The AIW will consist of three elements including the rifle system L403A1, the optic system L900A1, and the training system. As part of the optic system, Aimpoint will supply the ACRO P-2 red dot sight.

According to Aimpoint, “the ACRO series sights have been built to exceed the requirements of the users and have been tested and proven to withstand the extreme shock, vibration, temperatures, and material stresses generated by firing over 20,000 rounds of .40 S&W ammunition. Primarily designed for use on handguns, the ACRO next generation can also be mounted on carbines, shotguns and hunting rifles or utilized as a backup sight on magnified scopes and thermal imagers. These versatile optics are night vision compatible and are the ultimate solution for extremely rugged, low-profile, compact sighting needs.”

“We at Aimpoint are extremely proud to be part of this Hunter project that pushes the limits of innovation for the modern personal weapon system, “says Erik Jeppsson, Aimpoint’s director of sales and marketing. “We trust our distributor Edgar Brother to bring the system into service alongside DE&S in a very professional way, and that our product will contribute to the success of the AIW by enhancing soldiers’ capabilities to effectively perform their mission.“

As the prime contractor and UK distributors, Edgar Brothers will supply the equipment to UK MOD. For more information, visit the company’s webpage.

Eugene Morrison Stoner is the designer of what became the M16 system, but he was far more than that. He was a weapons designer for sure, but his interests included rotary winged aircraft, boats, and many other things. He was a genius on many levels.

Stoner was born on 22 November 1922, in Gasport, Indiana, an irony not lost on many AR-15 family collectors. He was a WWII veteran of the USMC, serving as an aviation ordnance technician in El Toro, the South Pacific, the Philippines, Okinawa, and in North China. He died 24 April 1997 in Palm City Florida. As a veteran, he had a solid understanding of what traits an infantryman wanted from a fighting rifle; it should be simple, reliable, robust, and accurate.

Most people today understand the effect Stoner had on modern weaponry; this article is not really about that. What we’re here to discuss is the birthday event that Stoner’s close friend and business partner C. Reed Knight, Jr, put on to celebrate Stoner’s 100^th birthday.

In all their years of friendship, Mr. Knight had managed to hunt down and collect almost all the Stoner designs. Hundreds of firearms were found, and in the process, one of the most amazing small arms collections in the world grew to fantastic size; first in Vero Beach, then in Titusville, Florida. The collection is referenced as either the Knight Collection, or more properly, the Institute of Military Technology. Reed Knight had a lot of dreams. He pursued, adjusted, and excelled at many, but a fervent one was to create a university, more or less, for mechanical engineers to learn firearms design. The institute provided the road map and the collection… well, it’s a working reference collection, one of the finest in the world. The collection goes far beyond just the designs of Stoner and Knight, it covers the development of small arms in almost every country in the world and provides an amazing glimpse into the weapons of our enemies and allies.

When it became close to Mr. Stoner’s 100^th birthday it appeared the date would coincide with the 60^th anniversary of the M16 and 40^th anniversary of Knight’s Armament Company, Mr. Knight and his staff sprang into action with a very ambitious plan; a party for 1200-1400 people. Many members of Knight’s Armament and the Institute’s employee groups devoted a lot of time to make impressive presentations. Attendees were treated to a band, local barbecue, and facility tours. The list of attendees was impressive, many manufacturers and government people were there, as well as members of the general public who had signed up for the tours. All in all, it was an excellent day. Good barbecue, good company, and one of the world’s most

When one hears the name Knight’s Armament Company (KAC) and/or their president’s name, C. Reed Knight, Jr., one automatically thinks of world class quality and ingenuity. The out of the box thinking has made KAC a defense contractor to be reckoned with; one that is known to supply our most elite special operations forces. The downside is that if you are not military, you waited a long time to get any of KAC’s high end weapons. When the company started out with its development of the renowned SR-25, development was funded through commercial sales. KAC has never mass produced any small arm as attention to detail and strict quality control prohibit this. Every SR-25 that leaves the factory is provided with a test target showing it fired less than 1 MOA prior to it leaving the factory. When news of a new 5.56mm rifle that KAC was introducing was released, it was anticipated that this weapon was going to be in a class all its own. Reed Knight was not just going to come out with a standard black rifle with his name on it – the rifle would be in a class by itself: and we were not disappointed.

