AD-16 / AD-15 (Reaper 33)

AD-16 / AD-15 (Reaper 33)

Arsenal Democracy (AD for short) is a small company that produces and sells AR accessories and whole guns. The company was founded in 2013 by two soldiers from the 7th SFG of the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets), James Pechi and David Pavlick, while they were still serving. By 2014, James Pechi had retired and David Pavlick retired from the active SFG to the SFG of the National Guard.

The Green Berets may be the poorest unit in the US Special Forces. There are many people but little money, so there are few types of equipment. Therefore, it is very common for Green Berets to modify their guns. Now almost everyone has private goods. Of course, ordinary SEALs (non-DEVGRU) may also be poor, but all SEAL equipment must be tested and approved by the US Naval Ground Weapons Development Center (NSWC Crane) before they can be equipped, and the Army Special Forces do not have a logistics support unit like Crane to intercept private goods. Since SOPMOD II was equipped to the troops, it is said that grassroots units are dissatisfied with DDL's upper receiver. The units of the first echelon (Tier1, namely Delta and DEVGRU, actually officially called SMU) of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) did not equip DDL and directly replaced it with HK416 . Some of the Green Berets who do not like DDL (after all, not all of them, so there are still many DDL in the troops) are still using SOPMOD I 's M4, and some of them spend their own money to replace other upper receivers (or only replace the handguard, such as TROY 's products).

In short, according to James Patch and David Pavlik, they intended to design a weapon that frontline combatants really wanted, and after it became a standard weapon and was issued to everyone, everyone could use the standard weapon that suited their wishes, and they no longer had to spend their own money. But I guess the real reason was that they saw that almost everyone in the unit modified their guns, so they incorporated their own experience and preferences into the products they developed, and also made some money from their teammates.

At present, the only complete gun product of AD is the AR-style rifle called Reaper 33. The reason for this name is that when they designed and promoted this weapon, they pulled in a sniper from the former 75th Ranger Regiment, Nick Irving, who was nicknamed "Reaper 33". 33 was the number of kills he made during a 3-month deployment, so they named this product after his nickname.

Promotional photos of the "Death 33" rifle taken by "Death 33" himself

Currently, the Reaper 33 is sold to civilians in two calibers: 5.56 NATO and .300 BLK. The barrel lengths are 8.5 inches, 10.5 inches, 14.5 inches, 16 inches and 18 inches, and there are 16 paint finishes, including AOR1, Multicam, Python pattern, or simple sand color, OD color, etc. However, AD has also successfully sold two types of Reaper 33 upper receivers to USSOCOM. Now USSOCOM has included the 14.5-inch (Patrol) and 16-inch (RECCE) Reaper 33 upper receivers in the SOPMOD II accessories catalog.

Reaper 33 equipped by Green Berets

The Green Berets received the new 10.5-inch Reaper 33

Why only the upper receiver? Because except for the SMU troops, each person is issued several rifles of different lengths, while other units are issued an M4A1 lower receiver with several upper receivers of different lengths (see Mk18 and Mk12 ), so that everyone can change according to their needs (I don't know if the budget of the reconnaissance company of the 75th Ranger Regiment, which has recently been upgraded to Tier 1, is large). Another reason is that the upper receiver is considered an "accessory" rather than a "gun". In fact, the US military has restrictions on individuals buying firearms for use on the battlefield, but there are not many restrictions on self-purchased accessories. Therefore, before SOCOM included the Reaper 33 upper receiver in the SOPMOD II accessories, some individuals had already purchased this upper receiver. And it is precisely because the Reaper 33 upper receiver is considered an "accessory" that it can be accepted by SOCOM (it would be difficult if it was a whole gun). In short, now if someone in the troops under SOCOM's jurisdiction wants a Reaper 33, they can ask the logistics department for it, and they don't need to "shop" on their own.

