The IWI CSR18 Carmel: Initial Thoughts and Observations
I picked up my rifle this evening and had a quick chance to have a quick look and grab a few pictures on the back deck before sunset. Mine’s a restricted-length version that I purchased through I Run Guns—it was my first dealing with them and it was a pretty smooth process from start to finish—I ordered the rifle on June 9 and it arrived today. OK—on to the details.
Here’s the flash hider—it’s not the usual A2-style that you often see. You can also see the lightweight-profile barrel. I’d read that it was a light barrel but I was still a bit surprised by how light the profile was.
Here’s the aluminum handguard, with M-Lok slots. I’ve got a BCM stubby foregrip (similar to what I had on my Tavor) that I might try out on it. The handguard is removable by unscrewing three screws (you can see one of them here) to access the gas system but it’s apparently not necessary for normal use.
You can also see the bolt handle, which is non-reciprocating. One cool feature is that you can easily reverse the handle to the opposite side—just retract the bolt partway (to where the slot widens a bit, then push it through to the other side). I’ll likely keep it as-is.
You can also see the two-different sections of the top rail (there’s a tiny gap visible in between the two top slots in the handguard). I don’t know if this would cause a problem with iron sights or not, but that’s not really a concern as I imagine the vast majority of users will use an optic on some sort. I’ve got my old favourite ACOG TA33 on mine—I liberated it from my FS2000. It’s got a low American Defense mount so it works well even with the stock cheek riser in the lowest position.
Here are the left side controls: the one just above and in front of the trigger is the ambidextrous magazine release, and above that is the bolt release/bolt catch (push the bottom to hold the bolt open, push the top to release it). The safety is shown in the “fire” position—you can see it’s a 45° throw, not the usual 90°.
The trigger is, well, not bad! There’s a bit of take-up (which is normal for this type of gun), then a fairly short and crisp-ish break—my scale measures it right at 5 lbs. There’s a wee bit of overtravel but nothing too bad.
Here’s the pistol grip, apparently from B5 Systems. I’d planned to swap it out for a Magpul MOE grip (my all-time favourite AR grip) as I usually prefer a less-vertical grip but this one feels pretty good—the angle feels pretty natural, and the molded-in stippling is nicely grippy without being too aggressive.
Here’s the buttstock…I really like it so far. You can see the latch for folding it at the left side of the stock, and partway along the stock is another control(there’s one on both sides) for raising the cheekpiece. At the rear, there’s a grippy rubber butted, and just in from of it you can see the control for extending the length of pull…there are six positions so it should be adjustable to fit almost anyone.
Here’s the other side of the buttstock—I’ve raised the cheekpiece up a click for the photo. There are three positions for the cheekpiece.
Here’s the rifle with the stock folded.It doesn’t lock in this position but there is a detent to help hold it open.
Here are the right-side controls: there’s a vestigial safety, a magazine release in the “usual” position, and a smaller bolt release/catch above that.
Here’s the ejection port cover in the open position, with the case deflector immediately behind it. The dished-out section of the bolt carrier is a rudimentary forward assist.
Here’s where you access the gas system adjustment—it’s two-position, one for suppressed and one for normal (“regular”?) usage.
(I can only add 11 images...see below for the next part).
I picked up my rifle this evening and had a quick chance to have a quick look and grab a few pictures on the back deck before sunset. Mine’s a restricted-length version that I purchased through I Run Guns—it was my first dealing with them and it was a pretty smooth process from start to finish—I ordered the rifle on June 9 and it arrived today. OK—on to the details.
Here’s the flash hider—it’s not the usual A2-style that you often see. You can also see the lightweight-profile barrel. I’d read that it was a light barrel but I was still a bit surprised by how light the profile was.
Here’s the aluminum handguard, with M-Lok slots. I’ve got a BCM stubby foregrip (similar to what I had on my Tavor) that I might try out on it. The handguard is removable by unscrewing three screws (you can see one of them here) to access the gas system but it’s apparently not necessary for normal use.
You can also see the bolt handle, which is non-reciprocating. One cool feature is that you can easily reverse the handle to the opposite side—just retract the bolt partway (to where the slot widens a bit, then push it through to the other side). I’ll likely keep it as-is.
You can also see the two-different sections of the top rail (there’s a tiny gap visible in between the two top slots in the handguard). I don’t know if this would cause a problem with iron sights or not, but that’s not really a concern as I imagine the vast majority of users will use an optic on some sort. I’ve got my old favourite ACOG TA33 on mine—I liberated it from my FS2000. It’s got a low American Defense mount so it works well even with the stock cheek riser in the lowest position.
Here are the left side controls: the one just above and in front of the trigger is the ambidextrous magazine release, and above that is the bolt release/bolt catch (push the bottom to hold the bolt open, push the top to release it). The safety is shown in the “fire” position—you can see it’s a 45° throw, not the usual 90°.
The trigger is, well, not bad! There’s a bit of take-up (which is normal for this type of gun), then a fairly short and crisp-ish break—my scale measures it right at 5 lbs. There’s a wee bit of overtravel but nothing too bad.
Here’s the pistol grip, apparently from B5 Systems. I’d planned to swap it out for a Magpul MOE grip (my all-time favourite AR grip) as I usually prefer a less-vertical grip but this one feels pretty good—the angle feels pretty natural, and the molded-in stippling is nicely grippy without being too aggressive.
Here’s the buttstock…I really like it so far. You can see the latch for folding it at the left side of the stock, and partway along the stock is another control(there’s one on both sides) for raising the cheekpiece. At the rear, there’s a grippy rubber butted, and just in from of it you can see the control for extending the length of pull…there are six positions so it should be adjustable to fit almost anyone.
Here’s the other side of the buttstock—I’ve raised the cheekpiece up a click for the photo. There are three positions for the cheekpiece.
Here’s the rifle with the stock folded.It doesn’t lock in this position but there is a detent to help hold it open.
Here are the right-side controls: there’s a vestigial safety, a magazine release in the “usual” position, and a smaller bolt release/catch above that.
Here’s the ejection port cover in the open position, with the case deflector immediately behind it. The dished-out section of the bolt carrier is a rudimentary forward assist.
Here’s where you access the gas system adjustment—it’s two-position, one for suppressed and one for normal (“regular”?) usage.
(I can only add 11 images...see below for the next part).
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