Words By: Wally F.          Photos By: Wally F.

……….Coming off the Calgary gun show on Easter weekend last spring the gentlemen at Range Warrior Accessories (RWA) put their names in the firearms manufacturing hat, their first build an AR180B.

……….Whether by coincidence or by design the release of their AR180B were along a similar timeline to the Wolverine – Kodiak WK180C rifle release. Both AR180 styled rifles but at the same time both are very different rifles, both in feel, fit, and function, and both up until recently did not know the other were developing AR180B platforms. I met the RWA crew at a local range. They had just finished firing 50 test rounds down range on the rifle, as they handed the rifle over to me it was literally hot off the range. It was the equivalent of driving a brand new car right off the assembly line and bypassing the dealership altogether. It was a good day.

……….Took the rifle home and quickly field stripped it to check out the parts. I was already pre-warned about worn points on magazines, more specifically the left side lip. Reason why is the bolt placement and alignment in the upper receiver in reference to the lower and the bolt-hold-open lever that is installed on the NoDak Spud lower are seated to accommodate the bolt-hold-open lever when the magazine was empty, but not compromise the bolt in the upper receiver upon cycling. A fine game of micrometers and thousandths of an inch.

……….The charging handle on the bolt carrier group (BCG) is beefy and just the right size. It could be handled with and without gloves easily. As with all side charging rifles working the action is second nature and easily done. Whether your a left hand shooter or right handed you can charge the rifle like an AK with the over/under cant of the rifle or like a Tavor by just grabbing the handle with your support hand. RWA will hand left side charging handles manufactured very soon.

……….That brings me to the design of the upper receiver. Many people have commented on the bolt on side panels on the upper receiver. Does it or does it not compromise structural integrity? If you check out their video of a compression test on one of their receivers it withstood more than 3000 PSI of pressure before slightly bending and bowing a little. That’s more than enough to handle the low percentage chance of a catastrophic failure. The side panels were part of RWA’s modularity of design. If you want a left or right side charging handle or a bolt action change out, then it’s a parts swap not an upper receiver swap.

.

.

.

……….The upper is a full profile fluted 223 Wylde 1:6 twist free floating barrel with a rather beefy but smart looking MLok front hand guard. Between the hand guard and the barrel the whole rifle weighs in at a hefty ten pounds even with no attachments on it. With my Vortex Strike Eagle and mount installed the AR180B came in at a few hairs under 12 pounds. Not a light rifle by any means but shooting .223 REM with it felt more like shooting a .22LR. Next up was the range.

……….It was a brisk day outside. Three degrees above zero Celsius, humidity 67%, altitude 3095 ft above sea level, UV index was low, percentage of precipitation was 10%, and winds coming north-north east at 13kph. Conditions were a little chilly but ideal with an overcast sky. I setup up for a 100m zeroing. I was shooting Remington PMC Bronze 55 grain FMJ rounds. The first hundred rounds I fired were less than stellar. Shooting off a bench rest for first hundred rounds or so I couldn’t get groupings smaller than 7 or 8 inches which was brutal and I couldn’t figure out why. Round 9 and 61 were light primer strikes. I started changing shooting positions to figure out what the problem was. I started using the magazine as a mono-pod to see what would happen. The rifle immediately started to not cycle properly. The pressure on the magazine translating up thru to an already tight BCG was slowing it down on the return preventing the bolt going fully into battery. After a round 101 I packed it up and gave the gents back at RWA a call to figure what the deal was.

……….After a quick conversation with Kevin at RWA he knew exactly what the problem was without even looking at the rifle. A BCG issue and head spacing, rushing the rifle the out to me for review they didn’t swap out the BCG, not a big deal I got a production line BCG from them and I was back off to the races again. This time I hit an indoor range where I didn’t need to track and factor as many variables as I did the week before.

……….Hitting the 50m indoor range I once again went on to groupings. This time shooting PPU 55 gr FMJ bullets for the first 50 rounds. Groupings even by my hands were sitting at a respectable one to one and half inch groups. The next 50 or so rounds were with Winchester Varmint X 40 grain polymer tips, a fairly light round. Groupings at 50m were more or less the same with a slightly larger spread. But shooting at 50m you really can’t miss, but it did confirm that the replacement BCG fixed the issues I was having at the outdoor range.

