Geissele Super Duty LE Rifle Arrived!!! Pic heavy initial impressions...

[sidewaysil80]

So I called in my order a while ago and received a phone call that my rifle was next to be built, apparently all of the Super Duty rifles are built to order. Two weeks later the rifle shipped and I picked it up tonight. Between renovating/moving into new house and hectic work schedule I have no idea when I'm going to shoot this thing, but I at least wanted to get hands on and share the results.

Packaging is irrelevant but it's very nice and shows Geissele is into first impressions...


Inside is some Super Duty swag, cable lock, rifle, and a very nice instruction manual (take note of sticker on flap, it's a checklist of various aspects of the rifle/contents that is signed off on. So QC is good to go presumably


Said manual is very detailed and in color, nice touch


Initial impression of the rifle at this point: Very solid, little to no slop, takedown/pivot pin engage nicely.


Rifle comes standard with B5 Sopmod stock and A2 grip, standard mil-spec charging handle, and flat trigger guard. Additionally it comes with Geissele's new buis.


Sights are very solid with zero play. Windage adjustment on rear, elevation on front (tool required).



Castle nut is staked 3 times:




Lower engraving as well as all of the Geissele in house made parts.


Deeply engraved t-markings...


Posi-lock safety is pretty neat. It does away with that mushy/middle ground between "safe" and "fire". The rifle is in safe and if you even slightly apply downward pressure, it's going on fire. Even trying to intentionally put it into that middle ground proved impossible.


Features the new Geissele magazine release (same texture/finish as maritime bolt catch)


Magazine well opening is flared nicely, it's more of a rounded flared opening as opposed to the notched/angled ones. Zero idea if this is relevant or beneficial, but w/e the mag well is flared.


Super Duty LE comes with their "mil-spec" bolt carrier group. All appears fine as HP/MPI markings are clearly visible and carrier key is staked:



Chrome lining is hard to pick up in picture, but it's there and very uniform/evenly applied:

[sidewaysil80]

Super 42 buffer and spring are standard (H2 weight)



After removing the hand guard...


Pinned Geissele gas block



I'm guessing this pin under gas tube is for alignment?


Geissele's new gas port length

compared to a 16" mid-length


Barrels made in house but I'm unsure where the blanks are coming from. On Instagram they posted some pics of their Cold Hammer Forging machine in action.


All in all for the price, this is a GREAT rifle so far. As long as it shoots well, at the $750 (le price) I can't think of anything that even comes close to this many features or quality. Highly looking forward to the release of the rest of Super Duty rifles and their subsequent pricing. The price difference from what I saw on the build sheet covers the fancier trigger guard, charging handle, hand guard, trigger, and muzzle device. Additionally, you have option of a stainless steel or CHF barrel. Pure speculation but I believe the Super Duty LE is chrome lined.





I ordered a SSA-E trigger for this as well as Surefire Warcomp. I have some extra Geissele stuff laying around so eventually I'll add the following as well...


However I'm not in a rush as I want to see how it shoots in factory form.

[trauma]

I sure can appreciate the attention to detail G put into that.

Is G making barrels now? Or are they sourced from somewhere else and stamped G?

Great review OP.

[alx01]

@sidewaysil80

Great review and a breakdown. Rifle looks great and assembly seems superb from you photos.
Really like a new gas block with the alignment tab - definitely not a standard one. It's unfortunate this is not a standard feature on all ARs. Price point is excellent and very competitive. I like that they offer customization options like triggers, handguards, and even barrels - great to see a large company besides BCM to offer that.

The only two things I have questions about:
> gas length - probably similar to a KAC concept. Why go that route when nowadays you can get a reliable and smooth mid-length by choosing a proper gas port? Also from the logistics standpoint if it's a department gun they'll need some proprietary replacement parts. Probably not an issue for an individual though - most people won't ever remove a handguard, let alone shoot enough to need a replacement gas tube.
> super 42 spring/buffer - personally I'm not really buying the marketing behind it and haven't seen any hard data to prove it's any better than a standard H1/H2 + a sprinco spring. I'm a fan of Vltor A5 though, at least with Geissele you can switch a standard components easily.

