Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1536266
FIREARMS And that brings us to the star of the show: the PAC 15 M4 Classic, ava- ilable in four flavors – with 10.5" or 14.5" barrels, dressed in either a rugged quad-rail or a sleek polymer handguard. My personal pick is the 14.5" quad- -rail. Sadly, when I was buying, the M4 polymer handguard model was MIA, and nobody knew when it wo- uld be back. No worries, though – I'll just snag an original M4 or STAG handguard somewhere and swap it myself. It's not exactly brain surgery. For my own amusement, I've dub- bed this beauty the M4 PME – The Poor Man's Edition. It's simply an affordable take on the iconic M4 carbine, born from a military line- age, keeping much of the original's soul, and definitely qualifying as that sought-after classic. And don't think "poor man's" means cheap and nasty! I really dig this gun. It's just a little wink to myself, knowing that if you've got the M4 itch, you don't need to drop a small fortune. You can get something seriously fun for a fraction of the cost. My M4 PME boasts a 14.5" 4150-steel buttoned barrel finished with a durable nitride treatment. The business end is threaded with the standard 1/2x28 thread, me- aning you can slap on any AR-com- patible muzzle device you fancy. It comes with a classic NATO A2 flash hider, which honestly does the job perfectly well for enjoyable shooting and keeps that authentic look. At the other end, you'll find a versatile Wylde chamber, happy to gobble up both commercial and mi- litary-grade ammo. The front sight base is a standard FSB with a bay- onet lug – so yeah, you can absolu- tely mount your M7, M9, or OKC-3S bayonet without a hitch. The barrel profile is almost Gover- nment-spec, but with a cool histo- rical twist – it's the XM4 profile as seen on early M4s, featuring a wider under-cut right after the front sight base for a grenade launcher mount. Later M4s went with a slimmer un- der-cut, the kind we see on modern rifles. It doesn't really affect its per- formance and might only raise an eyebrow from the hardcore purists, but hey, it's a nod to history! The handguard is a "quad-rail," me- aning four rock-solid MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rails bolted to the front sight base and clamped down by the delta ring at the receiver end. It's not some fancy KAC one or de- signer handguard, but it's seriously well-built, stable as a rock, and does exactly what it needs to: provide a secure platform for your accesso- ries while looking undeniably cool and military. If you're set on a KAC M4 RAS, swapping it out probably wouldn't be a headache, although a new KAC rail will set you back abo- ut half the price of the entire gun. The upper and lower receivers are forged from tough 7075-T6 alu-