Knights Armanent SR-15E3 or ????

[Miss Debbie]

Hi everyone I am in the market for my first AR rifle and need advice, I handled a KAC rifle today it is light and feels good in my hands but is it worth 2K? What sets it apart from other makers like Colt,LMT,Daniel Defense, and Bravo co? The purpoose of rifle is for range use and carbine class.

 

[taliv]

it has a lot of features the others don't. e.g. ambi controls, flush cups built into the lower receiver, rounded bolt lugs, two extractor springs and an oversized extractor, front and rear BUIS that fold flat, a match quality trigger, an LMT SOPMOD stock, and lots of other stuff

if you want all that stuff, and a good AR15, then $2k is a good buy. If you want a different trigger, stock, etc, then start with one of the others you listed and customize it.

 

[G.barnes]

It is the ar pinnacle. Unfortunatly they have a lot of proprietary parts. A back up bcg is about 300 dollars although they're suppose to be good for at least 15,000 rounds. You'd be better of buying a colt bcm or Daniel defense for around 1100 and spend the rest on some good optics like an aimpoint or eotech and 1000 rounds of ammo. You can get a 6920 or a ddm4xv and then upgrade with rails once you know what you want

 

[Cal-gun Fan]

If it were me, I'd put the money towards a Colt and some type of optic and accessories. Mags and ammo too.

 

[henschman]

It's not as if the other high quality ARs, which can be had for less than half that price, are unreliable or anything... plus if the extractor or something DOES break on a regular AR, extra parts are dirt cheap. Cheap enough that you can afford to have a spare for every part on the rifle, and still spend significantly less than the KAC. As for flush cups, flip-up irons, match trigger, after-market stock, etc., you can put together a regular AR with all that stuff for a hell of a lot less than $2 grand... and you get to pick it out yourself, instead of just buying it the way it comes of the shelf.

If the KAC was a little more competitive on the price, it might be worth it. But the fact is you could put together a rifle that is about 95% the same as that KAC, and only spend a little less than half what the KAC costs. That means all those extra hundreds of dollars are basically going to buy a beefed up extractor, and flush-folding sights. Those are really the only things you can't get elsewhere.

 

[Robert]

For that money I'd go with a LaRure OBR. Or Any of the top makers like Colt and the like and get a case of ammo, mags and maybe an optic.

 

[taliv]

you can't get the flush cups in the receiver anywhere else either, or the rounded bolt.

i'm not saying those features are worth it for everyone. i believe the design goal behind the SR15 that makes it different than the colt is that it was supposed to be able to go 25k rounds without replacing the bolt, extractor, springs etc.

personally, i liked a lot of the features and used the SR15 as my primary AR for several years... however, I've changed my mind on a few things this year. i don't like the flush cups anymore, don't use BUIS at all, want a shorter barrel, and basically don't mind regular maintenance (replacing springs etc when they get worn). and I prefer a different stock and rail and trigger and grip.

so the new rifle i'm building is actually more expensive, but exactly what i want now, but what I wnt and what others want may be completely different as a lot of that is personal preference.

but cost-wise, if you start with a $1100 colt 6920, and add a $200 stock, a $250 trigger, a $250 rail, $100 buis, that puts you at $1900, which means you're getting the dually-extractor, rounded bolt, flush cups, ambi controls, and other unique features for about $100. I don't know why anyone who wants those features would think that isn't competitively priced.

 

[Cal-gun Fan]

Thats actually a really neat way to look at it. Hadn't considered that before, Taliv.

 

[taliv]

yeah, it's a neat goal really, and the changes were things like rounding the lugs on the bolt to keep them from sheering so soon, and the cam pin hole is smaller so that there's more material there which makes it go longer before the stress cracks around the cam pin hole would cause the bolt to split in half. and doubling up on the springs for the extractor, and going to intermediate length gas instead of middy which lowers the pressure, etc.

it's a lot of little things you can't get anywhere else.

of course, it's also yet to be proven as there probably aren't that many SR15s out there with 25k rounds on them, but it seems reasonable

and the downside is that none of those parts are compatible with other ARs... as was mentioned above. so if it DOES break, you'd better have your own spare cause you're not borrowing someone else's

 

[JustinJ]

yeah, it's a neat goal really, and the changes were things like rounding the lugs on the bolt to keep them from sheering so soon, and the cam pin hole is smaller so that there's more material there which makes it go longer before the stress cracks around the cam pin hole would cause the bolt to split in half. and doubling up on the springs for the extractor, and going to intermediate length gas instead of middy which lowers the pressure, etc.

Has it been confirmed that their bolt design does signficantly increase life span? I've always thought the AR bolt needed to be more durable.