American Spirit Arms M4A3 carbine +++UPDATE+++

AR/M4 AR General Discussion
1

If you follow our blog you know that I bought my wife an ASA M4A3 carbine as her welcome home present a while back. Her recent deployment was in 2012/2013 and I thought I do something nice to her for when she comes home. She loves it and decided back then to leave it plain and functional, what means basically stock configuration.

But after shooting it for a while she wanted a foregrip with integrated bi-pod and with her request I got a new challenge. Biggest challenge is not the research; it’s the final selection of the part. And since we don’t follow the tacticool movement (functionality always trumps looks in our book!) we really want to stick with good brands and products that are preferably made in the USA.

Now, foregrips are a great option if you like the vertical grip rather than the horizontal. If it includes a bi-pod it’s even better, no matter if you are shooting prone or benchrest. But it all comes at a price as you will find out if you keep reading.

Before we could put a vertical foregrip on it we first needed to find a new handguard w/ quad rail that fits the bill. Quad rail because she also thinks about getting a flashlight mounted. Now, there’re plenty of aftermarket accessories and -manufacturers out there to choose from. So we looked over the must haves of the new handguard. It needed to be a quad rail style, 2-piece construction, sturdy and affordable.

We found it in Midwest Industries Gen2 two piece drop-in handguard (item# MCTAR-17G2). Advantages are that it is truly a drop in part and just a matter of seconds to install. Also, it’s made from 6061 aircraft aluminum, it is hard coat anodized, made in the USA and it has a lifetime warranty.

The only disadvantage is that it does not have heat shields. This is the (small) price you have to pay to get a light, sturdy and affordable drop-in handguard in a 2-piece construction.

As for the bi-pod foregrip, I opted for the MAKO vertical grip w/ bi-pod (item# MAKO-T-POD).Advantage of the MAKO grip is that it is sturdy. It is basically a full grown bi-pod with the ability to fold up and convert into a grip if you like. The bi-pod legs are made out of aluminum and have five independent height adjustments.

Downside of this attachment is size and weight. The grip itself weighs about 10oz. and measures almost 6.5” in height. Compared to a regular foregrip (~4oz. and under 5” in height) the bi-pod grip looks and feels like a giant. And you’ll feel the additional weight with every minute you carry/handle your weapon.

With putting on a quad rail handguard we also got a Daniel Defense rail mounted swivel attachment for the Vickers 2-point combat sling.

My wife is satisfied and like every minute she’s working the gun.

Bottom line: Before you buy you should do your homework. That helps you with determining what you really need (i.e. intended use, pro – con list, etc.) and makes sure that you will be satisfied after the purchase.

2

Do you work for some company or are you the owner (estradaarmory)? If so it should say so in your signature. ASA and Mako are not well though of here, dedicated threads exist for pics also. I doubt many will look at your blog and I’m not sure how I feel about pandering for blog hits here. A Mod could be along shortly.

3

Alright, changed the signature. I’m the owner Estrada Armory, LLC and this is my blog. I just want as many people as possible to see my blog that covers different subjects. But I also post them of our facebook site. For people that don’t like social media a blog is a good way to reach out to them.

I think the brands are secondary, otherwise it should be stated at the registration that certain brands aren’t allowed to be mentioned here. But that’s just my personal opinion.

4

I think your missing the point about brands. It’s about the quality behind the brand, not the name itself.

5

Well, perhaps I miss something. What’s your experience with ASA?

6

My post wasn’t directed at ASA directly but differences in brands and why folks here recommend some over others.
With regards to ASA, I’ve never had one but it doesn’t take longer than 5 sec on their site for me to pass. Looking at barrel specs specifically, 1/9 chromemoly (1/7 chromelined 11595E only being an option as opposed to the standard), no mention of whether or not barrels are HPT and MPI either. A2 tower… thereby not being F marked? Chamber 556 and 223. Is it somewhere in between as opposed to being true 556?
Will it go bang? Sure. Does it compare to known quality barrels? No.

7

Gotcha.

My barrel is marked 5.56mm and the front post is “F” marked as well. Current M4 production barrels are nitrated in 16" with 1:7 twist have a surface hardness of about 59 – 62 Rc.

Let me find out about HPT/MPI.

8

Ya i looked them up again, and the m4a3 appears to have a diff spec’d barrel. It also lists it as having a 556 chamber.
Still, for the price, there are known good and up to spec weapons for not much more and even less in many cases these days.
Like this for instance:
http://sionicsweaponsystems.com/store/product.php?id_product=103
All the right specs with tons of value-add for almost a couple hundred dollars less.

9

Where in Oklahoma are you?

10

ASA is located in AZ and I have personally been to their place. I won’t say much more than to add that I recently examined one of their SBR barrels that had a gas port size of .096 and the weapon wouldn’t run reliably at all.

11

Ft. Sill

That sucks. What is the correct size of the gas port? And when did this happen? I’m sure since then they did their homework…

12

.071 is the proper gas port for a 10.3" barrel.

13

Thank you sir.

That really sucks. Question is, did they fix it?

14

Being a quality engineer, my question would be, why did they have it wrong in the first place and what else are they doing wrong (or not to standard specs)?

15

Good question, wish I could answer that.

16

This is the norm in the AR realm… not the exception. I’ve got a Sabre 11.5 with an .090 or some ridiculous port. And Daniel Defense wantonly produces a Mk18 clone barrel with an assed out gas port.

Over gassed ARs produced by lunatics so that mouth breathers can run dog shit ammo is the root of the vast majority of AR problems.

17

Correct port size should be in the .071-.073 range. This was a recent barrel used by someone from an LE agency. I’m pretty sure they didn’t do their homework and there are plenty of others who also have oversized ports. I saw enough when I was there to make me steer away from them. YMMV

18

You generally do not fix a port that is oversized. And since it was also a 4140 CroMo barrel, 1/9, etc… it makes no sense.

19

Right. I read 0.69 sorry. But true, that’s disappointing.

20

You could run an adjustable gas block. But any gas block worth its ass would be more valuable than the barrel at that point.

It’s a tent stake.