Over the last 15 or so years, the sniper rifle in both concept and rifle has changed.It was not until the Vietnam War where a semiautomatic sniper rifle based on the M14 rifle was introduced. However, it did not perform as well as the bolt action counterpart and required a full time gunsmith to keep it working. So the semiautomatic rifle was in limited use with the standard still being the bolt action sniper rifle.

However, in the late 1950s a rifle was designed by Eugene M. Stoner at ArmaLite, Inc. called the AR-10. ArmaLite was a division of Fairchild Engine and Aircraft located in Hollywood, California. This revolutionary rifle was truly “Tomorrow’s Rifle Today,” that was more true than anyone knew back then. Although it never had a chance to compete head-on with the M14 for the next U.S. infantry rifle due to Army politics, as well as the deep rooted thought of a rifle having to be made from steel and wood, the AR-10 did get noticed. During its limited testing it was known to be the most accurate auto loading rifle made as said by the testers from Ordnance Corps. Limited numbers of AR-10 rifles were manufactured in the Netherlands by Artillerie-Inrichtingen. They were manufactured for Dutch Army trials as well as sold in limited numbers to some other countries including, Sudan, Cuba, Italy, Guatemala and Portugal. As predicted, the M14 was adopted and the AR-10 was tossed in the Ordnance Corps scrap heap. The requirement came down to scale the AR-10 down to a .22 caliber and the AR-15 was born. The rights were sold for the AR-15 as well as the AR-10 to Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company. Colt went on to produce the AR-15 but ignored the AR-10 design. That was left for other companies to capitalize on. To trace the AR-10 lineage to today’s most advanced sniper rifle we must skip ahead nearly 30 or so years ahead to 1991.

In November of 1991, a Mission Needs Statement was drafted for an Enhanced Sniper Support Team Weapon (SSTW). This was written by Lt. Col. David Lutz while serving as the Program Manager for Infantry Weapons at MARCORSYSCOM at Quantico, VA. This documentation was an effort to restart a cancelled Designated Marksman Weapon program (DMR) based on the M14 which could not be made to do all the things needed in a logistically supportable package acceptable to the Fleet Marine Forces. Its requirement document was weak because it totally lacked objectivity in doing a mission analysis or seeking other viable solutions. At the time, the current SSTW was the M16A2 rifle. This weapon supported the M40A1 sniper rifle in the two man scout sniper team. The M16A2 SSTW was used to engage close-up targets and provide rapid fire suppressive fire if needed. Some noted deficiencies were the M16A2’s poor interface with the soldier when having optics mounted, including night vision. The current issue M855 ball ammunition did not meet the accuracy specifications of a SSTW.

The enhanced SSTW would fill the role of a 0 to 600 meter intermediate range sniper rifle. It would have ammunition interchangeability with the M40A1 7.62x51mm sniper rifle and it would have the ability to mount a sound suppressor. Optics would be mounted in-line with the shooter’s eyes for a comfortable mount. This rifle will also have to overcome current problems with the unit, direct, general, and depot support problems (availability and maintainability) long associated with the hand-built and Marine Corps customized M40A1.

Lt. Col. Lutz recalls that he knew of (5 each) Dutch NATO AR-10s that were in a bunker at Picatinny Arsenal from when he was stationed there during 1980-83. So he had one of his successors, USMC Liaison Officer Maj. Dody Knootz, pick out one that shot the best and “temporary loan” it to them at Quantico. Several modifications were made with the most significant being the carrying handle cut off and a weaver rail attached to the upper receiver. The AR-10 had some of the improved M16A2 components added to it including the pistol grip and handguards. All this was to make it look like and use A2 service rifle parts and training. Additionally, they removed the AR-10’s faux muzzle, which incorporated a grenade launching spigot, exposed its skinny barrel and threaded muzzle. Lutz recalls sending the upper to Phil Seberger to have a suppressor made & fitted to it.

As recalled by Lutz, as a concept demonstrator it was a success. “When my general came out to fire it he brought with him his Australian Army Liaison Officer, a full colonel. My general was reluctant to fire the weapon as I presented it to him, and handed if off to the Australian Colonel. Offhand, the Colonel hit a steel gong at 100 yards with 20 of 20 shots (suppressed). When he handed the rifle back to my general, he said “General, this is the finest rifle I have ever fired.” When the General handed the rifle back to me, he said “Dave, you have a program.” I guess the rest is history…” Though the concept was sound, the Marines or big army were not ready for a semiautomatic sniper rifle, at least not yet. So the AR-10 lay dormant once again until the early 1990s. Even though the original DMR program failed, the STSW maintained life in the requirement and allowed Rifle Team Equipment builders at Quantico to produce more prototype M14 based variants as “interim measures.” This eventually took on a “life of its own,” and an M14 based program eventually found traction as the M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle (EMR). However, the M39 is one of the weapons being replaced by the Marines recent purchase of M110s. The M110 was inherently able to meet the STSW requirement for mounting of Night Vision without lose of zero, sound suppressor integration, M16 ordnance maintenance and training commonality, supply system commonality and cross-service weapon commonality.

The name Eugene Stoner, although not as well known as Browning, is just as significant in the history of the gun. Stoner’s design is the longest service rifle in U.S. military history. During Stoner’s ArmaLite days his goal was to develop 7.62x51mm weapons. He was very fond of his direct gas system. After the M14 was selected, the future was only in the smaller caliber round so Stoner went on to develop other rifles to fire the 5.56mm cartridge including the AR-18 and the Stoner weapon series. He never quite forgot his AR-10. In the early 1990s, Stoner went to work with C. Reed Knight, Jr., the president of Knight’s Armament Company. The union spawned the rebirth of the AR-10. This would be the SR-25 (Stoner Rifle-25 (15+10)). This rifle would be an AR-10 but would take on the advancements of the M16A2 rifle and maintain 60% parts compatibility.

Released in the early 1990s, the SR-25 Match Rifle was equipped with a 24-inch Remington 5R match grade barrel – the same barrel blanks used on the M24 sniper rifle. The heavy barrel was free floating with a fiberglass handguard. The rifle was equipped with a flat top upper receiver with the Mil-Std 1913 rail and the receivers were made from aluminum extrusions. The rifle was equipped with a 2-stage match grade trigger. The bolt carrier group kept with the original AR-10 in that it was chrome plated and it also sported the captive firing pin retainer pin. These were not mass produced rifles. The uppers and lowers were mated together and had matching serial numbers to identify them. They were specifically designed around the 168gr OTM Match cartridge. Using this factory load, the ogive of the bullet set right on the rifling. This is something match shooters want to accomplish due to not wanting the bullet to “jump” into the rifling thus maintaining control of the projectile right from the moment of chambering. The original rifles used the standard “waffle” pattern 20-round magazine and later a steel magazine that looked more like an M16 20-round magazine in appearance. The SR-25 was sold initially through commercial channels that funded R&D. Every SR-25 was test fired at the factory and provided with a target. Knight guaranteed that this rifle would fire 1 MOA or under with factory ammunition. Gene Stoner would work with Knight up until his death in 1997.