From the appearance, the Reaper 33 has a very special receiver shape. The two sides of the upper receiver are not round but obtuse planes. The handguard is the KeyMod style that has been popular in the past two years, that is, only the top has a full-length Picatinny rail, and a small section of the rail is also retained at the bottom of the front. The left and right sides and the bottom are lined with openings with the outline of keyholes. These holes can serve as heat dissipation holes and are also interfaces for KeyMod specification accessories. Compared with the design of installing rails everywhere in previous years, KeyMod can indeed reduce weight and feel more comfortable (no rail guards are required). Moreover, KeyMod and Picatinny rails are both open patents, so anyone can make them.

In addition to the changes in appearance, there are some other changes. It is said that the bolt, charging handle, auxiliary push handle, etc. have all been redesigned, but another important change is the redesign of the recoil spring and buffer. According to the experiments conducted by former Delta Force member Mike Pannone when he was a weapons instructor in AWG and the 82nd Airborne Division, in addition to the flaws in the air-blowing principle, another potential important reason for the failure of traditional AR-style rifles is the buffer tube. Now several retired Delta Force members are fighting over the HK416 issue. Mike Pannone believes that replacing the magazine and broken parts will solve 80% of the problems. If the extractor, recoil spring and buffer are replaced, the rest is regular maintenance. Another retired Delta Force member named Shrek (real name John Mcphee) bluntly said: "HK416 solves a problem that does not exist." The developers of Reaper 33 are probably supporters of (or they don't want to develop a piston system), so they improved it from the two directions of extraction and recoil.

Another feature of the Reaper 33 is the use of a "mid-length" gas tube. In 14-inch and 16-inch AR-style carbines, most of the gas holes are in the middle of the barrel. Switching to a "mid-length" gas tube means opening the gas hole close to the muzzle, extending the length of the gas tube, which means delaying the time for the bolt to unlock, making shooting more balanced. It is said that among the Green Berets, many are dissatisfied with the 14.5-inch DDL upper receiver still using the traditional short gas tube (because there is no triangular front sight in the middle of the DDL's long handguard, so it is completely possible to move the gas hole forward).

However, in addition to the receiver being designed and produced by themselves, many parts including the recoil device are mostly directly used from common or popular mature products on the market, such as the double-sided bolt handle (there are locks for unlocking the locating hook on both sides of the bolt handle, but the unlocking on the right side is linked to the left side, and the locating hook of the bolt handle is still only hung on the left side of the receiver, which is convenient for both hands to operate) . Currently, there are VLTOR or Rainier Arms Raptor products. The buttstock uses the Minimalist telescopic buttstock of MFT (Mission First Tactical), but there are also other buttstocks installed, and the grip is also MFT's EPGI16. However, only the upper receiver (including the barrel, gas device, and bolt) was sold to SOPMOD, and the recoil device of the lower receiver was also included, but the lower receiver, grip, and buttstock were not included.

In addition, AD also published a letter of praise from a Delta team member, who believed that the performance was also excellent compared with the various similar weapons they were currently equipped with. The letter mentioned that Delta was holding a whole gun instead of an upper receiver, and initially it was also 14.5-inch and 16-inch models, and later 10-inch and 18-inch models were added.

In addition to the barrel, bolt and other parts installed in the receiver, the Reaper 33 upper receiver provided to SOCOM usually includes a tactical light from Inforce and a KeyMod interface accessory mount produced by Haley Strategic Partner. Because there is a small rail at the bottom of the front of the handguard, the original bipod can also be installed on the gun, but if you like to install a front grip in the middle of the handguard, you need to find a KeyMod interface front grip yourself.

Another difference between the version sold to SOPMOD and the version on the civilian market is that the SOPMOD version uses a special paint called 2nd generation Cerakote, which can effectively prevent detection by night vision goggles and thermal imagers. This paint is not sold to the civilian market.

It is said that the accuracy of the Reaper 33 is between 1 and 3/4 MOA, which should refer to the RECCE model.

In addition, it is said that Canada's special forces are also trying it out.