As of this writing, the market is awash with black rifles. Nearly every major manufacturer has their own derivative of the black rifle with most M4-type clones with standard features. Relatively few of these weapons are combat grade weapons. Most are made specifically to cater to the commercial market where price is a concern amongst others. However, for those who stand ready to make combat reliable weapons, severe attention to detail, stringent quality control and relentless pursuit of ways to improve the weapon systems are constantly sought. Few manufacturers truly step up to the plate to build combat reliable weapon systems. The cost and facility needed to accomplish such a task are cost prohibitive for many manufacturers.

The SR-15 E3 is very unique in the world of black rifles from muzzle to stock. When designed, the concept was taking the best and making it better. Prior to release, KAC looked at existing weapon systems and looked at the critiques and took them into consideration. They examined the accessories operators were buying to make their weapons more effective and built many of them into their new rifle. With KAC’s involvement with Special Operations soldiers they understood the needs of the operators.

Starting with the barrel, the 16 inch barrel is chrome plated and hammer forged. Many within the SOCOM community feel that hammer forged barrels have longer service life than conventional button cut rifled barrels. They have the Mil-Spec 1/7 inch twist so the barrel will handle any projectile up to 80 grains that could be fed to it. The barrel is free floating in the KAC URX (Upper Receiver Extending) handguard. The URX has quad Mil-Std 1913 rails with a removable lower handguard. The lower handguard is retained by a plunger that is located at the bottom rear of the rail and can be depressed with a bullet tip or suitable tool. The lower handguard is secured (tightened) by two screws, one on each side of the rail. The two screws must be removed before depressing the plunger to remove to lower handguard. There are five integrated sling swivel mounds located on the URX. Two on the front side rails, two on the back side rails and one on the front of the bottom handguard. There are also numerous points that a KAC Sling Swivel Stud Assembly can be installed. Additionally integrated into the URX is a folding front sight. This Integrated Micro-Adjustable Folding Front Sight can be adjusted by hand by a dial. Neither bullet tip nor front sight adjustment tool is needed. The front sight is actuated by pushing inward on a button on the left side of the sight. The front sight post is very unique as well being extremely narrow and round. This is extremely beneficial and will increase accuracy by having a more precise aiming point. The sight is protected by “rabbit ears” to prevent damage. When folded, it has stop notches so optics or accessories can be attached over it.

The SR-15 E3 is provided with a 600 meter adjustable folding rear sight. This is one of the few Back-Up Iron Sights (BUIS) that are adjustable for windage as well as elevation. Of course, any BUIS can be used. Also provided with the rifle for examination was the new line of Micro Sight assemblies. The first is the 600 meter fully adjustable micro sight assembly (KAC part number 25650). This is a smaller and more compact version of the standard one (KAC part number 98474). The other is the 300 meter micro sight assembly (KAC part number 25475). This is a smaller and more compact version of the standard adjustable for windage only (KAC part number 97082). The micro sight assemblies were introduced at the 2009 SHOT Show.

The gas system has been altered from the conventional M4 carbine by utilizing a mid-length gas system. The gas port is placed in between the carbine and rifle gas tube lengths. This gives more dwell time (bolt remains closed longer allowing residual pressure to drop, which allows the cartridge case to contract more before extraction) thus increasing extraction reliability and durability. The URX used on the SR-15 E3 is specifically designed to accommodate the mid-length gas system.

The bolt carrier is a standard M16/M4 carrier with a well staked carrier key. Knights usually fully chrome plates the entire bolt and bolt carrier as their trademark. The SR-15 bolt carrier only had standard chrome plating on the inside of the bolt carrier and carrier key. The outside of the bolt carrier for the SR-15 is the standard Mil-Spec manganese phosphate finish.

