Update: We've recently filmed a discussion about the APFG MCX ecosystem and did another breakdown of the Spear LT on our Youtube channel. We're looking forward to producing more content on there, and appreciate anybody who checks the video out! https://youtu.be/LORcWlWT9Rw
Time has finally come where the Spear LT from APFG has been released, and is in our hands. The months leading up to it has been scant in terms of information, and we've gotten the first look of this gun's internals recently when the OEM showed us some pictures of them taking down a production sample. None the less we are a believer of "seeing for ourselves". So lets go through this tip to butt as a popular guntuber puts it.
Front End
Starting with the front end of the gun, we noticed there is a lot of recycled parts carried over from the previous Rattler release, and this will be a reoccurring trend.
The muzzle device on this gun is of a similar, but updated design used by Sig on the Spear LT. Appears to have a more glossy darker finish. No word if there will be an OEM suppressor for this. It is also one of the parts of this gun which happens to be steel.
The outer barrel of the gun has been changed to aluminum alloy, versus the steel utilized on the Rattler. This seems like a downgrade, and in many ways it is, but we believe this choice was made due to the weakness of the hop chamber's barrel threads. This gun features the integrated barrel brace used on the gen 3 MCXs, but this piece is plastic and we think is only just a dummy and likely doesn't brace anything.
The hop chamber is also identical from every aspect that we can see. The barrel threads still remain somewhat thin and fragile. Some people report overhopping issues in the past, but we have not experienced that on our guns, and think it is likely a QC issue. That said, we think some of these guns could have the issue as well this time around.
We can't say for certain as to why, but this gun includes an inner barrel that does not run down the full length of its outer barrel. The barrels length is the same as the Rattler (138mm). We notice what seems to be some cost cutting efforts by this OEM as of recently, and even though we recommend swapping out for an aftermarket barrel, we also don't like this new practice.
The handguard is quite nice and solid. Basically same thing as any MCX system handguard, but like the real deal, has two screws now on the side that goes into the upper, to stabilize it and eliminate wobble. This was a problem on many Rattlers, and we feel it is a nice improvement. The mount design on the underside also remains the same as before, so care should be taken not to overtighten and crush the two side brackets.
Upper Receiver
The upper receiver is a new design all together and has some significant improvements from the older Rattlers.
An area of concern before with the Rattler was the really sketchy looking threaded holes for the forward assist / brass deflector piece. The Spear LT adds in a new shelf here, which allows the holes to be placed in a way where there is now reinforcement and material on both sides. Anyone with a Rattler will know how fucked up it looked prior.
While we didn't have a caliper on hand when shooting these breakdown photos, it appears like the screws which holds the auto trip bar in place tend to be threaded properly now. Time will tell if they loosen.
The bolt carrier assembly is another carry over piece, and uses the same design as the Rattler, not the Legacy with the extension in the front. I'm sure as many of you have heard at this point, this gun also does not feature an NPAS valve. Again we aren't fans of this decision. Luckily (I suppose), it doesn't take much effort to put in your own NPAS valve, and we'll be looking to put together an upgrade package to address all these cost cutting issues.
Lower Receiver
Arguably the most revisions were needed with the lower receiver of this platform. Most of the major concerns revolve around this area, with people cracking the area around the rear takedown pin.
Perhaps the biggest change on the lower receiver is the internal geometry of the magazine well. The front section has been thickened between the front take down pin, which is great because the Rattler had a section which was L I T E R A L L Y paper thin. The purpose of all this seems to be also to gain the compatibility to use HK416 and Vmags more effortlessly. We found on a brand new gun it still required a bit of breaking in, but the mags would drop free after a few inserts which is a huge difference.
The ambi bolt release on this gun feels very similar to the one on the HK416A5, and given the guns similar lineage that may not be all that surprising. Underneath is your bog standard V3 knocker assembly as well.
The one strange thing we noticed is that the pin holding the bolt release in on the left side of the gun, is now a pin with a center crowned section. We found this piece extremely difficult to remove requiring a pretty serious hammer and a punch set. Potentially you might even want to press this out with a vise, as it is a very tight fit. My main concern here is this isn't something everyone has the tools of experience to tackle, and this is necessary to service or sort out issues with the knocker group. We appreciate the effort, but the execution is kind of heavy handed. update: we were able to extract this pin with a heavier hammer. Care should be taken so you don't scuff up the lower receiver with your pin punch rubbing up against it.
Another point of contention before was the solid plastic buffer on the Rattlers, contributing to the cracking of the rear takedown pin area. The buffer is now a rubber/polyurethane/whatever type of soft material, that will actually damper the bolt carrier, and not act like a hammer on the rear. Personally I think it wouldn't hurt to put a rubber washer underneath because it sits quite flush with the rear shelf, and could deform when struck, possibly bottoming out the back of the carrier.
The rear QD point on the lower, is also faithfully reproduced from the genuine article, and features a steel QD insert now. Unlike the real gun, this doesn't pass through to the other side. This was originally suspected to be another failure point on the Rattler originally, and we HOPE the steel insert alleviates it by adding a bit more structural rigidity. Also hilariously, the trademark logos on the real gun's pistol grip is just filled in with an outline of where they covered up the "evidence".
The fire control group also has nothing too noteworthy to report on, pretty standard affair like most V3 AR15s. Should be noted it does not have the correct style of trigger as a real steel Spear LT. We might see an option part down the road for this. Surprisingly the trigger itself is steel, as is everything on the lower except the selector and magazine release.
We also noticed this gun is lacking the accuwedge that was provided with the Rattler, and there is a little bit of upper receiver wobble as a result. Chalk this up to another thing you might need to source for yourself, depending on how you feel about upper receiver wobble.
The stock is just an FDE Sig minimalist stock, nothing noteworthy to report. The hinge mechanism doesn't seem as insanely tight when deploying anymore.
Summary
In general, there is a lot to be disappointed about here, and is an occurring trend with this OEM lately. None of these issues are deal breaking in our opinion, just annoying. The gun itself feels good and looks great. While the cast lower receivers finish is that typical glittery FDE we seen on things like the HK416, the upper's finish tends to be a more matte finish, as is the handguard. The real gun itself doesn't appear to have a matching upper and lower either, and in general this seems par for the course here too. While too soon to say about some of these fixes, I'm sure if there is a problem, they'll pop up very shortly.