by Scott Smith | Contributing Editor
Over the last several years there have been more items added to the AR15/M4 platform than there are colors in Crayola’s Big Box of Colors. While some of them leave you scratching your head thinking WTH? There are those you look at and say hummm, good idea; I need that.
The lightened Faxon block has the gas tube, reducing weight without sacrificing performance.
If you are looking for an item that will improve and lighten your M4, swap out the barrel. Most of the carbines on the market today have what is known as a “government” profile. This barrel is built heavier to accept and give a place to mount an M203 grenade launcher. Since most folks will never mount one of these, such a barrel adds senseless weight.
The other drawback to this barrel is the “carbine” length gas system. Again this was installed to make the M16 shorter but this system gives the M4 snappy recoil and can be temperamental with certain types of ammunition. Its other shortcoming is the 1 in 9” twist rate. While this rate will stabilize 62-grain bullets and lighter, when you start running heavier bullet weights, there are generally accuracy issues.
Barrels
To solve all of these issues I suggest a barrel from Faxon Firearms (Phone: 513-674-2580; Online: faxonfirearms.com). Faxon has been making itself known throughout the Three-Gun community for several years. Over the last couple, their barrels have been developing a following of their own. The nearly constant backorder is proof of that; we actually were on the list for about six weeks for the Gunner barrel I installed on my Stag 3T-M.
You can see just how much thinner the Faxon Gunner (top with barrel cap) is versus the standard M4 profile. Reducing this weight makes the carbine faster to handle.
Initially, I wanted to install a lightweight pencil barrel in this carbine to reduce the weight for Three-Gun competition, but the knowledgeable folks at Faxon suggested their Gunner. With its mid-length gas system, 1 in 8 twist and slightly beefier profile than a pencil barrel, it would be more suited for competition. Faxon’s concern with a pencil barrel was it getting warped or bent tossing the firearm into a dump barrel. Seeing the wisdom in this train of thought, the Gunner was chosen. Installing the Gunner reduced the weight of the 3T-M by .59 pounds, which is a huge chunk of weight.
I also had Faxon send their low-profile gas block and gas tube. This ensured proper fit for the barrel and saved time ordering them elsewhere. The gas block secures with three set screws and has the sides machined to reduce weight. The 0.625” model fit the Gunner perfectly and both mated up with the carbine in mere moments.
At the range there was a huge improvement in accuracy. From the factory at 100-yards the Stag produced 1.5”groups all day long with 55-grain ammunition. When I loaded 69-grain ammunition, groups opened up to 2+”. With the Faxon Firearms Gunner installed the same Stag 3T-M fired sub 1” groups with any bullet weight from 52-75 grains. When fired at 50 yards the rifle shot one hole five-shot groups, with any of these bullet weights. I know folks will question my testing the carbine at this range, but in a Three-Gun match you generally do not shoot dozens of long range rounds, but you will shoot dozens inside of 50 yards.
At $175 this is cost effective upgrade for any AR style rifle. Faxon’s Gunner Barrel or any barrel in their product line can get you race ready for Three-Gunning or make you the envy of the range with the accuracy of your AR. When looking to improve your AR, do not overlook Faxon Firearms: they may be Cincinnati’s best kept secret for the firearms industry.
Optics
Left and right side views of Sig Sauer’s Romeo 4c red dot optic with the built in caps open. This optic will be what others are compared to.
Once you have a firearm capable of good accuracy, you need to fit the rifle with an optic that will allow you make consistent hits at distances from contact out to 200 or 300 yards. It is possible to spend vast sums of money on an optic. I choose to look at optics that performs well without being more than a house payment. This year I chose to look at a red dot from Sig Sauer’s Electro Optics Division (Phone: 603-610-3000; Online: sigsauer.com) the Romeo 4c optic and from Truglo (Phone: 972-774-0300; Online: truglo.com) the Tru-Tec 20mm and Tru-Brite 30 Series 1-6. These three scopes are well made, hold repeatable zero and will take a beating.
Truglo’s Tru-Tec 20, is one of the most affordable hard use red dots on the market.
Over the last couple of years Sig Sauer has been expanding their product line to become a more dominant force in the firearms industry. Their suppressors are some of the best on the market and now their optics are rapidly rivaling some of the biggest names in the industry without breaking the bank. Their line has red dots, reflex sights, fixed low power tactical optics, variable power optics, lights, and more. So let’s see look at the Romeo 4c and its innovations.
Sig is coming up with some seriously innovative items like a solar panel on a red dot. This solar panel does two things when operated in bright sun; the panel regulates the brightness of the dot and if the battery dies your sight will continue to operate. The 4c has ten daylight settings and two for use with night vision devices. Once the sight is turned on, it will shut off automatically after 120 seconds thanks to MOTAC-Motion Activated Illumination System, which will give up to 5000 hours out of a CR2032 battery.