The bolt on the other hand is all new. Knight’s were of the mindset to build an improved carbine and to do so would require actual improvements to correct deficiencies. This means the priority is on reliability and durability, not interchangeability. The multi-lug improved E3 bolt is just that. USSOCOM had complained of bolt breakage as the bolts would wear out and more than often they would break at the cam pin slot. Knight’s realized that the only way to increase that strength was to have more material in that area; so that is exactly what they did, by decreasing the diameter of the cam pin allowing more material on the bolt. There is a reduction in the diameter of the firing pin that was the result of creating a solid material recess for the dual extractor springs that astride the firing pin hole. What this adds up to is significant increase in service life of the bolt. Another issue addressed by SOCOM was failures to extract. This was mainly due to worn out extractor springs or lack of use of the newer generation gold springs. The solution was to add a rubber O-ring around the extractor spring assembly. Knight’s took an entire new approach. Rather than band-aid the problem, they created a completely new ejector. The extractor has a “lobster tail” configuration and utilizes two extractor springs instead of one – similar to Karl Lewis’ enhanced bolt. These differ by another major design change by Knights. They moved the location of the extractor pivot pin from the rear quarter to the center. Combine the two extractor springs with the leverage of having the pivot point in the middle you have a major increase in extractor force. A dirt groove was added right behind the extractor claw as well to give dirt a place to go rater than on the extractor claw. Additionally, the locking lug geometry has been changed. The corner edges from the lugs have been rounded off to increase the cross sectional area of the lugs, which increases the strength of the lugs. The bolt lugs are a common failure area of the conventional square lug bolt lugs.

The lower receiver has all been reworked as well. There are and have never been any “stock” weapons to come out of Reed’s factory. Starting at the rear, the LMT SOPMOD stock is used along with a 6-position receiver extension. The stock has a triangular cheek weld along with two removable battery compartments that are water resistant. Also, there are two Integrated Sling Swivel Mounts for the right and left side and a removable rubber buttpad. The lower receiver also has two Integrated Sling Swivel Mounds on the receiver right behind the rear takedown pin. This is a KAC innovation and has not been done in a lower receiver before. These points are preferred by those who like the one-point slings. Moving forward is the KAC ambidextrous selector lever that is not just for south paws as depending on your tactical position you may be holding the rifle in your left hand. Another major innovation by Knight’s is the ambidextrous bolt and magazine catch. The bolt catch is integrated into the lower receiver and is located just above and behind the magazine release button on the right side of the receiver. This enables a right handed shooter to be able to actuate and close the bolt with his trigger finger. Both the magazine and bolt release can be actuated by the trigger finger. The ambidextrous magazine release button is integrated into the lower receiver and is located on the left side right in front of the trigger guard. The ambidextrous magazine release button is easily actuated by the left handed shooters trigger finger. The trigger guard has been redesigned to accommodate a gloved trigger finger and is of Knight’s own design. Like the standard trigger guard, it can be hinged down by depressing the detent. The trigger itself is not stock either and is KAC’s proprietary two-stage trigger. The trigger breaks at 4-1/2 pounds and may be adjusted for as little or more creep and desired.

The sample rifle came with three KAC rail protectors, a vertical pistol grip and one Mil-Spec Okay Industry magazine was provided. That magazine was not stock either and was equipped with a new KAC magazine follower. The follower is identified by its white color and KAC written on the end. This is an anti-tilt follower, which is another reliability enhancement.

The fit and finish of the rifle was superb as what one comes to expect from Reed Knight. It weighed in at a light 6.75 pounds unloaded and measured at 33 inches in length with the stock closed and 36.25 inches with the stock fully extended. The lightweight was extremely surprising considering the enhancements from the basic design. The whole package came in a large black polymer case.

In testing the rifle a few things were added. There was only one thing left this author could think of to enhance the reliability of this rifle even more than KAC already has: that was to feed it with Magpul PMags. Based on this author’s experience, it is the finest magazine made for the black rifle. The PMags with the MagLevel (window) were used. The chosen optic was the Aimpoint CompM4 and 3X magnifier.

