I agree with lanesmith. Masada is vaporware because it was designed and then never made, the design was sold to someone else, they tweaked it and released it to civilians, etc.
The ARX-160 is a real rifle and has been for a while. Obviously the point still stands that not many people here have experience with it
I think the fact that the controls are ambidextrous, the stock collapses and folds etc should be self-evidently better, though. How would a stock that collapses but can't fold be better in any way than one that collapses AND folds? Only through poor execution, and that doesn't speak of the design concept, only that execution.
Ultimately, I think the answer is that we do not yet know if the features will allow the ARX-160 to eclipse the M16/M4 platform. On paper, it looks great. However, it has not run head-to-head against the M4 to see which is more reliable and durable. To the discriminating end-user, the M4 sets the minimum reliability and durability standards that must be met (and hopefully surpassed) before features become important.
I like my rifles like my women - short, light, fast, brown, and suppressed.
I fail to see how Italian troops using it in Afghanistan makes it any less vaporware in the US?
When the M4C SME's give it a thorough wringing out and I can go down to my local hardware store and pick one up, it's worth discussing. Till then, it's nothing more than a fantastical story designed to keep salivating gearheads awake at night.
Some new updates:
http://www.guns.com/special-the-bere...rket-6824.html
So, in the $1,500 range, and available later this year...maybe.
It is nice to hear that they can't introduce a new product yet because they're already so busy producing existing products. One should be so lucky.
Albanian SF with ARX-160:
Last edited by Slater; 04-15-12 at 11:21.
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