifles. If you think that you will be putting thousands of rounds through the barrel, your 0.5 MOA barrel may become a 1.5 MOA barrel which is still as accurate as a chrome lined barrel, so keep that in mind. If you like shooting as fast as you can pull the trigger, go melonite or chrome. Stainless steel is great for competition shooting, or hunting. If rapid fire or full auto is what you desire, stick with the chrome lined or melonite barrels for extended life.

Melonite Barrel – The melonite barrel is known for the following traits; corrosion resistance, stronger/harder surface layer and the ability to withstand friction and wear for a longer duration. The process involves dipping the barrel in a salt bath and applying these traits to each barrel. Making a melonite barrel involves several different dipping processes which infuse the metal of the barrel and changing the characteristics, longevity and durability of the metal the barrel.

The last part of the puzzle that “I” will be talk about on the AR-15 is the hand guard. The first one is referred to the classic “drop-in hand guard”. This hand guard was the first one to be used when the M16 was developed. It is still used in basic training in the military and comes on many models available today in your local gun shops. These hand guard’s will get hot to the touch from extended rates of firing. It does not breathe nearly as well as the more advanced designed hand guard rails do. They can be somewhat difficult to mount on to the rifle. For the money, this is an excellent option to start with. I learned to shoot the with iron sights in training and was not exposed to scopes or red dots until I proved to my platoon that I was ready for the sight. Needless to say, I was still using the classic drop-in hand guard and always used shooting gloves during live fire training and deployment readiness training.

I now have AR-15 with a free floating hand rail. The things that you have to remember, when mounting sights on your AR-platform, you do not want to mount any optics or red dot sights forward of the front of the upper receiver rail. This will allow you to maintain your accuracy, because your optics are mounted to a rigid point of your rifle. Free floating eliminates the movement your barrel by isolating it from the hand-guard and has free float rails with slots or rails to mount things like lights, lasers, bipods, foreword grips, ect.

Key-Mod and MLOK

There are two other free floating rail systems. Key-mod which uses key hole slots to attach your accessories. To mount your accessory to the Key-Mod rail, line up the lugs of the accessory with the round part of the keyhole. Slide it forward, and then tighten the screws.

(video courtesy of: Darin Cepeda)

The MLOK which is made by MAGPUL, use slots instead of keyholes to mount your desired accessory. This allows the accessory to be placed at the front or back end of the chosen slots. Ultimately they are both quality systems and I would choose either for my AR15.

(Video courtesy of: team sootch minuteman)