The ammunition used in test firing the SR-15 E3 was provided by Silver State Armory (SSA). SSA recently moved into a larger state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Packwood, Washington. SSA is known for producing high quality match grade tactical and target ammunition and is also one of the few American companies that produce various armor piercing ammunition for law enforcement/military use. The particular ammunition used for this test was 300 rounds of their 5.56mm M193 Ball. This ammunition is actually 5.56mm and loaded in cartridge cases manufactured by Silver State Armory. Accuracy testing was done with Silver State Armory 5.56mm 77gr Sierra OTM (SSAA10075-77Sierra).

When one takes a Knight’s Armament Company weapon to the range, the bar is raised. High expectations are present and when firing the SR-15, there was no disappointment. The rifle was tested on a brisk winter upstate New York afternoon with a chilling 12º F. There were no malfunctions of any kind during testing. In all, more than 500 rounds were fired. The SR-15 shot continuous 1 MOA groups at 100 yards with both Silver State Armory 77 grain OTM and 55 grain FMJ ammunition. The Aimpoint CompM4 with the 3x magnifier worked out extremely well for this distance. Dialing the intensity of the dot down so it did not overpower the size of the bull’s-eye made all the difference. The rifle may serve well as a fighting carbine or a short range containment rifle. It has the reliability and the accuracy to accomplish both tasks.

Knight’s has put out a world class black rifle, one which sets a new standard as to where the black rifle can go and how much more can be done with this timeless design. After more than 40 years this family of weapons continues to evolve. With the talk of a new service weapon it really leads one to ask, “Why?” Properly made black rifles are light, accurate, reliable, user friendly, modular, adaptable and most of all, proven. Knight’s not to long ago was awarded the contract for the U.S. Army M110 sniper rifle system. This moved sniper rifles to another level in the U.S. armed forces. Traditional thinking of having to have a bolt action rifle for it to be accurate had been challenged. The M110 gives every bit of accuracy of the bolt action rifle with the semi-auto firepower allowing up to 50% decrease in engagement time over the current bolt action rifle. KAC is on the cutting edge of black rifle technology and will for sure be a company to follow to see the future of the black rifle.

By Christopher R. Bartocci

In the late 1950s a new rifle was developed that would change the entire concept of the battle rifle. Although the U.S. Ordnance Corps had no vision to see it, history was in the making. Eugene M. Stoner while working for ArmaLite, a division of the Fairchild Engine and Aircraft of Hollywood, California, developed the AR-10. Taking his experience in the aircraft industry he replaced traditional wood stocks with new synthetic materials and changed from a traditional steel receiver to lightweight aircraft aluminum considerably decreasing the weight of the weapon. Another innovation was the use of a direct gas system instead of the traditional piston operating system. His design was very radical for that time. With the M14 nearly already adopted, the 7.62x51mm AR-10 was submitted to compete. As expected, the M14 was adopted but the AR-10 was noticed for being abnormally accurate for an auto-loading rifle. From there the AR-10 was cast into the bottomless scrap heap of the not invented here weapons of the U.S. Ordnance Corps. Although a request from the Air Force would have the AR-10 scaled down to .22 caliber and the birth of the AR-15 would go on to revolutionize the battle rifle and have a more then 50 year legacy of the longest serving U.S. rifle in history, the AR-10 lay dormant. That was until Gene Stoner teamed up with C. Reed Knight Jr. of Knight’s Armament Company (KAC) and went back to work on his AR-10 that he never had quite given up on. However, there had been several improvements to the M16 series and he would carry many of them over to his updated AR-10 and developed the SR-25. The acronym stood for Stoner Rifle and added the 10 from the AR-10 with the 15 from AR-15.

