I thought I would post a quick review of these two pieces of equipment on an AR. I have seen and asked questions about each part.
The rifle:
I was fortunate enough to start building this rifle before the craze. The barrel is a 16" Mid-length White Oak Armament 1:7 stainless steel barrel. Brownell's had the barrel in stock for $269. I was looking for a barrel capable of 1moa accuracy. The below picture shows a typical 5 shot accuracy group for the rifle as I was working on load development. The POI was changing as I changed loads, but the group below was shot using a 77grn Nosler with Lake City brass, Varget, and a Federal 205M to light the charge.
The final load I settled on was very consistent and shot a little over 0.55 moa. Needless to say, I am more than pleased with the capability of the barrel. Both of the groups were shot prone off a bipod in 30 degrees with light winds. For $269 dollars, I think it would be tough to beat this level of performance.
On to the VLTOR A5 system. I am a fan of the Emod stocks and have wanted to try the A5 system for awhile. According to the manufacturer, "the A5 has shown increased accuracy and milder/smoother function, due to the constant spring rate the M16A2 spring offers." The stock itself is solid. I shoot this on prone on the "5" length. Like Emod stocks, the A5 makes it pretty easy to get a consistent and proper height on your cheek weld. It does not feel overly long or unbalanced.
With that being said, I do like the way this system feels. However, in my opinion I see virtually little, if any, difference in how it shoots. A 5.56 does not have very much recoil to begin with. Swapping this lower with a carbine gas system, recoil reduction was really not distinguishable in a field setting. The system ran 100% reliable, but so did it before with a simple H buffer.
My bottom line is that while I like the system and the stock, I don't notice enough difference to warrant having to have one. At $224 dollars from BCM, you could save a little money and go with the Emod stock kit for around $187. It should be noted that this kit comes with a standard carbine buffer, so if you needed an H or H2, the price difference becomes much smaller.
The rifle:
I was fortunate enough to start building this rifle before the craze. The barrel is a 16" Mid-length White Oak Armament 1:7 stainless steel barrel. Brownell's had the barrel in stock for $269. I was looking for a barrel capable of 1moa accuracy. The below picture shows a typical 5 shot accuracy group for the rifle as I was working on load development. The POI was changing as I changed loads, but the group below was shot using a 77grn Nosler with Lake City brass, Varget, and a Federal 205M to light the charge.
The final load I settled on was very consistent and shot a little over 0.55 moa. Needless to say, I am more than pleased with the capability of the barrel. Both of the groups were shot prone off a bipod in 30 degrees with light winds. For $269 dollars, I think it would be tough to beat this level of performance.
On to the VLTOR A5 system. I am a fan of the Emod stocks and have wanted to try the A5 system for awhile. According to the manufacturer, "the A5 has shown increased accuracy and milder/smoother function, due to the constant spring rate the M16A2 spring offers." The stock itself is solid. I shoot this on prone on the "5" length. Like Emod stocks, the A5 makes it pretty easy to get a consistent and proper height on your cheek weld. It does not feel overly long or unbalanced.
With that being said, I do like the way this system feels. However, in my opinion I see virtually little, if any, difference in how it shoots. A 5.56 does not have very much recoil to begin with. Swapping this lower with a carbine gas system, recoil reduction was really not distinguishable in a field setting. The system ran 100% reliable, but so did it before with a simple H buffer.
My bottom line is that while I like the system and the stock, I don't notice enough difference to warrant having to have one. At $224 dollars from BCM, you could save a little money and go with the Emod stock kit for around $187. It should be noted that this kit comes with a standard carbine buffer, so if you needed an H or H2, the price difference becomes much smaller.
