Gov't testing on the VLTOR A5

[Byron]

Years ago, the government did reliability testing of the VLTOR A5 as compared to other AR buffers. I don't recall whether it was NSWC Crane or USMC, but someone posted their report online around 2010. I remember getting a quick glance of it and saying, "I'll read this in more detail later." It turns out the report was not supposed to be released to the public, it was quickly pulled, and I never had a chance to read the entire thing.

Now that it's many years later, I'm wondering if that report (or one like it) was ever made public. Anyone have a link? Or anyone have a PDF they could send?

[Unobtanium]

http://kitup.military.com/2010/06/turning-the-m-16a4-into-the-m-16a5.html

[Byron]

Thanks, but I'm looking for the actual report: not just a summary of findings.

Unless I missed something on that page, I didn't see a link to the actual report.


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[Unobtanium]

Thanks, but I'm looking for the actual report: not just a summary of findings.

Unless I missed something on that page, I didn't see a link to the actual report.


Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Sadly I bet you won't get that.

[5pins]

I know the report you’re talking about and as far as I know it’s still not approved for public release.

ESED DTR10-JXPLN-055
Detailed test report
Reliability Comparison
M16A4, M16A4 with H6 Buffer, M16A4 with VLTOR Stock Assembly.
January 2010

[Suvorov]

I know the report you’re talking about and as far as I know it’s still not approved for public release.

ESED DTR10-JXPLN-055
Detailed test report
Reliability Comparison
M16A4, M16A4 with H6 Buffer, M16A4 with VLTOR Stock Assembly.
January 2010

It would be interesting to see these findings I went the H6 route with my SPR. Seems to work but that is with only 100 rounds or so.

Can the VLTOR A5 be purchased and work without the buttstock (will it work with other stocks)?

[5pins]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hudcJT-wfAo/VHNSFw3-aPI/AAAAAAAAAjg/gnQ7MS3kOUs/w438-h567-no/Vltor.jpg

[Chuck Haggard]

It sounds from the summary that if they took the noobs off of the guns that the failure rate would have been near zero.

[Byron]

Can the VLTOR A5 be purchased and work without the buttstock (will it work with other stocks)?
Yes: you just need the A5 receiver extension and the A5 buffer. It uses a standard rifle spring, and the receiver extension will accept any mil-spec stock. I've been running an A5 setup since 2009/2010 that I love, and it wears an old CTR. The only 'catch' is that the CTR doesn't fully collapse on the A5 receiver extension: it will be one click out.

[Suvorov]

5 Pins - thanks for finding that! Good info here, it looks like either system is an improvement over stock.

Byron - thanks for the info!

[Surf]

I run the A5 on several rifles, carbine, mid, intermediate and rifle length gas. The rifle length is a 16.5" barrel. All run 100% smooth operation. I put them on almost all of my builds.

[Byron]

I run the A5 on several rifles, carbine, mid, intermediate and rifle length gas. The rifle length is a 16.5" barrel. All run 100% smooth operation. I put them on almost all of my builds.
Good stuff. That indeed seems to be the trend: that they make any build run smoothly (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7IoXcLm_2g).

My carbines all live cake-eating lives, so they all function reliably. I can't quantitatively say that my A5 build runs any more reliably than my other builds.

With that said, I witnessed an A5 improve an SBR upper from horribly unreliable (one malfunction every ~2-5 rounds) to frustratingly unreliable (one malfunction every ~15-20 rounds). The upper was eventually fixed with a new gas key, but it was still interesting to see how much more forgiving the A5 setup was (compared to an H or H2 buffer in a carbine RE).

[Unobtanium]

I'm not, nor have I been affiliated with military/govt testing, but here is my own humble T&E of the Vltor A5 system. The videos provide a description of ammunition, firearm, etc. if you view them on YouTube. Forgive the use of my cell-phone to film them.

Carbine extension and h buffer unsuppressed: http://youtu.be/Khnjg4uRnX8
Carbine receiver extension h buffer suppressed: http://youtu.be/0iXCQ8HWijc
Vltor a5 unsuppressed: http://youtu.be/FdV0L0yLKMA
Vltor a5 suppressed: http://youtu.be/r-S8P5Ao9jU