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mtdawg169, next URX project you have we should do together...
I have the KAC tools and the know-how.![]()
Thanks E-man. I've put off buying the tools for a while. I've had two uppers built with URX rails that weren't factory KAC guns. So far, it's been more cost effective to outsource it. I'm getting to the point where I just need to buy a wrench and a fixture though. We definitely need to get together.
I accept beer as payment...![]()
It looks like this has been discussed at pretty great length already, But there are still some important points that should be addressed. I'm not an OG, and only wish I had been (although I own 4 Special Run Lowers, and 2 Uppers). I've been collecting KAC items for a long time and really only within the past couple of years participated on the forums. I think what Trey did was one of the most heart felt signs of appreciation for the civilian market that could have been demonstrated. It's gotta hurt for him that it's been constantly bashed since that time by non participants. There was no exclusivity to it, and that was not the intent. The original 50 guys just happened to be at the right place at the right time. I just happened to always be bouncing between Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003 almost solid, which is why I missed it and where I'm still at today.
It's beyond cool what he did, and the rules to obtain further parts was the most sensible approach to ensure the remaining participants of the program benefited and alternatively eliminated anyone from taking advantage of it.
Within the past couple of years we have seen an influx of KAC products on the civilian market not previously offered. I remember when it was a rarity just to get your hands on a particular mount or full rifle. KAC has made tremendous offerings to the civilian market in the past couple of years across a wide spectrum of products. I'm eternally grateful for it particularly knowing that the civilian market only represents a small fraction of their overall sales which is primarily military driven.
Any trickle down we as a civilian consumer get to obtain is directly contributed to the advances KAC makes along it's military product lines. No other company comes close to exhausting the R&D and T&E that KAC does to not only further refine it's existing products but to develop products that the end user didn't even know they needed to have, or would further enhance the capabilities of that particular military application. KAC's priorities are to develop the most highly reliable systems, platforms, and components that are employed in the harshest of environments under the most critical of circumstances. Putting that system into the hands of the military/LE end user is their number one priority, and there is no secrets about that. The civilian consumer directly benefits from this.
What may be cool to the civilian market, is an essential piece of equipment to certain user groups. Their core market is military/LE sales. The civilian market is largely fickle and un-predictive. The vast majority of consumers think engraving spiders and punisher skulls all over their parts is cool. A testament to the un-predictive nature of the civilian market was witnessed recently when we saw JoeBobs, RGuns, and Spikes Bolt Carrier Groups selling in the $400 range during the height of the panic. KAC is an ISO 9001 certified company and you can bet the time and money exhausted on R&D, T&E, and Q&A probably eclipses their next three direct domestic competitors combined. I've been a Program Manager on a variety of Defense and State programs for a number of years and I know first hand the overwhelming costs of doing business effectively in these arenas.
It should also not be overlooked that almost every company competing in the same marketspace as them probably directly owes their own designs, influences, or concepts to KAC in some way, and that starts at the basic rail system.
So with KAC's focus first always being their unwavering commitment to the military I'm always highly appreciative when they do have the bandwidth to support production for civilian sales. So to say that KAC doesn't give a shit about the civilian market can't be further from the truth when their civilian catalog has expended exponentially in recent years. It's also important to note the active participation by KAC senior management on these forums to keep their finger on the pulse of the civilian market and to gauge interest and user feedback on their products. The civilian SBR offerings are a direct result of this and I thank them tremendously for my factory SBR 14.5 Carbine, and SBR 11.5 Block I.
So my original post to you was empathetic because I too shared the pain of not being able to directly buy 11.5" E3 and 18" E3 barrels, but that is not so say they are un-obtainable. They are in fact offered, maybe not as separate stand alone components, but as complete uppers or rifles. So KAC may not be entirely empathetic towards my plight for a particular part but what they are doing is addressing the needs of the general mass civilian consumer base by working hard to bring to the market as many rifles as they can right now, and they are. So those barrels I want, I'll probably have to buy a upper or rifle to get them.
Trey has again been quite generous and offered a number of stripped SR-15 older generation lower receivers that are being sold through Lawmen's on Gunbroker. Instead of these sitting on a shelf in Titusville, they have been released to help fill a current void and ease some of the pain with current supply and demand. So don't miss the boat on these, grab one. Yeah they are $500, but so are Spikes receivers right now, you do the equity and value comparison there. I bought the first one, which I'm calling the Valentine's Day Lower. There is no special run about it or parts to follow, but I'm happy to own it, I'm going to buy another one or two and build something I enjoy with it. So here is everyone's chance again to obtain something unique and can be special to them.
Thanks, Geno
Last edited by genofromreno; 02-17-13 at 02:46.
E-man,
We might need to talk brother. I've put off buying or machining myown urx wrench far too long. Been talking bout getting together with some other fellow KAC junkies for a while now too. Works been slow, but when it picks back up I will one day have more urx rails to install.
Last edited by Razorhunter; 02-17-13 at 13:28.
"ROLL RIGHT SNIPER!"
10-4, shoot me a PM when you are ready.
My first ar-15, bought her right before SHTF. So glad the dealer sold me on the knights
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Last edited by ryanvodka; 02-19-13 at 22:11.
Big Thank you to Ayan at boltcarrier.com for help with the final assembly. Also wanted to say thanks to Marc at Lawmens, KevinB for putting up with 6 months of "when?" questions about the 3.1 midlength and especially Trey for 4 awesome years of Christmas Cheer goodness!
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