Lockhart Tactical Raven 9 thoughts, impressions and reviews
- Thread starter CV32
- Start date
They look like they're very high quality, they handle nice.
Buuut the firing pins are a MAJOR weak point. They're way too thin, I was shooting a match with a guy running one and his firing pin sheared in half. If they address that, they could be great.
Buuut the firing pins are a MAJOR weak point. They're way too thin, I was shooting a match with a guy running one and his firing pin sheared in half. If they address that, they could be great.
Tried out the new Raven 9mm yesterday. I did a thorough cleaning prior to taking it to the range. The barrel had a significant amount of grease in it. I mounted a holosun 510 red dot on it and got it on paper at 25 yards. Moved out to 50 yards and sighted it in. The gun worked flawlessly and as a left handed shooter my face wasn’t getting powder burns like with the FX9.
I was getting groups around 2” but I think if I had a little magnification it would shoot significantly better.
I put 86 rounds through it with no hiccups. The trigger is crisp but a very heavy pull. I thought I was going to get a blister on my finger. If I keep the rifle I will probably change out the trigger to something with a 3 lb pull.
The side mounted charging handle works well but I don’t like having to un thread it every time you want to take the bolt carrier out. I would probably spend the extra and put a top charging handle on it.
Brought it home and gave it a good cleaning. I con honestly say this is the easiest semi I’ve ever used to take apart and clean.
I think if this gun stands up without too many issues Lockhart will have hit a home run.
I was getting groups around 2” but I think if I had a little magnification it would shoot significantly better.
I put 86 rounds through it with no hiccups. The trigger is crisp but a very heavy pull. I thought I was going to get a blister on my finger. If I keep the rifle I will probably change out the trigger to something with a 3 lb pull.
The side mounted charging handle works well but I don’t like having to un thread it every time you want to take the bolt carrier out. I would probably spend the extra and put a top charging handle on it.
Brought it home and gave it a good cleaning. I con honestly say this is the easiest semi I’ve ever used to take apart and clean.
I think if this gun stands up without too many issues Lockhart will have hit a home run.
Non-phixion
CGN frequent flyer
Agreed, my friend got a new 9mm raven, wouldn't shoot worth a ####.
Copied this over from another thread:
I put about 300 rounds downrange on the Ravin last weekend, and shot it head to head against my Ruger PCC.
The Ruger is equipped with a Trijicon RM01 (fixed brightness) 2 moa dot rifle sight and Mcarbo buffer.
Out at the muzzle, it has a VG6 Epsilon brake and the carbine is riding in a magpul backpacker stock. Other than that mentioned it is all stock.
The Raven is a 'Platnum' edition with full ambi controls and a fixed 3.5lb Triggertech trigger and Faxon Muzzlock ported flash hider.
I equipped it with a Trijicon MRO reflex rifle sight with a 2 moa dot.
The ammo fed to it consisted of around 200 rounds of RUAG Sintox 9mm ball (124gr), 50 rounds of Magtech ball ammo (124gr) and 50 rounds of handloads (4.4gr. Titegroup over 124gr Montana Gold TMJs).
The Raven barfed on all mags used: Gen 3/4 Glock OEM (G17, G19, G22, G37), Magpul G19 & G17. The only exception once there was around 100 rounds downrange was the mag it came with (Korean KCI) and two 19X mags I brought.
The 19X mags had some difficulty dropping free, a product of a tight magwell and a so-so, left-side mag release that isn't at all very positive.
I also struggled to seat fixed 10 round mags on a closed bolt, which was an issue for all but the KCI.
The Ruger by comparison fed everything I put through it, using any of the mags I had on hand, and I don't recall struggling with mag seating quite like with the Raven..
I was thinking before shooting them together that the VG6 Epsilon equipped Ruger would prove to be an unfair advantage.
The Ruger had noticeably more snap - even with the brake. I think this is probably more a product of the Ruger operating system though as opposed to any perceived differences between the faxon and VG6 muzzle devices. Perhaps in hindsight, the brake isn't doing a whole heck of a lot with an 18"+ length barrel.
The Ruger tells you when it is at bolt hold open on the last round on an empty mag, the Raven doesn't.
I conducted a sudo-accuracy test shooting both at 50m rested with 10 rounds of the RUAG shooting at a 1moa black patch on an IDPA target.
The MROs brightness was dialled down to 4, giving it a bit more definition, while the RMR with its fixed brightness (measures about a 6 on the MRO for comparative sake), had more of the dot 'bleed' out onto the target.
Despite this, the Ruger printed a nice 1 1/2" diameter round cluster with its 10 rounds and the Raven had a cluster with a 1 1/2" diameter, but stretching vertically by about 3".
So far, jury is out on the Raven. I'll need to square away the left side mag release and do some further testing with other mags. It is good I have 6 G19X mags, but not if they are not wanting to drop free.
At half the cost of the Raven, and considering it running like a champ, the Ruger PCC isn't getting dumped anytime soon.
I put about 300 rounds downrange on the Ravin last weekend, and shot it head to head against my Ruger PCC.
The Ruger is equipped with a Trijicon RM01 (fixed brightness) 2 moa dot rifle sight and Mcarbo buffer.