Introduced in the early 1990s the SR-25 shared 60% parts compatibility with the current issue M16A2. Funding for the SR-25 development came through commercial sales. As first introduced, the rifle had a 24 inch Remington 5R rifled barrel. At that time, KAC was the only company Remington would sell these precision barrel blanks to. The Match rifle was designed specifically to fire factory 168 grain open tip match ammunition. With this ammunition Knight guaranteed that every rifle that left his Vero Beach facility would fire at or less than one inch at 100 yards and he was willing to prove it by sending the target with every rifle. The original rifles used AR-10 magazines but Stoner would redesign the magazine and improve it giving it a more familiar M16 look. The rifle used the newly introduced integral rail flat top upper receiver so optics could be mounted in line with the shooters eye. The bolt carrier group would retain the original chrome plating and this would go on to be a KAC trademark. The upper and lower receivers were serialized and fitted for precision fit and the SR-25 had a free floated barrel using a carbon fiber handguard. The rifles were not mass produced and when one thinks of Knight’s Armament Company a standard is set for the finest weapons in the world where state-of-the-art meets old world craftsmanship. Stoner continued to improve his design until his death in 1997. Unfortunately, Stoner never saw his new rifle to be finally accepted by the U.S. military as the Mk11 Mod 0 sniper rifle, which would equip the most elite soldiers and sailors the world would ever know.

The Mk11 had some departures from the original design to meet the SOCCOM requirement. The rifle was designed to fire the M118 and M118LR match grade 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition and the Obermeyer barrel was shortened to 20 inches and equipped with a mount for a quick detachable sound suppressor also developed by Knight’s Armament Company. The 11.35 inch Rail Accessory System free floating handguard provided quad Mil-Std-1913 rails enabling attachment of any given number of accessories including night vision, lasers, tactical lights and bipods. The standard M16A2 stock and pistol grip are used for parts commonality. A flip up front sight was added to the gas block as well as KAC’s fully adjustable back up iron sight was also added. The rifle was equipped with 20-round magazines, a Leupold Vari-X mil dot scope with detachable rings and a Harris bipod. The Mk11 weighs 15.3 pounds unloaded and has an overall length of 45.4 inches long. The Mk11 would see action with U.S. Special Operations troops all over the world.

Knight’s Armament Company is first and foremost a defense contractor so commercial weapons were rare and due to the manufacturing process and quality they are very expensive. However, some did trickle down to the commercial market. In 2009, KAC introduced a new rifle, the SR-25 Enhanced Match Rifle. This rifle is a commercial version of the MK11 with the addition of the new URX free floating handguard that was designed for use on the M110 SASS (Semi Automatic Sniper System), which is replacing the M24 Remington sniper rifle in the U.S. Army.

The 20 inch barrel is the same as the one used on the Mk11. Through the evolution of the SR-25, the upper receiver was originally made from an aluminum extrusion; now the current rifles use forgings. The fired cartridge case deflector is now integral in the receiver rather than attached to the rail. Keeping with the tradition of the AR-10 and Gene Stoners expertise, no forward assist was added to the SR-25 family of weapons. The URX (Upper Receiver Extending) handguard as noted previously is a complete free floating handguard with a built-in folding front sight. When folded it acts as additional rail. The gas block has a section of rail on top of it as well as the mounting bracket for the QD sound suppressor. The rifle was supplied with three rail protectors enabling the rifle to be held and shot without a bipod. The upper receiver was also equipped with the KAC fully adjustable folding back up sight.

The bolt carrier group has gone through changes over the years. KAC has improved upon the chroming process and one of the finest features of the bolt carrier is the captive firing pin retainer pin. The carrier uses the standard M16 carrier key. The bolt has remained very similar to the original design with the major enhancement being to the extractor and ejector.

The lower receiver has most certainly gone through evolutionary changes. The area to the rear of the magazine release was machined down similar to the standard M16 making the button easier to actuate. The original SR-25 used a plastic spring guide, whereas the new rifle has an actual buffer. The standard M16A2 buttstock is used. Added to the left side of the receiver is an ambidextrous magazine release that can be reached by the trigger finger of a left-handed shooter. The trigger is the KAC designed two stage trigger which has an excellent crisp pull. The first stage is 3 pounds and the second breaks at around two pounds. The bolt catch has been redesigned from the original design. Originally it was a standard M16 bolt catch but with heavy use it proved not to be strong enough the take the weight and halt the 7.62mm bolt. KAC developed a stronger bolt catch.