……….Back at the same outdoor range again shooting Remington PMC Bronze 55 grain FMJ rounds. Altitude 3095 feet, humidity 85%, wind north-northeast 16 kph, UV index was low, percentage of precipitation was 80%, the temperature was two degrees Celsius. I more or less tried to replicate my previous outdoor range day, save the weather conditions. After the next hundred rounds it started to pour rain by buckets. Despite all poor weather, the replacement BCG in the rifle performed groupings at 100 meters was sitting at just under 3 inches, which is respectable and more in line with what I was expecting out a rifle like this.

……….At this point in my testing and evaluation of the RWA rifle I had burned through just over four hundreds or so. Now I wanted to have another shooter have a go at it. I brought in a friend of mine Jon who is an excellent shooter and fellow infantrymen who shoots way more often than I do to put the AR180B through it’s paces. I had him shoot a variety of drills, from El Prez to the VTAC 1-5 to see how fast he could run the rifle.

……….Jon is a left handed shooter, even shooting with an aggressively forward thumb over bore grip ejected shell casing were easily clearing his extended right arm, that being said he was eating blow back as with most semi auto right ejecting rifles. He was running the rifle so fast that he actually noted that weight of the rifle with his transitions on targets. His feedback was he felt the recoil springs were a little soft and resulted in slower split times on his drills, that combined with a beefy size of the BCG there is a lot more mass moving back and forth inside the RWA rifle versus a typical AR-15 build. He commented that he liked the weight of the rifle but can see why other folks maybe turned off by having to handle a ten plus pound rifle.

……….I tested a variety of magazines in the rifle from MagPul Gen 2’s and 3’s, Troy Industries, MFT, LAR-15, STANAG, HexMag, PCV Beowulf’s, and Lancer magazines. All magazines exhibited the same left side lip shearing from the bolt. The STANAG, LAR-15, and Lancer metal lipped polymer magazines seemed to perform a little quicker in fast shooting drills. Magazines all dropped free with the press of the magazine release. The bolt-hold-open lever when tapped releases the BCG into satisfying thud back into battery. The custom in-house designed break on the end of the rifle is nicely designed but almost unnecessary with the weight of the rifle. The perceived recoil impulse is very low and follow up shots are easily lined up again.

……….RWA’s take on the AR180B is well imagined and implemented. The rifle is over engineered, a lot of thought was put into it’s build especially if you look more in-depth on the upper receivers design and the addition of the bolt-hold-open lever in the NoDak Spud lower. Not resting on their laurels they are already designing and machining more parts and accessories not only for their AR180B build but for the WK180C rifle as well, on top of their inventory of replacement and upgrade parts for legacy AR180B rifles already out there. My personal preference for future versions of this rifle would be a lighter profile barrel and a lighter weight front hand guard. If two to three pounds could be shaved off future iterations of this rifle I think they will sell even more of them. RWA’s AR180B build is a great choice for a turnkey, working straight out of the box non-restricted rifle that you can take on varmint and small game hunts and would be a great bush rifle. The craftsmanship and quality are displayed transparently in the build of the rifle. For RWA’s first foray into the firearms manufacturing, their AR180B build is a fantastic rifle and a great addition to the Canadian firearms scene.

For your regular cravings in the firearms world in Canada and beyond be sure to follow TV-PressPass on Facebook and myself Wally F. on Instagram.

Reporting for TV-PressPass

Wally F.

Words By: Wally F.          Photos By: Wally F. / RWA

……….In a non-descript industrial/commercial business park in the north end of Calgary, Alberta, Canada is the home to probably the best kept secret in Canadian firearms manufacturing. The catch is though, they have been around for decades.

……….Gord, Kevin, and Barry are the trio behind what is now Range Warrior Accessories (RWA). Three very driven individuals with extensive backgrounds in manufacturing, design, and production. It was very clear out of the gate though that Kevin was the firearms subject matter expert. With years working behind the scenes in the Canadian firearm scene with a number of well known companies, he is a man that knows what he is talking about.