The SR-25 quickly gained its reputation for precision accuracy and reliability and its versatility and benefits were appreciated right away by the special operation forces. SOCOM liked the idea of having a semiautomatic rifle that held 20 rounds of ammunition and rivaled the M24 and M40A1 bolt action rifles. They also liked that you could engage multiple targets in less than half the time they could with a manual bolt action rifle.

After more than 40 years, the AR-10 would have its day. In May of 2000, the U.S. Navy and SOCOM adopted the SR-25 as their new Mk 11 Mod 0. This would be follow by another contract in 2007 for 9.9 million dollars with the need from the Global War On Terrorism. The Mk11 had some departures from the original design. Designed to meet the SOCCOM requirement, the rifle was designed to fire the M118 and M118LR match grade 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition. The Remington barrel was replaced with an Obermeyer barrel and 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 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. The Mk11 would see action with U.S. Special Operations troops all over the world. The weight of the complete Mk11 Mod 0 with the Leupold 3.5×10 scope & SIMRAD adapter, bipod adapter with LM type S Bipod is 13.7 pounds.

Enter the M110 SASS (Semi Automatic Sniper System)

The success of the Mk11 was undeniable and spread to the other branches of the military – the sniper units in particular. Seeing the benefits in September of 2005, Knight’s won the contract for the M110 SASS rifle. The M110 was to replace the M24 bolt action sniper rifles in the U.S. Army. The M110 trials had many submissions including ArmaLite, Remington and DPMS Panther Arms. It would not be until April of 2008 that the M110 would see its first combat action with U.S. Army snipers from Task Force Fury in Afghanistan. During the early M110 period, the Marines purchased 180 XM110 variants they designated Mk11 Mod 1 and then in 2010 ordered 803 M110 rifles.

The M110 has many similarities to the Mk11 Mod 0, however with many enhancements. . The stock on the M110 is adjustable for length with a dial on the rear allowing for the length to be increased or decreased as desired. The stock has one moveable sling swivel mount on the bottom rear plus two QD mounts on the front of the stock on each side. The receiver is manufactured from an aluminum forging and incorporates fully ambidextrous selector lever, bolt catch and magazine release. A button right above the magazine catch on the right side of the receiver is the ambi-bolt release. This allows the right handed shooter to release the bolt without his hand ever leaving the pistol grip. On the left side of the receiver under the bolt catch is a button to release the magazine for a left handed shooter. The trigger is Knight’s 2-stage match trigger, which is exceptional for a sniper rifle.

The upper receiver utilizes the new URX (Upper Receiver Extending) free floating rail with an integral folding front sight. This saves space and makes for a dependable back-up sight. The bottom of the handguard is removable for cleaning. Quad Mil-Std 1913 rails allow attachment of any accessory imaginable. The top rail is continuous for adding thermal, night vision and scopes. The handguard comes with three KAC rail protectors that allow the rifle to be shot in a normal shooting position. It is also equipped with a Harris Type S bipod. The 20 inch Obermeyer heavy barrel has 5R grooves with a 1 turn in 11 inch twist that optimizes the 168 and 175gr match bullets of the M118 and M118LR ammunition. The M110 barrel has an A2-style compensator attached to the end. The pinned-on gas block has a Mil-Std 1913 rail on top of it. The M110 is a self-regulated direct gas operated rifle. The upper receiver is manufactured from a forging and now has an integrated fired cartridge case deflector. Early rifles, due to the upper being made from an extrusion, had the fired cartridge case deflector attached to the rail as a separate piece.

The bolt carrier group follows in the tradition of the original AR-10 in that it is chrome plated making for ease of cleaning. The bolt carrier has a captive firing pin retainer pin that prevents it from being lost during cleaning. The bolt utilizes a 1-piece gas ring that is much more durable than the standard 3-ring set. The extractor and, in particular the spring, have been enhanced since the inception of the rifle.

The M110 is packed with four 20-round and four 10-round magazines and pouches. The M110 can also use the Magpul LMag as well.

The optic used is the Leupold 3.5×10 Illuminated Reticle SASS scope with .5 MOA elevation clicks and 30mm SASS mount manufactured by Knight’s. The shooter can adjust the brightness of the reticle to suit the lighting conditions he faces. The scope is provided with lens covers.

The SASS also is equipped with a Knight’s Armament Company sound suppressor. The suppressor interfaces with two vertical slots cut on both sides of the gas block. There is an alignment pin on the underside of the gas block that prevents improper installation. The suppressor has a decibel reduction of -28dB.

Additional accessories include an operator’s repair parts kit that includes scope ring cap screws, bolt rings, extractor assembly, spring, pin and buffer, cam pin and firing pin. Am optics cleaning kit is provided and a torque wrench for the scope mounts. A complete cleaning system is provided as well. This includes an Otis DMR/M14 7.62 cleaning kit, Dewey rod and bore guide, multiple brushes, rod ends, pipe cleaners and swabs. Cleaning patches a bore snake and CLP is provided as well. A sling is provided as well. All this is provided in a large Hardigg box that is hermetically sealed with a pressure release valve.

The ammunition used in this test and evaluation firing was the M110 Silver State Armory (SSA) M118LR ammunition. There were 200 rounds fired with the barrel being cleaned every 10 rounds. The range was 100 meters and the rifle shot consistently sub-MOA. The best group was 5 rounds in a 1/2 inch group. The average was 3/4 inches. This is accuracy of a match bolt action rifle. Silver State Armory ammunition is match grade and they manufacture their own brass cartridge cases and blend their own powders to the particular load. Additional rounds of the 168gr OTM ammunition were fired with the same results as the M118LR.

It this shooter’s opinion there is no bolt action rifle out there that can beat the M110 on accuracy, speed and firepower. A sniper with a M110 can easily engage the same number of targets in less than half the time a well trained sniper can with a bolt action rifle. The suppressor makes it that much better: less noise, less invitation to reveal your position and no affect on accuracy. As expected, no malfunctions of any sort were encountered with the M110.

The M110 has a weight of 12.82 pounds equipped with iron sights, bipod adapter and scope. With M118LR ammunition the muzzle velocity is 2,571 feet per second. The overall length of the M110 is 40.5 inches with the stock at its shortest setting. The sound suppressor only adds 1.62 pounds to the rifle. The maximum effective range is 875 yards and is subjective to the skill of the shooter.