The SR-25 Enhanced Match Rifle weighs 10.4 pounds with an overall length of 39.5 inches. The barrel is 20 inches long. Using GI issue M118LR (175 grain) match ammunition produces a muzzle velocity of 2,560 feet per second. The rifle is supplied with a 20-round magazine and an operator’s manual as well as a safety lock.

The test and evaluation rifle provided was just what I would have expected from Reed Knight. A precision rifle held to the highest craftsmanship and modern manufacturing standards. The rifle was not provided with an optic. Everybody has a different idea of what the best optic is and KAC lets that be up to the customer. Some additional magazines were procured and the rifle was tested with the new Magpul LMag and the C-Products 20-round steel magazines.

The ammunition used for testing was provided by Silver State Armory. Function testing was done with Silver State Armory M80 Ball (SSA10084-150FMJ). Accuracy testing was done with two different Silver State Armory loads. First was the 168 grain Sierra open tip match (SSA10084-OTM) and the second was the 175 grain Sierra open tip match (SSA10084-M118LR). The cartridge cases are manufactured by Silver State Armory to match specifications and their powder blends are proprietary and chosen for the particular load. Silver State Armory is known for their manufacturing of match quality ammunition in 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 6.8mm Rem SPC and a few others. They specialize in military calibers.

The barrel of the rifle was cleaned every 20 rounds with no malfunctions in 140 rounds that were fired. Targets were fired at 100 yards and both the 168 and 175 grain match rounds produced groups that averaged .45 to .75 inches – just as guaranteed by KAC and the target they provided. With the low round count I would expect the rifle to shoot even better if the barrel was broken in. The M110 will be with the U.S. military for quite some time.

By Kevin Dockery

Few firearms manufacturers have proven themselves as successful as the Knight’s Armament Company (KAC). In just 25 years, C. Reed Knight, Jr. has taken his company from being a modest but skilled R&D shop into a unique modern military supplier. The structures that have held the shops and offices of KAC have changed from being a small two-story building in an orange grove to a sprawling complex of buildings, bunkers, and range facilities with the main plant having more than 400,000 square feet of work space.

The new location of the Knight’s Armament Company is in the old McDonnell Douglas Astronautics facility on Columbia Blvd. in Titusville, Florida. The Titusville plant is only a relatively short drive from central Florida and the huge convention center at Orlando. It is when the SHOT Show is at the Orlando center, such as it was this year, that KAC takes advantage of their facility’s location, and the invited guests of Mr. Reed Knight can take advantage of his own style of southern hospitality.

Even in the middle of January, central Florida can be a hot place, especially for writers and guests who have come down from the colder (much colder!) northern climes and countries. The well-upholstered and air-conditioned transportation put on by Knight’s made the afternoon trip to Titusville a quick and comfortable one. The crowds from the buses were filled out even further once at the plant by the number of people who arrived in their own vehicles. Any way you had arrived, the trip was well worth the time with what was waiting for everyone at Knight’s.

After a quick organization, and the filling out of the more and more common legal forms and releases, the writer community and dignitaries were invited to try out a number of products from both KAC as well as other manufacturer’s. It was trigger time again.

When the Shot Show was last in Orlando a few years ago, Reed Knight held his first open house at the Titusville facility. At that time, the primary guest of honor was General Mikhail Kalashnikov himself and an extensive demonstration was put on of the Knight Armament’s line of products. This year, the open house was a much larger affair and General Kalashnikov was unable to attend. Even the good general might feel that he missed out as instead of witnessing the Knight products, writers and others were invited to try them out for themselves.

Just moving around the huge facility was an event in itself with vans moving groups of people from one firing site to another. Part of the reason for this was the different ranges needed for the other companies that were also taking part in the KAC open house.

The first of the ranges visited was the close-in firing demonstration held by Lewis Machine & Tool Company of their M16 variations. One of the highlights at this position was a chance to fire the CQB version of their Monolithic Rail Platform upper chambered for the powerful 6.8mm round. Having seen combat with Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan, the 6.8mm round with its heavier bullet is proving to be a valuable asset, one worthy of further examination. With the radical rail system patented by LMT and machined out of a solid aluminum forging, the strength of the system is phenomenal, and the accuracy that comes with that strength is also world-class.

