Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1513581
and handguard cap. The cap itself is surprisingly well-made, I could say that even better than in the ge- nuine M16/M4 rifles! The Chinese clone has a superbly machined, sharp-edged base that looks great, but it Is way different from the origi- nal. I would say "less characterful", but I do not deny that there will be a group of people who will favor the Chinese one. To be fully fair with you, I need to add that there is no indication of the direction of rota- tion on the front sight base and the sling loop is not coated with rub- ber as in the US rifles. 14.5" barrel length and A-Frame FSB allows it to fix bayonets – checked with le- git M9 and OKC 3S bayonets and it works just fine. The two-part handguard is made from heavy-weight aluminum alloy and has four attachment screws. The walls are thick, hence the we- ight. MIL-STD-1913 rails are well made and even compared to KAC M4 RAS rail, the tolerances are in spot. There is some play in the handguard attachment but hardly noticeable during use. The Delta Ring which mounts the handguard from the receiver side, in the demo rifle here, had the coating dama- ged by the handguard removal tool (during assembly in the factory). It was painted with gloss paint even though the part was originally matt painted. The front handguard cap is 1 mm less in diameter when compared with the USGI part, so keep this in mind in case you would like to replace the handguard. Both lower and upper receivers are forged from unknown alumi- num alloy. The evidence of the for- ging process are pitting-like marks noticeable in some places and the overall appearance of the surface under the plating, tainting the ca- sting molding. The interiors of the receivers are made decently, with no conspicuous tooling marks. They were coated with semi-matte black paint, although the interior of the upper receiver has a very rough surface, which will make it easy to get dirty and difficult to clean. Ove- rall, it can be said that receivers were made to a pretty good stan- dard, but from the outside aesthe- tes will be grossed out. As a conso- lation, I will only tell them that from a distance of a meter you can no longer see it. CQ-A 556 www.fragoutmag.com