Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Aero Precision Limited Edition AR15 Builder Sets

Aero Precision Limited Edition AR15 Builder Sets


For well over five years I have been using Aero Precision receivers for a variety of builds, reviews and articles simply because of one reason - Quality. I can count on the builds looking great, going together without a problem and performing exceptionally. In fact, I was one of the first writers ever feature Aero Precision back when they were primarily an aerospace manufacturer and were just starting to make receivers. From my perspective Aero Precision are the best quality forged mil-spec upper and lower receivers on the market for AR builders. What should not be surprising is that they also OEM manufacture receivers for many AR15 companies people would recognize. Over the years Aero Precision created the COP (Continuous Optics Platform) forged upper which remains the strongest full monolithic upper receiver on the market. They also introduced one of the simplest ambi-receivers on the market and later a lightweight and insanely strong semi-monolithic M4E1 receivers.

The company has always been very creative in their product development and marketing. Aero Precision was also one of the first large manufacturers to start offering factory cerakoted stripped receivers and accessories. That initial custom offering has now morphed into offering Limited Edition Builder sets that deliver a stunning platform to complete your custom build.


AERO PRECISION LIMITED EDITION BUILDER SETS
A few years ago, AP began offering basic black or flat dark earth finished builder sets which included a M4E1 upper and handguard with forward assist and ejection port door installed, a stripped lower receiver, and extended trigger guard. The kit concept was stunningly popular with AR15 builders. The builders ended up with a well engineered, tight fitting build that was ready for whatever parts they wanted to use.


AP decided to expand that idea by offering a limited edition run each month featuring custom themed finishes. Per their plan, they will never repeat any finish, so each limited edition set is truly limited - they will not make more. The best way to be notified about an upcoming builder set is to follow AP on one of their social media sites. If you see one you like, my advice is you better buy quick. Each monthly run is limited to only 200 units and they do sell out very fast usually within a day or two of release.


Over the last year, AP has offered a wide range of limited run finishes includes some from Blown Deadline, Legal Manufacturing, and many others notable finishing companies plus some custom cerakote colors you just do not see very often including this Noveske Bazooka Green cerakote AR15 pistol. Each of these custom finishes would cost at least $200, these builder kits are a significant bargain at $499 considering AP sells the all black builder kit components for $390. Plus there is no waiting to the backlogged coaters to work your project in. You are almost guaranteed that you will not see anyone at the range with the same AR15.


MY CUSTOM AERO PRECISION BUILDS
With several of Aero Precision’s initial titanium, bronze, and silver cerakoted AR15 builds complete, I was a little slow to jump at at least of their limited edition sets and missed one of the Blown Deadline sets that I really wanted. From them on, I have kept my eyes peeled.  Late last year, I was able to grab a Legal Manufacturing coated Nickel Boron Battle Worn finish builder set. A receiver and handguard set coated in NiBo, who would not want that. A couple months later, Aero Precision had Noveske Bazooka Green cerakoted builder kits. I was late to the party however it turns out a short handguard builder set was run as a test and luckily was able to snag that… truely a one off custom.


These days the builder has it pretty easy. For both builds, all the parts with the exception of the Black Hole Weaponry barrel and ELF trigger components were all sourced from either Aero Precision or Brownells which made things incredibly easy. Brownells does have an enormous selection now of AR15 custom parts including some of the more custom parts like Battle Arms Development and VSeven. Notably being able to lay out all the parts in one shopping cart does really help me visualize how everything will work together and saves a ton on shipping from various vendors.


Nickel Boron Battle Worn - I am not sure I am completely done with this build. I think I am still too awestruck at the finish to figure out what I want to do with some of the mil-spec part replacements and which paracord would work to wrap the stock. Likely this build will resurface again. 

The shown working build was completed with a Black Hole Weaponry 18” polished .223 Wylde stainless steel light weight stainless steel barrel, Brownells Ni-Bo Bolt Carrier Superlative Arms adjustable gas block, Stainless steel ALG Defense Brake, Geissele SD-E trigger, charging handle and Super Precision 34mm scope mount, KNS Anti-Rotate Pins, YHM Pivot Pins, and Bushnell Elite Tactical ERS 3.5-21 34mm scope, Magpul grip, and Ace Stock. There is no doubt that the Geissele SD-E trigger and Bushnell scope allowed the Black Hole Weaponry barrel to deliver some stunning groups for this slim lightweight barrel.


