My first SBR!

[Theohazard]

So I've already been into the NFA game for a while (I own a 590A1 AOW and 3 silencers, and I have a 4th silencer in NFA jail), but I've never owned an SBR. My state just legalized SBRs in 2014, but -- except for a brief window where the law was interpreted differently -- Form 1s for SBRs are considered illegal and will be denied by the ATF.

For a while I figured I would just wait until they got the law straightened out and I could Form 1 an SBR, but when it started looking like 41P was actually going to be finalized, I realized I needed to get my rear in gear in case the worst happened and sign-offs were required with trusts (sign-offs are virtually impossible here). After considering asking my boss to Form 2 an SBR for me, I decided to take LMT up on their Pro Deal discount for gun shop employees.

So after waiting two months for the Form 3 to clear and another month for it to ship, here's my new 10.3" 5.56mm LMT SBR:



I got the base model because I planned to change out the furniture anyway, though apparently it still comes with an extended charging handle (or that's at least what they sent me). And as you can see, I put grey Magpul SL furniture on it.

Some of my more tactically-inclined coworkers like the classic Mk18 look of the SOPMOD stock and the quad rail, but I prefer the Magpul SL furniture for its simplicity and looks, and the low cost doesn't hurt either.

Here it is with my Saker 5.56:



Sorry for the mediocre pictures, but I was leaving work and I just snapped them quickly before I put the rifle away (I'm sending the Form 4 out tomorrow, so I'm a long way away from taking it home).

[9x19]

Congrats... looks nice!

[srjh2]

Nice pieces, I love my two. 1st one took 3 months on paper , while the efile took 4.5 months, go figure. My son in law's suppressor took 14 months back when the Batf was so backlogged.

[Mobuck]

Having fired my 11.5" AR "pistol" only a little, I simply can't find much fun unless there's a muffler on the muzzle.
Just my opinion.

[Sharkbite]

Theo,
Nice setup. I'm thinking about taking a job in Seattle. Does Wa allow already stamped SBR's into the state?

[Theohazard]

Thanks, and I'm not done setting it up. I threw an Aimpoint PRO on it, and I'm waiting for my Scout light mount to come in. I also just got the full-auto bolt carrier they were supposed to include in the box (LMT won't ship their rifles with a full-auto bolt carrier installed, but you can buy one separately). Sucks I can't take it home for a while.

Yes, you can definitely bring your SBRs from out of state, no matter if they were Form 1ed or Form 4ed. The only issue right now is Form 1s in state. And they might cut off manufacturers building in-state on a Form 2 because of the weird wording of the law. But anything from out of state is just fine and you can definitely buy in-state on a Form 4.

If you end up moving here, make sure you hit me up, my friend!

[Overkill777]

Awesome! I just got my first SBR stamp and form 1 suppressor stamp a month ago. I only had a 22 suppressor before. It was a sig m400 pistol with an 11.5" barrel and sig brace. I like it much more as an SBR, especially suppressed! I only need an optic now, I have been thinking about the primary arms advanced micro dot. Overall length is shorter than my AK and this has an 8" suppressor.

[Theohazard]

Nice, I like it. And I'm always impressed with people who make their own Form 1 silencers. Someday I want to get into that.

So I threw my Aimpoint PRO onto my LMT, bought a Surefire Mini Scout, and got a light mount from Impact Weapons Components. I wanted a light mount that would mount directly to my M-Lok rail and then directly to the Scout light with no Picatinny rails in between. I love the light mount; it's simple, streamlined, and reversable. Here's a link to it.

For some reason, LMT ships their SBRs with regular carbine buffers, so the rifle is way overgassed with my Saker 5.56. I already did the silicone thing to the charging handle, and I'm going to test out an H buffer vs. an H2 buffer. My buddy has a Gemtech suppressed bolt carrier, so I want to test that out too.

Other than that, all that's left to do for now is to get a front QD sling mount and a sling. I'm thinking about using a grey Magpul MS1 sling, but I'm not 100% set on that. Here's a picture of the current setup:




And here's a pic my buddy took after he watched me struggle to get a good pic using my phone and my lame photography skills:

[Machineguntony]

Very nice, Theo. I like the gray furniture. Breaks the monotony of black rifles.

[Theohazard]

Thanks, Tony. Yeah, all my ARs have been all black up until now, so I wanted something different. I thought about FDE, but it seems like everyone who doesn't do black does FDE. I think OD furniture looks odd on a black rifle, and foliage green furniture just looks weird to me. So that left grey. And it turns out I like it a lot. Now the question is this: Should I get a grey MS1 sling to go with the furniture, or would it look better with a black sling that matches the metal parts on the rifle?

[Machineguntony]

Get both slings. Just for variety. On Amazon the MS1 slings are dirt cheap. They're sweet slings.

But if you're only going to get one sling, the black is pretty sweet and goes with everything. But the gray has a neat looking sheen to it. I use the gray mostly.

Oh, I wanted to compliment you on your good taste in magazines. I love the old school metal magazines. Pmags have nothing on Colt metal mags!

[Theohazard]

Originally Posted by chisolm

I've always thought an SBR was silly, unless suppressed.
if you're not "making room" for the "can", then why give up the velocity and increase the blast so much, by shortening the barrel?

Notice the second picture in the first post.

[Theohazard]

Originally Posted by Machineguntony

Oh, I wanted to compliment you on your good taste in magazines. I love the old school metal magazines. Pmags have nothing on Colt metal mags!

