WARNING - I AM IN LONG WINDED MODE TONIGHT.
Preamble:
The following review is based upon my experiences with my new rifle. Serial number and Mr. Wolverines comments on the forum indicate this rifle is around the 500 mark of the first 1000.
It is not meant to be a criticism of either Wolverine or Kodiac. As far as I am concerned the execution of the design is nothing short of brilliant. The machining and finish of the rifle is beautiful and is surprising given the price point and modern machining costs.
The observations and suggestions for improvement is borne from my appreciation of the effort that went into the conception, design, and execution of bringing this rifle to market. Given todays politically charged climate and the RCMP’s interpretation of all things that go bang – this in itself was quite the accomplishment. Please take this review as it was intended which to provide insight in how future versions might be improved. I am also aware of wants (doesn’t cost me anything) and needs (someone else is footing the bill for my follies).
Background:
In order to bring this rifle to market Wolverine and Kodiac had to make some compromises to the original versions (AR180 & AR180B) in order to meet the sub $1000.00 price point. They basically copied (with some cosmetic modifications) the AR180B receiver in order to maintain the non-restricted designation (FRT) and created a new upper that utilized AR components. They did a pretty good job.
Observations:
The following are my personal observations and suggestions on how they might be changed at a future date. I will also rate them in level of difficulty to implement on a scale of 0 to 5 where 0 is a slam dunk while 5 is impossible without a major redesign and/or cost.
1. Handguard & upper receiver 1913 Picatinny rail. – The handguard is a work of art and I am guessing would have required extensive prototyping to get the finish and fitment they obtained. The gap between the handguard and receiver is barely visible and would need some precision machining to pull it off. Improvement – Doesn’t meet 1913 standards above the receiver. Wolverine admits this was an omission (read mistake) and since the handguards are probably extruded from a die any changes necessary for the receiver to meet standard would require changes to handguard die. Since primary cost of custom extrusions is the die set-up costs I am guessing this change will not be incorporated until the dies wear out. Given the limited number of potential rifles at this time – they may never wear out. Chances of change is a 5 (snowball’s chance in ……)
2. Handguard retaining screw mounting slots – The 8 screws used to hold the handguard to the upper are installed in slots whose ends are visible when the screws are installed.
Improvement - Usual practice is to drill a hole at the larger tolerance (Loose fit – vs. standard or close) instead of a slot in order to give you wiggle room should things not align properly). Slot suggest they need rotational adjustment (find it difficult given how the handguard “wings” are indexed to the upper). However, it may be there to reduce installation time). Chance of change 3-5 depending on intention (which I am not privy to).
3. Charging handle – love the ambidextrous capability of the design. Not to happy that the fit between the handle and bolt is equivalent to a member of the world’s oldest profession at the of a an extremely busy 16-hour day – in other words its pretty loose and/or sloppy. What purpose this serves I can only guess at. Suggest the ability to change charging handles from left to right side in less than a minute had something to do with it. The cool magnet in the handle reminds me of the safety darts my kids used growing up. Throw the handle near the bolt hole and watch it “slide” into place.
Improvement – On the next batch of charging handles increase the nominal size from Class I (Loose fit) to Class III (Medium fit). Chance of change 2-4 depending if the size is due to thermal expansion between charging handle and bolt material (i.e. when heated due to firing the gap will decrease). Might try knurling my existing charging handle to increase the diameter (it displaces metal). Might have to purchase a replacment or make my own if I mess up.
4. Stock Trigger Components – Out of the box the trigger pull on this rifle has to be one of the worst I have every used. The only thing that surpassed the grittiness and creep was a Chinese built SKS from the 90’s. I’ve owned 3 stock ARs before and all of them came with better triggers.
Improvement – hire somebody on a disability pension to spend 20-30 seconds per part using a Dremel tool, a 1/2 inch felt wheel, and polishing compound. It turns the stock trigger from Ugg to “I can live with this”. Chance of change 2-3 as even paying someone at minimum wage increases the price. However, it is a lot easier when you have a bin in front of you, unlike when each customer has to learn how to disassemble their rifle in order to swap out trigger assemblies or components. Considerably more difficult that say swapping a pistol grip.
5. Pistol Grip – A cost-saving saving measure. I know the finger shelf generic grip probably costs under a dollar a piece. However, the straight back geometry is wrong for the angled receiver as shown by the original AR180 and even the AR180B. It places the hand too high relative to the trigger. To compound matters is the stock AR trigger packs which were designed for the horizontal receiver of an AR and not the angled receiver of the WK.
Improvement – use modified magpul K2+ grip to mimick original AR180 concept like Mr. Stoner and company envisioned. Chance of change 4-5 as this would require non-standard components and violate the “off the shelf” intent of this redesign.