It is most unfortunate Gene Stoner did not live to see his AR-10 finally get into the U.S. inventory and equip the most elite snipers this world has ever known. He was way ahead of everyone in the late 1950s; they just did not have the vision to see it. Gene Stoner’s legacy has been the defense of this country and allies for nearly 50 years and being one of the most brilliant weapons designers of all time. Thanks to Reed Knight, Stoners vision was realized, produced and reintroduced to the U.S. military. Combining the genius of Gene Stoner with Knight’s technical and manufacturing abilities of KAC, the AR-10 will be with us for another 50 years.

Header photo, Left to right: UNS-SR is a night vision unit that utilizes 1 AA battery with a life exceeding 24 hours, mounts in front of almost any day optic that the rails will line up, and has recognition of a man-sized target out to 250+ meters in starlight. UNS is a night vision unit that utilizes 2 AA batteries with life expectancy exceeding 48 hours, mounts in front of almost any day optic that the rails will line up, and has recognition of a man-sized target out to 500+ meters in starlight. UNS-LRLP is a night vision unit that utilizes 2 AA batteries with life expectancy exceeding 48 hours, mounts in front of almost any day optic that the rails will line up, and has recognition of a man-sized target out to 800+ meters in starlight. UNS TLR is a Thermal vision unit that utilizes two DL123 batteries with life expectancy exceeding 5.5 hours, mounts in front of almost any day optic that the rails will line up, and has recognition of a man-sized target out to 800 meters, and UNS T is a Thermal vision unit that utilizes two DL123 batteries with life expectancy exceeding 5.5 hours, mounts in front of almost any day optic that the rails will line up, and has recognition of a man-sized target out to 1,000 meters. In front is FIST. This is the “Blended Technology” model that allows the operator to add in-line night vision and thermal capability with one unit that mounts in front of the day scope. FIST uses two DL123 batteries with a full “On” life expectancy of six hours. The thermals can detect a man-sized target at 1,000 meters, and the night vision capability extends beyond 800 meters for a man-sized target in starlight.

C. Reed Knight, Jr. is a name that is very familiar to readers of SAR. Reed has been at the forefront of special weapons technologies for decades, working with the likes of Gene Stoner and many other modern designers on programs from the Knight suppressors to the rail forends used by much of the U.S. Military today, as well as the MK11 Mod O and M110 SASS rifles.

Never one to sit back on his laurels, Reed put his engineering team onto a problem that he saw over his 25-plus years dealing with government needs. Knight’s Armament has been involved in the development of night vision opto-electronics since 1991, when they were the test facility for SOTF. They evolved their participation into JSOC, and other groups within the U.S. government. It didn’t take too long before Reed and his engineering team decided that they had the necessary skills, facility, and equipment to solve the problems they were seeing.

The first problem was the night vision equipment was divided into two main categories: standalone vision aids, and dedicated opto-electronic weapon scopes. The two were not interchangeable, and Knight’s was the first group to create the in-line night vision system. This allowed the operator to install his night vision device in front of the standard day optic for night use, and with Knight’s design, it kept the point of aim within .5 MOA. There is a shift that occurs when putting a night vision opto-electronic device in front of a straight optical one, and Knight’s successfully adapted to this. A second problem was that most manufacturers of opto-electronic gear were specialists in their field, and had little experience with firearms and the shock/ mount problems and recoil effect. Knight’s was uniquely qualified to address these issues due to the decades of firearms experience and engineering in the facility.

The latest optics solution that has entered the combat theatre is the new Thermal Weapon Sights (TWS) and their presence has added a third component to the soldier’s kit. Now the soldier would have a day sight, a night sight, and a thermal sight. With Knight’s first engineering solutions, the operator can use his day sight, and when needed simply attach his night vision device in front of it on the rail and there will be virtually no point of impact shift.

Knight’s second solution was to work towards “blended technologies,” meaning some of the opto-electronics offered from Knight’s are a night vision device combined with a thermal weapon sight, and the operator can select his choice of operation on the one blended unit while it is mounted in front of his day optic. The operator can choose day sight only, night vision, and night vision enhanced with thermal using “white as hot,” or using “black as hot.”

Knight’s has also pioneered the removal of film that was being sandwiched into the lenses, and these innovations are allowing the removal of the “Halo” effect that blurs up the detail. For more information, please contact the manufacturer:

Knights Armament Company
701 Columbia Blvd,
Titusville, FL 32780 USA
Tel: (321) 407-9900
www.knightarmco.com

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 Jim Schatz

Each year, as the air turns cool in the Washington, DC metro area and the trees that line the banks of the Potomac River begin to turn to color, the Army rallies for the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition held in 2007 from October 8-10 at the Washington Convention Center. This year’s event was larger than any before it and is, as always, an excellent opportunity to see the latest military equipment on display from around the world; not to mention the small arms – the real focus of this report

Protestors

As one arrived at the site of the show, the AUSA banners flew high and proudly from the tall buildings in downtown DC. The day was clear and sunny, a perfect day for such an event and folks were in high spirits as they made their way to the convention center by taxi, the Metro and on foot. However, this feeling of slight elation was dampened by the chanting and insulting signs of anti-war/anti-America protestors roaming outside of the center and harassing the visitors and denigrating the soldiers and contractors entering the facility. Waving their “blood” stained hands in the faces of the attendees and harassing our brave men and women warriors making their way inside, one could not help but wonder if they realize that their very right to protest, to spout their anti-freedom rantings, has and was paid for with the blood of so many courageous military men and women who have sacrificed so unselfishly and so dearly for our freedoms. To their great credit, the proud and disciplined soldiers in uniform were seemingly not enraged by the actions and mindless rantings of the protestors.

Quietly and Professionally

The mood inside the building was positive, electric in a way and yet reserved. The “surge” in Iraq is clearly working. Civilian and U.S. military deaths are down and insurgent deaths are up. The Army has once again, as it has always done quietly and professionally, performed at its very best for America and for the Iraqi citizens who maybe do not yet realize fully what freedom, independence and a true self governing country is.

The Army gathers each year at the annual AUSA Meeting to celebrate its successes, recognize its heroes and in many quiet ways morn its irreplaceable loses. In 2007, there was much work to be done in all these areas.

The big news on the show floor, besides the hum about troop withdrawals and the success of the surge and the meeting and greeting of old friends and comrades in arms, was the then very recent announcement of the sizable contract awards for new armored vehicles called MRAP. The MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protection) translates to highly mobile but equally protected wheeled vehicles to provide improved protection against IEDs and RPGs. More than 6,400 RG31 MK5 MRAPs have been ordered thus far for the Army alone from just one of numerous vendor teams, BAE Systems through its partnership with General Dynamics Land Systems, while another 600 MK5Es, an extended version of the RG31, have been ordered on a separate $135 million dollar contract for the U.S. Marine Corps. These are huge contracts with the biggest defense contractors in the world. The show floor was awash with armored vehicles of all shapes, sizes and even colors (yes, there was one in British SAS desert “pink” as well). The MRAPs have proven highly effective in countering modern ballistics threats with U.S. and coalition forces. They have and will continue to save lives on the battlefields wherever they are deployed. Most countries involved in OEF/OIF are buying into them at the moment.

