5 Oct
Short version:
- Miniscule package with rifle ballistics
- Comfortable balance
- Nimble and pointable
- Overbuilt and slightly overweight
- Shockingly accurate, but difficult to shoot accurately at long ranges
- Excellent optic and front end mount options
- Trigger is mediocre but serviceable
- Bolt release is surprisingly good
- Controls are well conceived and comfortable
- Reliable, rugged, and low-maintenance.
I'd resigned myself to this never coming into the country. Imagine my surprise when my unicorn came home.
I purchased it as soon as I could and immediately set about beating it to pieces. It was 8 below when I got my first 500 rounds through the gun in early February. It ran without a hiccup and it was accurate. I'm talking better than 2MOA on a submachine gun sized weapon with service ammunition. It might be around 1 if I were to take advantage of the 1:7 barrel. I have since fitted it with a prismatic sight and a 3x FTS magnifier, a linear compensator to limit concussion, a BCM vertical foregrip, a side mounted weapon light, and a sling.
The gun is not particularly stable. It points like a gun half its size but it's tricky to really anchor down for making high precision shots. You don't buy a 16 bullpup as a sniper rifle though, you buy it because AR pistols are probably going to be outlawed in a few months and you need a quality close-combat rifle.
The length of pull is way longer than most are used to. Imagine it's like you're holding a pistol and it'll make way more sense. The weight is all between your trigger and your shoulder, so even though its hefty, it doesn't tire your arms out. You'll want to set the ejection to your preferred side, then cross over and adjust the length of pull until your face isn't getting hit by brass.
Don't worry about making it feel like your AR, it will not.
The trigger is worse than most describe. It is very GLOCK-y. A long, spongey takeup that could generously be described as a two-stage but feels more like four stages with all the linkages involved. It's not especially heavy though and as long as you can get used to the badly creepy break, it does work out fine.
The bolt release behind the AK style paddle mag release is genius. You don't want to take your hand off the mag, you want to just release the front of the mag and lay the hand on the side of the receiver with the thumb in place, then just tug backwards. It's fast enough and gross-motor-skill enough that you can train it to be as quick as palming the release on an AR. It is slower to reload than a gamer AR though.
The stock muzzle device was REALLY stuck on good. I thought I was going to damage the gun prying it off. Fortunately no harm. Try using a little bit of heat if you have trouble, it looks like Springfield used some kind of threadlocker.
The selector is fine. It's a short and stiff throw. You have to want it, but its quick.
