Sunday Sermon: Finish the Fight, Quickly

By

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September 16, 2018

The quicker a fight ends the less shot you will get. Every second that a fight remains active is another second the hostile person or persons are sending hot jacketed lead, unforgiving steel, or heavy blunt force trauma at you and others.

It is simple math, the longer the fight lasts the more injured you will become. It is in your extreme best interest and that of anyone you are protecting to end the fight swiftly and decisively. How do you go about that?

Speed

First. When it is time to use force, use effective force. The last post talks about how quickly to get violent if called for.

Short answer: Very damn quick.

Once that determination is made do everything in your power to deliver overwhelming debilitating force to the threat. Make them unable to fight NOW.

Effectiveness

Simply put, in a gunfight deal multiple (as necessary) center mass and central nervous system impacts. Damage the body until it voluntarily or involuntarily gives up. Involuntary is more secure but either one is a decisive win in your corner, and physically speaking if they aren’t fighting they are by legal definition not a threat right now.

So prepare to live. Prepare to end a fight quickly. Mentally steel yourself to the decisions that will end the fight in your favor and do so at minimum risk to yourself and others. Time is your greatest risk exposure.

If you’re unsure of how to effectively disable someone in a fight you suspect you could be put into, then my friends you’ve identified a course or series of course that you need to take. Wounding science is a very real thing that better prepares you for both causing and treating wounds.

Cause them to the bad guys, treat your own and those around you, treat a bad guys last and ONLY if safe to do so. They matter dead last is any situation in which you needed to flip on that violence switch.

The Mythic German AR: The H&K 416

By

Keith Finch

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September 14, 2018

Mike over running GarandThumb takes on a topic that many many folks have some questions on.

What makes the H&K 416 the H&K416? What makes this classically German over engineered variant of the AR-15 the legend it is?

Data set after data set see two weapons consistently out perform the modern layout. Both are US Service rifles within USSOCOM. The SCAR and the 416 compete incredibly favorably in accuracy, reliability, and high praise end user feedback. What sets the rifle apart?

The SCAR and the 416 have top marks on their failure rates and accuracy. The meet standards that no other firearms have been held to in official trials. What details make the guns run?

GT highlights the highs and lows of running the H&K 416. He compares this against the other popular SBR platfrom, the Mk 18 (and clones). This is the German gun in the raw.

Going to the Belt – The Bravo Concealment AR Mag Pouch

By

Travis Pike

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September 13, 2018

I’m not sure when the big switch from carrying gear on a vest rig went to carrying gear on a belt but I’d like to say I was a cool guy when it happened. By cool guy I mean active duty Marine Infantryman. I think it had a lot to do with the advent of smaller and lighter plate carriers with less room to mount gear. In 2009 I was in Afghanistan and witnessed a massive change in my squad. Guys were dropping gear from their plate carrier to a variety of belts. We did nothing but foot patrol so a Marine’s width wasn’t the issue. As time moved on belt rigs became the norm and so did belt ready gear. Almost ten years later we have gear like the Bravo Concealment AR mag pouch.

The Modern Difference

The Braco Concealment AR mag pouch is made almost entirely from Kydex, if it’s not kydex its metal. As mentioned above this is a belt mounted mag pouch and you have to order it specific to your hand orientation. The magazines are canted slightly forward for a quick and easy draw with your weak hand.

The design is an opt top and the retention is based around friction. With the Bravo Concealment AR mag pouch, you can adjust the tension via a single screw. This is great because you can adjust it for the slight differences most magazines will have. With so many companies making so many different, magazines this adjustment is a great feature to have.

In my experience, these magazines have zero issues accommodating the following magazines.

Magpul P-Mags
Lancer Hybrids
Mission First Tactical
Hexmags
USGI Style aluminum magazines

I have yet to find any that didn’t fit the magazine pouches, but with so many different AR 15 magazines out there, its likely one doesn’t fit. I can’t say every AR 15 magazine will function with the Bravo Concealment AR mag pouch. The most important magazines for me work, so I’m good.

The Bravo Concealment AR Mag Pouch in Action

I was a machine gunner so rapid reloads of a rifle weren’t that necessary of a skill to me, but we did them enough where I know my baseline. These are so much faster than a traditional flapped mag pouch mounted on a carrier. The belt area is just much easier to reach, especially when you are keeping a rifle aimed downrange.