AAI
(www.aaicorp.com)

The U.S. Army’s LSAT (Lightweight Small Arms Technology) demonstrator program continues with further success with both its Cased Telescoped (CT) and Caseless Telescoped (CL) ammunition types. AAI reps reported that to date 6,000 rounds of CT ammunition have been fired in the LSAT LMG prototype 001 with prototype 002 testing to begin shortly. Various successful live-fire demonstrations had been conducted for U.S. Army officials at Fort Benning and elsewhere. The caseless ammunition firing weapon is further behind and is challenging the designers to solve the tough-nut chamber sealing issue that haunts all auto-loading caseless ammunition firing small arms. Reportedly, the firing mechanism is in final development with a two-part expanding chamber design similar to that of the ill-fated H&K G11 Rifle.

Thus far, 100 rounds of the rectangular DNAG G11-style ammunition, the basis for the LSAT caseless ammunition, have been fired on test fixtures only. The first cylindrical LSAT caseless ammunition was expected to be completed by end of CY07.

While still clearly in the early R&D stages of development, the LSAT program offers scalable technology that can be applied to other types of small arms such as 7.62mm rifles and machine guns. LSAT offers 35-50% system (weapon, links, ammo) weight savings, but only if system durability and soldier ruggedness can be assured. Watch this program carefully. Put your money on the CT ammo.

Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc.
(www.barrettrifles.com)

The big news at the Barrett booth this year was their 240LW, an in-house development to reduce the overall weight of the U.S. M240 GPMG. The Barrett 240LW (LW for Light Weight) employs a fluted barrel and one-piece CNC machined steel receiver. Offering a weight reduction of 5.5 pounds, this brings the outstanding reliability of the otherwise heavy M240 machine gun into a more portable, maneuverable weight range of 21.5 pounds, and along the lines of lighter GPMGs like the M60 and HK21E, without the need to employ more exotic materials with questionable durability. While there is no official program for this Barrett-funded creation, one can only wonder, “Why not?” Barrett also announced at AUSA that the “BORS” (Barrett Optical Ranging System) is now available for commercial sale at $1,500 each with mount; $2,700 with the L&S MKIV telescopic sight.

Beretta Law Enforcement and Defense Group
(www.BerettaLE.com)

Beretta Firearms Company may be the longest running small arms exhibitor at the AUSA event, continuously supporting the U.S. Army Annual Meeting for more than 23 years. The newest product on display at the Beretta booth this year was the new Px4 Storm Subcompact Pistol. Available in calibers 9x19mm Luger and .40 S&W, the Px4 Subcompact, with 3-inch barrel, weighs only 26 ounces and holds an impressive number of cartridges (thirteen 9mm rounds or ten .40 S&W rounds) for such adiminutive pistol.

Colt Defense, LLC
(www.colt.com)

This year Colt came to the AUSA Show to impress the attendees with new and long awaited developments in the M4 family of weapons. This includes the open public display (and even disassembly) of thehighly secretive M5 Advanced Military Carbine with piston operated gas system, Colt’s new patented aluminum rail system offering 100% return to zero capability and redesigned front sight assembly. Other unique features include barrel heat sink and airflow grooves to help cool a hot barrel and reduce the occurrence of cook off. Colt claims the new op rod M4 has fired over 12,000 rounds without cleaning or stoppages. It is even fitted with proprietary drain system to allow for over-thebeach use wherein the operator can safely fire the weapon without the need to first fully drain water from the interior of the weapon.

In addition to the Colt LE1020 Law Enforcement Carbine with piston operated gas system, Colt representatives were also showing SLA models of various prototype folding stocks for use with the M4 and M5 Carbines to reduce the overall length of the weapon to compact PDW size. The Colt 5.56mm PDW, as it was being referred to, sports a 10.3-inch barrel, new buffer and spring built into the back of the bolt carrier, 3-position QD sling attachment points and LaserMax vertical foregrip with green aiming laser. Firing at 700-900 rounds per minute, the Colt 5.56mm PDW stands ready for the release of the long rumored requirement from the U.S. Army for a rifle-caliber Personal Defense Weapon. At the time of writing, little additional information was available on any such release by the U.S. Army for such a weapon. However, according to sources within PEO Soldier, this requirement is still being written by the user proponent.

FNH U.S.A, LLC
(www.fnhusa.com)

The big news at the FN booth was, of course, SCAR. If reports from both company representatives and from U.S. officials are correct, the SCAR Light and Heavy models and the 40mm EGLM grenade launcher could enter series production as early as March 2008. Reportedly production, fielding and logistical funds have been programmed for full SCAR (12-16 thousand units) and EGLM fielding within USSOCOM once the full production Milestone C decision is made. This is expected to come after the final Operational Test (OT) report is completed and reviewed. At the time of writing, the USSOCOM was finishing up the last of the OT phases with U.S. Army Rangers and Special Forces, U.S. Navy SEALs and U.S. Marine Corps MARSOC personnel. One interesting note was that the BOI (Basis of Issue), which was originally heavy on the SCAR-L (5.56x45mm NATO) side, has now been revamped and it shifted to the SCAR-H (7.62x51mm NATO) variants at the request of the user community. Maybe someone in the SOF world knows something we don’t? An 85% commonality of parts between the SCAR-L and SCAR-H certainly will help to reduce the logistical burden on the organization, especially when one considers just how many different weapons the SCAR family will eventually replace.

The SCAR-L was also involved in the congressionally mandated Extreme Sand/Dust Tests at Aberdeen in 2007 wherein it competed against its potential rivals in the U.S. DoD rifle market. This included the XM8, HK416 and Colt M4. Reportedly, the SCAR-L completed the test with good results but not before a change in the lubrication cycle was required to insure reliable function and test completion. The op rod SCAR-L did reportedly finish ahead of the direct gas operated M4 along with the other two operating rod carbines tested.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products
(www.gdatp.com)

(GD) announced that the .50 caliber XM312 is now a separate effort split from the Army’s Future Combat System program and has received some close attention from the U.S. Army and USSOCOM recently for potential replacement of the venerable M2HB heavy machine gun. The XM312 has been modified to accept the standard U.S. M9 disintegrating metal link belt common to the U.S. M2HB. Due to the light weight and reduced recoil of the XM312, it can be mounted and employed anywhere a 7.62x51mm M240 GPMG can be used. Under the current schedule, Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of the XM312 is anticipated to begin in 2010 with full production to begin in 2011.

