Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Interesting Article on New Concept Bolt Carrier

The KAC E3 bolt made of Aermet 100 alloy which is a high end alloy material per the attached below; as to being better, yeah, I'd have to say it's better.

I do a lot of work with various steel & CI alloys, much of which is heat treated & coated with various high end functional materials via plating, thermal spraying & PVD, & Aermet 100 appears to be high end as far as pertinent properties go, but I have no direct experience working with it.

Do a search on AR-15.com for Henderson's AR/M4 high round count ongoing reporting........it's the rental range just outside Vegas & they've been reporting over a period of time about various parts & rifles that get +100,000K rounds, in full auto & semi mode.

I have to think they are fairly credible as they are just searching for the most reliable components for their own use & reporting on their experiences.

Aermet 100 Properties

MM

Would you think you would need the whole BCG or just the KAC bolt?

KAC has a disclaimer saying that the E3 bolt only fits KAC E3 barrel extensions, so it is not intended to be used in other standard barrel extensions (& the cam pin is also a different diameter than with a standard pin as well).

But I don't know if that's fact or just their marketing hype; they did tell me verbally, at one time, that in an emergency, I could get by with a standard bolt in their rifles, but I've never tried using a standard bolt in a KAC rifle or an E3 bolt in a standard barrel extension so I really don't know what is fact & what is BS.

But I can tell you that their guns are the nicest, softest shooting rifles that I own & that if I was going to need one to go to war with, KAC would be my 1st choice, hands down.

I have other rifles that I've built that have never, ever had a hiccup but the KAC's have also never had a hiccup either even with less than great ammo.............they just flat work.

MM

The TV version of the article was much better;. I actually understood the advantage of the new bolt assembly. The delay in opening the bolt should decrease the strain on the bolt lugs and extend bolt life with hotter loads like the latest military ammunition. The price is way too high for casual shooters like me though.

Yeah, the street price will have to come down a lot if they expect to really sell many...............manufacturing cost shouldn't really be much different from other BCG's, IMO.

MM

Jim Sullivan has been putting out AR-15 tweaks for decades now. Problem has been that his choice of partners and the "DIY-ability" of some of his efforts. First Fulton was touting the revolutionary D-Fender designed by Jim Sullivan to make the AR15 extractor reliable. Fine...throw an O-ring under the back of your extractor if you think you have problems. Then it was the Counterpoise system. I'm not sure who was first, but Carrier weight systems and weighted buffers are part of the standard toolbox for over-gassed AR's (as are playing with port size). If anyone needs help with this, Jeff R can speak to that much more eloquently than I.

My interest in the AR-15's history is limited to its evolution as an accurate match rifle (I'm more of a Wylde, Rodman Labs, Turner guy), so Sullivan is not a name at the top of my consciousness, but he seems to get a role promotion in AR15 articles as the years pass. With all that said, there are a couple of features that sound interesting. But for $400, I'll wait a bit (...or maybe until I have to do my own maintenance on the toll of supressor back pressure).