Noveske Bazooka Green AR15 Pistol - This true one off custom builder set Aero Precision had done was a production sample to just to test the color. It did have some blemishes since it had been a well handled sample, but I freaking love it. Though I usually love to add in something shiney, I opted to just go with basic black even though pretty much every accessory on the gun was aftermarket custom. 


The unique flat billet aluminum ejection port cover and smooth line bolt release are VSeven. Other accessories are Mission First Tactical grip, BCM Charging handle, KNS anti-rotate pins, Battle Arms Development magazine release, and Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter to keep things compact for storage.  

YHM Bolt Carrier Group and pivot pins were used along with a new pencil profile Ballistic Advantage 10.5” barrel tipped with a Wilson Combat flash hider. I have never tested any ELF components and they are all top tier quality. Featured on this build was an ELF flat adjustable trigger and button safety which were both unique and exceptional upgrades to any AR15. The ELF Button Safety is insanely fast to manipulate.


FINAL THOUGHTS
The quality of these builder kits are phenomenal and the price is quite reasonable considering what you are getting.  

If you have walked through an AR15 build and made your build mistakes with a cheap lower receiver and now have all the appropriate tools, this would be my recommended next step to creating that really nice AR15 for yourself with top shelf components. 

Brownells also does have all the tools to complete your next build the right way. Coated AR15s are the big thing this year from everyone in the AR market, but I think Aero Precision is still way ahead of the curve with these unique limited edition builder sets. Follow Aero Precision on social media to be one of the first to own the next AP limited edition set.


SOURCES
Aero Precision - https://aeroprecisionusa.com

Brownells -  Brownells.com 

Black Hole Weaponry - http://www.blackholeweaponry.com


Sourced from Brownells
Buy at Brownells.com and support MajorPandemic.com

Ballistic Advantage
KNS Precision
Geissele
ALG
Vortex Optics
Law Tactical
Ace Stock
Bushnell
Mission First Tactical
Battle Arms Development
Magpul
V-Seven
YHM
Wilson Combat
Phase 5 Tactical
Superlative Arms


Check BROWNELLS for the best deals on firearms and accessories

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Barrett REC7 AR15 Pistol Build


Barrett REC7 AR15 Pistol Build


Here we have a very rare Barrett AR15 Pistol. I know what you are thinking… at the moment Barrett does not make an AR15 pistol and well, you would be right. This Barrett based AR15 pistol is probably one of the few in existence anywhere, but more importantly this build makes for a rather interesting story.


There I was sauntering into my local FFL dealer and I see about ten stripped un-released lower receiver sets strung out across the counter. Among the various names were Saber Defense, Manroy, and oddly enough, Barrett. I snapped up the two naked un-anodized Barrett receivers immediately then asked “how the hell did you get these?”  Those poor REC7 Barrett receivers had been on an interesting journey. As still happens in the industry, Barrett did not make their own AR15 receivers initially, they actually used Saber Defense which was the company who also was making many parts and mounts for the M2 Browning Machine gun and Minigun, stellite .50 caliber barrels, and a number of sundry military defense parts. Saber Defense was indeed one of “the” go to arms manufacturers internationally. Saber Defense was very well regarded as producing one of the most accurate AR and M16 rifles made complete with hand fitted premium match barrels.


The journey of this receiver started when the old Saber Defense owners allegedly illegally imported suppressors from Finland, and also illegally exported firearms to Saber Defense’s sister UK division. As it was conveyed to me, Sabre and its executives were named in a 21-count federal indictment in 2010 that accused the owners of falsifying shipping labels and using false-bottom crates to hide firearms.… ya know and then the ATF raided them, shut down the company, filed charges, and allegedly threw people in jail.



This poor little receiver and its brothers were left in limbo as inventory until Manroy USA beat out Colt in an auction and purchased the assets of Saber Defense for around $5 Million and restarted the company in 2011. A short time after the acquisition, there seemed to be some discrepancy on what happened next. One version of the story is that Manroy USA continued the illegally export firearms allegedly shipping thousand AR15s labeled as “farm equipment” to Russia and other soviet bloc countries. Another version is that Manroy USA was in essence a shell company supported by creditors and manufacturers of Saber Defense to keep the company afloat and fulfilling military contracts while other sources for the critical military parts could be identified. 

Of note, FN did actually purchase some of ManRoy’s assets between 2011 and 2016 which was rumors to be the majority of the non-AR15 military parts. Yet another story was that the financial damage of the initial ATF closure was so severe that it damaged the sales beyond repair. Whatever the reason, Manroy sold off the remaining brand and Saber Defense assets in 2016 to New Empire Industries of Lincoln Nebraska. New Empire wanted to focus on premium barrel manufacturing but from my understanding in talking with New Empire they also still own all the other Saber Defense assets and brand. 

