In the last month we have acquired three NEA AR-15s. 14.5”, 10.5” and just this week, a 7.5”
I note it has a ring-style sling mount behind the trigger. I like this shape. It handles all my sling snaps, whereas one of the other NEAs has a slot style sling mount that some slings do not fit.
I don’t know what sight my son intends to install on it, but I rummaged around and came up with a set of plastic folding sights (about $14.00 on Ebay) and a red dot sight.
I tested it at 25 yards. I know this is very short range, but it is the perfect distance for zeroing sights for CQB. The rifle does not sound particularly loud. However, the guys on the bench beside me were quick to comment on how LOUD it was. It has the standard birdcage flash suppressor. When I shot it over a Chrony, later, I made the mistake of not wearing ear protection. It was painful.
The carbine functioned perfectly. Trigger was not nearly as bad as the Daniel Defense I broke in a couple months ago. I think I will just polish this one and not replace it, as I usually do.
Zeroing with the back up sights went smoothly. The only glitch is that the rear sight won’t stay folded. It pops up when the gun fires. It looks like a few passes of a file will enhance the retainer notch. When I put the red dot on, I just adjusted the red dot to coincide with the iron sights. This made zeroing real quick.
I have not used a red dot much, but after I zeroed it, the first five shots from the standing position and all hit within a 1” black patch. I was impressed with the shooting. I look forward to putting a 20X scope on it and shooting some groups at 100 yards.
The other test I did was a double tap test. With full power ammo, a full sized AR-15 (when I shoot it) jumps to the right quite a bit. A double tap at 25 yards would score a 2 or maybe even a miss for the second shot. For this reason I install muzzle brakes on my ARs, and turn them clockwise a bit (about 2:00 o’clock) so they push the muzzle to the left. I also down load the ammo a bit. Milder ammo does not jump as much, it is easier on the rifle and it still punches holes in the paper at 25 yards. My mild ammo only does 1730 fps out of this shorty, vs 3280 for full power in a 20" barrel. IVI in a 20" is 3165 fps. In this 7.5" shorty it is only 2360 fps.
This is a 25yd double tap group, shot standing. I slapped the trigger twice, as fast as I could.
One of the effects of a real short barrel is the loss of a lot of velocity. So even full power ammo does not kick and jump as much. I tried double tapping with both full power ammo and with mild ammo. I saw some jump to the right, but not much with either flavour of ammo, and on the target, both groups looked about the same, with the shots well centered. I think the factory suppressor is perfectly adequate.
I note it has a ring-style sling mount behind the trigger. I like this shape. It handles all my sling snaps, whereas one of the other NEAs has a slot style sling mount that some slings do not fit.
I don’t know what sight my son intends to install on it, but I rummaged around and came up with a set of plastic folding sights (about $14.00 on Ebay) and a red dot sight.
I tested it at 25 yards. I know this is very short range, but it is the perfect distance for zeroing sights for CQB. The rifle does not sound particularly loud. However, the guys on the bench beside me were quick to comment on how LOUD it was. It has the standard birdcage flash suppressor. When I shot it over a Chrony, later, I made the mistake of not wearing ear protection. It was painful.
The carbine functioned perfectly. Trigger was not nearly as bad as the Daniel Defense I broke in a couple months ago. I think I will just polish this one and not replace it, as I usually do.
Zeroing with the back up sights went smoothly. The only glitch is that the rear sight won’t stay folded. It pops up when the gun fires. It looks like a few passes of a file will enhance the retainer notch. When I put the red dot on, I just adjusted the red dot to coincide with the iron sights. This made zeroing real quick.
I have not used a red dot much, but after I zeroed it, the first five shots from the standing position and all hit within a 1” black patch. I was impressed with the shooting. I look forward to putting a 20X scope on it and shooting some groups at 100 yards.
The other test I did was a double tap test. With full power ammo, a full sized AR-15 (when I shoot it) jumps to the right quite a bit. A double tap at 25 yards would score a 2 or maybe even a miss for the second shot. For this reason I install muzzle brakes on my ARs, and turn them clockwise a bit (about 2:00 o’clock) so they push the muzzle to the left. I also down load the ammo a bit. Milder ammo does not jump as much, it is easier on the rifle and it still punches holes in the paper at 25 yards. My mild ammo only does 1730 fps out of this shorty, vs 3280 for full power in a 20" barrel. IVI in a 20" is 3165 fps. In this 7.5" shorty it is only 2360 fps.
This is a 25yd double tap group, shot standing. I slapped the trigger twice, as fast as I could.
One of the effects of a real short barrel is the loss of a lot of velocity. So even full power ammo does not kick and jump as much. I tried double tapping with both full power ammo and with mild ammo. I saw some jump to the right, but not much with either flavour of ammo, and on the target, both groups looked about the same, with the shots well centered. I think the factory suppressor is perfectly adequate.
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