Lockhart Tactical Raven - Does anyone actually have one or is it just social media po

I got the top charging handle and leave the side handle off. It works well and I can disassemble faster( you need to unscrew the side handle to remove the bolt carrier). I put an aftermarket AR15 charging handle in and it seemed to work the action fine but I left the factory parts in for firing. I had a lot of feeding issues at first but it was very cold and the lubricant I used was not optimal. Once it warmed up and was using authentic Glock mags, it was much better. I hope to get out again in the next few weeks to wear it in and get it to play nice with my third party mags.
I got the sniper grey color and it is very nice and the fit and finish is great. I'm amazed it wasn’t dinged up as it came in a plain cardboard box with some paper stuffed around it. The accuracy was within the red dot optic I threw on to test fire it. Probably 4moa dot at 35 meters with a nice pattern well within what the dot covered. The 5.56 isn’t offered in the sniper grey so I’ll hold off ordering for now and run PCC this spring.
 
Seen the new offer on the 308 model moments after email. These are pricey looking at 556 and 308 full rifles, they look interesting, but rep is an issue and they are not doing themselves any favours by not publishing more information / videos or even basic marketing. Kind of insane.
 
Got a quick look at one last weekend.
The guy offered to let me shoot it but I just figured I wouldnt take up any more of his time. He works at an outdoors/gun store and they got one early. Until they are proven, I would still rather an FX but it's a nice looking gun with some new ideas.
 
ADHD said:
My raven showed up last week. I haven’t had a chance to shoot it yet, however, I will say compared to my FX-9 the machining and finish are much nicer. No play between the receivers and magwell. I got the extended takedown pins, which I would highly recommend, and their 3# trigger (it’s a TriggerTech, it’s fantastic, it breaks at exactly 3#).

The only complaints I have about it so far is that the left side magazine release is very stiff and the side charging handle is simply threaded in. After a few reps of unloaded starts my charging handle was on the floor, I would not be surprised if it was gone after one stage in a match.

The BCG is modular, it uses a cross pin to attach the front of the bolts so you can switch calibers. I will get some pictures this week but it seems like a failure point.

Generally, I’m impressed. If it proves reliable, this will be my #1 recommendation for PCC in IPSC.View attachment 648315
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Thanks for posting! Have you had a chance to shoot it yet? I'm waiting to see more reviews roll in before I make a decision on one. I know a handful of people have gotten theirs and have had a couple of hundred rounds through with no issues apart from some magazine induced problems.

I'd be grateful for some pics of the internals, especially the BCG.

I noticed that Lockhart has said that the lead time from Ordering to shipping is 6-8 weeks. Has that been your experience? I also heard mid-late March is now the date for the .556 kits.
 
Yes I’ve shot it a few times, and I’ll try to attach pics I took later. Can’t speak on shipping times, mine was a pre-order from March of last year. So to start with I’ll talk about the options I chose. I went with the TriggerTech Raven trigger, extended takedown pins, and adjustable buffer.

Regardless of whether you intend to compete with one of these rifles I highly recommend all 3. The trigger seems to be the TriggerTech FX9 trigger, and is a fixed 3lbs. It is pulling at exactly that consistently. The takedown pins are very convenient if you’re tearing this thing apart regularly (I am) and the fitment is perfect. Only thing I’d note is that the takedown pin will get in the way of the safety you have the extended side on the side you manipulate the safety with.

The most important option though is the adjustable buffer. If you’re not familiar with straight blowback systems, tuning your reciprocating mass (bolt + buffer) is critical to reducing muzzle rise, recoil, and parts wear on your gun. If your mass is too low, it can cause safety issues as the bolt can begin travelling backwards before the chamber pressure has reached a safe level. This is ESPECIALLY true of long-barrel rifles (18.5”). From the research I’ve done on 9mm, 16” is the point at which you stop gaining velocity and friction begins to slow down your projectile. This means you are getting far more force acting rearward on the bolt than if you had something shorter, say a 10” barrel.

You counteract this force by increasing the reciprocating mass. The stock Raven buffer is 8oz and the bolt is about 15oz. For reference, the FX9 (both gen 1 and 2) use 3oz buffers and 11oz bolts. Any left-handed shooters who’ve fired an FX9 can attest to how unpleasant it is to get sprayed in the mouth with afterburn. I’d consider the FX9 on the dangerous low end of weight, and that’s likely because freedom ordnance is used to making 8”, 10” and 16” guns for Americans that have less pressure acting on the bolt.

With the adjustable buffer you can max your buffer weight at just over 11oz, for a combined mass of 26.5oz. At this mass the gun is far, FAR more pleasant to shoot, with significantly less recoil and muzzle rise. This is also why I’d recommend the adjustable buffer over a muzzle brake, since you’ll have little if any gas to work the brake with at 18.5”. If you get any performance out of the brake, it’s more likely due to the weight of the brake than any gas.

All 800 rounds so far have been new production, factory 124gn round nose ammunition from FH munition made here in Calgary. I haven’t fired any of my 147 or 158gn hand loads, but with the dummy rounds I’ve made it seems the Raven will NOT reliably chamber any flat-nose bullets.

The ETS magazines cause nothing but problems, however that was the case with my FX9 as well. Out of the box I had a few instances of rounds jamming above the breach when loading a new mag from bolt lock, but that cleared up before I hit 100 rounds. Up until 750 rounds I had absolutely no issues. No issues with PMAG 10, 17, 21 and 27 round mags, the included KCI 10 round mag, and factory Glock 10 round mags.

Disclaimer. Before my 3rd range trip, after about 500 rounds, I swapped the TriggerTech trigger out for my HiperFire eclipse, and installed a short-stroke spacer that I made in the shop. I spent that day testing which spacer length would shorten the stroke enough to reset the trigger reliably but limit the rest of the bolt stroke. I found it, and ran about 200 rounds without issue to begin learning the gun. I then ran into issues of the trigger not resetting (even after removing the spacer) and rounds jamming through the PMAGS, which hadn’t been an issue until now. I called it a day. I’ve since put the factory TriggerTech back it but I’ve decided NOT to clean the gun until I can test it again.

I also ran into issue of mags dropping free at this time. Disclaimer again - I’m left handed, the magazine release was stiff and difficult to operate consistently, so I pulled the mag release spring and torched it down to about 80% of its original length. This is probably what’s causing the premature drops.

Lastly I’ll throw in a blurb about accuracy. I’m not a plinker, I’m not a bench shooter, I’m a practical shooter. I see a PCC as a platform to push a handgun caliber out a little bit further. So I’m not trying for groups at 100 with a powered scope. However at 40 yards with a 6MOA red dot, I’m getting just over 1” groups with FH ammo.
 
Thanks for the detailed reply! I’m contemplating on ordering a Raven 556 but I’m worried that I will be one of the test subjects
 
Thanks for the detailed write up! It seems that the adjustable buffer is a must have on these.

I’m waiting to see some of the .556 models out there in the wild as well. With it being direct impingement it seems to be the most direct replacement for our ARs.
 
I decided to take one for the team and placed an order for a Raven 556 today. ETA in 8 weeks.

Let's see how this turns out.
 
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