The Templar Thread, 5.56 by Crusader Arms / Spectre LTD

DaveMachine said:
I think the AR16 (?) was Stoner's stamped steel gun similar to the AR18 so in theory it's doable. I doubt a Canadian made gun would hold itself together given the track record with 5.56.
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Looks simple enough, definition sums up Canada pretty well ;)

The AR-16 was developed shortly after ArmaLite's previous rifle, the AR-15. It was designed by Eugene Stoner in 1959 and unlike the AR-15, it was not intended for domestic use by the US Army; it was instead marketed towards emerging nations with a limited industrial base.

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If any Canadian 180 design is over-engineered enough to deal with .308, the Templar is! For the States, it could be marketed as Ruger SFAR/SCAR-H combo.
 
I went out shooting at the range today. I went to sight in as I usually do. The first shot hit 5" right, second hit right next to it. this is weird as im as the rifle was already sighted in from before. Anyways I make my adjustments, but it seemed to me that my shots were moving left and right even after I changed it. I just thought it was bad ammo.

after I got home I inspected the rifle because something didn't seem right. I noticed that the barrel was loose!! It was literally wiggling back and forth in the handguard! there are 8 screws, 4 on either side that hold the barrel in place. I added Loctite and tightened the screws and the barrel is now tight again. This could have been a huge issue resulting in the rifle breaking the piston rod or something along those lines. If you go out shooting with this rifle, make sure every little screw is tight on both sides. For the record I have shot around 1500 rounds though this rifle total.


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James1189 said:
I went out shooting at the range today. I went to sight in as I usually do. The first shot hit 5" right, second hit right next to it. this is weird as im as the rifle was already sighted in from before. Anyways I make my adjustments, but it seemed to me that my shots were moving left and right even after I changed it. I just thought it was bad ammo.

after I got home I inspected the rifle because something didn't seem right. I noticed that the barrel was loose!! It was literally wiggling back and forth in the handguard! there are 8 screws, 4 on either side that hold the barrel in place. I added Loctite and tightened the screws and the barrel is now tight again. This could have been a huge issue resulting in the rifle breaking the piston rod or something along those lines. If you go out shooting with this rifle, make sure every little screw is tight on both sides. For the record I have shot around 1500 rounds though this rifle total.
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That's a really significant thing to look out for. Thanks for discovering it. I think I'll loctite all of those screws as a precautionary measure soon.
 
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My best friend just got his templar.
Well probably the biggest piece of crap ever.
Cleaned and everything first, mounted optic.
Went to range. Won't feed, wont fire(5 out of 50 rounds fire) light primer strikes, wont eject. Wont function bolt.
WOW what a disappointment. 10 different types of ammo tried, even some handloads that work perfectly out of a handful of other rifles.
Rough machining on inside of unit, If I had pictures to post you would be as hatefully as I. Looks like there is a piece of the bolt housing either damaged from factory, or machined wrong.
Terrible just terrible. Seen Norenco rifles that were better. Waited months for it to come in, and is now a paperweight. Shop that bought from said deal directly with manufacture. Still haven't heard back from emails from them. We will see if this is a one off, that just missed the QC line, but should not have sold the MCR to fund this one.
 
Overlander2018 said:
We need one of these in 308, anyone know if the 180 platform is doable in 308??
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been looking hard at a 180 308 conversion. there's a company in the states doing a 308 ar15 (not an ar10). simply put, take a 300 blk barrel (already bored to .308) and ream chamber for 7.62x51. HB profile should provide enough meat on the barrel for the longer chamber. take bolt and expand face to 0.473 (note that 450 bushmaster is also 0.473 so doable). shape extractor or use 450 bushmaster extractor. that should get you a single shot 308. lugs and barrel extension can handle it as pressures for 223 and 308 approximately the same.

