0 KCI 100 Round AR15 MAG .223 REM/5.56 NATO

Ok...moment of honesty. This was definitely an impulse buy. I actually did go to buy a few new mags, but this was definitely not what I intended to find. It ran me $114  before taxes. I also picked up a SureFire 60 round mag and a 30 round MagPul PMag. Back to the matter at hand, the 100 round double drum.

Click image to enlarge

Above you'll see everything this kit came with. The personal loader (far left), the 100 round magazine (front center), the carrying case (rear center), and two bottles of graphite lubricant (right).

Specs

Ammunition:  NATO standard 5.56mm, .223 caliber

Capacity: Variable, 1 - 100 rounds

Feed Rate: Variable, Up to 1,500 rounds/minute
Dimensions: Inches - 9.85 x 4.60 x 3.13
                      Millimeters - 250 x 117 x 79.5
Unloaded Weight: 2.2lbs / 1kg
Materials: Filled thermoplastic; Non-corrosive steel; alloy
Life Expectancy: More than 50,000 rounds w/ normal use

Let's start with the first problem I ran into with this magazine....loading it. Single feeding rounds by hand usually goes fine, but the top of the feed clip is a little flimsy. There was an instance where a few rounds shot out of the top of the magazine. The personal loader is a nightmare. The personal loader is supposed allow you to load 5 rounds at once by placing it on top of the magazine, feeding five rounds in, and pressing down on the plunger. I have yet to have this work correctly. I've also tried it on my 30 round PMag with limited success. With the PMag it refuses to load the last round. Example, if I put 5 rounds in it will load 4, if I load 1 it will just sit on top of the mag. Trying this one the 100 round KCI I've had the rounds flip up and go in vertically and dent the casings.

Let's bring up the next issue with this mag, loading it into the AR-15. I literally have force this mag into my AR. At the range I had to place it on the bench and use my weight to lock it into place. I even tried unloading a few of the rounds and it was still very difficult to load into the AR. I haven't tried it in any other rifles yet, but no other mags seem to have this problem with my rifle.

As far as shooting I've only ran 100 rounds through this magazine so far. I can say that it performed excellently without a single jam.  I'm going to put it through a little more abuse soon and I will post the results.

0 DPMS Oracle .223 REM/5.56mm NATO

My recent article about my EOTech HWS got me thinking, I never said what I'd be attaching it to. From what I've read DPMS seems to have more bad reviews than good. Well the Oracle is my first AR ever and even though I don't have anything to compare it to, I haven't had any performance problems out of it. I've shot a couple thousand rounds of brass ammo out of it with 0 failures. I've been meaning to try some steel, but haven't yet. Over all it's a pretty cheap rifle, at the time of posting this it's priced at $637 over at BudGunShop.

DPMS Oracle. Click image to enlarge.

This is the spec chart pulled from the DPMS website.

SPEC CHART

Caliber	Weight (lbs)	Length	Barrel	Upper Receiver	Twist
5.56 NATO	6.4 lbs	32.5"/ 36.5"	16" Lightweight 4140 Chromemoly	Forged 7075 T6 A3 Flattop	1x9

Lower Receiver	Stock	Fire Control	Handguard	Pistol Grip	Front/Rear sight	Flash Hider
Forged 7075 T6	Pardus, Com. Tube	Standard AR-15	Glacier Guard	A2	Railed Gas Block / Optics Ready	A2 Birdcage

Sadly it comes a little naked, no sights or accessory rails, but that just means I can make it my own. So make it my own I did. I grabbed a few accessories from Tapco. I bought the carbine handguard, vertical grip, and riser mount. The handguard itself is pretty comfortable with all of the covers attached. It's also pretty lightweight.

Carbine Handguard - Click image to enlarge.

The original handguard was pretty decent, but lacked any accessory rails. Who doesn't like accessories?

Oracle Handguard(left) Tapco Handguard(right). Click image to enlarge.

There are full Picatinny rails on the top and bottom of the handguard and half Picatinny rails on the left and right. Tapco also provides covers for the side and bottom rails, allowing you to use or hide them at your choosing.

Tapco Handguard with covers removed. Click image to enlarge.

 I opted for the full size vertical grip. Seemed like it would be a little more comfortable compared to the shorter model, but I haven't tried them both to be completely fair.