Grip, rip and reload is all it takes. The cant of the Bravo Concealment AR mag pouch is perfect and makes it intuitive and quick to get your mag to your gun. The magazine pouch features a slight curve, very slight, that pushes the magazine away from the body. This makes it easy to get your hands around the magazine when pulling for a reload.

I took out my shorty, cobbled together 80 lower AR 15 with two Bravo mag Pouches and just ripped and rolled for 15 minutes a day. This was to build both skill and speed, as well as review the mag pouches. I love that they don’t move when I rip the magazine out of the pouch. It lets them with the perfect amount of pull. At the same time it doesn’t let the mag just fall out when you are running, moving, and reloading the magazines stay put.

System Integration

If you are looking for just an extra magazine pouch or two then you are good with just these pouches. A combat load of 7 30 round magazines is a bit rougher. However, the Bravo Concealment AR mag pouch is still well suited for a combat load setup.

I see this being a great option for a speed reload under fire. Keep it on your hip and with its open top design, you’ll have a magazine ready for easy access. If you empty under fire you’ll have a quick means to reload and keep rocking and rolling.

Plus, if you remove your gear for something like a meeting with the village elder you’ll still have a mag pouch on hand in case you have to move to aggressive negotiations.

The pouch is rock solid and well made. I’ve done it over and over and the retention doesn’t loosen and neither has the belt clips. It’s a simple design, but damn does it work. If you are looking for a belt mounted rifle pouch I’d suggest the Bravo Concealment AR mag pouch with complete confidence.

Weapon Retention Fail: Robber Loses His Pew

By

Keith Finch

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September 12, 2018

It worked out for the staff but it the gem is really for us of the internet. The video showcases the robber drawing and then immediately relinquishing control on his weapon.

It flies from his hand like he had prepped for this particular heist by buttering his hands with popcorn butter.

Pro Tip: No butter, also no robberies.

Robinson Armament XCR-M Part 2: Zeroed In.

By

Mike Westra

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September 12, 2018

I have had a little time to play with my Robinson Armament XCR-M. So far I am impressed. I love the ergonomics. No matter if you’re a righty or a lefty all administrative functions can be performed quickly with little to no effort. The gun is built solidly, looks great, but the true test of a rifle is not how awesome it looks but how well it groups shots at varying distances.

XCR-M Break In Procedure

Depending on who you talk to, using the proper break in procedure will greatly increase the accuracy of your firearm. There is a little controversy about the “proper” break in procedure one should use.

Basically it comes down to how you want to use your gun. My plan for the Robinson Armament XCR-M is to make accurate shots at various distances without needing to constantly clean it between shots. I need it to maintain optimum accuracy for 175 to 200 rounds. For this type of shooting the Cu Equilibrium or Copper equilibrium procedure makes the most sense.

Copper Equilibrium

To achieve Cu equilibrium you fire single shots with a cleaning between each shot for the first five rounds. When I say clean I mean only removing the carbon. I do not use a copper solvent during this procedure. We repeat but only cleaning after every 5 shots. I do that 6 times. Now we bump it to 10 shots between cleaning for 8 repetitions. Finally cleaning after 15 shots for 3 repetitions.

As the copper builds up the shot groups get tighter. you will notice the group size and bullet speed stabilize. This is called the sweet spot and the best time to find what ammunition your gun likes best.

Robinson Armament has their own break in procedures for the XCR-M. The manual says to open the gas system up and fire 40 rounds down range. Not wanting to use my expensive test ammo for the first part of the break in I bought two boxes of Armscor 308 to send down range.

Timeline

Day 1 consisted of firing 40 rounds with the gas system opened up. I followed the Cu equilibrium procedure perfectly. I did not use a target as I was not worried about group size. A milk jug at the bottom of the berm sufficed. The XCR-M handled the Armscor very well. Recoil was very manageable even with the gas system opened up.

Day 2 I concentrated on dialing in the gun, optic, and ammo to get the best groups. I was not quite half way through the Cu equilibrium procedure but decided to use my test ammo anyway. I figured if I got good groups now, they would get even better once I arrived at the sweet spot.

The plan for testing started with open sights, then through my scope at 25 yards to make sure everything was working properly before hitting the 100 and 200 yard ranges. Next I wanted to shoot several brands of ammo to see what worked the best. The final test was to shoot a group, remove the barrel, re-install the barrel and re-shoot the group.

The Robinson Armament XCR-M is a modular rifle with the ability to quickly perform caliber changes. I have had rifles in the past (LMT) with this capability and was wondering if the XCR-M would perform as well in this test. Robinson Armament says I should expect the group to move about 1″ right or left after reinstalling the barrel.

