C-grunt
03-27-14, 23:02
http://www.arsenaldemocracy.com/#reaper-highlight
First of all I apologize for not taking any photos today. I was having way to much fun.
I recently got invited to a demo shoot here in the Phoenix metro area for Arsenal Democracy. Id been seeing their rifles on the internet but I did not know anyone who had any hands on experience. Doing a search here I again found no hands on experience. One thing I took away directly off the bat is the clientele that this rifle is catered to. Its not trying to compete with BCM, Daniel Defense and Colt. They are going for Larue and Noveske shoppers. The rifles are built more as a RECCE or SPR than a standard carbine.
The CEO James brought out several rifles to play with today. a 14.5 inch middy gun topped with a T1, a 16 inch middy gun topped with an Acog (TA-31 I think), and an 18 inch rifle gas topped with Nightforce 2.5-10. He also brought a 16 inch 300 Blk rifle topped with a T1 that I didn't shoot at all.
We first went over the features of the gun and why he chose those items. One of the things brought up in a previous thread was why the custom buffer. James said because the standard H2.H3, etc buffers had too much standard allowed deviation in weight for his liking. I should point out that James seemed a bit OCD when it came to the specs of his guns.
The uppers and lowers are hand fitted and then serialized together. Now I realize, and James said this too, that tight fitment doesn't really matter but again that points to the level of attention and care that he puts into these rifles. The barrels are Shilen and on the heavier side. Luckily the keymod rail that they use is pretty lightweight and the rifle balances very well. Its not front heavy at all. Several of the keymods on each side have built in QD slots which I thought was a pretty cool feature. The barrels come with an adjustable gas block. The lower has a Geissele trigger. Not sure which one but its a curved two stage model.
The only thing I didn't care for on the rifle was the buttstock. There was nothing wrong with it. It locked up tight and fealt very strurdy. I just didn't care for it. Purely personal.
We shot the guns at pretty close range. Longest shots were around 75 yards. They are doing another demo later this week out at Cow Town, which is north of Phoenix and will let them stretch their legs a bit. All guns shot great. No malfunctions that I saw and we shot a few hundred rounds between each gun. I know that doesn't mean much but Im not going to turn down free trigger time. Ammo was Federal M193. We didn't shoot any groups.
All in all I came away very impressed by the guns. I went in thinking it was going to be some slapped together gun made to look cool and Id say I was way wrong. The closest competitor that I can think of would be the Larue PredatAR.
The only obstacle I see this company needing to overcome is name recognition. A lot of people are not going to spend 2k on a rifle that hasn't been fielded in large numbers. However once people start buying these rifles I bet they are going to become a respected name.
Aside form shooting the rifles I got to meet Nicholas Irving who I guess was kind of the inspiration for the rifle. Id also like to thank the guys from Armageddon Tactical Solutions for putting on the demo and supplying the ammo.
If you have any questions shoot away as Im certain there are things I missed.
First of all I apologize for not taking any photos today. I was having way to much fun.
I recently got invited to a demo shoot here in the Phoenix metro area for Arsenal Democracy. Id been seeing their rifles on the internet but I did not know anyone who had any hands on experience. Doing a search here I again found no hands on experience. One thing I took away directly off the bat is the clientele that this rifle is catered to. Its not trying to compete with BCM, Daniel Defense and Colt. They are going for Larue and Noveske shoppers. The rifles are built more as a RECCE or SPR than a standard carbine.
The CEO James brought out several rifles to play with today. a 14.5 inch middy gun topped with a T1, a 16 inch middy gun topped with an Acog (TA-31 I think), and an 18 inch rifle gas topped with Nightforce 2.5-10. He also brought a 16 inch 300 Blk rifle topped with a T1 that I didn't shoot at all.
We first went over the features of the gun and why he chose those items. One of the things brought up in a previous thread was why the custom buffer. James said because the standard H2.H3, etc buffers had too much standard allowed deviation in weight for his liking. I should point out that James seemed a bit OCD when it came to the specs of his guns.
The uppers and lowers are hand fitted and then serialized together. Now I realize, and James said this too, that tight fitment doesn't really matter but again that points to the level of attention and care that he puts into these rifles. The barrels are Shilen and on the heavier side. Luckily the keymod rail that they use is pretty lightweight and the rifle balances very well. Its not front heavy at all. Several of the keymods on each side have built in QD slots which I thought was a pretty cool feature. The barrels come with an adjustable gas block. The lower has a Geissele trigger. Not sure which one but its a curved two stage model.
The only thing I didn't care for on the rifle was the buttstock. There was nothing wrong with it. It locked up tight and fealt very strurdy. I just didn't care for it. Purely personal.
We shot the guns at pretty close range. Longest shots were around 75 yards. They are doing another demo later this week out at Cow Town, which is north of Phoenix and will let them stretch their legs a bit. All guns shot great. No malfunctions that I saw and we shot a few hundred rounds between each gun. I know that doesn't mean much but Im not going to turn down free trigger time. Ammo was Federal M193. We didn't shoot any groups.
All in all I came away very impressed by the guns. I went in thinking it was going to be some slapped together gun made to look cool and Id say I was way wrong. The closest competitor that I can think of would be the Larue PredatAR.
The only obstacle I see this company needing to overcome is name recognition. A lot of people are not going to spend 2k on a rifle that hasn't been fielded in large numbers. However once people start buying these rifles I bet they are going to become a respected name.
Aside form shooting the rifles I got to meet Nicholas Irving who I guess was kind of the inspiration for the rifle. Id also like to thank the guys from Armageddon Tactical Solutions for putting on the demo and supplying the ammo.
If you have any questions shoot away as Im certain there are things I missed.