Accuracy International Chassis System AICS 2.0 Folding

I've got a thing for old school firearms stuff, and when this popped up on EE, my buddy told me about it and I had to have it.  Since I've got a Remington 700p, I thought I would try it would look this one appeared to be a reasonable price.  These things still retail for over $1200, but I didn't pay nearly that much.  It came with one 10 round AI magazine, and that's it.   

The previous owner bedded the aluminum bedding block for his 700, and my 700p action seemed to drop right in.  The barrel channel is huge though, so it actually makes the 700p barrel look skinny.

The folder is rock solid when open or closed, and it stays in the locked position.  Anyway, more to follow on this build :)

ELCAN SpecterDR Tactical Rifle Scope 1x:4x 32mm Switch Power Illuminated 5.56 Ballistic Crosshair Reticle Matte with ARMS Throw Lever Picatinny-Stye Mount

I've wanted one of these for quite a while, but just never got around to getting one.  Then over the years, I've watched the prices go up and up and up, but I still wasn't overly concerned because there was always the IOP, and used ones popping up in EE once in a while.  But earlier this year, the prices on these things went full retard, and the cost on them increased nearly $1,000.  This was on account of Elcan's "price correction" or something to that effect.  A few years ago, I could have gotten one retail for about $1900 tax in, today the 1x, 4x in FDE goes for about $2,850 plus tax.

I went into a panic and started to look around, basically finding nothing at last year's retail price point.  Coretac Solutions has them listed at 2016 prices, but I could't add any to the shopping cart.  I contacted Armament Technologies and the new IOP listing had them at about $2,600 plus tax, that's about $400 more than 2016 retail pricing.  WTF.

So my buddy Alex says he wants to swing by DS Tactical for some new clothes because his old stuff doesn't fit him anymore (sounds vaguely familiar after becoming a dad).  What's the harm in looking right?  He also wants to check out the new Vortex PST Gen IIs.

We get there and go straight to the optics section and there are a few SpecterDR scopes sitting in the display case, at the new pricing.  Martin hears me grumble about the price as he's digging around for a PST for Alex.  I ask him out of morbid curiosity about the IOP and the price increase, and he tells me that he thinks he has one still at the old price.

I'm thinking shit, why did I ask this question, I wasn't prepared to spend that kind of money at that moment, but he did say maybe, and just maybe he didn't actually have any left at the old price.  My buddy Hermes from Reliable Gun told me about one he had in the shop a few days ago, and it was literally gone in seconds.  Well, no such luck, Martin says he's got one one left, in FDE.  Fuck.  

I've been bit by the clone building bug and it's an expensive undertaking to say the least.  I've slapped together passable clones of the Mk18 Mod 0 or CQBR, and most recently did a Mk12 Mod 1 clone (sort of), but when I was collecting parts for my Mk18 Mod 0, I had it in the back of my mind how cool it would be to do up a Mk18 Block II which could be topped with an Elcan SpecterDR as an option.  

The Elcan C79 on our C7s is not too bad an optic, considering it's a fixed 3.4x.  I was able to make hits at 500m, so I ended up getting one for my C7A2 clone (my SA20), albeit with spent tritium.  The SpecterDR is light years ahead of the C79.  They've improved the mounting system, installed adjustable metal BUIS (looks like you can position them at the 10 o'clock, 12, o'clock, and 2 o'clock positions), and added illumination so now you have to replenish a battery instead of the tritium.  The new reticle also accounts for bullet drop at different ranges, and best of all, they've added the option of 1x magnification or 4x magnification with a flip of a switch.  

Anyways, back to Martin grinning back at me knowing I'm going to walk out of the store with it, I bite the bullet and grab it.  Let's just say the old pricing isn't the old pricing of a few years ago, but what I paid tax in is still better than today's IOP before tax.

So, there have been tons of reviews of these scopes, in the field, real world accounts, youtube reivews etc.  This is just a simple unboxing from the point of view from a guy who has little experience or knowledge of a very expensive toy he just bought, lol!

The box is plain cardboard, no special graphics on the box, nothing fancy at all.  Basically, it's all business.  The Elcan came with an in depth instruction manual and a battery, and that's about it, lol!

