Bradley Arms BAR15

[Parabuteo]

It’s a funny old world.

My background is that I served with the RA/AAC between the early 80s to the mid 90s and I was trained as a SAAI and RCO out of the SASC at Warminster.

Why is this relevant? Well, only in so much as I had certain opinions (misconceptions as it turned out) and was trained on both the L1 and the early L85 (and competed in SR with them), also being lucky enough to play with other NATO small arms.

Misconceptions?

1. I vowed after serving I would never own a black or straight pull rifle ( I hated the concept of ruining perfectly good semi autos…but when in Rome)

2. I (quite wrongly) assumed those using them were a bit waltish.

A while back I was laid up and watched the CSR footage from the 2014 Imperial, had a bit of a mid life crisis and thought to myself…”Hey I used to do that”. Wife basically said “If you got your finger out you still could”…..as did a lot of the CSR fraternity.

To be fair I was getting bored stiff with FTR as well, so it was shit or bust.

So I got my No4 dusted off and went for it. I don’t think I did badly on my few attempts, but I really wanted to have a go at the mainstream SO (service optic) side.

Anyhoo…..having now shot a couple of CSR comps I can quite happily say “I was wrong” on both counts…sorry, great fun, great people, and walt free. It has also forced my to try and learn to shoot my dear old No4 as well.

As luck would have it an exe trials Elcan Spectre 1-4x 5.56 scope became available via John Mason at Fig14.com for silly money. It was one of those…”well I can sell it for more than I paid if I have to” moments.

The next issue was an AR. There are a few people out there building them and I heard good and bad (mostly good) about most, but the person who was most forthcoming was Mark Bradley of Bradley arms (Bradders) who was recommended to me by several people I trust, so Bradders it was.

I simply said, “Look Mark, it’s not a fashion statement. I only want one AR that will allow me to compete on a level with the rest. I don’t want anything I don’t really need, if I want to mess about with it later then I can”. He got it immediately and I soon had an email with a list of parts and a quote for less than I expected.

Having shot Danny Pierces BAR15 a while before I just said….”one of them with an A2 butt”.

The rifle was built PDQ (in a week or two) and in fact any delays were due to my getting my 1-4-1 sorted and illness.

So I have this rifle…..what next?

Well, physically it’s a funny little thing. My reaction (and my wife…see, she does listen) was the same as when I picked an M16 up in the 80s….”god its small” (she is used to podded FTR rifles and the No4 being about and has only seen black rifles on the telly).

The second thought was….”god that stock looks naff”. I had tried several though and I had to bite the bullet here, don’t forget that I specified the A2 stock for a reason, its the one that worked best for me, and not because of its looks. John Morgan Hosey suggested I tried the A2 stock and after shooting with it I agree, it will as likely stay.

So home it went and on went the elcan…..blimey that thing points quickly. I was now seeing why people like the AR for CSR.

Marks side cocking lever is positioned just right for me and sloped down. Being knurled you just need to keep the thumb on the back of the pistol grip and snatch the handle with the index and nose picking finger to chamber a round. It is quick, efficient, and you can pretty well stay on aim while doing it.

The rifle itself is based on his upper and lower, and 18” Armalon hammer forged barrel (1 in just under 8 so it should cope with the 77gr SMKs that some use in CSR). It has a Samson for end (produced with the Bradley Arms logo for grip/cooling) and an Ergo grip. I left the latter and the trigger to Mark and I have to say, I like the tactile feel of the grip.

I never saw the need for rails up the ying yang that I was not going to attach anything to other than plastic covers to make them smooth again, so the Samson fore end is ideal as it gives a full length upper rail if you needed it, enough grip, but nothing to snag.

Mark also fitted a rock river match trigger. Inexperienced as I am with purpose built CSR rifles I have to say I always like a nice clear 2 stage which is exactly what this is. Is it as good as a Giselle or a Jewell? No idea but I like it and it works.

The only bits I wanted particularly were an ambi safety, a brake, a harris bipod stud and a sling attachment point.

I am not keen on bipods on this type of rifle (you cant use one in SO anyway) because I personally feel that it causes POI issues if you don’t practice without one and it makes you lazy. You know what the rifle can do but you never learn fully what you can do. I wanted it purely for load dev, but its dead easy to fit one if you needed it (for PO etc).

