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Does anyone shoot their Knights guns in volume?

RickyRodney

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Minuteman
May 4, 2014
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MD
I have been wanted to pick up some knights uppers to shoot with and I was wondering if I can actually get a new barrel for them in the future? Do I need to worry about wearing them out? It seems like no one shoots their knights stuff.
 
I don’t own a knights but know several guys who have some really nice semi’s. They brag about how great they are. Fire a mag at most through them. Tuck them in the safe. Then shoot the piss out of and carry a psa or S&W MP15

Like anything else though. If you shoot enough you’ll be replacing parts eventually
 
I don’t own a knights but know several guys who have some really nice semi’s. They brag about how great they are. Fire a mag at most through them. Tuck them in the safe. Then shoot the piss out of and carry a psa or S&W MP15

Like anything else though. If you shoot enough you’ll be replacing parts eventually
Yes this has been my experience as well.
 
I’ve got almost 100 failure-free rounds through my poverty pony set. #Justasgood…
I get what you are saying but I've had some home brews that really were just as good as any I bought. I had one that went 19k with no issues before I replaced the barrel, 22k when I had to replace the bolt. It's still trucking along and I use mostly wolf and Tula with it. I've had at least 1 malfunction not related to mags in every rifle I've owned that exceeded 15k (fn, lmt, colt, bcm, my kac never made it that far before selling). Most accurate rack grade rifle I ever owned was an older Bushmaster followed by a home brew beater with a alpha shooting sports $45 dollar unlined barrel! Is it the norm, no but I'll never buy because it's a LMT, KAC, Centurion Arms, BCM etc that it's instantly better. May have better parts but every production line produces lemons. A home brew or 'home custom' can be very reliable, very accurate.

I've also had qc with just about every brand but I attribute that to buying a lot of rifles and parts you will get that afore mentioned lemon stick or part:)
 
I like nice shit. I used to have about 25 small frame AR’s around with a bit of a rotation in and out here and there. Now I’ve got it pared down to one KAC, two Noveskes, and three DDs. They all run like perfection, shoot tight, eject at 4:00, and don’t have problems. If I couldn’t afford them, I would make the best of it. Oh, I am gonna add a couple LMTs next.
 
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I like nice shit. I used to have about 25 small frame AR’s around with a bit of a rotation in and out here and there. Now I’ve got it pared down to one KAC, two Noveskes, and three DDs. They all run like perfection, shoot tight, eject at 4:00, and don’t have problems. If I couldn’t afford them, I would make the best of it. Oh, I am gonna add a couple LMTs next.
Thats basically where I'm at. I only want to own 6-8 small frames including varmint rigs. I don't mind paying for quality but I want to be sure I can service it down the line, new bolt, new barrel, gas-tub etc.

I'm trying to add knights to my LMT's. Ha.
 
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My Mod 1 gets shot regularly. Not a safe queen. It is the gun that travels with me to and from work.
It’s one of only 3 small frame AR’s that I own and AR’s are what I shoot most.
SR-15 barrels are CHF and chrome lined. It’s going to last as long as anything else out there.

Knight’s has an Industry forum on ARFCOM. The question of barrel replacement was asked and their rep said that they would rebarrel a customer’s gun if they managed to wear out a barrel.

Since the Mod 1 is discontinued, if I were to somehow wear it out, I would probably just purchase a Mod 2 upper for it. Likely cheaper and faster.
 
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The rifles must be sent back to KAC to be rebarreled which they perform at a nominal shop labor rate plus what the barrel costs.

My Mod 1 gets shot regularly. Not a safe queen. It is the gun that travels with me to and from work.
It’s one of only 3 small frame AR’s that I own and AR’s are what I shoot most.
SR-15 barrels are CHF and chrome lined. It’s going to last as long as anything else out there.

Knight’s has an Industry forum on ARFCOM. The question of barrel replacement was asked and their rep said that they would rebarrel a customer’s gun if they managed to wear out a barrel.

Since the Mod 1 is discontinued, if I were to somehow wear it out, I would probably just purchase a Mod 2 upper for it. Likely cheaper and faster.
Had * Knight’s and ARFcom have no relationship anymore.
 
My Sr-15 is my truck/farm rifle and has over 6k rounds on it, runs like a top no matter what I feed it. I can’t remember the last time it was cleaned either. Haven’t had to replace anything.

Got thousands through mine without cleaning. The last ~500 or so have all been suppressed and the bolt carrier is definitely starting to get "sticky". Definitely time to give the BCG a good scrubbing.

Otherwise, love my KAC. Has never given me an issue. Mind you, most of my shooting is with bolt guns. I only wanted a couple of AR-15's, so spending the money on a KAC seemed worth it to me.
 
The rifles must be sent back to KAC to be rebarreled which they perform at a nominal shop labor rate plus what the barrel costs.


Had * Knight’s and ARFcom have no relationship anymore.
Yes. That is what their rep posted.

My point was more to the fact that since the Mod 1 is discontinued, they would probably have to use the current Mod 2 parts, which are considerably different.

