The Type-A SIPR comes in a 36″ Propper soft rifle case (Update: They now ship in Drago Cases). Similar to other high-quality heavy nylon bags like the Drago’s, it has Velcro front pockets and a snap shut center pocket. Any case is a quality addition with a rifle, and BG Defense put this into their thought process for their end users, case covered.
Inside one pocket you’ll find a thanks filled and tongue and cheek handout with some information from the guys at BG, complete with a 25m military zeroing target on the back. A 30 round Magpul Pmag will also be found in the case pockets.
Inside the case, the rifle straps down securely with room for any standard optic, I equipped it with a Meprolight M21 for my evaluation, it’s now wearing a Trijicon TA31 ACOG making it an all Michigan package. Michigander that I am, that makes me happy for its own sake. The rifle’s owner is also pleased with the ACOG.
Pulling the Type-A SIPR out, it’s light and well balanced. The handguard isn’t the heavy thick walled aluminum that older rifles have been kitted with. The rifle feels mobile, it shoulders and points nimbly and precisely
From front to back:
The barrel is free floated wearing an industry standard A2 style muzzle device, easily changed out for your favorite offering if you so choose. The 1/2×28 thread pitch, standard. The 16″ barrel is described as a ‘light weight’ contour but isn’t a pencil barrel. The gas system is midlength with a .750 low profile gas block tucked under the handguard. (Update: Newer rifles are using 7 inch carbine gas systems for greater back pressure using a variety of ammo and ensure reliable cycling)
The barrel is 41v50 vanadium alloy and is chrome lined, another industry standard. BG selected a 1/8 twist rate for the rifling allowing for the widest stabilizing range from the 55-69 gr rounds commonly found in the .223/5.56x45mm inventories in production.
The handguard is 15″ and mates to the barrel nut free floating it to improve accuracy by minimizing any external barrel pressures. While inquired about, no final word on whether these handguards will be out in the wild on their own for personal builds, but I and others would like to see these handguards on the market. That particular topic has come up several times in conversations about the SIPR. The handguard, BG Defense’s design, hugs the barrel and provides an exceptional balance with attachment space for lights, slings, and supporting hardware.
The slotted sections on the handguard are M-LOK compatible. BG Defense’s design aligns added M-LOK attachments co-planar with the permanent rail sections minimizing weight and keeping hardware like vertical grips properly and comfortably spaced. Quick detach points are provided front and back on the handguard’s sides (3 and 9 o’clock) and are rotation limited, preventing sling binding by twisting.
The rifle is topped off with Magpul MBUS sights front and rear making it range ready at pick-up, they are fired and zeroed from the factory.
The upper and lower receivers see very tight tolerances on the fit between the two halves. This maintains higher accuracy on the rifles by limiting play or slop between the two receivers, limiting small movements within the Type-A during firing. The upper has M4 style or ‘extended’ feed ramps machined in increasing feed reliability on the quicker traveling carbine buffer systems. A Magpul Industries MOE, MOE+, K2, or K2+ grip and MOE trigger guard complete the rifle, it varies rifle to rifle, but grips are the easiest piece on the rifle to change if you want a different grip option. Safety selector, forward assist, magazine release, and dust cover are all vanilla AR-15.
The charging handle is their Type-A Rapid Charging Handle (Some models may ship with a conventional handle). Similar in function to a BCM Gunfighter Mod 5 with their own latch design, the RCH gives the user more surface to grab than on typical designs and aids modern support hand manipulations common among shooters today. It’s a good touch and avoids the mile wide latches seen on some offerings and the weaknesses inherent in such cheaper designs.
The end plate is an ambidextrous single point sling plate. If you’re an SPS user, this is another part you won’t need to add to the rifle, personally I’d like to see a QD plate in its place. Talking with the BG Defense reveals this choice as a six of one, half a dozen of the other type conundrum. To streamline their parts process they picked this plate, not everyone in the rifle world will like it, and that’s not an issue nor difficult to change if desired.