I have no idea if the kill flash and the Tenebraex scope caps are standard with these scopes, but they came on the scope and I didn't complain.  There was also a killfash thrown in, and I never say no to free stuff.  Actually, I've mentioned this in another unboxing of a Holosun red dot that came with a kill flash, but I find that unless you find yourself on a two way range, you probably won't benefit from it.  Some say it's better to have and not need than need and not have, but in this case, I may sacrifice giving away my position for better visibility.  My eyes are crap as it is and I want as much light to come into the objective as possible.  I'll have to figure out a way to see if I can still use the flip caps and lose the killflash.

It looks like Elcan carried over that spring they used between the C79 and the C79A2 bases, supposedly locking the scope down and preventing the loss of zero as with older models of the C79.  I also like the A.R.M.S. mounts over the original wingnut design on the C79s and C79A2s.  

So, after I got home, I opened the box again to take these pics and I noticed that my scope somehow looked different than most SpecterDr scopes that I've seen online.  The battery compartment on mine looked slimmer than ones I'd seen before, so I did some research and it turns out that this was a new design for 2017, utilizing a commonly found CR2032 battery.  The new illumination system supposedly doubles the previous battery life, providing 600hrs of the illuminated center dot, or 6,000hrs of the whole reticle on low setting.

As you can see from a stock photo grabbed online, the previous gen's battery compartment is quite a different design:

The new battery compartment makes for an overall slimmer profile of the optic.  So, for owners of 2016 Elcans that are upset about not getting in on the newer design, send your Elcan back and for $100, they will upgrade your batter compartment.  For SpecterDRs produced prior to a year ago, but still within the last 5 years, the upgrade will cost you $200, and models older than that are not upgrade-able because the internals are apparently too different to modify.  

Anyways, I'll have to figure out what the hell I'm going to mount this thing on.  I'll be damned if I end up starting a Mk18 Block II build, that ought to seal the deal on a swift divorce, lol!

Some specs from the factory, and it looks like the're still listing the older model because of the battery life:

SpecterDR 1x/4x Specifications

Magnification    1x/4x

Length  153mm nominal

Width    71mm nominal

Height   72mm nominal

Weight 598g nominal

Reticle  Dual-thickness range finding crosshair with user-selectable red dot

Ballistic Correction           200 to 600m for 5.56 NATO (in reticle)

Illumination Source         Battery-powered LED

Crosshair Illumination    5 settings, night vision compatible

Red Dot Illumination       5 settings, night vision compatible

Eye Relief            70mm

Field of View      26 deg @ 1x, 6.5 deg @ 4x

FoV @ 1x             46.2 m @ 100 m (138.4 ft @ 100 yds)

FoV @ 4x             11.4 m @ 100 m (34.2 ft @ 100 yds)

Coaxial Alignment           <1 .5="" between="" fields="" moa="" o:p="">

Entrance Pupil   32mm

Exit Pupil              8mm

Fixed Focus Range           20m to infinity

Battery Type      CL 1/3N (3v Lithium)

Battery Life         300 hours min., 2000 hours average

Exterior Finish   Anodized aluminum, dark green color

Adjustment Resolution 0.5 minute of angle

Adjustment Range          120 minutes of angle

Base requirement           Mil-Std-1913 "Picatinny Rail"

Attachment        ARMS Levers

Environmental:

  - Waterproof:

  - Shockproof:  

66 ft for 2 hours min

450 g's

Available Options             Anti-Reflection Device

Mk12 Mod 1 Build - Z-Parts MK12 Suppressor for MK12 MOD1 Set

I've done this before, with my Mk18 build, so I figured I'd try it with my Mk12 as well, especially since my "clone" build doesn't have a clone correct barrel length.  I thought that maybe getting a fake suppressor might conceal some of the extra 2 inches of barrel length.

I have no idea what the correct real deal suppressor looks like, but to me it looks pretty convincing.  It's got some trade marks on it,some knurling, the finish looks alright, and the best part about it is it spins right on, with threads that match the real Allen Engineering brake.

Anyway, just for the photos.  I got the idea from SSOUNN to get the one from Redwolf Airsoft.  When he posted that it spun right on, I ordered one right away.  If anyone building a Mk12 clone is reading this, I would strongly recommend against shooting the rifle with this on it.  I don't think the aluminum construction would hold up very well to .223.  There's a guy on AR15.com making sleeves that spin on which you can supposedly shoot while mounted, but they are about $150USD.  It's kind of weird if you think about it, buying a fake suppressor.  Can you imagine if it were illegal for cars to have mufflers, leaving them noisy as hell, and someone buys a fake Flowmaster for their car just for photos, lol!