I’m not sure that the Mod 2 barrel and gas system will fit inside the URX 3.1 rail.

May be cheaper to just replace the entire upper at that point.

Probably a moot point anyway. I would probably go broke trying to wear it out.
 
Yes. That is what their rep posted.

My point was more to the fact that since the Mod 1 is discontinued, they would probably have to use the current Mod 2 parts, which are considerably different.

I’m not sure that the Mod 2 barrel and gas system will fit inside the URX 3.1 rail.

May be cheaper to just replace the entire upper at that point.

Probably a moot point anyway. I would probably go broke trying to wear it out.
I didn’t want to address that point specifically, but they could simply decline the work. They ran out of ECC/older style SR25 barrels ages ago for instance. I wouldn’t say it’d be cheaper to get a Mod 2, especially now, but it would probably be faster. Marvin Pitts at Nefarious Arms has the prints for the E3 extension and runs Mod1 barrels not infrequently, that’s an additional option.
 
Yes. That is what their rep posted.

My point was more to the fact that since the Mod 1 is discontinued, they would probably have to use the current Mod 2 parts, which are considerably different.

I’m not sure that the Mod 2 barrel and gas system will fit inside the URX 3.1 rail.

May be cheaper to just replace the entire upper at that point.

Probably a moot point anyway. I would probably go broke trying to wear it out.
There's a few shops that do mod2 urx3.1 installs. D. Wilson and NS Armory, and I'm sure a few more. The inside of the upper rail just has to be machined for gas block and tube clearance.
 
I will. Just got it. Waiting on scope and it would be nice if the price of ammo came down a bit so I could quit stripping to make ends meet. #ammoisexpensive

It's the gucci gun I always wanted, but like the expression goes, not driving your sports car, or shooting your Rifle is like not banging your super model GF. Are you saving them all for the next guy?
 
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Knight’s has an Industry forum on ARFCOM. The question of barrel replacement was asked and their rep said that they would rebarrel a customer’s gun if they managed to wear out a barrel.
Is that like a cheeky way of implying the barrels last forever?
 
Well I'd also hazard a guess that KAC owners probably have more than a few other ARs to spread their range time across.
 
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I have a few.

The CQB 11.5 I use the most has somewhere between 30-35k on it. The suppressor (also KAC) that is on it has gained like half a pound of weight but still works extremely well.

So here's what a lot will think is absolutely crazy; the maintenance I've done on it is simple, and is what I do for all of my non precision guns:

After every training session:

- Pull the bolt and check for any real buildup. At that point I hit the wear spots and usual areas with WeaponShield.
- Wipe off the charging handle since its out of the gun anyways
- Spin the chamber brush in the chamber a few times
- Break the suppressor off the muzzle brake and give the brake a quick brush
- Quick once over to make sure nothing looks/feels off

Done.

I can't remember the last time I cleaned the barrel. Occasionally I'll give it a 'deeper' clean which consists of taking the bolt apart, getting into as much of the trigger area as I can, as well as cleaning out all of the carbon built up inside of the upper receiver.

The only issues over 30k rounds with the weapon were:

- 1 (one) broken firing pin
- Somewhere around 20k rounds, the gun no longer wanted to hold open on the last round reliably when suppressed. Changed to a H3 buffer and it fixed the problem. Our guess is that since it was only when suppressed, the buildup in the suppressor finally got high enough to where it was effecting the pressure/speed of the bolt.
- The only stoppages I've ever had were with Tula/Wolf steel and it was always due to the rim being ripped off. Steel is great training ammo for nothing else, than the malfunctions it can randomly create.

That's it. All mechanical parts except the buffer (H3) and spring (Sprinco flat spring) are the same as the day I got it. This is the same across all of my other KAC guns as well.

As far as rebarreling; yes, they will do it. You need to call them and get a ticket to send it in. The downside is, they don't even give an ETA so, well, its KAC and who fucking knows when they'll actually send it back. But if you're getting to where it needs a re-barrel (they say dont even bother calling them until you have 35k rounds on it) you'll end up buying a 2nd upper anyways along the way.
 
Is that like a cheeky way of implying the barrels last forever?
I wasn’t trying to imply that at all.

Knight’s makes great barrels, but I would expect that their service life is similar to any CHF CL barrel offered by Daniel Defense, FN, BCM, Geissele or any other quality brand.
 
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I wasn’t trying to imply that at all.

Knight’s makes great barrels, but I would expect that their service life is similar to any CHF CL barrel offered by Daniel Defense, FN, BCM, Geissele or any other quality brand.

They have told me on the phone that they don't even want to hear about any 'barrel woes' until you have at least 30k on the gun.
 
I wasn’t trying to imply that at all.

Knight’s makes great barrels, but I would expect that their service life is similar to any CHF CL barrel offered by Daniel Defense, FN, BCM, Geissele or any other quality brand.
I was directing that more towards the KAC rep than you personally.
They have told me on the phone that they don't even want to hear about any 'barrel woes' until you have at least 30k on the gun.
Always blows my mind when I hear that +30k round stuff, regardless of who's saying it. Not saying it's impossible, but I've got a decent little pile of smoked barrels, most stainless but a couple 4150 nitride tubes, and not a one has gone past 13xxx rounds. A couple started to keyhole before I pulled them. Well over double that lifespan, even being CHF, is hard for my little lizard brain to comprehend.
 