GD representatives also stated that M2HB and MK19 production is “maxed out” at the moment with series production ramped up to meet U.S. and foreign friendly requirements. Approximately 1,800 to over 2,000 of each will have been procured during CY07.

NAMMO
(www.nammo.com)

If you want to witness ammunition and ordnance perfection and innovation, the NAMMO booth at AUSA is the one to visit. Makers of some of the finest high performance small arms ammunition in the world, to include the armor piercing M995 (5.56x45mm NATO) and M993 (7.62x51mm NATO) rounds, they also have an IR Tracer round now in final U.S. Navy qualification testing for use with passive night vision devices. Most notably the progress of the preprogrammed air bursting 40x53mm HV ammunition for the U.S. MK47 Striker ALGL (Advanced Lightweight Grenade Launder) is now in final type classification in the U.S. 90,000 rounds will have been delivered to the USSOCOM by December 2007 for combat evaluations by USSOCOM and other U.S. Army units.

Night Vision Systems
(www.nightvisionsystems.com)

NVS had on display the clip-on Knight’s Armament Company Universal Night Scope Thermal (UNST), or model M890. The maker claims this small 23-ounce device, mounted forward of a variety of optical and reflex sights, can provide human target detection up to 1,000 meters. The UNST can be quickly detached via the throw lever mount, fits on most any rifle or scope and can even be used in a hand held mode when detached.

ST Kinetics
(www.stengg.com)

Singapore based ST Kinetics had on display in their booth a series production sample of their new Air Bursting Modular System (ABMS) for any 40x53mm grenade machine guns. This bolt-on system can be added to the weapon in minutes by the operator and allows for the use of preprogrammed air bursting ammunition to attack targets hidden behind cover, in the defilade, using their quick attach Fire Control System. Using time-of-flight technology, the ABMS ammunition contains 300 tungsten balls within its warhead and costs approximately $350-400 each. Each round has a self-destruct feature and when programmed for air burst will detonate 2 meters above the target and at any location before or after a barrier as determined by the gunner. The ammunition programming “coil” attaches to the muzzle of the grenade launcher and therefore requires no permanent modification to the host weapon. The entire system costs $50,000 at this time. ST Kinetics is also currently working on a 40x46mm LV air burst system as well.

Part 2 of the 2007 AU.S.A Show Report appears in the next issue of SAR and covers current U.S. Army small arms programs and the results of the recent U.S. Army Extreme Carbine Sand/Dust Tests.

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.

This interview was conducted at the NDIA Small Arms Symposium at Ft. Benning, Georgia, with a follow-up in Vero Beach, Florida.

SAR: Reed, give me a background on yourself and tell me how you got into the business.

Reed: In the mid 70’s, I was competitively pistol shooting and had spent quite a bit of time with the Secret Service pistol camp. They’ve done a lot of training in Florida. I was shooting the revolver for police combat. I had spent a lot of time at Beltsville, and they spent a lot of time in Florida. I had met one of the Secret Service agents that had gone down to Little Creek, Virginia. While he was down there, he had found that they had some Stoner 63’s that were inoperable. He told the armorer there that he knew a guy that had parts for Stoners and that he could call me, and I could probably get his guns working. I went up to Little Creek somewhere in the mid 70’s and repaired a bunch of Stoner machine guns there on site. I had the parts and the knowledge. They had crossed some of the 63’s with the 63 A’s, but I got the guns up and running.

SAR: How did you become interested in Stoners, and find all the parts and weapons you have?

Reed: In the mid ‘70’s, I was at a gun show and a friend of mine gave me a barrel for what appeared to be some type of a machine gun with a carrying handle on it. It was in a canvas, asbestos-lined bag, and I had no idea what that barrel fit, or what it was. I started asking everybody I knew what it was to, and it was like a giant Easter egg hunt trying to figure out what the barrel went to. Finally, I found out the barrel was for a Stoner 63 automatic rifle, which was the one with the offset front sight. From there, I questioned what a Stoner was, and began researching everything I could find on the Stoner and the Stoner system. I became more and more involved in it and I bought a couple guns form different people. Roger Cox, of Law Enforcement Equipment Company, was pretty heavy into them. He had a Stoner 63, that I bought from him. I started chasing more leads down, finding a couple more Stoners, and some parts here and there. Then one day, I called Mr. Stoner down at his house and introduced myself. He had a business up at Fort Pierce, which was about 5 miles away from my shop. One day, he stopped by for lunch. We talked, and our friendship grew from then on.

SAR: What about items from Cadillac Gage?

Reed: In about 1981, Stoner had a warehouse up in his factory in Port Clinton, Ohio, which he wanted to clean out. I went up to look at it all, and we loaded up 3 semi-truck loads of stuff. It was 13 tons of Stoners, Stoner parts and tooling.

SAR: How did Mr. Stoner collect so much ?

Reed: All this stuff had been given or sold to him at the end of the project. They had spent so much money for so many things, chasing so many things, that they just gave it to him for his efforts.

SAR: When did you establish a working relationship with Mr. Stoner?

Reed: It was shortly thereafter. We did a lot of projects together. I did some consulting work for him on the 5mm Advanced Combat Rifle Project. We would go to shows together because of our close proximity. We would travel together, have lunches together, and discuss different projects together. We built a pistol together, the SR 25 we did one summer, and we had a lot of other projects as well.

Trey: He was very open with his information as a mentor. He appreciated the fact that someone was interested in his work. He was happy to share his knowledge.

Reed: Every day, when I would go home from work, I would get books out, and research the older guns. You amass a knowledge that helps you to find the rare guns that are out there. When the book The Black Rifle came out, there were pages and pages of guns in there that I didn’t know existed. Today, I own many of those same guns-not one like it, but that exact, same gun. I consider myself very lucky that I was able to be at the right place at the right time. I got all of Stoner’s personal guns, which were not a lot, but were very significant and meaningful due to the fact that he bothered to keep them. He had an H&K that was a very early ‘60’s .308. I have a picture of him shooting that same gun. From there, he introduced me to the Fairchild Corporation, and I was able to buy all of their guns which were the early protoypes of the ones that he did not own, or have in his name. I was able to accquire Stoner’s guns, Fairchild’s guns, Chuck Dorchester’s guns, the president of Armalite, the Armalite guns from Burt Jenks, as well as Sam Cumming’s guns and the Colt collection. The chance of one person being able to put all these collections together is phenomenal! It has taken me over 20 years to do this.

SAR: Did one thing lead to another?

Reed: On some things, one thing did lead to another, but on others, it was just pure luck! Absolutely being in the right place at the right time, and the right person, and dealing the right cards. I cannot imagine the luck of some of these occurrences, and the odds of finding them. I can show you some parts and pieces where I found half of the gun in California, and the other half in the Colt factory.