Thanks! That's actually a DSG mag that comes with the Magpul follower, but I have several Colt mags (made for them by Okay Industries) that I got in the Marine Corps that have the old green follower, and they still work fine. One had a feeding issue because of a bent feed lip, and I bended it back with a pair of pliers and it worked again. Those mags are extra-cool because they have the "restricted military/law enforcement only" warning on them, though that stopped being a legality issue in 2004 of course.

[Sharkbite]

if you're not "making room" for the "can", then why give up the velocity and increase the blast so much, by shortening the barrel?

The shorter barrel does change the handeling of the gun. Puts the weight further to the rear and of course make the overall length much shorter. This is helpful in tight spaces. In and out of vehicles, in tight buildings, etc. That may not be important to you but my SBR's are my "go to" guns for indoor or vehicle work.

[Theohazard]

Originally Posted by chisolm

my comment was not specific to the OP but rather, generalized for any who contemplate doing an SBR. Being deafened and having your night adapted vision ruined (with the first shot) is not cool, at all

The difference in blast isn't that much, especially considering what muzzle device you put on it. For example, the blast and concussion from my muzzle-braked 14.5" rifle is noticably more than with this rifle. And as far as ruining your night vision, I haven't specifically shot this rifle in the dark yet, but I'll bet the long, three-prong SilencerCo flash hider does a pretty good job of cutting muzzle flash.

Here's the thing, all 5.56 rifles are loud and have a lot of muzzle blast. The difference between a 16" barrel and a 10.3" barrel isn't as huge as most people make it out to be, especially if that short barrel has a flash hider on it. I'm with Sharkbite: The much greater manuverability of a 10.3" SBR makes it useful to me even without a silencer.

[Theohazard]

Well, that guy didn't last long here...

[9x19]

Wow, that was a heavy dose of opinion from a guy who wouldn't own an SBR anyway?

I run linear comps on mine and they do a great job of pushing the noise and blast forward away from the shooter. Outdoors they are a noticeable improvement... indoors is another story especially on a .223 or .300.

My 9mm SBR on the other hand is just fine indoors.

I just put in another eform 1 for an AR receiver (with a 10.5" .300 BO upper), just because it is a very versatile receiver.

My 10/22 and Lone Wolf 9mms will still be my two favorite SBRs... but I may come to really like the short AR for deer and hogs... at least that's the main purpose for mine.

I put up the $200 to make it shorter, but I'm just not a silencer guy, so I doubt I'll ever pony up the $1000 to make it longer.

[Theohazard]

Originally Posted by 9x19

Wow, that was a heavy dose of opinion from a guy who wouldn't own an SBR anyway?

It seems that a lot of people who haven't shot many 5.56 SBRs have a distorted view of how loud they are and how much muzzle blast they have compared to 16" rifles. Yes, a 10.5" barrel has noticeably more muzzle blast than a 14.5" or 16" barrel. But it doesn't make as much of a perceived difference to the shooter and to those around him as the addition of some muzzle brakes do. Though I've found that once you get below 10" the muzzle blast gets significantly worse (and that, combined with the ballistics, is why I have no interest in 5.56 SBRs with barrels shorter than 10"):



As for the issues with the muzzle blast ruining your night vision, it's not anywhere near as much of an issue as many people make it out to be. First off, any defensive rifle should have a light on it, and using that light will affect your night vision way worse than firing your weapon. I've shot my 14.5" muzzle braked AR in total darkness with and without my weapon light on, and even with the huge muzzle blast produced by the brake, the flashlight produced far more light and affected my night vision much more.

Originally Posted by 9x19

I put up the $200 to make it shorter, but I'm just not a silencer guy, so I doubt I'll ever pony up the $1000 to make it longer.

Yeah, I have several friends who are more knowledgeable and experienced with firearms than I am who have very little interest in silencers, and that's not because of the legal restictions. Heck, my own wife thinks silencers are stupid because she says guns are supposed to be loud.

[9x19]

Yeah, you watch kids playing "guns" and none of them are making a "pfft, pfft" noise... instead all their "guns" go "bang-bang".

I agree about having a light on a carbine for SD... they can be quite useful IMO.

[Coach Z]

Really nice SBR, congrats and welcome to the addiction

[Theohazard]

Thanks Coach! Yeah, I'm already well into the silencer addiction, but this is only my second non-silencer NFA item (my other is an 590A1 AOW). I'm pretty sure it won't be my last SBR...

So a little over a week ago I was looking online to get either an H2 or an H3 buffer to fix my overgassing issues, and I came across Griffin Armament's SOB buffer (stands for Suppressor Optimized Buffer). According to Griffin, it's designed to handle the extra pressure that a silencer puts on a buffer system; it's supposed to cushion the blow better than a regular buffer when the buffer hits the end of the buffer tube. I don't know if that part works or not, but what I like about it is that it weighs a little more than an H2 buffer, but not as much as an H3.

I wanted to get the heaviest buffer that will still allow my LMT to run flawlessly without the silencer, and I know that an H2 will do that. An H3 will work even better when suppressed, but I was worried it wouldn't be 100% reliable when the rifle was shot unsuppressed and really dirty. So the weight of the SOB seems perfect.

So the SOB arrived last week and I tried it out today. Compared to the carbine-weight buffer the recoil is noticeably reduced (no surprise there) and the gas-to-the-face is also reduced (also no surprise). It ran fine even when unsuppressed, so it's definitely not too heavy. The real question is whether its unique design offers any noticeable benefit compared to a regular buffer of similar weight, and that's something I hope to test out thoroughly sometime in the next few weeks.

[TMD]

Im starting to think that tax stamps are like crack. Try it once and your hooked. I also have another SBR and am about to do a 3rd along with two more cans.