……….The sister/associate company to RWA is a full production facility that makes anything and everything. In 2015 when the bottom fell out of the oil and gas industry and other manufacturing shops were shutting down, the trio wanted to keep their operation up and running and decided to dive into designing, and manufacturing guns parts. Their prime motivation for it, is something that all Canadian firearm’s owners have seen time and time again, a low (or no) supply of quality Canadian made parts north of the 49^th. Parts being imported in from the United States are always in scarce supply, very expensive, and rarely available due to the dollar exchange rate, shipping, ITAR, etc… Inventory is spotty at best, just ask any dealer in Canada about trying to get product from G-Code, Agency Arms, SAI, Noveske, etc… It is frustrating, but the bottom line is that Canada is a very small niche market for firearms related products so mass inventory up here is not a reality.

……….Hence RWA was born, to fill in the gap in production. Brakes, rails, rings, parts, etc… are always out of stock online from the U.S. Breaking the raw numbers down, RWA can produce parts at a fraction of the cost because they can design, manufacture, and have QA/QC done in-house in Canada to easily meet or exceed the quality coming out of the U.S. And still make a profit…that’s right, at a fraction of the cost.

……….Muzzle brakes, rails, scope rings, etc… They already have a fairly large stock of all these products manufactured and ready to ship. The problem is how do you get your product out the door and have people buy into it when nobody knows who you are yet? Their answer was ‘let’s design and build something new but familiar, something that people will feel comfortable with’. An AR180B build, but just the upper. No messing with lowers and getting FRT’s and dealing with a traditional long turn around time from the RCMP firearms lab to approve and classify a lower, which could go sideways. That’s not to say that they couldn’t design and build a lower, they did that just to prove they could, but never pulled the proverbial trigger on it for all the reasons I just stated above.

……….Enter NoDak Spud. They already have AR180B lowers for sale in Canada with an FRT. RWA bulk ordered a significant quantity of their lowers, which drew obvious attention. From there conversations were held between NoDak and iRunGuns about putting together a deal to sell a complete rifle online. For RWA this is a stepping stone to getting some initial awareness of what they can do and what they can offer.

……….Fast forward to the 2018 AACCA Calgary Gun Show held every Easter Weekend. The largest gun show in Canada was the perfect opportunity to debut their AR180B upper mated with the NoDak lower. People had no idea who RWA was and how they got an AR180B built so fast and so refined. Kevin said that this was something he had thought about in December 2017 and decided to put it on the drawing board. Thru their 21,000 sq foot production facility, a production model was ready go for the Easter show that already had a few thousand rounds through it along with destructive testing, independent MPI, and their in-house QC/QA. Keeping in mind all this was done in the space of 3 months. Not resting on their laurels of their original AR180B upper design, Kevin and his team set out to improve on the initial design and added features, most notable in my observations is a fully machined 4140 steel last round bolt hold open lever.

……….The buzz had started. The photos and video I took from the show made their way around the Canadian gun forums, and social media, generating talk. A lot of it being who the hell is RWA? What do they know about guns? How reliable is their AR180B build? It’s how much?! To Kevin, Gord, and Barry it accomplished what they set out for; the publicity was good, and their product was top quality.

……….The truth is they have another half dozen possible firearm designs in the hopper ready to go if they really wanted to go all in with the firearms manufacturing game. It was just by chance they went with the AR180B design first. Obvious parallels are being drawn between RWA’s build and Kodiak Defence’s WK180C rifle. Is it a competition? Is RWA just riding the current trend of pushing out firearms like Maccabee, BCL, ATRS, Maple Ridge, Blackleaf Industries and others? The team is quick to note that they never wanted to be a rival of any sort with their AR180B build. In fact they just wanted to see if they could turn around a concept to production rifle successfully in the same manner that they do with their ventures in oil and gas, automotive, and industrial manufacturing where time and money is measured in weeks and months and dollars spent are in the six digits.

……….RWA has much larger ambitions than a single rifle build. In fact if they only sell 100 or 50 or 10 rifles they couldn’t care less, those rifles are already built. They just wanted proof of concept, proof of performance, and proof of quality. The longer I speak with Kevin and the team the more I realize that they are just like every single firearms owner in Canada. They love the sport, the culture and they want to help support the industry as whole. They envision their operation to be a go-to all Canadian source for supply or parts and manufacturing for gun companies across Canada, independent from American supply trends, ITAR, and general lack of caring from our neighbours to the south when it comes to firearms support.