Trey: Mr. Stoner, himself, when he would walk in and see the collection, couldn’t believe it! He would see different stages of his life, from when he was in totally different sides of the ocean, all in one place. All of the evolutions, and all brought back together in one spot, has been quite a feat. A lot of people really don’t understand the magnitude of the project with the detail and energy that went in to it.

Reed: Let me give you another example. I found a belt-fed AR-10 at the Colt factory. Five years later, I found the bolt and carrier in a private collection in California. The owner knew it was an AR-10, but he didn’t know it was of a one of a kind prototype part. Five years before I got the gun out of Colt, I had gotten the charging handle and the bipod from a lady who’s husband had died, but who had bought it from Armalite. So five years before I got the gun, I got some parts for it, and five years after I bought the gun, I got the rest of the parts for it. It is finally all put back together. What is so phenomenal about all this, is acquiring parts that are one of a kind, and with only one gun built. I found a box of parts in 1974 that I bought. In 1986, Mr. Stoner transferred Stoner 63, serial number one to me. The lower trigger group was missing off the gun, it was just the receiver. I looked in the box of parts I had bought in 1974, and found the lower trigger group that matched up to gun number one. I determined this by examining photographs of serial number one, which had the same scratch as one of the lowers in my box of 200 to 300 parts. The chance of seeing that scratch and putting that back together, knowing that it fit that gun was one in a million.

SAR: How did you get started with the Military and silencers?

Reed: A month or two after I fixed the Stoners at Little Creek, the SEALs had a problem with what they called ‘vapor lock’. Basically, they were shooting the green tip Supervel subsonic ammo in the Smith and Wesson 39’s with a screw on Hushpuppy. This system had a slidelock and the high pressure cases would stick in the chamber. When they went to eject the cartridge case, the extractor would climb out over the cartridge case. The gun would have a malfunction because it couldn’t clear that cartridge case once the extractor ripped off the side of the rim. I did a lot of work with that and found it mostly to be an ammo issue. I built them a better system using the old 92 Beretta. It was not a military gun back in the late 70’s. I spent time doing that and improving the old Hushpuppy design, which was a Smith and Wesson product on the old 39’s and later the 59’s. The Beretta had a stronger, wider extractor which grabbed the cartridge case, even with that high pressure ammo, the Beretta would actually work better. So we built slide locks on the Berettas, and built thread-on suppressors.

In the late 70’s, a requirement came out of JSSAP for suppressors for the Air Force. We built a product and submitted a proposal and lost. Two companies got an award-one of them was Smith and Wesson, and the other one was Beretta. I didn’t get an award, so I funded the project with my own money. I called the project Snap On. It was an aluminum suppressor with wipes, and simplified the system. In the early 80’s, they were ready to test this program. The Air Force went out to buy parts for the Hushpuppy as the baseline. I just happened to be the only manufacturer for the Navy at that time making parts for the Hushpuppy. When I found that they were going to be doing these tests, I asked the testing committee if they would throw my gun and product into the test. I explained to them I had proposed my system earlier, but didn’t win the contract. The government had spent a quarter of a million dollars with each company to develop this product.

SAR: Had you been supplying the wipes?

Reed: I had been supplying the wipes to the Navy all during that time. The wipes were in a little can, prestacked in a little aluminum sleeve, with the sleeve rolled up. It looked like a roll of quarters, with 8 wipes in it, pre-X’ed. This assembly was put in the front of the original Hushpuppy, with a spring, “O” rings, and a little mechanism inside there. That was the original Smith and Wesson design that they copied from Walther, in Germany. My system used threads, it didn’t use springs, and was a much simpler system. When they got through with the tests and the trials from the Air Force at Eglin, my suppressors won out over the Smith and Wesson and the Beretta. In the mid’80’s, they bought 3800 of these systems from us. They sent us the barrels, and we put the barrel extensions on, and gave them back a barrel and a suppressor in a little plastic box. That was one of the first major contracts that we had on suppressors.

In 1982, which was prior to that, the Navy had gone out on the street, and Mickey Finn, Don Walsh, and myself had proposed silencers for the M16-A1, that the Navy had. It had a very strong endurance test. It had to fire 200 rounds in a very short period of time, and the suppressor had to live through that. Our suppressor was very large, very robust, and used double wall tubing. Our suppressor was the only one that lived through the endurance test. The others would melt down. Don Walsh’s suppressors made out of aluminum would only go about 110 to 115 rounds. It actually burst on the very first trial, so we won it by endurance. It was a fairly large contract in ’82 for us. It was about 1400-1500 Navy suppressors made out of stainless steel. These had a barrel collet on the back of it. You took the flash hider off the gun and threaded the silencer on the end of the barrel. You tightened this collet and it squeezed down on the barrel to make it sturdy. This also kept it in alignment and kept it from vibrating off. It was heavy, and big, but it was effective. It was about 30 – 32 DB’s, which is pretty good. It was an inch and 3/4 in diameter, and it was about 12 inches long. Part of it telescoped over the end of the barrel.

Trey: I think a side note to that is that at the time, he was involved in (orange) grove care. We had a small machine shop set up. I can remember that summer working on those Navy cans, with one other person and myself in this little shop.

SAR: Which is much different from your facility today, which is pretty large?

Reed: Exactly. We didn’t realize that once you won the contract, then you had to figure out how to get it built. All we were looking to do was win the test. We didn’t have enough sense to know that once you got it, and it was a tar baby thing, that you had to figure out how to build it. We subcontracted some of it out, and did the rest in the shop. A local guy did the blackening of the stainless steel, and we did the engraving. Everything was done in a little Mom and Pop shop. At the time, it was the largest silencer contract that the Navy had ever bought. When the Air Force bought the 3800 Snap On’s, it was closer to the largest silencer contract the entire government had ever bought. We had won the two big, major silencer contracts in the ‘80’s that came out, even though the premier silencer technology house was Mickey Finn, where Doug Olson had been working. They had the leading technology at the time. We won not by default, but being in the right place at the right time, and paying attention to the requirements. I think their product was better than ours, but I don’t think their product totally met the requirements. It’s like wanting a fast car or a station wagon-it depends on whether you’re going to haul something to the dump or whether you’re going to go do a race. That was the early years with suppressors, up to the mid ‘80’s.

SAR: What was the next suppressor that you worked on?

