Stag Arms 2HTL Upper Shorty Review for us Lefties! Pics inside!

[Th3Revreant]

I spent 6 years in the military and always shot right handed my entire career. A couple of weeks ago, I was out at the range shooting and for whatever reason I decided to switch and try shooting left handed. It felt so natural, so fluid and my groups even tightened up. I decided then to persue a left handed build that was reliable and shot well. That is where the Stag Arms 2HTL upper caught my eye.

First, I will start off with the Pro's of the upper and then move to the Cons. First off, I was annoyed right off the bat that shooting left handed with a right handed upper reciever sometimes gifted my face with hot brass along with some gas from the ejecting round catching in my eye if the breeze blew just right. the ejection port and brass deflector being on the left side obviously fixes this problem and enables the left handed shooter to operate his/her carbine at their best. I stayed with a right handed lower reciever as the controls on the left handed lower just didnt contribute to the fluidity of the rifle. With the upper reciever having the free float quadrail that gives you twice the real estate to mount optics and other gadgets was a nice feature as well. Being able to run an aimpoint/eotech and 2x or 3x magnifier without having to bridge from the flattop to the rail is always a plus. The upper reciever is just a tad bit more heavy than say a standard flattop and dd or kac rail system, but not enough to make a real difference. The rail is numbered, which is helpful with having your optics return to zero when removed for cleaning or other reasons. The rail is solid, sturdy and there is no movement or play at all. As for reliablity, I experienced zero issues in this department. I ran dirtiest, most inexpensive ammunition I could find for this test and Wolf 223 rem 55 gr fmj in the black box was my cluprit. Out of 200 rounds, 199 rounds fired and ejected with zero issues. 1 round failed to chamber properly and then failed to fire. At around 180 rounds, the bcg was so dirty, the rifle failed to cycle properly and a cleaning was necissary before I could finish off the last 20 rounds. Overall, the upper functions great and is completely reliable with decent ammunition.

On to the cons. There are only two issues I found that bothered me with this particular upper. Where the rail meets the upper reciever, there is a section that is solid and has no slots that could be used to mount anything on(right where the rail and flattop meet):

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww58/reaperpaintball08/DSCN2879.jpg

Second thing I didn't particularly like is the fact that the ejection port cover actually flips up instead of down for some reason. It does NOT hinder any casing from being ejected nor has it caused any failure to eject. Just didn't really make sense to me to have it flip up instead of down.

All in all, the upper from Stag Arms is a very well made alternative for the budget consious and left handed shooters out there. The finish is consistant with my Hight Standard lower and fits snug with no movement. The upper cycles as its supposed to and works great if you use decent ammunition. This particular model has an M4 profile(not the "pencil" barrel) barrel and the freefloated rail helps with accuarcy. I was able to obtain 1.5-2" groups with open sights at 100 yards, barrel doesn't get too hot, even under rapid fire. I would highly recommend this upper reciever to anyone looking to transition to a left handed upper and doesn't want to spend your whole bank account doing that. Here is my setup below, specs to follow. Questions and comments are welcome, I will get back with you in a timely manner if you have any questions.

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww58/reaperpaintball08/DSCN2881.jpg

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww58/reaperpaintball08/DSCN2876.jpg

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http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww58/reaperpaintball08/DSCN2879.jpg

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http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww58/reaperpaintball08/DSCN2877.jpg

High Standard Lower, Stag Arms 2HTL upper, Magpul MIAD full grip kit with 3 round emergency core, Magpul VFG, Magpul MOE stock, Magpul MBUS rear sight, PWS556 tactical comp/flash hider, green laser sight for cqb/home defense and Lancer L5 translucent magazines.

[Purplepick]

I am a closet lefty as I am left eye dominant, but, thus far, in limited shooting, find right handed manipulation far more natural. Wouldn't the dust cover flipping down on the left interfere with the bolt catch? Making it more difficult to send the bolt home when performing a reload?

[Stan9106]

I have a Stag 3L and have been very happy with it. I did have the gas key screws professionally re-staked and installed an ambi selector and CH. If the dust cover opened downward on a lefty gun, it would cover the bolt release pad. I think that's why Stag made it open upward.

[Th3Revreant]

Yeah, thought about that after I posted it :o I like it so far, now I need to start saving for a precision rifle.

[DacoRoman]

It looks like your castle nut needs to be staked.

[Th3Revreant]

nah, red loctite does the job just fine :D

[serevince]

I love my Stag leftys. I have the 2TL. I am in the process of building another.

I've found that to finish this off for true ambi/ lefty use it needs a ambi mag release and a lefty or ambi charging handle.

I fully agree about the left eject.

Vince

[MrCleanOK]

My first AR was a Stag lefty. I have since sworn them off. I didn't like the lack of QC done on them, and the fact that you're limited to Stag's LH semi BCGs.