To further enhance the versatility of the sight, it can be low mounted or the riser co-witnesses the sight and it can be had with a 2MOA dot or a 65 MOA Circle/2MOA Dot. Sig protects the lenses of the 4c with screw-in flip-down covers. Not only has Sig made this and all their optics meet the operator’s needs, they are easy to operate with side mounted brightness buttons and easy adjust knobs; the caps are the adjustment tools. Each click is 0.5MOA and is easily felt.
While I use a backup sight rarely, I want to be able to see them; Mako’s 4D tritium sights with the bar front and four dot rear is my choice.
During range work with the Romeo 4c, the automatic brightness control worked as advertised. Fortunately the weather has been bright and sunny and dark, wet and gray. This allowed me to see how well this automatic rheostat worked. I can say that it worked like a champ and, at least for me, the red dot seemed practically perfect in the sun or when it was dark and monsooning. This came in handy transitioning the Ruger AR556 from close range paper targets to a Birchwood Casey Donkey Gong steel out at 200 yards. From previous experience I knew the Ruger was wicked accurate, mounting the Romeo 4c maintained that accuracy at all ranges it was tested at.
One feature that is often overlooked on optics is the factory base. Sig’s base on the Romeo 4c is one of the best units I have encountered. This base is a double locking unit. The initial lock is the throw lever that tensions the optic to the base; it locks by a push button catch at the rear of the lever. This set-up is ingeniously secure and easy to remove—all the while holding zero.
The second red dot is Truglo’s Tru-Tec 20mm (Phone: 888-887-8456; Online: truglo.com) which retails at $221. This optic also ships with a low mount and a co-witnessing base. While it does not have a quick release it is easy to secure and remove with the included Torx wrench.
When using the co-witness base you can use traditional rifle/bead sights on a shotgun. The reason is this base is open unlike most that are solid. This makes the Tru-Tec a more versatile sight which makes it a better value for the dollar.
The on/off and intensity buttons are located on top of the optic. Once the sight’s intensity has been set the sight has an auto on/off feature. After eight hours the dot will shut off or you can reduce the time down to two hours using the intensity buttons. Depressing both buttons will shut off the optic, if you pick up your firearm the motion will make the dot reappear. This drastically increases battery life; the CR2032 should last thousands of hours.
During testing, I found the 2MOA dot easy to find and the sight was accurate. This sight arrived early in the year and I was able to test it in cold, snowy, rainy, really crappy weather. It was on and off the IWI Tavor I am shooting for Three-Gun a few dozen times and it held zero at 200 yards over and over. Truglo built this sight to be user friendly and to endure hard use. Unlike other Truglo products which offer red/green dots and cross hairs, the Tru-Tec is a red dot only.
If you are looking for a serious Three-Gun, duty, or general purpose optic, Truglo’s Tru-Brite is it.
If you prefer to use variable power optics, you will be hard pressed to beat the Tru-Brite 30 from Truglo. Our test model was the 1-6 power version, you can also have it as a 1-4 if you prefer lower magnification. I found having 6X magnification to be a big help on those 300-yard targets shooting the Surefire World Championships last year. This scope comes with pre-calibrated BDC turrets for 55-grain .223 Remington and 168-grain .308 Winchester for distances to 800 yards.
This scope’s reticle is a Power Ring Mil-dot with green/red illumination. The mount is a one piece dual screw with a square base stud ensuring the scope does not shift on the rail. You will find each ring secures to the base with two pairs of screws. With a drop of thread lock, your scope should never move.
Lastly you will find the Tru-Brite equipped with front and rear flip up scope covers to protect the scope from the elements and dirt. For ease of operation the scope arrives equipped with a throw lever. These have become an indispensable piece of kit for competitors and those who need to adjust the magnification quickly. This scope ships to you for $270 complete as described.
Like the Tru-Tec this scope was tested on my Tavor. This scope fit perfectly and thanks to previously bore sighting it, this combination was dead on in four shots at 50 yards. After that the rifle was driving tacks from 50 to 200 yards. The throw lever made this scope ideal for Three-Gun and when I go back to shooting Tac Optics, this will be the scope I run on the Tavor.
If you need serious hard use back-up sights FRBS 2D/4Ds, I suggest those from The Mako Group (Phone: 631-843-0490; Online: themakogroup.com). I have been testing the set that has four tritium rear dots on the large rear aperture with the small aperture being plain and a tritium bar on the front sight which retails for $194.70. These sights are built by Meprolight for Mako Group which means these are solid built sights. If that is not enough of a pedigree, these are back-up sights for the IDF.
