The Templar Thread, 5.56 by Crusader Arms / Spectre LTD

Didnt read the whole thread, but I just got back from the range and ive try the brand new templar of my buddy. At about 100 rounds the bolt release came loose. When I open the gun a spring went flying, luckily we found it. In the end nothing was broken, the C-clip holding the whole assembly came off and everything fell apart. If I would had not been on a shooting mat I would have lost that tiny C-clip. For me this is all I need to know about this rifle...
 
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For those who may be interested, Crusader Arms has pictures of its Crux 308, semi-automatic .308 rifle, up on its Instagram and Facebook pages. No new pictures on its website, oddly.

Jesus.C said:
Didnt read the whole thread, but I just got back from the range and ive try the brand new templar of my buddy. At about 100 rounds the bolt release came loose. When I open the gun a spring went flying, luckily we found it. In the end nothing was broken, the C-clip holding the whole assembly came off and everything fell apart. If I would had not been on a shooting mat I would have lost that tiny C-clip. For me this is all I need to know about this rifle...
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If the spring that went flying was one of the recoil guide springs, that's something you should have been watching out for when disassembling - it's step 4 of the disassembly process to keep a finger on the take-down plate to prevent springs flying out. If it was another spring, if you're able to provide more detail, I can try to assist.

The e-clip that holds the bolt release in place has been an issue for me as well. Reference this thread for details:

https://www.reddit.com/r/canadaguns...der_arms_templar_crusader_9_maintenance_tips/

For anyone who has been looking for a manual for the Templar, Crusader Arms finally posted it to their website: https://www.crusaderarms.ca/manual-download
 
MacPapRonin said:
For those who may be interested, Crusader Arms has pictures of its Crux 308, semi-automatic .308 rifle, up on its Instagram and Facebook pages. No new pictures on its website, oddly.



If the spring that went flying was one of the recoil guide springs, that's something you should have been watching out for when disassembling - it's step 4 of the disassembly process to keep a finger on the take-down plate to prevent springs flying out. If it was another spring, if you're able to provide more detail, I can try to assist.

The e-clip that holds the bolt release in place has been an issue for me as well. Reference this thread for details:

https://www.reddit.com/r/canadaguns...der_arms_templar_crusader_9_maintenance_tips/

For anyone who has been looking for a manual for the Templar, Crusader Arms finally posted it to their website: https://www.crusaderarms.ca/manual-download
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It was the bolt release spring. No need for help the gun is back together and for sale.
 
My 600/900 round review (5.56mm/9mm) of the Crusader 9 Dual Caliber Combo is up at Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/canadaguns/comments/12yyjct/crusader_arms_crusader_9_dual_caliber_combo/

Many of the features are functionally identical between the Sentinel and the Templar (I believe the uppers may be interchangeable, but not confirmed) so most of what I say about the Crusader will likely be true for the Templar, with the exception of things concerning compatible magazines, as the magwell was redesigned between the Crusader 9 Sentinel and the Templar.
 
Good news on WFMPI (Wet Fluorescent Magnetic Particle Inspection) of a Crusader Templar test rifle with 2000 rounds:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrebiJAr3hu/

"Iridium Industrial" said:
Technically, Magnaflux is a brand name [like Kleenex for tissue, of Xerox for copier machine].

It refers to an inspection technique called magnetic particle inspection, where cracks and other surface defects are located as iron particles of contrasting colour to the background media align themselves along a discontinuity while under influence by an electromagnetic field, thereby making the discontinuity more easy to see with the eye.

On bolts, firing pins and bolt carrier groups, especially those that use large reciprocating mass or have high cyclic rate, these tests can detect small problems before they turn into large problems.

#Wet Fluorescent Magnetic Particle Inspection (WFMPI) in particular is popular for ferrous parts of weapons, airframes, engines, turbines and motors, as it offers a high degree of detection for fine fine stress cracking and cyclic damage.

This AR-180 inspired @crusaderarmscompany TEMPLAR was WFMPI tested while in our care, after having been passed around the Canadian YouTuber community (per Crusader) as a demonstration rifle; It has seen over 2000 rounds of 5.56/.223 ammunition, which should be enough cycles to induce stress cracking if it was going to be a problem.
All the parts shown here were tested and found to be free of any cracking.

