By Jeff Gurwitch July 25, 2011 When I first saw that Adams Arms (AA) was going to offer a super-lightweight upper with a “pencil thin” barrel, I was very skeptical. I could not help but think back to my time in basic training many years ago, where I was issued a M16A1. Thin profile barrels just seemed flimsy and out …

By Mike Pannone July 11, 2011 I’ve been shooting 5.45 [5.45x39mm Russian] AR platforms for several years now, but the Spike’s Tactical is the best, by far. The names of the other brands are not important, other than the fact that they all ran well and were both direct impingement and piston driven. Reliability being the same, overall accuracy and …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com All photos contained in this article were taken by either Higher Capacity, LLC or DefenseReview.com (DR), and are copyrighted. Higher Capacity and DefenseReview.com own the copyright on their respective photos. DefenseReview.com’s photos were shot with a Canon PowerShot S90 10-megapixel digital camera (still camera with video capability). January 6, 2011 DefenseReview (DR) …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com July 9, 2010 For quite some time, now, DefenseReview (DR) has been publishing information on just how reliable the direct-gas-impingement (DGI) select-fire Colt M4/M4A1 Carbine/SBR (Short Barreled Rifle) and semi-auto AR-15 carbine/SBR can be if they’re properly set up/sprung and lubricated (and even if they’re not properly lubricated). We have retired U.S. …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com All photographic images contained in this article were taken by DefenseReview.com at SHOT Show 2007, and they are the exclusive property of DefenseReview.com. DefenseReview.com owns the copyright on these photos. June 28, 2010 Updated on 7/07/10 Christian Lowe’s been a busy little beaver over at Military.com and Military.com’s military gear blog, Kit Up!, …

By Mike Pannone Info@CTT-Solutions.com All photos contained in this article were taken by Mike Pannone for DefenseReview.com, and are copyrighted. Mike Pannone and DefenseReview.com own the copyright on these photos. March 19, 2010 Here’s my question for those that subscribe to the direct impingement fouling concept: I fired 2400 rounds of M193 through a 14.5” M4-type upper receiver from Bravo …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com August 26, 2009 Back on June 7, 2009, DefenseReview published a heads-up piece on the new Ruger SR-556 gas piston/op-rod AR-15 tactical carbine. In that piece I wrote this: “One of the things were going to investigate is whether or not the SR556 is completely debugged, or whether it has the normal/usual …

By Mike Pannone June 15, 2009 In the early months of 2006 while I was helping to write and refine the curriculum of the Asymmetric Warfare Group’s Combat Applications Training Course (CATC) I took it upon myself to research performance enhancements and reliability upgrades as an integral part of educating the soldier on how to maximize his M4/M4A1 carbine. The …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com Photo Credits: Sturm Ruger & Co., Inc. June 7, 2009 Updated on 6/16/09 Ever since the late

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com May 20, 2009 According to Army Times magazine, The 75th Ranger Regiment is scheduled to battle test the Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) very soon. The Rangers will reportedly be taking 600 FN SCAR rifle/carbine/subcarbine/SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle) weapons packages into battle, but DefenseReview doesn’t know how many of these are the …