I was shocked to find these sights were dead-on for the Tavor they were mounted on. I was ready to make elevation and windage adjustments on the front and rear sights. Unlike US sights, Meprolights adjust with wheels on each sight. Each adjusting wheel clicks when turned, locking the sight in place. The sights secure with a screw that passes through each wing on the base ensuring the sights do not shift. The set I have been running has been on the Tavor for several thousand rounds and they have yet to shift.
Having well over-40 eyes, I figured the sights would be used at distances of 50 yards and less. I was glad to see I could still hit a B27 target at 100 yards; although my hits started to look like a pattern not a group. Using the Meprolight 4Ds at my intended ranges they allowed me to make upper A/B hits on a Birchwood Casey USPSA target all day long out to 50 yards. At very close distances they were fast and accurate as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see they co-witnessed well with my EO Tech EXPS2 from Brownells (Phone: 800-741-0015; Online: Brownells.com).
GGG’s EoTech Lens Covers add a touch of attitude to your optic while protecting it from the weather and impact.
Speaking of my EoTech EXPS2 to protect the lens while traveling and form the elements as well as acting like a sunshade, a GGG (Phone: 800-380-2540; Online: gggaz.com) Lens Cover was installed. When you order one of these covers for an EoTech make sure you know your model, because they vary dramatically. I have been using GGG Lens Covers for as long as I have been running EoTechs which is a long time; no I have not had issues with mine, knock wood.
GGG’s Lens Covers replace the shockproof wrap that protects the optic from bumps and hits. This will do that while giving you a flip-up front/rear lens cover. You get bonus points with the front cover acts like a sun shade helping to reduce glare that can occur with holosights. Just because you can, I had this set have “Infidel” on the front cover. GGG’s Lens Covers for EoTechs will set you back $43, they are worth every penny.
Magazines
ETS Coupler Magazines: their translucent body allows you to see ammo status from all angles.
The last two items this accessory piece will look at is how to keep your AR/M4 fed; magazines. This past year we have been looking at two innovative magazines one from Mako, the Ultimag 30R, and the ETS AR Mags with Coupler (Phone: 855-887-5452; Online: etsgroup.us). Like most magazines today, both of these polymer magazines are 30-rounders; fitting and feeding reliably in all the ARs I used them in.
Let’s look at the $24.95 Ultimag first. When you get one of these magazines you will immediately notice the dual viewing window so you can quickly check your ammunition status. These windows are not flimsy like some of the magazines that were initially on the market from other vendors. They are also large enough that you can actually see the rounds in the magazine, something I cannot say about others.
With its soft polymer bottom and viewing window Mako’s Ultimag is ideal for Three-Gun competition.
Next you will notice the feel, the aggressive without being harsh molded checkering. That is coupled with the sturdy feel of these magazines; some of the polymer magazines on the market today feel like they need to be treated gently. You will also notice the beefy locking plate; it makes a fine second point of contact when prone or shooting off a bench. Being a soft polymer it will not bounce between shots like hard polymer ones do.
ETS, Elite Tactical Systems builds some of the most truly unique magazines on the market today. Their Smoke AR15 Magazines are built from translucent polymer so you can check ammunition status and condition of the magazine without taking it apart. Making them even more unique is the built-in coupler. Thanks to ETS’ variable color magazine follower and base lock you can visually ID problem magazines. With all their features these magazines are more than competitive at $19.99.
ETS’s Coupler uses a circular locking tab to secure one magazine to another. I tested a connected pair of ETS’s Couplers with all my ARs/M4s and my Tavor. I did not have an issue with these magazines in any of the carbines. The one thing I will note is the offset increases the length of the magazine you are used to having dangling below your firearm. If you are using a coupled magazine prone, I would suggest caution so you do not break the locking tabs. When using them with the Tavor from the bench, because of the bullpup design it was a tad awkward. If you are shooting Three-Gun, these magazines would be a good option on a long AR field course.
I put the Ultimag and the ETS Coupler magazines through their paces over the spring. I had them out in cold freezing rain, snowy days, just wet miserable days and the magazines kept on running. The translucent material of the Coupler magazines survived unscratched being dropped numerous times on 2B gravel, while the Ultimags windows survived my stepping on them. These are two tough magazines that will survive plinking, competition and duty applications in all conditions.
I hope this gives you an insight into a few of the newest AR accessories on the market today, even if I did test some of them on my Tavor. Fear not; you will hear more details on the Tavor in the near future. Until then, get out to the range, shoot safe, shoot straight and have fun. In the election year; make sure you vote to support your rights, not to support your union.
