Took the leap today and purchased my 1st 556 AR, a Rebel Arms Lightning Mod II. Hard case was included.
http://rebelarms.com/index.php/weapons/lightning-mod-ii.html
Prior to purchase, did a lot of reading/searching on this forum and visited a number of gun shops here in NJ. Lou’s Gun Shop in Raritan, NJ, were very helpful and knowledgeable. Had them put a pair of MGUS Pros on it. Searching for optics now.
Thanks for prior posts, opinions, and history, it was very helpful.
Never heard of those. Congrats!
You found info on them here? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them mentioned.
I live 5 minutes from Lou’s…good guys. Congrats on the new rifle! Get that thing out to Range 14 to shoot. Best spot to shoot in NJ if you don’t have private property.
Thanks for the tip.
Sounds like Lou’s is GTG.
:o
OP, let us know how it shoots will ya? I grew up in eastburg, so I’ve been thinking about picking one of those up for a while but havent since there is no real word yet on how tough they are.
I did some work on one of their rifles a few weeks ago. The barrel came loose on it after about 200 rounds.
I did not like the quality of any of the parts except for the barrel. There were a lot of Yankee Hill parts on it. The way the rail locked up and the quality of the components like the barrel nut were little to be desired.
The guy who brought me the rifle for repair now owns a BCM KMR ELW. 
I contacted Rebel Arms concerning the above. Below is their response:
Infadel (Edited),
No, we do not use Yankee Hill parts. We are not affiliated with Yankee Hill in anyway.
Unfortunately some gunshop / gunshow vendors have taken stripped lowers and built rifles out of them. That is most likely the case with this professed gunsmith. We don’t condone this practice and when it happens we follow up directly with the shop/FFL doing that as it actually becomes a legal issue if they are manufacturing a rifle from our lowers on their own.
Considering we have a lifetime warranty we should of recieved that rifle that fell apart after 200 rounds and fixed for free. The offer still stands to whomever had this issue: send us the serial and if it was a real rifle made by us we will rebuild or replace the entire rifle.
Only rifle I’m aware of that had a similar story was few months back and ended up being a stripped lower we sold at least a year or two earlier from date of problem. After researching it we found the record of sale and proof it was sold as a lower. What happened after was as I mentioned before: a shop using sub-par parts and passing it off as a rifle we made.
If you could link me to the thread we can address this issue directly.
We also gladly check serials to confirm they were sold as complete rifles or not.
You can copy/paste my reply to the thread too if you would like: or mention this person with issue can contact me directly and I’ll check his serial number for him.
In cases where a gunshop is passing a shop build as a Rebel Arms Corp product we can work with the customer when they contact the shop to get things worked out.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Matt LaFrance
Rebel Arms Corp.
Operations Manager
Sales: (855)-732-3527 ext:104
Fax (855)-732-3515
Email:Matt@rebelarms.com
www.rebelarms.com
http://rebelarms.com/index.php/weapons/lightning-mod-i.html
This was the rifle and it was purchased complete from Rebel.
The handguard was sub par and the gas block was YHM and it was a clamp on.
I’m not knocking Rebel or their customer service in any way but I can think of 5 different rifles that would be much better quality at about $200.00 less.
I would’ve loved to see pics
Me too … The ones I’ve seen (Mod1 not the Mod2) all used proprietary barrel nuts and gas blocks that were set screw and not YHM
The barrel nut had NO anti seize on it at all and the gas block was this one… http://www.midwayusa.com/product/462151/yankee-hill-machine-gas-block-low-profile-clamp-on-ar-15-lr-308-standard-barrel-0750-inside-diameter-steel-matte
It had a lightweight profile barrel with a pinned PWS FC556.
Sure sounds like an aftermarket build … I have only seen them with their Rebel Yell comp and now Griffin ones.
And while antiseize is nice, its certainly not necessary
Curiosity … How did you fix the loose barrel - seeing as how their original handguard needed a special tool for install
(Full disclosure, I shot for them last season and have since parted ways)
I had to fab up a wrench and I used locktite to keep it from happening again. I was told to get it in working order so he could sell it. It was purchased as a complete rifle and the customer still uses the lower for now with a new spring and H buffer.
I am aware that antiseize is not necessary but a completely dry barrel nut isn’t the best either…
What did you do to fab the wrench? I’ve broken their tool they had removing one of ours when switching to a new setup
I bent some aluminum in a vise and tightened it down as much as I could by hand and then I used a punch to make sure that it was tight. From what I can remember about the barrel nut was that it just has two slots at either end in the front. I also noticed a ding on the nut when I removed the handguard consistent with the wrench slipping off as it was being tightened.
I’m trying to picture this as the nut not only threads over the receiver threads but also into the handguard nut at the same time. Nothing touches the outer piece that secures the handguard so that ding wasn’t from the tool slipping
Larger piece threads into threads of upper then smaller piece threads into that with a keyway to tighten and align everything before installing the hand guard. Kind of similar to a KAC URX hand guard. The keyway slots were boogered.
Without their tool or making one the only way I can see installing or removing their mount would be punches that would certainly booger the inner nut