Ammo Testing

I picked up several brands for my testing ammunition because I wanted to see how the rifle would function with a wide variety of rounds. My selection included Remington 168gr Matchking BTHP, Armscor, Hornady Black 168gr A-MAX, Lapua Scenar 155gr HPBT, and some military surplus all chambered in .308 win. I had watched several older reviews and was expecting accuracy to be about 1 minute of angle (moa).

Day 2 was a perfect day for testing ammo, it was cloudy, cooler, very little wind, and very few people at the range. I set up on the 100 yard range,used a bi-pod, and sandbags to stabilize the rifle. My best groups of the day were with the Lapua 155gr. Not surprising as Lapua brand ammunition is a known precision performer, with a price to match. In my circle of friends very few would be willing to pay $75 to $90 a box for 308 Win. After seeing the results I am definitely considering this round for competition.

The Lapua loads were averaging 5/8 moa. This impressed, since I expected maybe 3/4 moa at best. I know its match grade ammunition but this in not a bolt gun, it is not a GA Precision or a Seekins Precision Rifle; It is a Robinson Armament XCR-M gas piston gun. It was not just a one group fluke either. I shot 6 groups that consistently averaged 5/8 moa out of an 18.6″ Heavy profile barrel with the Lapua 155gr BTHP ammunition.

Ammo Performance

The Hornady, Remington and Armscor performance did not disappoint either. Remington and Hornady both averaged 3/4 moa. Armscor came in 4th with an average of 1 moa. I did not get any group data on the surplus ammo as I had some feeding and extraction issues. I thought it might need to oil the gun a bit, but before I did that I fired some more of the Armscor through it with no feeding issues.

Robinson Armament says I should have no issues cycling steel or surplus ammo once the rifle is completely broken in. I am not worried as I don’t plan on shooting anything but match grade ammunition.

Holding Zero

The next test I wanted to perform was to see how well the gun held its zero after removing and reinstalling the barrel. Robinson Armament says their rifles will maintain accuracy within 1 moa. It took a little effort to remove the barrel the first time as the screw was pretty tight. Once the Allen screw was loosened enough the barrel and gas system slides right out. I slid the 6.5 Creedmoor barrel in its place and torqued the Allen screw to the required specifications.

The Hornady Match 6.5 Creedmoor gave me even better groups than the Lapua in .308win. I averaged 3/8 moa with the Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor 140gr ELD Match. I only brought one box of ammunition as my main focus was on accuracy of the 308. Next I rapid fired 10 rounds as quickly as I could making sure I saw the cross-hairs on my target between each trigger pull. My rapid fire group opened up to 1.25moa. Not bad for rapid fire shots.

With barrels swapped again, I shot two groups of Hornady Black 308 to test group shift. Robinson Armament nailed it when they said 1 moa. My groups were exactly 1moa to the left.

End of Day

I capped the day off by taking one shot at a 6″ steel target at 200yds. That sweet sound of ringing steel and a quick glace through the spotting scope confirmed that this is my new favorite gun. Dead center hit told me its time to put the gun away. You should always end a shooting session with a positive experience.

The Robinson Armament XCR-M exceeded all of my expectations on the range. Older reviews had me curious about its capabilities but just like wine gets better with age so does Robinson Armament.

Remember

By

Keith Finch

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September 11, 2018

Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you plann’d:

Only remember me; you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve:

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad. -Christina Rossetti

17 Years ago at 8:46 am this nation suffered the worst surprise attack in its history. This attack did not come from a nation state with a standing army. It was not an invasion.

It was a message… a message from a small violent group who were told by their leaders and whose leadership may have even believed that if they brought fire, blood, and death to the west that somehow, someway, they may be taken seriously.

They were taken seriously.

But not, I suspect, in the manner they wished…

Out of the dust, smoke, and torn steel rose men and women. Scared, scarred, and confused they rose. Coughing, bleeding, and burnt they rose. Carrying the wounded, lifting the fallen, and with slowly clenching fists they rose.

When the blood and smoke was wiped from their eyes and they saw the adversary laughing at their state they looked down into the dust and debris. They saw what they were looking for.

Many voices around us, many nations shared our horror and anguish. A few chuckled along with the adversary.

We bent into the dust. We watched the laughing enemy. Some of his friends were openly laughing too now.

We brushed off a case under the debris… the latches were a little tarnished. We hadn’t used this in years, not in a major way.