I was directing that more towards the KAC rep than you personally.

Always blows my mind when I hear that +30k round stuff, regardless of who's saying it. Not saying it's impossible, but I've got a decent little pile of smoked barrels, most stainless but a couple 4150 nitride tubes, and not a one has gone past 13xxx rounds. A couple started to keyhole before I pulled them. Well over double that lifespan, even being CHF, is hard for my little lizard brain to comprehend.
i have an old LWRC 18” DMR upper that is getting close to 13,000 and its still an 1MOA shooter with IMI 77gr.

i even ran a few though rounds of steel wolf through it, along with some full auto with my buddies m16 lower.

those are some from of nitrided right? i probably won’t be expecting that with my BA barrel though.

so KAC barrels are CHF? guessing the FN CHF barrels would last 30k too then. wish ammo was cheaper….
 
I was directing that more towards the KAC rep than you personally.

Always blows my mind when I hear that +30k round stuff, regardless of who's saying it. Not saying it's impossible, but I've got a decent little pile of smoked barrels, most stainless but a couple 4150 nitride tubes, and not a one has gone past 13xxx rounds. A couple started to keyhole before I pulled them. Well over double that lifespan, even being CHF, is hard for my little lizard brain to comprehend.
If that keyholing barrel is still holding 4 MOA, its still good to go for a fighting rifle... Am I right?
 
I have a few.

The CQB 11.5 I use the most has somewhere between 30-35k on it. The suppressor (also KAC) that is on it has gained like half a pound of weight but still works extremely well.

So here's what a lot will think is absolutely crazy; the maintenance I've done on it is simple, and is what I do for all of my non precision guns:

After every training session:

- Pull the bolt and check for any real buildup. At that point I hit the wear spots and usual areas with WeaponShield.
- Wipe off the charging handle since its out of the gun anyways
- Spin the chamber brush in the chamber a few times
- Break the suppressor off the muzzle brake and give the brake a quick brush
- Quick once over to make sure nothing looks/feels off

Done.

I can't remember the last time I cleaned the barrel. Occasionally I'll give it a 'deeper' clean which consists of taking the bolt apart, getting into as much of the trigger area as I can, as well as cleaning out all of the carbon built up inside of the upper receiver.

The only issues over 30k rounds with the weapon were:

- 1 (one) broken firing pin
- Somewhere around 20k rounds, the gun no longer wanted to hold open on the last round reliably when suppressed. Changed to a H3 buffer and it fixed the problem. Our guess is that since it was only when suppressed, the buildup in the suppressor finally got high enough to where it was effecting the pressure/speed of the bolt.
- The only stoppages I've ever had were with Tula/Wolf steel and it was always due to the rim being ripped off. Steel is great training ammo for nothing else, than the malfunctions it can randomly create.

That's it. All mechanical parts except the buffer (H3) and spring (Sprinco flat spring) are the same as the day I got it. This is the same across all of my other KAC guns as well.

As far as rebarreling; yes, they will do it. You need to call them and get a ticket to send it in. The downside is, they don't even give an ETA so, well, its KAC and who fucking knows when they'll actually send it back. But if you're getting to where it needs a re-barrel (they say dont even bother calling them until you have 35k rounds on it) you'll end up buying a 2nd upper anyways along the way.

No gas rings?

They are a pretty wearable wear item.

Take a look at the gaps on yours, they must be half rings by now.
 
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If that keyholing barrel is still holding 4 MOA, its still good to go for a fighting rifle... Am I right?
Well, ummm, I guess you are right. Now I gotta go reinstall those barrels.
 
I have a few thousand rounds through my Mod1. Now it’s shot 100% suppressed, and I rarely clean it. No issues, cleaned the barrel only once and I get ~MOA or a touch under with good ammo shooting off my pack.


A 16” SR15 with a mini suppressor, and Vltor A5 is AR perfection IMO.
 
So here's what a lot will think is absolutely crazy; the maintenance I've done on it is simple, and is what I do for all of my non precision guns:

After every training session:
Uh... Then, I'm psycho. I believe in breaking the rifle down to the bolt after every session, and breaking down even the trigger whenever the build up starts bugging me. I don't care what others think is right. I grew up in the army, and don't feel right bout myself with a dirty weapon.
 
I'd say, those who are proud of their KACs, and those who wish they had one, amiright @bigjake83 ?
I guess..

I have no desire to own any, they're good for what they are. I've owned quite a few but they always seem to find new homes mostly because they're is no shortage of KAC gobblers who are willing to pay full retard prices for the name.
 
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Hello KAC, yea my AR is tumbling bullets I think I need a new barrel.

How many rounds thru it?

Oh about 29,500

Our barrels last forever or 30,000 rounds whichever comes first, shoot another 501 and call us back.