Out at the muzzle, it has a VG6 Epsilon brake and the carbine is riding in a magpul backpacker stock. Other than that mentioned it is all stock.
The Raven is a 'Platnum' edition with full ambi controls and a fixed 3.5lb Triggertech trigger and Faxon Muzzlock ported flash hider.
I equipped it with a Trijicon MRO reflex rifle sight with a 2 moa dot.
The ammo fed to it consisted of around 200 rounds of RUAG Sintox 9mm ball (124gr), 50 rounds of Magtech ball ammo (124gr) and 50 rounds of handloads (4.4gr. Titegroup over 124gr Montana Gold TMJs).
The Raven barfed on all mags used: Gen 3/4 Glock OEM (G17, G19, G22, G37), Magpul G19 & G17. The only exception once there was around 100 rounds downrange was the mag it came with (Korean KCI) and two 19X mags I brought.
The 19X mags had some difficulty dropping free, a product of a tight magwell and a so-so, left-side mag release that isn't at all very positive.
I also struggled to seat fixed 10 round mags on a closed bolt, which was an issue for all but the KCI.
The Ruger by comparison fed everything I put through it, using any of the mags I had on hand, and I don't recall struggling with mag seating quite like with the Raven..
I was thinking before shooting them together that the VG6 Epsilon equipped Ruger would prove to be an unfair advantage.
The Ruger had noticeably more snap - even with the brake. I think this is probably more a product of the Ruger operating system though as opposed to any perceived differences between the faxon and VG6 muzzle devices. Perhaps in hindsight, the brake isn't doing a whole heck of a lot with an 18"+ length barrel.
The Ruger tells you when it is at bolt hold open on the last round on an empty mag, the Raven doesn't.
I conducted a sudo-accuracy test shooting both at 50m rested with 10 rounds of the RUAG shooting at a 1moa black patch on an IDPA target.
The MROs brightness was dialled down to 4, giving it a bit more definition, while the RMR with its fixed brightness (measures about a 6 on the MRO for comparative sake), had more of the dot 'bleed' out onto the target.
Despite this, the Ruger printed a nice 1 1/2" diameter round cluster with its 10 rounds and the Raven had a cluster with a 1 1/2" diameter, but stretching vertically by about 3".
So far, jury is out on the Raven. I'll need to square away the left side mag release and do some further testing with other mags. It is good I have 6 G19X mags, but not if they are not wanting to drop free.
At half the cost of the Raven, and considering it running like a champ, the Ruger PCC isn't getting dumped anytime soon.
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Range Day two with the Raven:
Took it indoors today due to rain and a later family gathering.
After the first range outing, I cleaned it up with most of its carbon fouling being deposited on the breach, magwell, bolt and bolt carrier.
I had used a thin film of SIG grease on the bolt carrier for the first outing as an experiment to see how fouled it would get.
The RUAG usually runs pretty clean, but I suspect due to the overly long barrel on these things (thank-you asinine, draconian Canadian gun laws), the back pressure blows the majority of crap back.
As a lefty, this is particularly noticeable. The grease worked fine as a lube, but what is interesting is that the fouling got all the way back onto the rear of the bolt carrier and into the buffer tube.
I cleaned it all up and ran oil for the second outing.
Put around 150 rounds through it, again using RUAG sintox.
This time I had 8 KCI 10/17 rounders (Thanks IRUNGUNS) all of which ran great, dropped free and were pinned to allow for seating on a closed bolt without any issues.
Toward the end of my range session I went back to some magpul gen 3/4 G19 mags which mostly ran fine but had a few stoppages when the mags were nearly empty whereby the bolt would strip a round and it would 'nose up' with the bullet missing the chamber and ending up 'T-Boned' by the bolt at the breech face.
Took it indoors today due to rain and a later family gathering.
After the first range outing, I cleaned it up with most of its carbon fouling being deposited on the breach, magwell, bolt and bolt carrier.
I had used a thin film of SIG grease on the bolt carrier for the first outing as an experiment to see how fouled it would get.
The RUAG usually runs pretty clean, but I suspect due to the overly long barrel on these things (thank-you asinine, draconian Canadian gun laws), the back pressure blows the majority of crap back.
As a lefty, this is particularly noticeable. The grease worked fine as a lube, but what is interesting is that the fouling got all the way back onto the rear of the bolt carrier and into the buffer tube.
I cleaned it all up and ran oil for the second outing.
Put around 150 rounds through it, again using RUAG sintox.
This time I had 8 KCI 10/17 rounders (Thanks IRUNGUNS) all of which ran great, dropped free and were pinned to allow for seating on a closed bolt without any issues.
Toward the end of my range session I went back to some magpul gen 3/4 G19 mags which mostly ran fine but had a few stoppages when the mags were nearly empty whereby the bolt would strip a round and it would 'nose up' with the bullet missing the chamber and ending up 'T-Boned' by the bolt at the breech face.
carsmovies
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Mississauga, Ontario
What was the problem with the Glock mags?
carsmovies
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Mississauga, Ontario
Ah ok. Mine where not always dropping free until I did a little filing of a part in the magwell but now my oem Glock mags work fine.