……….Part of RWA having a low profile is that they have the ability to work with any company to supply parts in shortage to any other manufacturer without the perceived notion of favouritism, when there is none. Their shop is one of the largest I have ever seen and can turn around quality parts in bulk in a heartbeat. RWA has in fact already helped out other firearms related companies in Canada without bluster or credit because they understand that the Canadian firearms community is small and that we need to help each other out if we are to flourish in what is essentially still a cottage industry. They are more than willing to help out anyone, and everyone, and that really is their ultimate goal. While some may see this with suspicious and weary eyes, this is a business model they already employ with their associate company and other non-firearms related clients and one of the reasons why their operation is thriving where other have folded and closed up shop.

……….The name of the game is modularity, quantity, and quality. RWA’s stock pile of parts for their AR180B build is impressive, and I’m sure they only showed me a small portion of what they have. They started this venture with the idea that it should start with RMA and support first and work their way outward to the rifle. Manufacture a supply of replacement parts first and then get the rifles out the door. In addition to manufacturing all the legacy parts for the original AR180B they also have a stock pile of their improved and enhanced parts, keeping in mind that everything they make is backwards compatible and that they would have lots of parts in supply. So whether you need a firing pin, a low profile gas block, a piccatinny rail, scope rings, operating rods, etc… they will manufacture it in house, and not just one or two, but hundreds at a time because that’s where they can drive the price point down, charge less, and still allow RWA to keep their roughly two dozen employees working.

……….To say that RWA is understated would be an understatement. They don’t announce a product until they’ve produced multiple versions and copies of it, and tested it. In the case of their AR180B, they had already brought four of them to the Calgary Gun Show and put at minimum 2000 rounds down range with them before people knew it even existed. They don’t rest on their laurels either, even based on feedback from the Calgary Gun Show they have already made improvements on the current design, and due to the modularity of the build, it is very easy to make better parts and improvements that will benefit the end user and is backwards compatible.

……….They stand behind the quality of the build and are willing to let the rifle speak for itself. They are very transparent and open about their operation and what they are doing. They basically gave me full access to their facility and answered all the questions I had, they have nothing to hide. Really the rifle is just a marketing tool (and a really really good one at that) to get the RWA name on people’s minds. Their real passion and ultimate goal is to supply and support all Canadian gun manufacturers from mass producers, to boutique gun houses, to mom and pop builders, to the enterprising firearm enthusiast with an idea….with highly refined, quality designed, and well built products in bulk for whomever is willing to work with them. The rifle itself is just a brilliant bonus for Canadian gun owners. This business model has worked very well for RWA’s associate company and is one of the reasons why they have succeeded where many others have failed.

For your regular cravings in the firearms world in Canada and beyond be sure to follow TV-PressPass on Facebook and myself Wally F. on Instagram.

Reporting for TV-PressPass

Wally F.

Words By: Wally F.          Photos By: Wally F.

……….In amongst the World War I and World War II memorabilia of cap badges, medals, flashes, and patches, the junky 20-30 year old army surplus offerings, out of towners, political, and lobby organizations populating the 1000+ tables at this years Calgary Gun Show, I found a few stand outs definitely worth mentioning, especially if you’re a Canadian firearms owner.

……….Every year the Calgary Gun Show is held at the BMO Centre in the centre of the city.  The BMO Centre has around 250,000 square feet of open show space.  The Gun Show was in the Palomino Room which has roughly 12,000 square feet, all of which was occupied with everything a history buff, firearms enthusiast, political party recruiters, lobbyists, and gun range/shops could offer up.  Here  few highlights I thoughts were worth mentioning.

……….Dave and Buddy at Templar Tactical Solutions is a small outfit that does custom cerakoting, gun smithing, and milling.  Milling specifically in titanium like this blade in burnt bronze cerakote.   They also make edged weapons and tools as well.  If you’re looking to get some work done give these gents a shout.

