Thread: Finishing of an A cat ar15 build

So a wee while ago I decided to commence an ar15 build, I was on the fence for a long time, having mostly used bolt action guns and leaning towards a Tikka, when an incident involving a charging boar and a rifle with bullets in the magazine but not in the chamber made me realise that a semi automatic could be useful (if I had been using a bolt action I may have got one shot off - it took 3 from the ar15 to drop the pig at my feet).

So I did my research and opted to go for a build rather than buy one outright, I wanted to understand the gun and thought by doing a build I may spend a tad more but would get a good understanding of it as well as get the bits I wanted on it.

Everything was going swimmingly until the police announcement-what had planned on being a slow, well thought out build with getting bits on special or bringing some stuff in suddenly turned into a mad scramble to try and get the best bits I could at the time. This involved a few compromises, I had planned on getting a stainless fluted barrel in 223 Wylde with a 1/8 twist and I ended up with a 4150 cro mo heavy barrel in 5.56 with a 1/7 twist and while I wanted a standard bcg I ended up forking out for a nickel boron model.

I also still need some tools.

But now I have all the American made stuff I need a magazine or three and have noticed a local outfit called Spear who make ar15 mags and was wondering if anyone has any experience with them to share?

I am also curious about stocks - I can see lots of e cat stocks that look very nice but most of the a cat stocks I have seen are somewhat less inspiring, although I have not tried holding them yet (the one I used was a traditional collapsible colt model). Does anyone have any advice as to a good stock or know of a way to turn an e cat into an a cat stock, does in just require a bit of plastic joining the pistol grip to the butt stock or is there more to it than that?

Cheers

Ive got a spears stock on mrsnorthdudes ar and a katipo on my one both are good to use those thorsdens are uglier than runny dog shit on your carpet just depends what look your going for

I have a few spear mags which work well. Never had any issues with them. I would buy more.

I also have a couple of A-cat stocks..a spear mags and a katipo stock. IMO the spear mags one is better because you can comfortably use a rear bag with it if that's your thing. The katipo stock just has a little hook at the rear and does not work well with a rear bag. You can sort of use a bag on the bar just behing the pistol grip but its not ideal.
The Katipo looks cooler, and for off-hand shooting it doesn't matter either way but I prefer the Spear stock due to it being better setup for using a rear bag.

no issues at all with spear mags, i have 3 of them and just as reliable as a magpul

Spear mags work well for me, but I discovered that not all mags fit magwells easily.

The clear mag version fits well in my Ar, the black version sticks, and is difficult to seat and pull out. If possible, take your ar 15 to a shop that sells mags of various types, and try them there

I have a 7 round spear mags and have only used it once, problem being it's a 10 round with a blocking spacer in the bottom and the spring is quite stiff before the spacer goes in...the follower isnt great either. .far prefer my fab defence ones (import from zahal in Israel, can't see them arguing that a 7 round capped mag specifically made for nz could be an e-cat item) think they're about $20 a pop. The cqr stocks are well made and pretty comfy to hold, don't look half bad either. If you got your barrel from where I think you did then it's the same as mine, it'll love the heavier shit I've had it shooting out to 800m...
If you want it to just get shooting you can have the spearmag for $20+ p&p.

@Shelley what's the length of that barrel , and do you still really want it?

Depends what buffer tube youve got as well as to which stock will fit

The katipo stocks look cooler, and are less of fiddle to get on and off.

The spearmags stock is a bit fugly imo but is light and ergonomically pretty good.

I'm willing to bet this latest round of police policy nonsense gets canned. Preventing law abiding owners from purchasing/importing parts is utter nonsense.

I feel for the importers though. No doubt a fee are seriously out of pocket with stuff stopped at the border

Originally Posted by Beaker

@Shelley what's the length of that barrel , and do you still really want it?

It’s 18 inches and no it’s not for sale!

Originally Posted by Gloves

I have a 7 round spear mags and have only used it once, problem being it's a 10 round with a blocking spacer in the bottom and the spring is quite stiff before the spacer goes in...the follower isnt great either. .far prefer my fab defence ones (import from zahal in Israel, can't see them arguing that a 7 round capped mag specifically made for nz could be an e-cat item) think they're about $20 a pop. The cqr stocks are well made and pretty comfy to hold, don't look half bad either. If you got your barrel from where I think you did then it's the same as mine, it'll love the heavier shit I've had it shooting out to 800m...
If you want it to just get shooting you can have the spearmag for $20+ p&p.

Attachment 91405

Nice looking piece of kit there, looks like you have a lot of the same bits that I have. What supresser is that if you don’t mind me asking?
I had forgot about/had not clued onto the fact the Hera was an a-cat stock. I think I will give that a whirl, I have heard good things about the fab stuff, will try to get a few of their mags in, cheers.

Originally Posted by Shelley

Nice looking piece of kit there, looks like you have a lot of the same bits that I have. What supresser is that if you don’t mind me asking?
I had forgot about/had not clued onto the fact the Hera was an a-cat stock. I think I will give that a whirl, I have heard good things about the fab stuff, will try to get a few of their mags in, cheers.

It was made by a Newzealand army armourer, you might struggle to come by one..
The build summary and parts are over in projects if you want to go check it out