The adversary started pointing, talking to his friends. What were we doing? He told us we would bleed again and again as we got out of line. He promised the same to our horrified friends.

We opened the case.

“They won’t do it. All bluster, all of them.” Said the small group. But they weren’t laughing anymore.

We shouldered the rifle.

The small group began to scatter. A few looked defiant, they had picked a fight for a reason after all.

We fired.

They ran. They threw innocents in the way. They fled seeking refuge from a wrathful nation. They sought every corner of sympathy and spun every tale they could to find shelter.

We found them anyway. We killed them.

We now find ourselves in a time where we want to put down the rifle. We’ve gotten hurt. Our friends have gotten hurt. The enemy has tried many times to come again. We shot them. Our friends shot them. They bled, but so did we.

They bled far more.

We want to set the rifle down. But we know now we cannot case the rifle, as tempting as it may be. Instead we must maintain the rifle. We must maintain our vigilance. We know our reasoning is not the enemy’s, if it were we would need the rifle.

We are weary now. Much of our anger is a memory. But we must keep the rifle ready.

Readers, remember that the only thing that prevents violence against you as a person, a community, or a nation, is the will of others. They need only the will to act and suffer the consequences.

Your response though. That is your choice.

If you must respond, make it count.

But today, this moment, remember it all. Those who where hurt, those who are gone, and the lessons we have learned at a cost.

Springfield Armory SAINT, 300 BLK Pistol

By

Keith Finch

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September 10, 2018

Springfield Armory is continuing the successful SAINT line with a 300 Blackout pistol addition.

The SAINT™ AR-15 Pistol in .300 BLK harnesses the power of the battle-proven round for more capability and versatility in a compact platform.

Complete with a rugged SB Tactical SBX-K forearm brace and a 9-inch Melonite® treated CMV barrel, the SAINT AR-15 Pistol is small, fast, and ideal for CQB. The patent-pending free float handguard design, nickel boron-coated GI single-stage trigger, pinned, low-profile adjustable gas block and exclusive Accu-Tite™ tension system complete this compact, combat-grade package.

The compact design complements the .300 BLK round, making the SAINT Pistol an ideal home defense choice. At just 27.75 inches long, and weighing only 5.9 pounds, this new AR pistol in .300 BLK from Springfield Armory® delivers a lot of power in a small, fast-handling package.

Saturday: Let’s Talk Subgun’s. Forgotten Weapons and Ken Hackathorn on the Thompson and MP5

By

Keith Finch

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September 8, 2018

Submachine guns and Pistol Caliber Carbines had a popular reemergence recently. I got on the bandwagon myself with my MP5.

But such firearms generally have a legendary mystique that attributes to them near mythical powers that just aren’t realistic. The Garand suffered from this too. Ken goes through a more realistic view on the carbines.

If you have a few minutes, enjoy.

When Bullpups Went Wrong: The L85/SA80

By

Keith Finch

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September 7, 2018

When bullpups were the wave sweeping Western Europe in the theorized mechanized conflict, the British company Enfield made many terrible decisions.

The SA80 was a bureaucratic nightmare on a level that rivals and perhaps even surpasses the F35 Joint Strike Fighter. The F35 is just a more expensive example. QC for the SA80 was nearly non-existent.

As the video mentions, the German H&K (British owned at the time) had to remake the entire rifle into the A2 configuration. While it is honestly a passable service rifle now, its evolution made the AR-15/M-16’s problems in Vietnam look like a rifle that acted up here and there.

After Labor Day Our Routines Change, Our Preparation Should Not

By

Keith Finch

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September 6, 2018

The unofficial end to summer has passed. Labor Day weekend come and gone. It is time to go back to work, and while this may mean the scope of preparation changes, the core concept does not.

For many this means grabbing a book bag in place of a beach bag. Classrooms around the nation are full of students once again and the 2019 School Year begins in full. Schedules for everyone revolve around the new time frames.

Inside or outside that classroom, as we shift to meet the new time frames, our preparations mentally and physically should remain just as consistent as ever.

Threats did not disappear with the changing of the seasons, just the environment and time we are spending there.

We change our preparations to match our environments. The neat little cliche that is the NPE or ‘Non-Permissive Environment’ rears more often as we navigate around campuses. Their reanimation this time of year changes our whens and our wheres to lesser or greater degrees.

This is a good time to recheck our emergency preparation plans. Check first aid, every day carry, battery powered tools, and shift and replace them as necessary.

If you can’t carry this time of year it’s time to implement those other plans, sequestering permissible tools. There is always something you can do to influence your advantage.