308 is about 1/2" longer than 223. there is 1/2" dead space in front of trigger assembly on the 180 you can grub out to fit a 308 magazine. there is just enough bolt travel to cycle the longer round. issues are that not a lot of space left in front of trigger for big fingers, and given bolt is at limit of travel it becomes a fine line between hammering the recoil plate and not cycling (adjustable gas block required). and would have to redo the bolt hold-open and mag catch. also, 308 mag is slightly wider and depending on the lower you are using not enough meat for the added width.

solution is to make the lower 1/2" longer which means making the upper 1/2" longer too. this fixes any packaging and bolt travel issues. should be simple enough change in the CNC program. then add a 1/2" longer firing pin to deal with trigger being further back. bolt hold-open should still work but would need to tweak the mag catch.
 
leeelmer said:
My best friend just got his templar.
Well probably the biggest piece of crap ever.
Cleaned and everything first, mounted optic.
Went to range. Won't feed, wont fire(5 out of 50 rounds fire) light primer strikes, wont eject. Wont function bolt.
WOW what a disappointment. 10 different types of ammo tried, even some handloads that work perfectly out of a handful of other rifles.
Rough machining on inside of unit, If I had pictures to post you would be as hatefully as I. Looks like there is a piece of the bolt housing either damaged from factory, or machined wrong.
Terrible just terrible. Seen Norenco rifles that were better. Waited months for it to come in, and is now a paperweight. Shop that bought from said deal directly with manufacture. Still haven't heard back from emails from them. We will see if this is a one off, that just missed the QC line, but should not have sold the MCR to fund this one.
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First up, it's crappy that you and your friend had such a terrible experience.

I really can't reconcile your experience with mine at all. I now have just under 400 rounds of 5.56 and over 500 rounds of 9mm through my Crusader 9, not a single light strike, jam, misfeed or stoppage on the 5.56mm.

I did have some extractor issues with the 9mm bolt, but service fixed that within 2 weeks

Well, more experiences to put into the anecdotal record, I guess.

I sympathize with your experience. That said, it does not seem to align with the majority of users so far.
 
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I've heard some very positive reviews so hopefully that ^ is just a once off that missed QC, it can happen when a small shop is overwhelmed with overs.


That said a buddy of mine just ordered one and I'm definitely going to give it the once over. its his first semi so he's pretty pumped.
 
I ordered one earlier this week. My first semi in a larger caliber (I have a CZ512 in 22lr) so I am quite excited.

Update email I got yesterday indicates they expect their backordered stocks in "any day now". I also got the PDF manual. I can email the manual to you, just PM me.

Hoping as more of these trickle in we accumulate some positive long term review experiences. As much as I'd love to shoot it a ton right away... ammo pricing means this won't be coming out to every range visit for me lol.

Seems QC issues I've seen are from people who ordered from dealers, and not direct. That's not great to hear, but so far CA seems to be addressing everything.
 
I have posted a thread in r/canadaguns to try to collect in one place technical issues and fixes I've applied to try to assist the Crusader Arms Templar/Crusader community at large:

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

Hopefully this assists people if they run into any of these issues.

I've also linked to james119's post about the loose barrel issue, which was actually the issue that prompted me to write this thread at Reddit.
 
The Box Outdoors and Tactical Channel posted an unboxing and initial impressions. Good video of a Yankee first impression, other then him referring to the charging handle as reciprocating and calling the pistol grip a foregrip. He says he was impressed with the construction, but they need to step up their packaging for the price compared to similarly priced American firearms:

The Box Outdoors and Tactical said:
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The Box Outdoors and Tactical Channel posted an unboxing and initial impressions. Good video of a Yankee first impression, other then him referring to the charging handle as reciprocating and calling the pistol grip a foregrip. He says he was impressed with the construction, but they need to step up their packaging for the price compared to similarly priced American firearms:
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Yeah, the way the firearm was boxed was singularly unimpressive when I got mine.

TBH, the BRN-180 appears to be a much better engineered firearm, with a big company Brownells behind it. It would be hard to justify getting a Crusader Templar if the BRN-180 was available in the same market, even if you had decided (probably against reason, but perhaps due to personal preference) to get a AR-180-based firearm instead of the myriad of AR-15 variants available.

We Canadians don't have that luxury, but the Americans do. But I'm glad at least that some people like them in the States. It's going to be a tough sell down there.
 
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