Full Size Vertical Grip - Click image to enlarge.

Attaching this grip is pretty straight forward flathead screw on the side. I chose to mount it farther up the handguard, but to each his own. You might find it more comfortable right next to your mag.

Handguard and vertical grip attached. Click image to enlarge.

Now for my riser mount. It wasn't really a necessity, but it definitely makes looking down the EOTech a bit easier. I believe it's only a 1 inch rise, but it helps. Still keeps the Picatinny rails and comes with two quick attach hand locking screws so no tools needed.

Riser Mount - Click image to enlarge.

So after attaching the EOTech to the riser mount and the riser mount to the rails, here we have it. Everything locks in place completely solid. Nothing loose, shaky, or out of place. I have taken the finished product to the range and it performs wonderfully. The EOTech comes off and reattaches with the riser mount and stays zeroed perfectly.

Oracle with everything attached. Click image to enlarge.

Only thing it's lacking at the moment are back up iron sights, which will likely be my next purchase.

0 EOTech 512...vury vury purty

Not too long ago i decided that my AR needed new optics. I actually was gonna go for something kinda cheap, but the great guys over as Bass Pro decided to show me the EOTechs as well. Long story short, after seeing the EOTech compared to some of the lower end optics I couldn't settle for less. I did however lean towards the 512 model at $420, as the other models there are the time which i believe ranged to about $1000.  So for those of you that don't know what the EOTech 512 is, it's a Holographic Weapon Sight (HWS, notice the big HWS on the box above). This is quoted directly from the EOTech website:

" ...Unlike a laser or red dot sights, the holographic image projects no forward light onto the target and thus no position revealing light. The projected reticle is only visible by the operator. The operator remains completely hidden downrange even against night vision systems.

In addition there is no muzzle side reflective glare from coated lenses like on red dot sights, scopes or binoculars. The HWS does not need any costly add-on filters that also significantly reduce the effective light transmission and makes the target less visible..."

Back of the EOTech box. Gives the product highlights. Click image to enlarge.

Hard plastic case. Click image to enlarge.

Moving on...It comes in this nice case as well. Pretty sturdy with holes in it that can be used to lock it as well (wouldn't really stop them from carrying it away, but you get the idea).  So let's see whats inside.

So we got some papers, a screw thingy, batteries, some foam, and this  black hunk of plastic and metal with a little window on it. Click image to enlarge.

So this model takes two AA batteries. The guy at the counter at Bass Pro explained to me that the battery life on these is insane. According to the EOTech website there is a 1000 hour continuous battery life with lithium batteries at brightness setting 12 and 600 hours with alkaline. Theres a built in battery saver It will power itself down 8 hours after the last push button control is used and 4 hours after if the down button is used to power it on.

The sight mounts on any standard 1 inch dovetail or Picatinny rail. It also comes with your choice of 7/64" allen keyed or knurled weaver bolts (shown below).

Knurled Weaver Bolt(left) and 7/64" Allen Keyed Bolt(right). Click image to enlarge.

Let's unbox it shall we? Below you'll see it out of the box and disassembled as much as you'll probably want to take it apart. The batteries go in the assembly in front of the sight.

EOTech with battery compartment removed and locking lever up. Click image to enlarge.

The sight is both fog and water proof (to a certain depth). There isn't any magnification down the sight, but they do sell "Switch-To-Side" magnifiers if you think you need one. That being said the target below is only about 8 or 9 inches away. 

A look down the sight with power off. Click image to enlarge.

The reticle on this model is standard. A with the dot in the center of the circle being the point of impact. Here's a look at the image above with the sight powered on.

A look down the sight with power on at default brightness. Click image to enlarge.

There only two buttons on this model, the brightness up and brightness down buttons. Pushing either of these will turn the sight on, pushing both at the same time will turn it off.  There are 20 brightness settings built into it to adjust based on light and the user's eye sight.

Click image to enlarge.

Of course no sight is built ready to go for every gun. That being said your going to need to adjust the sight. To do with we have elevation and windage screws located on the right side of the sight (see below). The manual goes into detail on the distance per click for each.

Elevation screw on the left and windage screw on the right.

Thats about all i have for you for now. I'll put up some accuracy shots soon when i take it for a go. Until then readers.