6. Upper / Lower Fitment – or not. I imagine the slop between the upper and lower receiver existed with the original design. My rifle has a lot of play up/down, fore/aft, side to side which detracts and is diametrically opposed to the rest of the rifle. Suspect the tolerance budget was used on the handguard to upper interface. Now I have AR’s that exhibit this play so at first blush this may seem unfair. However, both the upper and lower where redesigned with what appears to be an interlocking lug. What perplexes me is it does not serve any purpose (at least for this rifle caliber). How do I know this? The play exists when the bolt and spring carrier is removed and the rifle halves held together. Play in the upper/lower is determined primarily by the front rotation pin and the rear spring carrier. Due to loose tolerances of the front pin the two halves move freely. I suspect the rear lug may be used as a recoil lug for the heavier calibers. What I find confusing is why one would spend the money to include a feature that is not being used. The lug & receiving hole isn’t tall enough to align the upper/lower prior to the rear “wings” engaging the lower receiver. The width could be tighter to prevent side/side motion with some fore and aft reduction (note – due to rotation around front pin the front/back of the lug would need to be kept loose in order to operate). Perhaps it was the beginning of an “Modern Rifle” type lock that was abandoned? I tried using an o-ring around the top lug to mimic the rubber wedge used in AR’s to try and remove the play. Haven’t found one with a thin enough cross section to fit in the chamfered groove of the matching recess in the receiver.
Improvement – Tighten hole pin tolerances in front pin. This is not something that needs to be quickly disassembled in the field. The design uses a C-clip to retain the pin rather than an AR style captive one. Change tolerances on rear lug so that it can remove at least 2 directions of motion. Chance of Change – I have no clue but I am going to see if I can build a new front pivot pin that is a little wider in diameter to see what slop I can take out. This will depend on size discrepancy between the upper lug and bottom wing holes. Might try and build a wedge to reduce movement in rear lug area. Alternative idea is one of those wedge pins people used in the past to take up slack in front rotating pin area of AR’s. It would require a tool to tighten. Find this a little frustrating as I don’t think this needs to be like this – however I have been wrong before and there could be a perfectly good explanation – I just don’t know what it is. Could this be the reason some STANAG mags are not working correctly on some guns?
7. Magwell Area – the chamfers on the magazine well opening is just for looks and don’t actually serve any purpose. The reason for this is the extra length added to the WK’s magazine spine guide (the slot that runs vertically in front of the trigger guard.) The AR180B had this spline extend about ½ way down the trigger guard. The reason for this was to allow the lip of the magazine to engage the mag well at roughly the same time with alignment of the spine occurred. In the WK version the slot was extended between ¾ and 7/8 down the trigger guard. What this means is you have to align the spine vertically first before you can insert the magazine into the well. As this is a utility rifle combat speed loads will not be the norm. However, for 3-gun matches this rifle would be at a disadvantage while prone or in other awkward positions. To compound matters, my usual finger forward on the magazine reload does not work with standard 30 round pinned magazines due to this grip causing the magazine to bind unless the alignment is perfect. I’ve resorted to the beer can grip and a trick I developed to provide the necessary feedback.
Improvement – either reduce the length of the spine grip to match original or add chamfers to the bottom ¼ of the spine guide to allow for alignment and easier insertion for speed reloads. Chance of this happening 4-5 as this rifle was designed as a utility rifle and speed loading isn’t an issue.
Bonus tip – this is based on modified or billet AR receivers used in competition way back. For right-handed people the left side of the magazine well was either cut away ( modified) or an extra length of mag well wall added to the right side (billet receivers). The idea was to position the top of the magazine onto this “shelf” prior to inserting it. Theory was it removed one plane from the 3 usually required to insert magazine – thereby decreasing reloading time. Was very gimmicky and only lasted a while on the competitive circuit. However, at the time I wanted to experiment with the idea but was too cheap to spend the time modifying existing rifle or buying a new lower. Found the following to work almost as fast. If you are a right-handed person eject the magazine using your right index finger (as usual). Once the mag begins to drop free extend your right hand middle finger past the front edge of the trigger guard. If your finger is long enough it should extend about ¼ to 3/8 of an inch. Use this portion of your finger as the “shelf”. Using a beer can grip you will find that as soon as the mag touches the tip of your finger you will automatically know how to orient the magazine to insert it into the well. Try it when you are in different positions (prone, kneeling, etc…) with the lights turned off or with your eyes closed (for those who don’t want to be caught by a love one in a dark room rolling around the floor with your rifle).
FYI - this rifle is currently one of my favorites and would recommend it to anyone who wants a non-restricted rifle. Kudos to Mr Wolverine for the vision and Kodiac for the execution of said vision.