[Clint]

It's interesting to see a bigger mfg catching on to the longer gas system configuration.

Exceptional product! Glad to see the extended intermediate gas length in a mass produced factory option. Intermediate 16” is the sweet spot like 14.5” mid. Hate the profile though, can’t seem to get away from the lingering mediocrity of government profile, these are “heavy govt profile” according to G. They also said they will sell barrels as separate components in the future.

Because its better than MID on a 16".

Gas port size is obviously important, but an Optimized gas system configuration brings things to the next level of refinement.

@sidewaysil80
The only two things I have questions about:
> gas length - probably similar to a KAC concept. Why go that route when nowadays you can get a reliable and smooth mid-length by choosing a proper gas port? Also from the logistics standpoint if it's a department gun they'll need some proprietary replacement parts. Probably not an issue for an individual though - most people won't ever remove a handguard, let alone shoot enough to need a replacement gas tube.

[Sry0fcr]

It's interesting to see a bigger mfg catching on to the longer gas system configuration.




Because its better than MID on a 16".

Gas port size is obviously important, but an Optimized gas system configuration brings things to the next level of refinement.

[X-Files]I want to believe. [/X-Files]

Show me some data.

[Eurodriver]

Boy. Gewselle loves putting his name on everything doesn’t he?

Is the gas key staking touching both bolts?

When will you get to shoot this? Why did they change the gas port length? Tell us how that affects function when you get to shoot it.

[sidewaysil80]

Boy. Gewselle loves putting his name on everything doesn’t he?

Is the gas key staking touching both bolts?

When will you get to shoot this? Why did they change the gas port length? Tell us how that affects function when you get to shoot it.

Marketing/advertising I guess? Who knows, but at the price point the LE model is offered I'm indifferent to the logos.

Staking does touch both bolts on both sides. However it does appear to be heavier on one side.

As far as the gas length I believe he said it was to soften the recoil impulse as well as reliability. I can't attest to either but the few people who have shot the rifle said the first they noticed was how soft the recoil was and how flat the rifle shot. I can't comment one way or the other but that seemed to be a recurring theme amongst reviewers so we'll see. I'll probably take it out tomorrow for a quick range trip.

I sure can appreciate the attention to detail G put into that.

Is G making barrels now? Or are they sourced from somewhere else and stamped G?

Great review OP.

Thanks. Not many in the wild so I wanted to get it out to anyone considering or on the fence. As far as barrels they are made in house! I don't know where the blanks come from but I know they are finished in house. On instagram not too long ago they posted pics/vid of their new Cold Hammer Forging machine running. Bill Geissele said he was adamant about making almost in house and didn't want to sub anything out. I believe he said on the release video that everything with the exception of springs/detents are produced in house.

[RHINOWSO]

As far as the gas length I believe he said it was to soften the recoil impulse as well as reliability. I can't attest to either but the few people who have shot the rifle said the first they noticed was how soft the recoil was and how flat the rifle shot.

Bill talked about it in more detail in their SHOT 2019 unveiling video, but I can't find that video offhand - basically it is their take on the optimum gas length for a 16" rifle, etc, etc.

[GH41]

Marketing/advertising I guess? Who knows, but at the price point the LE model is offered I'm indifferent to the logos.

Staking does touch both bolts on both sides. However it does appear to be heavier on one side.

As far as the gas length I believe he said it was to soften the recoil impulse as well as reliability. I can't attest to either but the few people who have shot the rifle said the first they noticed was how soft the recoil was and how flat the rifle shot. I can't comment one way or the other but that seemed to be a recurring theme amongst reviewers so we'll see. I'll probably take it out tomorrow for a quick range trip.





Thanks. Not many in the wild so I wanted to get it out to anyone considering or on the fence. As far as barrels they are made in house! I don't know where the blanks come from but I know they are finished in house. On instagram not too long ago they posted pics/vid of their new Cold Hammer Forging machine running. Bill Geissele said he was adamant about making almost in house and didn't want to sub anything out. I believe he said on the release video that everything with the exception of springs/detents are produced in house.

If he is CHF he isn't buying blanks.