Does anyone have a Gen 2 to give their thoughts on? I've spent a day looking at all the 180 options with reviews and it's some murky water out there.
I had an MCR and although very accurate overseating of mags and not being able to be run on Pmags made me sell it.
I just received mine. Having seen some negative feedback , I bought this with little expectations. Surprise: I am very pleased so far! I was expecting fit and finish to on the low side. I guess they fired their bad machinist and put in place some QC measures. Gun was test fired before leaving the shop.
In my opinion, all the changes made to the Gen 2 bring this product to maturity:
-Pencil barrel make a huge difference in weight in comparison to most Canadian NR rifle which are often derived from DMR versions making them front heavy.
-3rd recoil spring: I really feel the bolt going positively into battery.
-AR Style bolt stop / release: Prevent over insertion of mag and is more intuitive to the "AR manual of arms" used person.
-Bent charging handle: Love it. Angle is perfect for manipulation, allows to do the "HK slap" without interfering with optics.
-Internal plate: Looks slicker
-Forward assist grooves: Nice to have, but I never force a round in the chamber. But the grooves can easily be used just with the thumb. Using a cartridge or empty case is very common among firearm design. (AR-15: use of cartridge to set sight and dissasemble, B&T: Forward assist, Type 81: Adjust the gas system, FN 49/ Fal: Remove gas plug/piston...)
The only downside with ordering this rifle is customer service. Their Online order page don't work and you have to sent them the info via E-mail (Made me unsecure). Then they seldomly respond to E-mail. The rifle showed up to my door without me knowing that it was in transit.
In my opinion, to improve a bit, Crusader have to realize that the average Gunnutz is an emotional critter. The Gunnutz don't care for wait times or caveats as long as it is stated up front and that they know what to expect.
My 2c
Mem