I'm a hardcore lefty and proud of it, but all of my ARs now, and in the future will have standard upper receivers. I shoot both eyes open, and brass going across my field of vision doesn't bother me a bit (I actually kind of like it).

[justin_247]

Three round "emergency core"... really?

And why the heck did you loctite your receiver extension instead of staking it?

As far as I'm concerned, it's a bit ridiculous to manufacture a left ejecting AR but not manufacture an ambidextrous lower to match it. Where it ejects is of less importance than the manipulation of the weapon.

[serevince]

Three round "emergency core"... really?

And why the heck did you loctite your receiver extension instead of staking it?

As far as I'm concerned, it's a bit ridiculous to manufacture a left ejecting AR but not manufacture an ambidextrous lower to match it. Where it ejects is of less importance than the manipulation of the weapon.

It's so funny. I've found that every time Stag lefty uppers come up, it always turns into Lefties should just learn to shoot right handed or some other supposed fault of the system.

There is nothing ridiculous about preferring a left eject weapon. It's a preference.

If you want a great example of why choices are good; take your right eject AR of choice and fire it left hand, tight against a wall on your right side, barricade or from a low port. With no stock protecting you, and your face fully exposed, eating the brass bouncing back can be unpleasant.

Sure it doesn't happen all that often. But when it does it during competition it's distracting. I've also learned the hard way not to shoot like Michael Jordan after inadvertently licking some brass!

Yes the lower needs a ambi mag release, and that's it. With that I can lock or release the bolt and drop the mag with my trigger finger. That's a five minute add on and I have a true left handed weapon, that also happens to work as a righty as well.

I'll keep my lefties;) (and my righties too). Cuase here in the good ol' US of A I can:D (at least for now).

BTW: I'm always willing to take the debate to the range with any locals (that practice safe gun handling techniques!). God knows I need the practice:lol:

[C4IGrant]

Stake the castle nut, check your gas key (most likely needs staked as well), and add an H or H2 buffer (as Stags are over gassed).


Enjoy your rifle.


C4

[Th3Revreant]

Three round "emergency core"... really?

And why the heck did you loctite your receiver extension instead of staking it?

As far as I'm concerned, it's a bit ridiculous to manufacture a left ejecting AR but not manufacture an ambidextrous lower to match it. Where it ejects is of less importance than the manipulation of the weapon.

They do manufacture the lower to match it, just like the righty lower with the lefty upper because it works well. I am working on getting the mag release and ambi selecter installed, just out of funds for the moment. As far as the buffer goes, I did notice the rifle likes to sting my face a little with each round, h buffer on payday along with the selecter and mag release. As for the core on my grip, its the one that came with it and I dont need a compartment for batteries or another bcg due to my ta47-2 that is on its way. No need for batteries :)

[Heidevolk]

Stake the castle nut, check your gas key (most likely needs staked as well), and add an H or H2 buffer (as Stags are over gassed).


Enjoy your rifle.


C4

Would H3 be too heavy?

[C4IGrant]

Would H3 be too heavy?

Probably not, but could cause issues with cheap ammo.


C4

[Th3Revreant]

I've officially gotten some range time and now have some insight to share with all. I have gotten 287 flawless rounds through my upper. Running drills up against walls and in tight spaces have yeilded me some very positive results. No more brass bouncing off the walls and down my gear or into my face. Open sights I can hold MOA or better standing with no support at 50-75 yards. Barrel doesn't heat up that much under rapid fire drills(could be the weather, though with temps in the teens and very low 20's). Preforms great, rifle does what it was intended to do(cqb role, no more than 100 yards at longest), and with a new Magpul VFG2, rail mounted green laser sight(for shots less than 20 yards), a2 front sight gas block replaced with a RRA MK12 lowpro gas block and running a set of MBUS on my samson Star-C rail, my carbine comes in just over 7lbs(right at 7.2 actually :D), I'd say Stag got this one right. I also switched the standard buffer out with an H buffer per some suggestions above due to the bolt feeling like it was slamming into the stock one a little hard and was acutally cutting into the stock buffer. Things have since calmed with the new H buffer and what little felt recoil was before, is no longer. I have also since switched to using pmags and can't say that I miss the Lancers all that much. They match the rest of my Magpul Advertisment :D Ill update pics as soon as my TR47 gets here in the coming weeks.

As with all good things, there has to be atleast one grip to make it fair. When my stamp gets in to sbr it, going to probably just sell the upper due to replacing the barrel is going to be a b1tch. I am going to be running a 300 blackout on this reciever and cannot find anyone or anywhere that can seem to fit the barrel to my lefty upper. Will probably just run a standard right handed upper for this particular build after i sbr it. Updated pic of my rifle below, lmk what yall think!

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww58/reaperpaintball08/DSCN2915.jpg