……….International Barrels Inc. is a company based out of Chilliwack, B.C.  They manufacture barrels of all types and do it very well.  Product Specialist Ryan Steacy, a Veteran, multiple competition winner in shooting in the military as well as on the circuit, he has an in depth knowledge and great love of what it takes to build a precision barrel from scratch.

……….With Service Rifle season starting up soon. IBI is in full swing producing barrels for competition shooters for their builds.  They source all their steel themselves and builds barrels literally from the blocks of steel they select.  Right now they are awaiting their 6mm and 7mm tooling to be shipped to their shop so they can begin working on more barrels.

……….Ryan knows that with the soon to be released SLR and BCL non-restricted lower receivers that people will be looking for quality built to spec barrels for their NR rifle builds.  This is why he and IBI are concentrating on getting 18.5″+ AR barrels out to customers ASAP.  IBI also recently acquired a cold hammer forge machine.  It’s the same equipment that Colt Canada has, now IBI has the same gear as well.  They will be spending the next year or so prepping the machinery, specs, and programming so they can begin building and CHF barrels into their line up.

……….For right now Ryan and IBI are concentrating on pushing out quality button rifled barrels at a reasonable prices.

……….Black Leaf Industries may or may not be the best kept secret in the firearms community, but out here in the west they are know for designing and sourcing the best materials and products for their boutique builds.  In addition to being an Agency Arms dealer, they also carry Odin Works parts and accessories.

……….They’re flagship build right now is their BL9 Pistol Calibre Carbine.  The receiver build is slick and sexy, and the balance and weight is just right.  With hundreds of rounds already downrange on this Canadian designed and built PCC the BL9 is shaping up to be a sweet looking and shooting rifle.  I’m looking forward to test firing this little gem very soon.

.

.

.

.

.

……….Range Warrior Accessories is a quiet company that manufactures shooting support accessories and parts.  They have been working in conjunction with NoDak Spud and iRunGuns to debut their AR 180B Non-Restricted 5.56NATO rifle.  The lower is produced by NoDak Spud and already has an NR listing in the RCMP FRT as I’m told.  The upper is designed and manufactured by RWA with iRunGuns distributing the rifle.

.

.

.

.

.

……….This trinity of companies has been quietly working on this AR 180B build since December 2017.  The unique design of the upper and fantastic fit and finish with the relatively short turn around from concept to production (talking about a few months) is a testament to hard work and good planning.

……….The left side of the upper actually has a modular plate system that you can swap out and replace as needed.  It also presented a unique look at the custom designed last round hold open and bolt catch release lever.  If you’re thinking that open side plate is a gimmick and must make that upper squishy you can look at their pressure test video of their upper easily withstanding well over 3000 PSI of pressure.

……….In addition to the upper design they offer 100% in house RMA on all internal parts, so if you break a take down pin, want a spring replacement, or shortly down the road when they manufacture upgraded parts, you can get them right from the OEM source at RWA.  Running a 20″ spiral fluted barrel with a choice of 18″ or 12″ fully licensed MagPul MLOK free floating hand guards, you are getting a beautiful looking and functional NR Rifle.  Based out of Calgary RWA is already taking orders of their AR 180B, shipping on or around June 1st from their last report on the show floor (could be subject to change).

……….Other notables from the Calgary Gun Show were Western Metal Inc just recently opened a turnkey state of the art indoor shooting range called Straight Shooters.  If you live in the Calgary area it’s definitely worth a look at the their pro shop and facility.

……….As always Black Box Customs are the masters of Cerakote, custom milling, and specialty polymer gun gunsmith services and upgrading.  Almost everyone I know that owns an M&P or Glock has had some type of work done with the gents at Black Box Customs.

……….Lastly Battle Rattle Tactical Supplies.  They are a Veteran owned and operated retailer and carry a variety of products geared towards shooters and soldiers, the owner Richard was very pleasant to speak to and great with the customer service.

……….With all the doom and gloom of gun control Bill C-71 all the talk right now in Canada, not a single person I spoke to at the show was even thinking about it.  2018 is shaping up to be a decent business year for distributors and manufacturers.  That will translate very well to every day consumer.

For your regular cravings in the firearms world in Canada and beyond be sure to follow TV-PressPass on Facebook and myself Wally F. on Instagram.

Reporting for TV-PressPass

Wally F.