If any other Mk12 clone builders are interested in getting one of these, just order straight from Redwolf Airsoft:

http://www.redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/airsoft/Accessories_Silencers_Z_Parts_MK12_Suppressor_for_MK12_MOD1_Set.htm

Primary Arms 4-14x44mm, FFP, ACSS HUD DMR reticle

I've had my ACR for a while now and I've never had proper optics for it.  I tried to test it for groups once, but I only had a 2moa red dot with a 3x magnifier.  A few weeks ago, I took my ACR out with the Leupold from my Mk12, but since it was only temporary, I had no motivation to dial in and actually test for groups.  

Well, one of my pals Mark runs one of these on his XCR topped with a Primary Arms 4-14x44mm, same ACSS reticle, and I was able to make hits out to 550m with little effort.  I didn't even have to dial, just held over using the reticle and had no problems.

The scope was moderately packaged, nothing fancy and it came with the bikini lens cover which seemed like decent quality, instruction booklet, sticker, lens cloth and an allen key.  I flipped through the instruction manual and though the scope is made in China, the instructions were well written, easy to understand and had no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, lol!

Overall, the scope appears to be of good quality.  Primary Arms is an American company and this particular model is manufactured in China.  They have other models made in Japan, but I've heard that the QC for the Chinese made models is still fairly decent.

With anything made in China, I always have concerns about QC.  Manufacturing in China has gotten better over the years.  I used Millett scopes for years and never had any issues with those.  The finish on this one seems like it was done right, no rough edges or spurs in the metalwork like with my Noricno firearms or airsoft/Deal Extreme scopes.  Plus the thing had some heft.

The turrets are mushy, and it's easy to lose track of how much you've dialed without looking.  My buddy Jay told me it doesn't track very well either, but I can't say mine will be the same.  For the price, I wouldn't expect it to track as well as my Steiner, Bushnells, or Vortex Razor HD2.  In fact, since it has the bullet drop reticle built in, I may not have to dial at all on my ACR.

The reticle itself is clear and crisp, a lot finer than on my Leupold VX-3 Patrol, and it appears like it will be more useful than  the simple TMR reticle on the Leupold.  The glass is pretty clear for the price, but the photo really doesn't do it justice.  The weather's been crappy in the lower mainland with smoky haze from the forest fires so it doesn't make for good pictures or testing glass clarity.

In terms of eye relief, there's a few inches of it, so I don't think I will be getting pirate eye, even if I mounted it on something with heavier recoil than my ACR.  Before I mounted it, I had some concerns that the eye box wasn't great, but once I had it on the rifle, it seemed better.  I won't know for sure until I have this thing outside and I'm actually looking downrange behind my rifle.  

I've had about half a dozen of these American Defense one piece mounts for my other rifles.  I wanted something with quick detach in case I ever want to swap out the PA from my ACR and throw a red dot on, or just run the iron sights.  I've also always been a fan of the unimount type designs and have had a good experience with ADM, so I got one for the PA.

The ADM came with a small instruction booklet, a sticker, some thread locker and an allen key.  The torqe spec says the ring screws are rated for 20-25in/lbs.

According to ADM, their mounts have been tested for 50bmg and have held zero.  I think that will be plenty for my ACR.  I have one small gripe about the design in that the rings are secured with horizontal screws, rather than traditional screws that drop in from the top down.

I'm sure there's a reason for this design as ADM is not the only company who've adopted this design, but I'm not sure what that reason is.  The reason it's a gripe is because gravity isn't there to help retain the screws when mounting your scope.  It's not a huge deal, and as mentioned before, I'm quite happy buying more of these mounts.

Anyway, I can finally test the ACR for groups with this setup.  I've had a positive experience in the past with this model, so hopefully there's some consistency in the line and this one works on my ACR as well as it did on my buddy's XCR.

Some specs from Primary Arms:

Battery: Type1X CR2032 3V
Brand: Primary Arms
Click Value: 0.1 Mil
Exit Pupil Diameter: Low: 11.20 mm / High: 3.30 mm
Eye Relief: Low: 3.22 / High: 3.14
Field View: 100Low: 27.20 Ft / High: 7.85 Ft
Focal Plane: First Focal Plane
Illuminated: Illuminated
Maximum Magnification: 14
Minimum Magnification: 4
Night Vision Compatible: No
Objective Diameter: 44mm
Reticle: ACSS HUD DMR
Tube Diameter: 30mm
Type: Variable Magnification

Dinner pics for ARF

Tender Maui Chuck Blade Steak from Seafair Gourmet Meats