So as we move our days around the commutes, the sports schedules, class itineraries, trips, and other changes the are coming down the chute this time of year lets reset our postures to keep our prepared mindsets equally ready.

Pistols at 27,000 FPS Underwater. Slo-Mo Guys Science

By

Keith Finch

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September 5, 2018

Water is a fantastic scientific medium.

The fluid dynamic is much more visual. Water, being the far denser fluid compared to the general atmosphere, illustrates the different ways that the projectile and expanding gasses interact with the environment and the travel medium.

Plus slow motion is cool.

Wilson Combat’s 300 HAM’R: The Deer Slaying, Coyote Culling, Hog Hammering AR-15 We Really Wanted.

By

Keith Finch

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September 4, 2018

Remington backed the .300 Blackout as a .30 cal solution for firing super and subsonic loads more terminally effective than 5.56 out of short barrels. An easily suppressed short barrel AR platform with a bump in lethality.

Bill Wilson said (paraphrasing) “That’s cool but can it stay in the AR-15 while slaying hogs like mad?”

So with that different goal in mind Wilson Combat developed the .300 HAM’R. Where the Blackout is a SBR tactical round by design the HAM’R is a maximized .30 cal while still retaining the 5.56 carrier and .300 BLK magazines.

Bill Wilson has brought us as close to the venerable .308 out of the AR-15 as anyone to date and he kept our standard bolts and magazine capacity too.

Neat.

The 300 HAM’R® was developed for optimal terminal performance and offers near .308 Winchester effectiveness, amazing accuracy and low recoil in the lightweight and compact WC15 platform. Terminal performance testing on over 200 Texas feral hogs has proven it to kill much more effectively than the 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC, 7.62×39 or 300 Blackout. Due to the optimization of bullet weight to barrel twist, accuracy has proven to be outstanding. Sub one-inch groups are the norm with multiple bullet choices for varying applications such as hunting, target shooting and tactical use. Undoubtedly the 300 HAM’R will be compared to the popular 300 BLACKOUT or 7.62×39 and as the comparison charts below indicate, ballistics of the 300 HAM’R far exceeds the 300 BLACKOUT and 7.62×39 in both velocity and energy when utilizing 110-150gr bullets.

The 300 HAM’R has 18% more retained velocity, 40% more energy and a 56% flatter trajectory than the 300 BLACKOUT at 200 yards!
Enhanced reliability due to the longer gas systems, 16.25” is mid-gas and the 18”/20” are intermediate gas system.
Any AR15 platform rifle can be converted to 300 HAM’R with a simple barrel change and the use of 300 Blackout magazines.
The 300 HAM’R with its 1-15 twist match grade barrel is optimized for accuracy with 110gr to 135gr bullets.
Factory Starline produced 300 HAM’R cases are available, but cases can be made from common and available 5.56/.223 cases.
The 300 HAM’R has a 300 FPS velocity and 400 FP energy advantage over the 300 BLACKOUT at the muzzle.
300 HAM’R rifles and barrels are available in 16.25”, 18” and 20” lengths with different profiles.

Labor Day Weekend

By

Keith Finch

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September 3, 2018

Who took advantage of the myriad sales this weekend?

I saw some seriously fantastic deals floating around out there for those looking to add, upgrade or expand. Geissele ran a massive sale. Aero Precision did too. I saw ammo and accessories for discounts across the spectrum.

My wallet is once again lighter and I’ve got ammo and an optic on the way, parts for a new build, and a course booked for the end of the month.

If you got into the trouble with me in the sales I hope you had fun! If you’re looking to do so just click one of he above links.

For every reader, I hope you had a great weekend as we call summer to its unofficial close!

Back to the grind tomorrow.

Sunday Sermon: Speed of Aggression

By

Keith Finch

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September 2, 2018

When a peaceful resolution is no longer an avenue with acceptable levels of risk it is time to become violent.

The speed with which you go violent will be telling in your advantage. Overwhelming force applied accurately to the situation and then dialed back when the situation becomes safe to do so will greatly enhance your survival and injury chances.

In a fight you never want to be behind your adversary’s aggression curve. We are put in the situation at minimum once by the nature of defensive and reactionary fighting.

Self defense is reactionary, the aggressor steps into lethal force territory first. Once that step has been taken it is your task to surpass them through efficiency.

The majority of violent aggressors only have two advantages, they know it’s going to happen and they have lesser or no inhibition on using violence.