The LMT 6.8mm upper Close Quarters Battle specimen available for the demonstration was quick to handle while remaining controllable, even on full automatic fire. The future of the 6.8mm round is still vague at best. But no matter the caliber, Lewis Machine & Tool has a winner in their solid Monolithic Rail Platform uppers as well as their own line of receivers and complete weapons.

Transport took the groups finished with shooting at the first range to the next open range where a new line of rifles from Knight’s Armament were waiting for use. Even though we were all looking forward to examining the new weapons, it was hard not to be impressed with the layout and facilities of the Titusville compound. There were rows and rows of huge concrete and earth bunkers, leftovers from the days that McDonnell-Douglas Astronautics Company loaded up Dragon missiles on the site. The massive bunkers would hold up to the ignition of enough ammunition to satisfy the most jaded of SAR readers, while still leaving enough room to outfit a small country – or shoot up on a Knob Creek weekend. If there is an expansion into heavy ordnance in Knight’s future, the Titusville facility has more than enough assets on hand to take care of any job short of making solid-fuel space-shuttle engines.

At the next range were some very familiar weapons, with new twists that were not immediately apparent. The SR-15 series of rifles and carbines are upgraded AR-15 style rifles with a number of improved features developed by Knight engineers. On the table were a pair of SR-15 E3 URX (Upper Receiver Extending) carbines, both with KAC folding iron sights and attached Harris bipods. Inside, the carbines boasted dual extractor springs, redesigned locking lugs with increased strength, and a number of other new and patented features. The overall design of the SR-15 proved such and improvement over the original design that it was adopted as the basis for a heavy-barreled 5.56mm sniper rifle, the Mark 12 Mod 1 Special Purpose Rifle. The URX E3 carbines were to prove only slightly less accurate, and nearly two pounds lighter, than the GI Mk 12 Mod 1 rifle, but at the short range available to the shooters at that table, the guns showed themselves to be more than adequate.

It was at the last range that the wait was longest to fire the weapons, and the reason was obvious enough. To a long-gun shooter, the last range area held a real treat. On the benches were premier examples of the KAC engineers, and the lasting legacy of Eugene Stoner.

Seven years ago, the Navy SEALs adopted a modified version of the SR-25 rifle as their new semiautomatic 7.62mm sniper rifle – the Mark 11 Mod 0, a replacement for the venerable M14-based sniper weapons still in the racks. On the bench was a single example of a Mk 11 Mod 0 rifle, set up with both a sophisticated electro-optical sight and a long Knight-produced sound suppressor. The optics was a CS6000 thermal imaging sight capable of detecting human activity out to a range of 2,200 meters. All-in-all, a very serious weapons system.

Lined up next to the Mk 11 were the two newest versions of the SR-25, the recently adopted XM110 U.S. Army Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle System (SASS). The XM110 has a twenty-inch match grade 1:11 twist heavy barrel, as does the Mk 11. But the muzzle of the XM110 barrel is threaded to accept a flash suppressor. The trendy desert tan color of the XM110 rifles also made them stand out, but all the weapons shared the same basic characteristic – long range accuracy combined with a quick follow-up firing capability.

Firing some of the best weapons available might prove enough for most to spend an afternoon away from the Shot Show. But Reed Knight’s rendition of southern hospitality required that he offer much more. Underneath huge tents in the parking area near the main building were set up long rows of tables, just what were needed to partake of the excellent barbeque served up by the caterers. Keeping with the overall country-western theme of the day, Reed Knight, along with his staff and sons, were wearing western outfits, complete down to Colt single-action revolvers riding in low-draw holsters. In the background was both a mechanical bull for the more adventurous among the guests, as well as a much safer Country-Western band, the Bama Band, who were twice nominated for the Academy of Country Music’s Band of the Year Award and were for 20-plus years the touring band for superstar Hank Williams, Jr., that fired up their music in the sunset hours.

