[ Aaron is a sergeant with a midwestern police department, where he serves as a trainer, supervisor and SWAT sniper. In addition to his broad tactical knowledge, Aaron is an experienced hunter using bow and both modern and blackpowder firearms. Aaron is also frequently a guest blogger at Guns, Holsters, and Gear ]
While shooting all of the free ammunition at the Media Day event in Las Vegas this year, I came across the ArmaLite SPR Model 1 AR-15 and ArmaLite engineer Nathan Brinkmeyer. Nathan showed me the ins and outs of their AR-15 platform.
Detachable Rails – One of the first things that jumps out at the casual observer are the detachable rails on the fore grip. Using an Allen wrench the shooter quickly remove the side or bottom rails and determine if they want the full Picatinny quad rail system or go modular. Rails can be replaced with full flat replacements or half flat/half Picatinny rails to the user’s choosing.
Continuous Optic Platform (COP) – The top rail is one piece and runs full length, with no gaps (end of fore grip to end of receiver). This allows scope or optics to be mounted in a very secure fashion.
Proprietary Barrel Nut – Nathan also pointed out ArmaLite’s proprietary large barrel nut that allows for quickly breaking the rifle down for cleaning and/or maintenance.
Two-stage match trigger – Nathan explained that these rifles have a 2-stage match trigger that usually ships from the factory with a 4.5 lb. trigger pull. I’m pretty sure that the one I shot at Media Day was a little less than that – very smooth, and very quick. ArmaLite’s triggers also reset very quickly, a nice feature for tactical or sport shooter applications alike. The trigger resets almost immediately after let off from trigger pull, and much sooner than some of the other AR-15 rifles I’ve shot.
Nathan said that there are 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 round magazines available for the rifle. This rifle handles well and I was able to hit standard steel targets at 100 yards with multiple rounds. I was pulling the trigger in less than a second from the previous shot and was easily able to maintain target acquisition.
Other features from ArmaLite include:
Free Floated 16? Double Lapped, Chrome Lined\Chrome Moly Vanadium MIL- B-11595-E, Threaded 1/2×28Gas Block with Picatinny Rail Top of gas block is .293 (+/-) lower than top of upper receiverForged Flattop with Picatinny Rail & Laser Engraved Rail Numbering, 7075-T6 Aluminum w/ 8? Hand-guardTactical Two Stage, 1st Stage 3.5 lbs – 2nd Stage Approximately 5-6 lbs35.5? with stock extended (32? collapsed)Anodized Aluminum Upper/Lower Receiver, Manganese Phosphated Steel Barrel