The sling I had in mind was one of the leather TR single point type. I have had one kicking about for years and its perfect for providing plenty of support in the kneeling/sitting and standing.

A comms error on my part left Poor Bradders nicking a swivel off of one of his rifles to get me going…only for me to get it wrong, damage the part (grub screw/loctite interface), and revert to plan A (flush fitting push button quick release). The spare part is in the post….cheers Mr B!!

Why an ambi safety? Purely because they are usually on the left….out of sight or the safety supervisor who usually stands to the right. This way it can be seen and I can feel the end of the catch when its in the FIRE position.

Why a brake? Who needs a brake for 556? Well it makes one hell of a difference in where your muzzle end up after firing and if you have limited time to get back on aim, you don’t want to deviate much…right? And Marks “Spangly Doofer” works….and annoys the hell out of the whingers as well.

Another shock was P mags and ranger plates. We never mag rested, and our mags were all pressed steel (I found one in the loft…it works fine) but plastic?….its the way to go these days and they are as robust as hell and not overly expensive with the 30 round mags being around £20 a pop….and ranger plates?

Clever little flexible wedge shaped plates that replace a standard P mag base. They level out the angled base of the mag and protect it at the same time giving a really stable platform.

I managed to get out with it yesterday. Put 120 rounds through it standing, kneeling, squatting, prone. Poor barrel was that hot it had to stay out of the bag to cool….sorry kid!!

Tried a McQueens with it (it was windy but we still manage quite a few hits)…ouch.

But the joy of being able to align on a target quickly and to cycle that quickly…even for an unpractised tart like me. Some say they can cycle nearly as quickly as a semi, I am not sure but there must be some very quick CSR bods out there.

The rifle allowed me to easily bung 10 rounds rested into the centre of a fig14 (rapidly) at 100 yds and I put a mag full into a fig 14 standing/kneeling/squatting fairly quickly at 100….and the vast majority hit with several distinct POIs so that’s one to watch, but its well capable of a lot better in the right hands while for me, it’s a great start.

I fed it on GGG and RG yesterday. I am too inexperienced with this rifle to say what is me and what is not. The general consensus with them that use factory is that GGG is the way to go and at £42 a ton I cant argue with that. It fed and ejected easily and being SS109 suits the 556 ret on the Elcan. The RG worked fine but was a bit sticky on ejection….softer brass maybe? No idea but Andy (Airbrush) and others that used it found the same. Nothing wrong with it for practice though.

The plan long term is to hand load (purely for consistency and because I quite enjoy loading) but unless you can shoot one of these rifles to the Nth degree I doubt you would notice the difference, there are so many other factors involved with multi positional and running down ranges that will cause you to miss.

So that’s it then.

Its an ideal starting place for SO CSR, well priced, service is great and delivery was quicker than I could cope with. How we will get on together remains to be seen but its looking encouraging.

Cheers Bradders, top rifle mate (other AR builders are available, but this is a review of a BAR15).

[physeptone]

Thanks, interesting to read your review.
(I must say I thought you weren't allowed to even mention his name on here!)

[dannywayoflife]

Good review Chris

[Parabuteo]

Thanks, interesting to read your review.
(I must say I thought you weren't allowed to even mention his name on here!)

Mark is a Genuinely decent and helpful bloke in my opinion and came highly recommended from many (even outside of the CSR family). I was reviewing the rifle, not Bradders, but the two go together.

I try to be honest hence the comments about my incorrect perception of black rifle users and my own limitations regarding any tests.

I will grow with the rifle, but it will always be tested with the 4x/1x scope as that is how it is designed to work.

OK, I could bung a 32x Sightron on board to test, I have seen this done on other reviews and purely from performance it makes sense, but I am more interested in how it performs with a service (type) sight and service ammo, I will be unlikely to shoot it in any other mode (time will tell whether I got it right or not) but in those terms it is pretty standard SO fare. Even the bipod was a compromise.

[Vulcanator]

Pictures please.

[Parabuteo]

Pictures please.

Nope, I cant get it to work and its an AR

You can have pretty well what you want so its a bit pointless to be fair, take a look at the BAR website bud.