If you never really wanted a semi-auto MAC-11, you probably never looked twice at anything from MasterPiece Arms. But I’ll bet you’re looking at this piston-driven, side-charging, free-floating, side-folding 5.56×45 carbine. Go ahead and look twice; it’s okay. I did, too . . .
From the MasterPiece Arms press release:
“This feature-heavy design has been under development throughout 2012 and will feature some serious upgrades, including a short stroke piston design and a lightweight, free floating, two piece aluminum handguard with user located picatinny rails. It will also include an innovative front handguard cap to keep debris out of the internals of the handguards while providing strength and stability to the assembly. The MPAR 556 Rifle will also contain a side folder 6-position polymer buttstock, locked bolt action, and a side charging-handle with forward-assist. The MPAR 556 Rifle is compatible with AR15 / M16 magazines…
MSRP is $959.00.”
An All-American SCAR-ternative for under a grand? Now that gets my attention. But how much does it weigh? What’s the barrel twist rate? Does the charging handle reciprocate? Is the front handguard too bulky? Can I have one? We’ll try to get some answers for you (and a T&E sample gun for ourselves) at the SHOT Show next month.
Don’t touch that dial…
For me, concerns seems to outweigh any advantages…
A bit heavier
I don’t see a real advantage with the piston AR platform over DI with the extra moving parts, weight, etc
Non chrome lined barrel (the heart of any AR)
No Bolt Hold Open (ouch, that’s a huge disadantage to me)
Non ambi charging handle (i run the Raptor on my AR’s)
In return, i get a side folding stock (on a non standard platform, with limited real life reliability testing compared to DI AR)
….I think I’ll pass.
Here’s why the GOP is in trouble.
When Obama said he wasnt coming after our guns, who here believed him?
That’s what I thought. Yet, this is what a GOP candidate sounds like to a liberal voter concerned with Abortion rights.Lets say the GOP ,for the sake of argument, adopted abortion rights as a platform tomorrow.
The voters who care about those issues would say “yeah right ” and vote Democrat anyways.Why chance a flip flopping Republican when you know the Democrats have credibility on the issue?
I picked one of these up used at my local gun store for a decent price.
It’s is a little on the heavy side but extremely accurate. The folding stock makes it quite easy to transport but it is impractical when shooting given the fire-arms weight. Not to say the gun is not pleasant to shoot. You barely feel any recoil making follow up shots very easy.
I am disappointed with the lack of support for a number of AR mods, but that comes with owning a non AR rifle, and I had heard that the first generation MPARs did not accept polymer mags, but mine does. I’m not sure if this was a modification made by a previous owner or not.
All in all, it is a rock solid weapon that I have had no problems with and has really proven to me what MPA can make a decent non MAC style weapon.