ArmaLite M15 A4(T) first impressions

[Cegorach]

A couples days ago I picked up an ArmaLite M15 A4(T) and was able to get it out to the range for some preliminary testing.

I want to preface this preview by saying that this is my first AR-15, or any kind of center-fire semi-auto for that matter. So please bear with me. Unfortunately I don't have pictures yet either, but I will do my best to get some next time I make it out to the range.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">First impressions:</span>

I thought the rifle was extremely well put together with great fit and finish. The connection between the upper and lower had absolutely no slop and the anodizing was very uniform. The aluminum free float tube felt nice and rigid as well. After removing the sling loop I added a Harris 6-9. Overall it has a quality feel in my opinion. I was unable to find anything offensive, crude, or poorly finished about the rifle.

The rifle was lightly lubricated right of the shelf but I broke it down and gave a thorough round of lubrication before I took it out, including a touch of grease on the bolt lugs. Additionally, I ran a few patches down the bore with the aid of a Tipton bore guide. It took about 4 patches to get all the factory crud out, but afterward the bore was extremely bright with no imperfections visible to the naked eye. I realize this doesn't mean much, but it doesn't hurt anything either.

For optics I had a Bushnell 10x mil/mil in a Nikon M-223 mount. I ended up having to exchange the first mount I received for another because the threading in one of the rings was all chewed up. This looked like something that was caused by some overzealous fondling (not by me) as opposed to manufacturing deficiencies. Aside from this the quality seemed very good on both units. I was impressed. This set up provided good eye relief and cheek weld with the A2 stock as well as giving a 20 MOA cant.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Zeroing and shooting the rifle:</span>

I started with Fiocchi 40 grain V-Max to get it dialed in. It took 10 rounds to get it dialed in due to the lack of a bore-sighter. I didn't bother with any kind of break in ritual, I just shot the damn thing. After zeroing I shot 2 five shot groups with it. One was just over an inch and the second was just under an inch. From there I moved to Hornady 75 HPBT match. I shot one more group at 100 yards that again hovered right about at an inch.

At that point it was starting to get a bit dark and pretty cold out, so I set up some clay pigeons on the berm roughly 330 yards away. After running this info through JBM real quick I dialed up 1.6 mils and let fly. I was lucky enough to get a first round hit and kept going from there. I had zero difficultly taking them all out. Unfortunately that is where my range time ended.

As I was leaving I did a quick inspection of the rifle and found that it was still very clean and there appeared to be little copper fouling.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Thoughts so far:</span>

First and foremost I definitely need some more range time before I pass final judgement. So far I am very happy. I didn't have any malfunctions and seemed to run very well. I had a blast shooting it and look forward to putting some different varieties of ammo through it, including handloads. I absolutely feel that I will be able to shrink groups some as I familiarize myself with the rifle. It is much different than the .243 bolt gun I am used to. A Nordic Components .22 upper is the cards for this very reason.

One thing that I wasn't a huge fan of was the trigger. It is a two stage which I like, but the second stage felt much heavier than I would prefer. I don't have access to trigger scale but if I had to guess I would say it was around 5 pounds. This would be right in line with the factory literature. It will take some more shooting to know fore sure, but I could definitely see myself opting for another trigger.

I will update this when I get to the range later this week.