But it was the tour of the KAC main plant that really drew the crowds. On the plant floor were Mazak machining centers – quarter-million dollar chunks of computer-controlled precision. And there were rows of the big machines stretching out across the plant floor. Each machining center is capable of turning out identical parts for as long as needed, and then they can be reprogrammed to produce other components with a minimum of fuss, given skilled staff. And Knight’s Armament has 300 personnel making up that skilled staff manning the 400,000 square feet of floor space.

To help the production machines make their parts at KAC is a new Fanuc robotic arm. The bright yellow arm was twisting and turning through a complicated measuring protocol, dancing the same moves over and over for the on-looking crowd.

On the production floor, rack after rack was filled with parts in various stages of manufacture. The area was quiet for the open house, but the bins and racks of parts stood in mute testimony of the demand for Knight’s components and assemblies to aid the United States and the Global War on Terrorism.

There is something to be said for the success of a design when you see hundreds and hundreds of parts to make up the Knight Rail Adapter Systems (RAS) that are seen on many of the weapons serving in the hands of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The basic idea for the RAS came to Reed Knight when he watched footage of our troops in Grenada back in 1983. A long-time competitive shooter, Reed saw the guns in the hands of our troops with flashlights duct-taped to the forearms. Knowing that there had to be a better way to secure the illumination and aiming devices desired and needed by the troops, Knight and his engineers came up with the rail system, now used in every branch of the service.

Other components for successful Knight designs filled the bins on the floors and tables, but it was the second floor that held the crown-jewels of the tour. The Knight firearms library holds an extensive collection of weapons for study, many of them museum-class specimens in their own right. Taken as a whole, the library of firearms can easily compete with a number of large weapons museums around the world. Only these weapons are for study to help develop new designs to keep American arms technology in the lead for many of the world’s militaries. The Knight Working Reference Collection is incredible to experience.

The large number of guests at the open house had to be broken up into smaller groups to go through the plant and finally visit the collection. Since a number of unauthorized photographs of part of the collection have been posted on the Internet, cameras are strictly forbidden for the visitors to the collection. For the readers of SAR, Reed Knight graciously allowed this writer to bring a camera into parts of the collection to illustrate this article.

In the hallway leading up to the main room housing the bulk of the library, glass walls show the interiors of two side rooms housing two very special collections.

With justifiable pride, Reed Knight stood in front of the E. M. Stoner Memorial Gallery. Not just any firearms were contained in the gallery, it was a tribute to the firearms genius and hard work of Eugene Stoner, a designer and engineer well known to any who study the art of modern weapons. On the walls of the gallery were unique specimens of Stoner’s designs, most of them one-of-a-kind prototypes.

Opposite of the Stoner gallery was another room holding the examples of the products and weapons made by Reed Knight and his people over the years. A centerpiece of the KAC Shot Show booth was 6x35mm KAC Personal Defense Weapon. On the walls of the gallery were specimens of that weapon along with a number of others. When Reed was asked which of the pieces was his favorite, he reached over and pulled down a Mk 11 rifle, a particularly beat up and badly damaged piece.

The reason for Reed’s pride in that particular rifle? It had taken its damage in combat, serving in the very capable hands of a Navy SEAL.

SAR would like to thank Reed Knight and his son Trey, as well as their staff, for the wonderful opportunities they have afforded the small arms community in the past years, and to salute their commitment to the pursuit of knowledge and future development in small arms. The Knights have helped countless designers, writers and researchers over the years, and the readers of many firearms magazines, especially Small Arms Review, have benefited from this commitment to academic research. During the event at Knight’s, over 1,400 people experienced the hospitality and received a good old fashioned Barbecue in addition to their test firing demonstrations and tour of the plant and the Knight Collection. Those who toured the Collection were treated to explanations and anecdotes from Reed, Trey, George Kontis, Col. David Lutz and other employees of Knight’s, and SAR’s Dan Shea was also drafted/volunteered to serve as a guide for several tours as well. It was clear that everyone involved was proud, and indeed humbled, to help the attendees experience the amazing depth and focus of the Knight Collection. Again, SAR would like to thank the Knight’s for their generosity in sharing the history and knowledge they maintain in their Collection, and indeed, for keeping the torch alive in an age when political correctness has threatened our national security by chiseling away at our martial knowledge.