L
Preamble:
The following review is based upon my experiences with my new rifle. Serial number and Mr. Wolverines comments on the forum indicate this rifle is around the 500 mark of the first 1000.
It is not meant to be a criticism of either Wolverine or Kodiac. As far as I am concerned the execution of the design is nothing short of brilliant. The machining and finish of the rifle is beautiful and is surprising given the price point and modern machining costs.
The observations and suggestions for improvement is borne from my appreciation of the effort that went into the conception, design, and execution of bringing this rifle to market. Given todays politically charged climate and the RCMP’s interpretation of all things that go bang – this in itself was quite the accomplishment. Please take this review as it was intended which to provide insight in how future versions might be improved. I am also aware of wants (doesn’t cost me anything) and needs (someone else is footing the bill for my follies).
Background:
In order to bring this rifle to market Wolverine and Kodiac had to make some compromises to the original versions (AR180 & AR180B) in order to meet the sub $1000.00 price point. They basically copied (with some cosmetic modifications) the AR180B receiver in order to maintain the non-restricted designation (FRT) and created a new upper that utilized AR components. They did a pretty good job.
Observations:
The following are my personal observations and suggestions on how they might be changed at a future date. I will also rate them in level of difficulty to implement on a scale of 0 to 5 where 0 is a slam dunk while 5 is impossible without a major redesign and/or cost.
1. Handguard & upper receiver 1913 Picatinny rail. – The handguard is a work of art and I am guessing would have required extensive prototyping to get the finish and fitment they obtained. The gap between the handguard and receiver is barely visible and would need some precision machining to pull it off. Improvement – Doesn’t meet 1913 standards above the receiver. Wolverine admits this was an omission (read mistake) and since the handguards are probably extruded from a die any changes necessary for the receiver to meet standard would require changes to handguard die. Since primary cost of custom extrusions is the die set-up costs I am guessing this change will not be incorporated until the dies wear out. Given the limited number of potential rifles at this time – they may never wear out. Chances of change is a 5 (snowball’s chance in ……)
2. Handguard retaining screw mounting slots – The 8 screws used to hold the handguard to the upper are installed in slots whose ends are visible when the screws are installed.
Improvement - Usual practice is to drill a hole at the larger tolerance (Loose fit – vs. standard or close) instead of a slot in order to give you wiggle room should things not align properly). Slot suggest they need rotational adjustment (find it difficult given how the handguard “wings” are indexed to the upper). However, it may be there to reduce installation time). Chance of change 3-5 depending on intention (which I am not privy to).
3. Charging handle – love the ambidextrous capability of the design. Not to happy that the fit between the handle and bolt is equivalent to a member of the world’s oldest profession at the of a an extremely busy 16-hour day – in other words its pretty loose and/or sloppy. What purpose this serves I can only guess at. Suggest the ability to change charging handles from left to right side in less than a minute had something to do with it. The cool magnet in the handle reminds me of the safety darts my kids used growing up. Throw the handle near the bolt hole and watch it “slide” into place.
Improvement – On the next batch of charging handles increase the nominal size from Class I (Loose fit) to Class III (Medium fit). Chance of change 2-4 depending if the size is due to thermal expansion between charging handle and bolt material (i.e. when heated due to firing the gap will decrease). Might try knurling my existing charging handle to increase the diameter (it displaces metal). Might have to purchase a replacment or make my own if I mess up.
4. Stock Trigger Components – Out of the box the trigger pull on this rifle has to be one of the worst I have every used. The only thing that surpassed the grittiness and creep was a Chinese built SKS from the 90’s. I’ve owned 3 stock ARs before and all of them came with better triggers.
Improvement – hire somebody on a disability pension to spend 20-30 seconds per part using a Dremel tool, a 1/2 inch felt wheel, and polishing compound. It turns the stock trigger from Ugg to “I can live with this”. Chance of change 2-3 as even paying someone at minimum wage increases the price. However, it is a lot easier when you have a bin in front of you, unlike when each customer has to learn how to disassemble their rifle in order to swap out trigger assemblies or components. Considerably more difficult that say swapping a pistol grip.
5. Pistol Grip – A cost-saving saving measure. I know the finger shelf generic grip probably costs under a dollar a piece. However, the straight back geometry is wrong for the angled receiver as shown by the original AR180 and even the AR180B. It places the hand too high relative to the trigger. To compound matters is the stock AR trigger packs which were designed for the horizontal receiver of an AR and not the angled receiver of the WK.
Improvement – use modified magpul K2+ grip to mimick original AR180 concept like Mr. Stoner and company envisioned. Chance of change 4-5 as this would require non-standard components and violate the “off the shelf” intent of this redesign.