The legacy inventory of AR15 Saber Defense, ManRoy ad Barrett receivers ended up on the counter of my FFL dealer being sold off by New Empire who also happened to still be in the store while I was buying my receivers - very interesting discussion.  Sometimes the story is more interesting than the build. I only paid $75 for each receiver and left very happy.


THE BARRETT REC7 AR15 PISTOL BUILD
The Barrett receivers were both in perfect condition, but understandably heavily oxidized from sitting around for nearly seven years without anodizing. After briefly realizing that the last stripped Barrett REC7 sold on Gunbroker for $650, I will confess that I briefly considered selling off the receivers, but I spared them that fate. My best idea for the receiver was to do something really different that was based on showing a weathered look in recognition of the hard road the lower receivers traveled in the last seven years. After looking everywhere for a matching non-anodized upper receiver, I was rescued by PWS/Bootleg LLC who was nice enough to take two anodized Bootleg uppers and bead blast them for me. The problem is that fresh bead blasting does not match well aged seven-year old oxidized aluminum.


The process to get “the old aged oxidized aluminum look” on the Bootleg bead blasted upper required a process of 1000 grit sanding, dremel sanding, Scotch Brite pad and dremel polishing, hand Flitz polishing which I repeated about four times to get the new rough PWS bead blast finish down to the smooth level of the Barrett receiver finish. The upper and lower receivers were them pinned together with KNS Push Button Pivot Pins, hand polished to assure the sheens of both receivers matched, then carefully re-Scotch Brite pad rubbed to give them that well worn look. The two receivers were then carefully wiped down with a 50%/50% bleach and water solution to deliver the heavy “old oxidized look in certain areas”. After a rinse, the set was placed in my Hornady Ultrasonic cleaner and run for an hour total. The exposure to the Hornady cleaner solution and water smoothed out the work of the bleach and mellowed the finish with the additional more subtle oxidizing. A little coat of oil on the receivers was all that was used to protect the receiver from any other significant oxidation.



If you have this cool retro aged looking receiver set such as this, you might as well splurge a little on all the extra parts. It seemed to me the finish was subtle enough that only black accessories would due which included: Mission First Tactical extended magazine release, trigger guard and pistol grip. At some point MFT is going to either send me a nasty letter about chopping down their grips for AR pistol builds or start producing shorty AR15 pistol grips - I am hoping for the later.


Other goodies were KNS Anti-Rotate pins, American Defense Ambi Selector, Mission First Tactical trigger guard, extended magazine release, and magazines, Strike Industries Bolt Release, Timney Match trigger, Phase 5 Tactical Egg Plate QD mount, Hex-One Pistol buffer tube, and Phase 5 billet charging handle. A Fail Zero Bolt Carrier Group was used to drive the brand new 2017 Ballistic Advantage Modern series Pencil profile 11.5” barrel. An ALG Defense Keymod forend and muzzle brake were added to complete the front and of the rifle. For optics I wanted to used something different which ended up being a Sampson Fixed Front sight and MaTech 200-600-yard back up sight with a Burris AR-F3 red dot.

SHOOTING THE LITTLE BARRETT REC7 AR15 PISTOL
At the moment the ATF is not frowning on shouldering an AR15 pistol with just a buffer tube, so I left this build without a Stabilizing Brace so if the accidental contact to my shoulder happened, ATF would not come parachuting down from the sky to fine and jail me. As I have found with pretty much every well thought out AR15 pistol build, the accuracy of these AR pistols is seriously impressive. I was able to keep the 6-inch hostage swinger swaying all the way out to 300-yards easily and with the MaTech rear sight zeroed, precise shots on silhouette steel torsos all the way out to 600-yards were far easier than expected from a light gun that can be stowed in a standard backpack.


FINAL THOUGHTS
Barrett is likely none too happy about these receivers still floating around out there, but I personally could not be happier. I have a freaking custom Barrett AR15 pistol, who has one of these? The result is a very loud, flat shooting, extremely accurate, little sub-five-pound gun that can be easily stowed into any standard backpack when unpinned… and it even has a story to go with it.


SOURCES


Check BROWNELLS for the best deals on firearms and accessories


Bootleg Industries - http://bootleginc.com
Mission First Tactical - http://www.missionfirsttactical.com
Ballistic Advantage - http://ballisticadvantage.com
Timney Match Triggers - http://www.timneytriggers.com
Phase 5 Tactical - http://phase5wsi.com
Strike Industries - http://www.strikeindustries.com