It’s still a sample size of one, which is not statistically relevant, but it’s a start. The special projects division of Iridium Industrial (an arm of The Iridium Group) focuses on this type of work, and is always prepared to assist firearms manufacturers with third party non-biased testing.

If you found none of that interesting, but read all the way down to here anyways - we appreciate you.

Stay safe, build yourself to be the best at what you do, and keep getting after it.

www.iridiumindustrial.ca
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As noted, a statistically insignificant sample, but it's one more third-party confirmed data point to add to the various users shooting this platform.
 
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barthammer said:
So the not-magpul ACR style folding stock is a $400 upcharge? Holy hell lol. Good thing I like it I guess...

For anyone needing the manual, they have finally posted it on their website so you can review it before you buy: https://www.crusaderarms.ca/manual-download
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Packages I've seen for the Templar 5.56

No stock "solo": 1600
Buffer-tube compatible generic stock: 1800 (was available at Tenda for this price, briefly)
ACR-style F5 MFG stock: 2000
ACR-style F5 MFG stock + TriggerTech AR15 Adaptable trigger group: 2250

Yeah, it does look like a $400 upcharge.

@barthammer - how are you personally finding the quality of that stock? I know it doesn't lock in place when folded.
 
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I would recommend everybody to look at youtube and see the production facilities of Crusader. Looks like a small shop, that's why they can only produce so much. I am not sure why they are offering so many different configurations. I think the new solo variant is in order to bring the price down, same with the briefly offered generic stock.
 
scianna54 said:
I would recommend everybody to look at youtube and see the production facilities of Crusader. Looks like a small shop, that's why they can only produce so much. I am not sure why they are offering so many different configurations. I think the new solo variant is in order to bring the price down, same with the briefly offered generic stock.
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It's just a variation on which stock (which costs them nothing in terms of production line set up - they're buying third party stocks and just fitting them onto their lowers) and whether they drop in a third party trigger group by TriggerTech. All it requires is having sufficient stock of each type of ...stock... and the replacement trigger groups, then assigning a person to mount them - probably 15-30 minutes of work for the TriggerTech and 5 or so for the stocks, so there's not a lot of extra overhead involved in selling different "trim" options.

I think the Solo is an effort to attract buyers who might otherwise be looking at the BCL SRV2 Siberian - as you say, a way to bring the price point down.
 
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Ordered mine (04/30/2023) in FDE, ACR stock and upgraded Trigger. They said 2-3 weeks until I'll get a shipping confirmation. Patiently waiting, will provide updates if there's interest.
 
GreasyChi said:
Ordered mine (04/30/2023) in FDE, ACR stock and upgraded Trigger. They said 2-3 weeks until I'll get a shipping confirmation. Patiently waiting, will provide updates if there's interest.
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You won't regret the extra $250 for the TriggerTech trigger - it's so much nicer than most milspec stuff one encounters.

Re: 2-3 weeks - as much as I appreciate that Crusader Arms has made a good value-for-money rifle in the Templar, their order fulfillment and customer service response times aren't always up to par with most other companies. Some people might consider that an understatement.

You can probably expect longer than anticipated waiting times for both confirmation and actual shipping. I'm not apologizing for CA - they should do better - but neither do I want a fellow CA firearm owner to get progressively more frustrated as the weeks go by. Keep us updated on the actual times between: 1. placement of order. 2. confirmation of shipping. 3. actual Canada Post shipping notice 4. firearm in hand. I wish you, without a hint of irony, best of luck.
 
MacPapRonin said:
Packages I've seen for the Templar 5.56

No stock "solo": 1600
Buffer-tube compatible generic stock: 1800 (was available at Tenda for this price, briefly)
ACR-style F5 MFG stock: 2000
ACR-style F5 MFG stock + TriggerTech AR15 Adaptable trigger group: 2250

Yeah, it does look like a $400 upcharge.

@barthammer - how are you personally finding the quality of that stock? I know it doesn't lock in place when folded.
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The folding aspect is pretty irrelevant to me, but overall it seems to be of good quality. It doesn't rattle, it's nice and rigid, and the adjustability is good.

I'm pretty sure if you wanted it to "lock" open, you could pretty neatly embed a strong magnet near the pad which lines up with the steel plate milled into the receiver.
 
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