Reed: It was a suppressor for Colt, who did it for DEA. It was an integral 9mm in the late ‘80’s. In ’86 or ’87, we did a suppressor for Colt, like an MP5-SD, only it was Colt 9mm. We vented the barrel, and built an intricate suppressor under the hand guard of the 9mm Colt submachine gun. At that time, I was quite cozy with Colt. I had been doing some work, being a subcontractor for the ACR program, the Advanced Combat Rifle. I did the muzzle break for it. I had gotten in with all their engineers, which helped us when we built the suppressor for their 9mm for DEA. In the late ‘80’s, we developed a suppressor for revolvers, using telescoped ammunition. It was called the Revolver Rifle and was based on the Ruger Blackhawk .44 magnum handgun frame. This was novel, because it was a short gun, light weight, and could come apart to go into a small briefcase. The ammunition used an o-ring gas seal and forcing cone to obtain maximum suppression. We built some very effective suppressors with this system. That was the first time we could get 30 caliber suppressors to go down to 116 DB. It was large, light weight, and a very effective suppressor.

SAR: By that time, would you say you had full machine shop capabilities?

Reed: Yes, we moved into our new building in 1990 and installed our four CNC machines, which were originally purchased in 1986. Today we have about 15 CNC machines. We have grown to about 92 employees, and we do a lot of other things now.

(Author’s note: Reed left at this point in the interview to attend another meeting and Trey Knight and Doug Olson continued the interview.)

SAR: The building you’re in now, you have about 2 other businesses. Can you tell me about them?

Trey: Lawmen’s and Shooters Supplies, is a law enforcement distributor company, selling other peoples products in the state of Florida and the Southeastern United States. Knights Armament Company, is the military side of the house. Knight’s Manufacturing is a company that we set up more for commercial business when the SR-25 was introduced. That was our first time out of the closet, so to speak, with a product we could take to shows and talk about. Mr. Stoner was on board with us fully at that time, allowing us to do things that we would have never been able to do before then.

SAR: Doug, when did you come on board?

Doug: I started to work at Knight’s in January of ’92. I was hired specifically as program manager on the Offensive Handgun suppressor. And at that time, they had the subcontract to Colt on the Offensive Handgun, which was in competition with H&K.

SAR: So you began working with Colt on the suppressor, and this transitioned to H&K?

Doug: That’s correct. At the end of that contract, both the Colt and H&K guns went to the Navy for trials. The H&K gun was the clear winner. The Knight suppressor was the clear winner. The follow-on contract was marrying the two together.

SAR: What were the challenges with this suppressor?

Doug: There were a lot of challenges, and this was a major project! Up to 1992, the state of the art was about 19DB reduction with a plain, dry, suppressor. Not very much. The problem was with the straight-through baffles, which have a large hole and a small outside diameter. It was a major step forward to try and meet the Navy’s requirement of 30 DB reduction. That seemed an incredible task at the time. Everybody knew that this was going to be a very severe challenge

SAR: Did you have a lot of trial and error, then?

Doug: (Laughing) Much! I spent almost two years working full time on this, trying to solve all the problems. We went through a lot of optimization on the baffle. We had a can that we could put the parts in and out of, and we went through a lot of different baffle configurations. We made a matrix of all the possible combinations of components, built them up, and tested them trying to figure out what to do. Some of the things we came up with weren’t obvious. We built them in both directions from where we were, and we were very lucky and very successful.

SAR: Did the manufacturing present many problems?

Doug: We were set up primarily as a machine shop. It turned out that this baffle and the entire can involved an awful lot of fabrication, tooling, and tig welding. That’s how we were able to keep the weight down, and get the suppressor to function so well. The baffle actually turned out to be a follow on from work that I had done with Qual-A-Tec and AWC. We actually dropped that baffle in and we changed how many we used in the can. We changed the shape, but that was what got us to the final solution.

Trey: I don’t think anyone else could have produced that suppressor, even once they had the technology. The manufacturing was almost as much of a challenge as the design was.

SAR: Did you exceed the requirements in the end?

Doug: In the end, we were never able to get to 30 DB dry, but we ended up with 27 DB dry. If you add a little water, we were getting 39 DB, which was unheard of prior to that. On the manufacturing side, once we won the contract, then it was how were we going to produce these things. We bought a welding robot, and a wire EDM. This gave us the capability of getting the bore through the center of the suppressor uniformly, and in line with all the parts.

SAR: Does the EDM burn a hole through the suppressor?

Doug: Yes, you start with an undersized hole, and then the wire puts a bore through the center hole that’s in absolute alignment. That has turned out to be one of the keys to making this a successful suppressor. That’s where H&K was having all their problems building the Mickey Finn suppressor. By the time you weld all these baffles together, and weld them in the tube, how do you machine a hole through the center of it and keep it straight? We found out we had to completely weld the suppressor together to get it to line. A good suppressor gets hot very fast, and so the challenge is how to handle the heat. How do you keep the baffles from melting down? You have to get the heat to the outside of the suppressor, and radiate it out, while keeping the inside from collapsing when it’s red hot.

SAR: Did you have to use any special materials?

Doug: Not on the handgun. We went to a 321 stainless, which is one of the better high temperature stainless steels. This material was enough to handle the volume of fire anticipated.

SAR: Tell me about the H&K SD suppressor.

Doug: What we did with all the H&K suppressors was to take the baffle stack we developed for the .45 Colt, and scale it down to 9mm. We made an all welded can, trying to use as much of that technology on the H&K suppressors. We did both the screw on short cans as well as the SD cans, which utilized the same baffle stack as the .45, and that worked very well. We were able to keep the size down to a 1 and 3/8th inch tubing. What we did was take the Colt Offensive Handgun suppressor and adapt it to become the H&K SD suppressor.

SAR: Did you achieve some dramatic reductions in DB’S with these cans, as well?

Doug: They’re very quiet, but I wouldn’t say it’s as dramatic as the .45, because it’s always easier to make the 9mm quiet. It’s certainly very quiet, very rugged, and more durable. To me, there’s a lot more important things to suppressors than how quiet they are. Everybody dwells on how quiet they are, but to me, it’s how long do they last. Most rounds in the military are used up in training. They’ll go out, take two or three guns with them, and run ten people through the shooting houses, putting several thousand rounds through a suppressor in a day. It’s the durability and no maintenance issues that count in the military. You can’t be changing out wipes thirty-seven times during the course of a day. What Knight’s has done is bring suppressors into the ‘90’s, so that they’re really user friendly.

SAR: Tell me about your current M16 suppressors.

Doug: The M4-QD is what we call it. When I came to Knight’s, they were working on a suppressor for the M16 carbine. They were looking at shortening the barrel, machining baffles on the lathe, milling parts, and putting it all together. There was always a durability problem. We tried putting tungsten carbide inserts in there to take the initial blast, which worked well, until it got so hot that the tungsten carbide cracked. Once that cracked, the whole suppressor was useless. We ended up going to real high temperature alloys, and welded a tube within a tube, which was the key to being structurally sound, and getting through all the tests. It would take 210 rounds within three minutes, and be able to go back into the field with a full compliment of ammo.