6. Upper / Lower Fitment – or not. I imagine the slop between the upper and lower receiver existed with the original design. My rifle has a lot of play up/down, fore/aft, side to side which detracts and is diametrically opposed to the rest of the rifle. Suspect the tolerance budget was used on the handguard to upper interface. Now I have AR’s that exhibit this play so at first blush this may seem unfair. However, both the upper and lower where redesigned with what appears to be an interlocking lug. What perplexes me is it does not serve any purpose (at least for this rifle caliber). How do I know this? The play exists when the bolt and spring carrier is removed and the rifle halves held together. Play in the upper/lower is determined primarily by the front rotation pin and the rear spring carrier. Due to loose tolerances of the front pin the two halves move freely. I suspect the rear lug may be used as a recoil lug for the heavier calibers. What I find confusing is why one would spend the money to include a feature that is not being used. The lug & receiving hole isn’t tall enough to align the upper/lower prior to the rear “wings” engaging the lower receiver. The width could be tighter to prevent side/side motion with some fore and aft reduction (note – due to rotation around front pin the front/back of the lug would need to be kept loose in order to operate). Perhaps it was the beginning of an “Modern Rifle” type lock that was abandoned? I tried using an o-ring around the top lug to mimic the rubber wedge used in AR’s to try and remove the play. Haven’t found one with a thin enough cross section to fit in the chamfered groove of the matching recess in the receiver.
Improvement – Tighten hole pin tolerances in front pin. This is not something that needs to be quickly disassembled in the field. The design uses a C-clip to retain the pin rather than an AR style captive one. Change tolerances on rear lug so that it can remove at least 2 directions of motion. Chance of Change – I have no clue but I am going to see if I can build a new front pivot pin that is a little wider in diameter to see what slop I can take out. This will depend on size discrepancy between the upper lug and bottom wing holes. Might try and build a wedge to reduce movement in rear lug area. Alternative idea is one of those wedge pins people used in the past to take up slack in front rotating pin area of AR’s. It would require a tool to tighten. Find this a little frustrating as I don’t think this needs to be like this – however I have been wrong before and there could be a perfectly good explanation – I just don’t know what it is. Could this be the reason some STANAG mags are not working correctly on some guns?
7. Magwell Area – the chamfers on the magazine well opening is just for looks and don’t actually serve any purpose. The reason for this is the extra length added to the WK’s magazine spine guide (the slot that runs vertically in front of the trigger guard.) The AR180B had this spline extend about ½ way down the trigger guard. The reason for this was to allow the lip of the magazine to engage the mag well at roughly the same time with alignment of the spine occurred. In the WK version the slot was extended between ¾ and 7/8 down the trigger guard. What this means is you have to align the spine vertically first before you can insert the magazine into the well. As this is a utility rifle combat speed loads will not be the norm. However, for 3-gun matches this rifle would be at a disadvantage while prone or in other awkward positions. To compound matters, my usual finger forward on the magazine reload does not work with standard 30 round pinned magazines due to this grip causing the magazine to bind unless the alignment is perfect. I’ve resorted to the beer can grip and a trick I developed to provide the necessary feedback.
Improvement – either reduce the length of the spine grip to match original or add chamfers to the bottom ¼ of the spine guide to allow for alignment and easier insertion for speed reloads. Chance of this happening 4-5 as this rifle was designed as a utility rifle and speed loading isn’t an issue.
Bonus tip – this is based on modified or billet AR receivers used in competition way back. For right-handed people the left side of the magazine well was either cut away ( modified) or an extra length of mag well wall added to the right side (billet receivers). The idea was to position the top of the magazine onto this “shelf” prior to inserting it. Theory was it removed one plane from the 3 usually required to insert magazine – thereby decreasing reloading time. Was very gimmicky and only lasted a while on the competitive circuit. However, at the time I wanted to experiment with the idea but was too cheap to spend the time modifying existing rifle or buying a new lower. Found the following to work almost as fast. If you are a right-handed person eject the magazine using your right index finger (as usual). Once the mag begins to drop free extend your right hand middle finger past the front edge of the trigger guard. If your finger is long enough it should extend about ¼ to 3/8 of an inch. Use this portion of your finger as the “shelf”. Using a beer can grip you will find that as soon as the mag touches the tip of your finger you will automatically know how to orient the magazine to insert it into the well. Try it when you are in different positions (prone, kneeling, etc…) with the lights turned off or with your eyes closed (for those who don’t want to be caught by a love one in a dark room rolling around the floor with your rifle).
FYI - this rifle is currently one of my favorites and would recommend it to anyone who wants a non-restricted rifle. Kudos to Mr Wolverine for the vision and Kodiac for the execution of said vision.
L
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