You can’t readily overcome the first advantage but you can lessen its influence through observation. The second advantage is where people will struggle. Peaceable people have difficulty rationalizing violence even if it is immediately necessary.

Violence is connotated with evil. Violence is not evil. Violence is force. The major inhibition comes in the form of struggling to separate defensive violence from criminal violence.

Begin thinking in terms, not of harming another person, but of efficiently stopping life threatening action. Your swift decisions are based on observations and they will scale as the actions of the threat change.

If they are lethal, you are lethal. If they scale back so do you, but once you have taken the initiative from them you do not give it up. Never go below a threat again on the Use of Force scale. Keep ahead of them, if they believe their aggression can out match yours they will attempt. You must not allow that to be true, whether they believe it or not.

Remove your inhibition to violence and put it in its proper spot in your tool box. Right beside peaceful deescalation. Then be ready to grab the right tool for the job.

Air Weight EDC Carbine: 2A Armament Balios and Ti RBC

By

Keith Finch

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August 30, 2018

5lbs.

That’s all.

This 10.5″ Mk18 esk AR-15 pistol weighs in at 5lbs.

To anyone who is under the belief carrying an AR pistol is generally any lighter than carrying an AR rifle. It generally isn’t, not much.

Chopping around 6 inches of barrel off, or in whatever configuration you finalize the carbine, is still very close to the original weight. Getting a 7-9lb service rifle down to 5lbs takes serious effort.

2A Armament succeeded with their Balios Lite.

I am not a weight obsessed individual, my carry gun is alloy not polymer. But taking an 8lb rig down by almost 40% while leaving it functioning the way I want is impressive, not obsessive. With most configurations of light, sights, and CQB optic the rig will remain under 6lbs.

This was a build. 2A does pistols and SBR’s too, pick your own adventure.

The Balios Lite is a 7075-T6 CNC’d down to 6.6 oz. I seriously thought the box was empty when I picked it up. The bolt catch uses a threaded system so no hammer and punch on this build. Everything else uses standard parts.

A Mil-Spec LPK and an H2 buffer (good for 10.5″ gas guns) rounded the package out without getting fancy(er). Different trigger, safety, and grip all in good time.

The upper came completed and test fired by 2A Armament.

A Balios Lite Gen 2 10.5″ with M-LOK handguard. Titanium gas block and T3 Ti Muzzle Comensator, 1/7 twist 4150 QPQ Nitride barrel, BCM Gunfighter charging handle. It foregoes the forward assist to streamline the upper further.

It’s a high class setup for a pistol.

One of the heaviest items on or in the AR is the bolt carrier group. I dropped their Titanium Regulated Bolt Carrier inside, swapping their standard mass out, and shaved even more weight out.

It is always a pleasure to see proper staking. One detail that enrages me on cheaper BCG’s is garbage staking above all else.

On top of being lighter the RBC has an extra trick, you can adjust the gas flow through the key to fine tune it for your load or suppressor set up. I’m not doing anything special with the gun at the moment so I left the gas key maxed. Reliability > All.

Braces like the SBA3 have been the final cheat code in the NFA:SBR/Pistol battle with it mating to a standard mil-spec receiver extension. Finishing the carbine with this on the back and an M-LOK QD allows me to run a favored 2-point sling, consistent with my other carbines.

Test fire time didn’t involve sights. Just 150 rounds to test cycling, recoil impulse, and gas efficiency.

The T3 muzzle device does a great job of keeping the gun flat. Felt recoil is just what I expected on an AR, light, manageable, and just a touch more than longer guns.

Even with an open gas key the blowback coming out of the 10.5″ gun was easily acceptable. Fine tuning it for a suppressor will be a nice feature to minimize the overpressure gassing me in the face. Fine tuned function.

Adding a micro dot optic, a Sig Sauer Romeo 5 in this case, and a set of MBUS sent it back out for more reliability and accuracy testing.

Off the support it was grouping at around an inch to an inch-and-a-half at 50 yards with a 2 MOA dot. No stoppages on the M193 IMI ball, Federal XM193, M855, Wolf Gold 55gr, and Winchester White Box 55gr.

The 2A Balios Lite blends the established aspects of AR reliability with a drastic enough weight reduction that it is well worth the notice. The material selection is top quality and 2A’s attention to detail shows in the fit and finish of each part.

When the ounces count the 2A Armament Balios-Lite delivers without compromising on the top tier reliability you expect from premium designed parts. They did not opt for flash over function.

2A Armament, nicely done.