SAR: What’s the most number of rounds that you’ve heard have been through one of these M16 suppressors?

Doug: I don’t know, but I have heard they are using it on the M249 Minimi quite successfully. The SOCOM is issuing the M4 in large, unprecedented numbers. They are planning on buying 8000 of these. They are getting to be used more and more. Part of this is that if you are planning to “own the night”, you don’t want to give your position away with flash. That’s why you need a suppressor like ours for the M16. I know that Crane has put over 5000 rounds through our suppressors in testing, and there’s almost no loss of DB reduction.

Trey: We have suppressors in house that have over 10,000 rounds through them, and we haven’t had a failure yet.

SAR: Are these being issued to all the Services?

Doug: I’m not sure exactly who’s getting them. They’re being issued throughout SOCOM units.

Trey: That brings up an interesting point. We’re up against the ideology that a suppressor is only a sniper’s tool, or an assassin’s tool. There are so many other benefits that a suppressor gives you—properly done, there’s an increase in accuracy, the shot time is decreased due to reduced recoil, as well as other benefits. When you have a supersonic round, you’re going to have a ballistic crack. It’s going to be known that someone’s firing, anyway.

Doug: I think one of the big keys of the supersonic is that if you’re down range, and I shoot past you with supersonic, my position is much more masked than if I shoot past you with subsonic. Subsonic rounds are very directional. If your object is to come back from a mission alive, I would rather shoot supersonic. If the object is that you have to get in and out undetected, then, of course, you have to shoot subsonic. You’re at more risk using subsonic, because if there’s somebody out there when you shoot, your location is more compromised. I think the users are getting more training in the use of suppressors and ammunition. The future will see more and more suppressors used, including in regular army units. They will be a part of “owning the night”.

SAR: Tell me about the SOPMOD system.

Doug: Really, this has been a number of contracts. Reed started with the idea of coming up with ways to mount things to the M16 rifle. When I went to work for Reed, one of the things that they were doing was building some test guns for the Marine Corps. I became involved with that and helped come with the first prototype that mounted in place of the handguard. The more we worked with it, the more of a systems approach we’d take.

Trey: The SOPMOD kit is adding performance to a known weapon.

Doug: It’s going to keep moving forward. The kit is going to change over time. That’s the whole idea. As new pieces appear, they’ll be added, and as pieces become obsolete, they’ll be taken out. The suppressor became part of that kit really because it could be abused and used through all the training, and still survive. It is becoming more of a standard issue piece of equipment.

SAR: Are there any other products which you see yourself working on in the future?

Doug: Yes, as we go into the future, I see more and more suppressors for big guns. We’re expecting a contract from Holland for a 25mm gun, which is a discarding sabot gun.

SAR: How do you deal with the sabots?

Doug: It’s going to be interesting. What’s driving this is that their test range is beside an environmentally sensitive area, with nesting birds. We hope to build a suppressor that will at least take the muzzle blast out of that. They look at DB, not just as a peak, but based on an average. It’s going to be a challenge because the sabot starts to open up immediately upon exiting the muzzle. The suppressor has to accommodate this, and we’ll take our best shot at it. I’d like to do work on the 155mm, as I think there is a need there. How many cannon cockers do you know that have all their hearing? People need to look at the environmental side of suppressors. In Europe, they are accepted because if you go hunting, you don’t want to disturb anyone, or hurt your own hearing. This feeling that suppressors are only assassin’s devices is going to change slowly.

SAR: Tell me about your work with the .50 caliber.

Doug: One of my first projects at Crane was the .50 caliber sniper rifle. Back then, Qual-A-Tec was one of our contractors. We built an aluminum tube .50 cal suppressor with all titanium baffles. We were able to do some real good work with that. We were able to shoot 16 inch groups at 1500 meters, with the suppressor. I see a potential need there, but so far there hasn’t been a large contract for these.

Trey: We are finally getting our .50 caliber rifles into production and start working on the suppressor in the near future.

(Author’s note, Reed rejoins the group at this time).

SAR: Tell me about the Military Armament Corporation auction.

Reed: There were about 15 people there. It was a bankruptcy auction for the entire factory and inventory. It was cash and carry or certified check only. One guy, Fred Rexler, who was a large Class 3 dealer at the time, put in a bid for everything to be sold for $250,000. The auctioneer rejected it, and the auction lasted for 3 days. The most significant thing I remember was them trying to sell guns, but there were no buyers. They had pallets of Mac 10 .45’s, with 100 guns on a pallet. There were 3000 to 4000 guns all together. The auctioneer asked how many people wanted to buy a pallet at a minimum bid of $650. I raised my hand and bought a pallet of 100 guns for $650. The guy next to me told me I was crazy because they wouldn’t be good for anything other than bookends, and I was just wasting my money. I thought to myself that I had just thrown away $650. I raised my hand again when another pallet came up, and bought it. After a while, with no one else buying them, I questioned myself, and what I was doing. I owned two machine guns the day I walked into the auction-an MG 42 and a Mac 10. I walked out of that auction owning 750 NFA weapons. I bought all I wanted, and there were plenty left. Everyone was telling me I would never get them transferred to me, and I would never get my money back. We didn’t know if the government was going to destroy the guns, or if they would transfer them to us. The ATF was struggling with a federal judge and a bankruptcy auction, and since these were assets, the judge wanted them sold. The ATF said maybe they’ll transfer, and maybe they won’t.

SAR: Were these completed guns?

Reed: Most of them were completed guns. All were in boxes and packaged for sale, with matching suppressors in other boxes and lots for sale. I bought some of everything. I had $50,000 in cashiers checks that I took to the auction, and I only spent $11,000. I could have spent a lot more money, but I looked at it, and I was very conservative. If I had been more knowledgeable, I would have done better. At that time, I didn’t know what to get and what not to get.

SAR: What does a Mac 10 sell for today?

Reed: Somewhere between $850 and $1000. I still have 200 to 300 of them left.

SAR: Were you a Class 3 dealer at that time?

Reed: Yes, with my 2 machine guns. I was just setting myself up. I had no real knowledge of what to get or what not to get. I went by myself to the auction, but met Pedro Bello who sat next to me. He cost me a million dollars, and I remind him of that every time I talk to him. He scared me off from making money.

SAR: Who else was at the auction?

Reed: Romalee Skinner was there, the people from Interarms, Ron Martin, and others whose names escape me at this time.

SAR: How did you hear about the auction?

Reed: It was in Shotgun News, and it was just a blitz to state there would be a bankruptcy auction. Nobody really went, though. It was just a fluke that I went. After that, every time someone had an auction, there were a million people there, because they thought it would be like the Military Armament auction.

SAR: I want to thank all three of you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with me and the readers of the Small Arms Review.