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Robar Exorcises The AR’s Weight-Creep Demon.

Weight creep is a lot like mission creep. The original objective sheds clarity over time achieving an end result never intended. Remember the original US Army Infantry Board design specification for a “Small Caliber High Velocity” replacement for the M-14? It was to weigh less than 6 pounds fully loaded. We didn’t make it.

The early M16 came in at 6.3 pounds unloaded, but it was still 3 pounds lighter than the M14. With 120 rounds loaded in their respective magazines, the M16 package weighed only 58 percent as much as the M14. Being lightweight was a key factor in the adoption of the M16 and the AR-15. Then weight creep reared its ugly head.

Thumbing through AR-15 catalogs today you’ll find unloaded AR-15 models begin weighing in at about 6-1/2 pounds and reach upwards to 10 pounds for some highly refined target models. The more Picatinny rails added to the platform, the more it’s an open invitation for packing on weight with optical sights, magnifiers, lasers, lights, infrared illuminators, night vision devices—you name it. If it can be screwed onto a Picatinny rail, it will be until that svelte little carbine swings like it’s made of brick.

So how do we regain some of the dynamic handling qualities of those early AR’s without sacrificing the lethal, modular capabilities afforded by the rail-mounted accessories?

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Lightweight flip-up irons are provided. Here the elevation adjustable front is shown deployed.

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Leupold’s new 6X D-EVO is an ideal, precision optic to complement the military’s widely issued
red-dot sights. Shooting from a heads-up position looking through the red-dot optic, a simple
eye movement down accesses the 6X optic.

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On the D-EVO set-up, the 6X optic is offset, requiring the rifle to be zeroed at 200
meters to compensate for the parallax. This is no problem at the maximum 600-meter
range of the system’s reticle.

Slim Down

That emporium of advanced firearm design, the Robar Companies of Phoenix, Arizona, looked at the weight-creep problem and came up with a brilliant solution. In doing so, they shaved a whole pound off the existing AR platform. Their solution was radical, but two prototypes have now digested 47,000 and 53,000 rounds of 5.56mm NATO respectively in destructive durability tests without a hiccup.

What Robar has done is to replace the forged and machined aluminum upper and lower components of an AR with an upper and lower manufactured from a proprietary, fiberglass-reinforced polymer. Key wear and bearing points—like the fire control system or take-down pivots—are reinforced with steel inserts inletted into the walls of the receiver.

Called the “PolymAR-15,” there are four current models in the Robar polymer receiver family (of which we tested the 14.5 and 16-inch versions): a lightweight, 5.25-pound carbine with a 14.5-inch barrel, a 16-inch-barreled version weighing 5.75 pounds on my Sunbeam scale, an 18-inch-barreled rifle and a pistol with a 10.5-inch barrel. All the 5.56mm barrels are nitrided, carry a 1:8-inch twist and are threaded at the muzzle (1/2×28 tpi).

The polymer uppers and lowers are manufactured for Robar by Kaiser Shooting Products USA of Tucson, Arizona. The PolymAR-15 family is then assembled using the best—and some of the lightest—components available, including fore-ends, stocks, grips, gas blocks, charging handles and QD receiver end plates by Bravo Company Mfg, front and rear sights by Magpul, and carbine receiver buffer tubes by POF.

Robar then adds an additional enhancement of its own not seen in other company’s products. One of the Robar companies—Coating Technologies, Inc.—is known worldwide for its NP3 coating expertise. Think of NP3 as an electroless nickel coating containing sub-micron particles of Teflon (PTFE). The coating is hard, durable, corrosion resistant, dimensionally accurate and self-lubricating as the Teflon particles in the matrix are exposed. It’s an ideal coating for firearms, and Robar makes good use of NP3 technology in their PolymAR-15 line on critical parts including the complete bolt carrier group, trigger assembly, bolt catch, magazine catch and button, safety or selector and miscellaneous small parts like push pins. The NP3-coated parts are truly lubricated for life.

Even though the bolt carrier group of the test carbine came factory lubed with a thin coating of SEAL 1 CLP, I suspect the NP3-coated BCG unit greatly minimizes the wear you would expect from a back-and-forth reciprocating metal part within a polymer receiver. The other enduring benefit of NP3 coated parts is they are so easy to clean. Fouling doesn’t embed itself in the coated surface and wipes right off.

When removing the carbine from the factory-supplied hardcase, I felt immediately this was truly a different handling AR. Not only is it a pound lighter than a typical AR carbine, it has a different dynamic. The BCM fore-end surrounding the pencil-thin profiled barrel is slim and trim while offering unlimited KeyMod options for positioning accessories, plus three short Picatinny rails. The weight of this polymer receiver carbine is better distributed between your hands. While lighter, it actually feels more stable. With a red dot or holographic sight riding the rail, it would be as fast as a cat in action. I was soon to know just how fast.

