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Review: Battle Arms Development Short Crank Lever

By on May 29, 2012 in Guns, Tactical Gear

Battle Arms Development is rolling out two new lever options for use with their Battle Arms Development Ambidextrous Safety Selector (BAD-ASS). The first of these two levers is the Short Crank.

The Short Crank is a shorter version of the Crank lever that we previously reviewed here on JTT. The Crank was specifically requested by end users and it mimics the old “start burst” selectors that some people still prefer. The Short Crank is fittingly named because it is basically just a shorter version of the Crank.

Those who like this style of selector now have the option of using the Crank on the thumb side of their selector and the Short Crank on the trigger finger side. The shorter overall length of the Short Crank helps prevent it from getting caught on your trigger finger as you move the selector between positions. However, it is not so short that it is difficult to manipulate.

Left to Right: Short, Short Crank, Crank

I can certainly understand the attraction with this type of selector. The raised “bump” at the end almost seems to act like a hinge or pivot point that allows the thumb to easily move the selector through the arc of its movement. I found it to be very easy to use. Many people seem to only contact the selector on the end where the bump is anyway.

If you are a fan of the old star burst style selectors, you are going love the Crank and Short Crank levers. Even if you haven’t ever handled a star burst selector, you may like the handling characteristics of these levers. The new Short Crank will be available on BattleArmsDevelopment.com soon.

SIRT-AR Bolt

By on May 29, 2012 in Guns, Tactical Gear, Tactics and Training

Most of us can’t get to the range as often as we would like, so dry fire is an important part of maintaining perishable gun skills. If you’re anything like me, you’ve found that taking the time to at least knock the dust off your “muscle memory” can help keep you from losing too much in between training sessions. Dry fire is not the same as range time in large part due to the inability to “shoot” consecutively without manually charging your weapon in order to reset the trigger.

Next Level Training is now offering their excellent laser and trigger resetting device as a drop in unit for the AR-15. JTT mentioned a training pistol from this company last December and it’s great to see that they have now released a product that offers those same great features in the AR platform. After a quick do-it-yourself install you can start benefiting from some home “trigger time” and shot diagnosis as you watch the laser dance on the target. The SIRT-AR comes in green or red and the main difference between units is in the range the laser needs to be visible for your purposes (red is 50 yards vs 200 yards green). A prospective buyer should beware that the item is designed to work on mil-spec triggers and will not work with two stage triggers.

Adams Arms Manimal Muzzle Device

By on May 25, 2012 in Guns, Tactical Gear

The popularity of 14.5″ barrels on AR-15s is exploding. These barrels require the addition of a pinned and welded muzzle device in order to reach the 16″ minimum legal barrel length so it seems that there are suddenly several muzzle devices that are specifically designed for this purpose. However, none of them have taken the purpose built nature of their design as far as the Manimal flash suppressor from Adams Arms.

This photo from Adams Arms shows the Manimal (right) compared to a standard A2 flash suppressor.

The problem with pinning and welding a muzzle device is that it makes it impossible to take the gas block off the end of the barrel without destroying the muzzle device. So shooters were basically stuck with whatever gas block and hand guard that they chose at the time the muzzle device was permanently attached. Adams Arms solved this problem by designing the Manimal with a small enough outside diameter to allow a standard .750″ gas block to slip over it. Genius!

The device is similar to the extended A2 flash suppressors that are sold for the express purpose of being permanently attached. I do not have any time behind the Manimal but I can attest to the fact that this style of flash suppressor does indeed suppress flash fairly well and it does suppress muzzle rise a bit as well.

This Manimal isn’t on the Adams Arms site yet but I suspect it will sell very well once it is available.

Hitting the Range – Check Your BUIS

By on May 25, 2012 in Guns, Tactics and Training

I had the opportunity to take two new AR-15 shooters to the range this week and an issue came up that likely affects many users of this rifle platform – proper implementation of back up iron sights (BUIS).

How many of you completely remove your red dot sight (RDS) when you zero your BUIS? I know I used to because it made it “easier.” Nobody wants to miss a chance to use that nifty quick detach (QD) mount that costs some extra hard earned dollars! If this is you, then you may want to try using your iron sights through the RDS to confirm your BZO (battle sight zero).

Having the RDS in place between the front and rear BUIS may change the way you see or index the sights and as a result the point of impact of your rounds may be off enough to notice at 50 yards. This is especially true if your Aimpoint/RDS is set with a “lower 1/3” co-witness mount. Lower 1/3 mounts place the optic slightly higher than the BUIS sight plane so that your view is less obstructed by the front sight. While I see this as a worthwhile benefit, it does make the BUIS a little more difficult to index, see, and use through the RDS.

This issue is mostly negated if you run an “absolute” co-witness optic mount. I personally don’t prefer these mounts because the front sight (I prefer a fixed front sight base on fighting ARs) is a little more intrusive on the “field of view.” I find that guys who typically don’t “trust” RDS tend to run the absolute co-witness mounts so that the irons are easier to use in an emergency.

Everything is a trade-off and I trust my RDS as much as any other high quality gear item I run on my rifles. Anything, no matter how expensive or tried and true, can fail at the worst possible moment and having multiple back up plans is always a good thing. So there you have it – a great reason to get you and your rifles out to the range to test and make sure everything is adjusted appropriately.

BAD-ASS for the M&P 15-22

By on May 23, 2012 in Guns, Tactics and Training

The M&P 15-22 has become a popular sub-caliber (.22LR) training rifle due to it’s reliability and low cost. Battle Arms Development has been working with Simple Weapon Solutions to create a BAD-ASS (Battle Arms Development Ambidextrous Safety Selector) for the S&W M&P 15-22. Now, shooters who use the BAD-ASS on their AR-15s can add one to their M&P 15-22 for realistic training.

These will be made to the same high standards as the original BAD-ASS. They will work with any of levers from the original BAD-ASS – standard, short, hybrid, crank, short crank, thin and short+thin. Initially, during the pre-order, these kits will be available with any lever combination that the user chooses. Once they are in production, the kits will only be available with the standard and short levers (additional levers can be purchased from Battle Arms Development).

The kits are available now for pre-order from Simple Weapon Solutions. You can follow the development of the M&P 15-22 BAD-ASS on the Smith&Wesson Forum.

 

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