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The rifle complete with optic still weighs less than 7-1/2 pounds, almost as much as a
standard AR-15 with nothing attached. The BCM fore-end is slim and trim while still
offering 3 Picatinny, accessory rails, along with the key-mod format for other attachments,
such as a sling. The BCM butt is fully adjustable and mounted on a POF anti-tilt, buffer tube.

A Radical Optic

Packed along with the 14.5-inch Robar was Leupold’s latest Carbine Optic (LCO) and their revolutionary Dual-Enhanced View Optic (D-EVO). The LCO is an advanced red-dot optic with an exceptionally wide field-of-view, a crisp 1-MOA dot and 60 MOA of elevation and windage adjustment. The D-EVO is a 6x20mm scope mounted behind any red-dot optic to eliminate the need for auxiliary, flip-up or flip-in magnifiers. Simply stated, the shooter can simultaneously see the target with the red dot superimposed on it as well as a 6X image of the target with a 5.56/7.62 range-compensating reticle installed on it. It’s radical piece of optical engineering and pretty cool.

In more detail, the image-gathering lens of the D-EVO is offset roughly 90-degrees to the right of the eyepiece. It basically looks around the right side of the red-dot optic. The image is displayed at the D-EVO eyepiece which is shaped as a half-moon and visually located just below the field-of-view of the red dot window. Both images can be seen at the same time or, with the slightest shift of the eye, one image or the other can be the single point of focus. It’s red-dot fast for close-up targets and 6X-precise for longer range engagements.

The reticle of the D-EVO is designed to compensate for the 1.8-inch offset of the image-gathering lens and must be zeroed at 200 meters. There are 50 MOA of elevation and windage adjustment available calibrated in 1/10th mil per click. The vertical stadia is marked with numbered ticks for holdovers at 300, 400, 500 and 600 meters and is slightly canted to compensate for the scope offset. There are 10 and 20 mph crosswind set-off ticks displayed for each range, and horizontal and vertical milliradian scales for size and distance calculations. In short, the reticle is packed with capabilities without being overly cluttered.

I found Leupold’s LCO/D-EVO combo easy-to-use and intuitive. With the military’s widespread adoption of the Aimpoint CompM4/M4s red-dot optic, the D-EVO would the perfect complementary precision optic for our troops, if it proves tough enough.

On the other hand, if a shooter isn’t already invested in and wedded to a red-dot optic, a more conventional, less complex and lighter alternative in the Leupold line would be their highly rated Mark 6 1-6x20mm tactical scope with an illuminated, bullet drop compensating reticle and front focal plane focusing. Either way, they’re all made in the USA and carry Leupold’s lifetime warranty.

In summer 2015 I tested Robar’s PolymAR-15 with a 16-inch barrel topped with a Leupold Mark 4, 2.5-8x36mm tactical scope. Robar guarantees sub-minute-of-angle accuracy of their PolymAR-15 firearms with quality 77-grain ammunition. To further check out the feeding habits of the PolymAR-15, I rounded up some 55-, 62-, and 69-grain loads as well.

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Robar’s PolymAR-15, here with a 16-inch barrel, is a lightweight, fast-handling,
super accurate AR for sport or defense.

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Robar’s PolymAR-15 measured a mere 5 pounds, 7 ounces on Holt’s Sunbeam scale.

At 100 yards, shooting 3-shot groups to keep the temperature of the pencil-thin barrel just this side of roasting hot in the Arizona sun, I was pleasantly surprised with the results while using a mix of ammunition and the factory 6-pound, 5-ounce trigger. I was pleased to find Robar’s sub-MOA guarantee held.

As the deadline for this story came closer, Robar sent the 14.5-inch barrel with its 3-inch welded-on flash hider (17.5 inches overall), with the new Leupold LCO/D-EVO red-dot sight over 6X optic combo sighting system. So it was back to the range shooting the same loads to see how the shorter barrel would perform.

The sight picture generated by the LCO/D-EVO is fascinating. You can shift your focus from red dot to reticle or, with the proper cheekweld, you can actually see both sight pictures at the same time. The adjustable 1.0 MOA red dot is just that—big, bright and visible. The reticle of the D-EVO is both fast and exceedingly precise. In the center is a thick 5-MOA circle which is ultra-swift on target for close engagements, but in the middle of that coarse circle is a fine 0.5 MOA black dot offering an ultra-precise aiming point. That same fine dot forms the range ticks located down the vertical stadia for accurate work from 200 to 600 meters. Much to the credit of the D-EVO optic, the range results closely tracked my earlier work with the 16-inch-barreled model.

By the way, the velocity of the Federal 77-grain Match load is not a misprint. While it’s factory rated at 2,720 fps, it delivered 2,449 fps from the 16-inch barrel and 2,355 fps from the 14.5-inch barrel.

Robar’s PolymAR-15 is slamming the door shut on AR weight creep while elevating the AR’s innate reliability with NP3 technology and enhancing its accuracy with select, top-of-the-line components. My wife picked it up, weighed it briefly in hand and with a sweet smile on her face announced, “This is not going back to Robar.”
By Holt Bodinson
Photos By Robbie Barkkman

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