In early 2015, AD was busy competing for SOCOM's .300 BLK order with AAC "Honey Badger" , but it was rumored that the SIG MCX carbine won the bid. However, AD is also commercially promoting their PDW.

The actual effect of Cerakote coating under night vision goggles

Reaper 33 upper receiver with 14.5" barrel sold separately

The Reaper 33 received by the Green Berets has a tactical light on the left side of the handguard that is a product of Inforce. The scope and laser pointer can also be installed through the Picatinny rail on the top.

According to a personal order, the upper receiver is equipped with a KAC QD flash suppressor. Generally, AD's own products are not equipped with KAC QD flash suppressors, which means that the order was placed by a poor company and is still using the SOPMOD I silencer.

The upper receiver provided to SOCOM is packaged with a Haley Strategic Partner's KeyMod Thorntail Offset accessory mount.

Reaper 33 complete guns in various paint jobs sold on the official online store

Reaper 33 with magazines and other accessories installed

This is the Reaper 33 with a 16 inch barrel

The upper bolt assembly, the left picture is equipped with a VLTOR bolt handle, and the right picture is equipped with a Rainier Arms Raptor bolt handle, both of which are designed with double detent hooks

10.5-inch Reaper 33

8.5-inch Reaper 33

.300BLK Caliber "Death 33"

Promotional photo of Reaper 33

In 2013, a SMU unit test-fired an early Reaper 33

The Reaper 33 PDW, which is intended to participate in SOCOM's .300 BLK project, is lighter than the MP5 and is similar in length.

This is the MP5 in the gun room of a certain SMU unit and the Reaper 33 PDW that participated in the test.

It is said that its telescopic stock is super light, just as heavy as the triangular front sight of a standard AR.

It is said that the new safety/speed selector lever is designed based on the F117 stealth fighter. It is not that the enemy cannot see which gear the speed selector lever is in (although it is indeed not visible if you are not close), but its shape. In addition, the rotation angle of each gear of this speed selector is 45 degrees instead of 90 degrees.

After losing the SOCOM bid, PDW was launched in the commercial market

Nous Designs AD-16

In 2015, Arsenal Democracy experienced a major change.

AD is actually just a very small company (the so-called "garage startup", workshop-style production). Their resources are limited (especially human resources), but the entrepreneurial team has too many ideas. These limited people have to develop new products, be responsible for production, and be responsible for after-sales service, and gradually they are too busy. However, they are still constantly launching new projects, including improving SCAR , improving M14 , designing .308 caliber Reaper 33, etc. At the same time, they did a great job in publicity, so orders came in. However, AD's rifles are basically semi-customized, which means that each customer's order may be slightly different, and there are more than ten paint options. This results in a lot of time for each gun.

In fact, most other similar custom AR workshops in the United States stipulate the number of orders per year, and it takes several rounds of phone calls and attachments to confirm, so as to ensure on-time and in-quantity delivery. However, AD Company paid and placed orders directly on its official website. Even after too many orders accumulated, it did not close the website's order system. As a result, production could not keep up with the order volume, and it was still accumulating. What's worse is that the two founders of AD Company originally started the company with the intention of letting their Green Beret teammates use good guns. Although I don't know if it's propaganda, the actual practice is to give priority to military orders, so as long as there are military orders, civilian orders will be pushed back. As a result, many of the 2 months (later changed to 3 months) promised by AD Company for delivery could not be achieved. It is said that some customers have waited for more than a year and have not seen the goods.

Moreover, AD's customer service performed even worse. When customers inquired about the progress, AD's customer service would either randomly give a date or simply not answer the phone or reply to the email. When customers complained on AD's Facebook, AD's customer service would simply delete the post. And the refund application was also delayed in various ways. This practice aroused strong dissatisfaction among private order customers, and some customers directly asked credit card companies to investigate AD for fraud. Under such circumstances, a fierce conflict broke out between the two founders of AD.

The final result was that James Patch left the company, and David Pavlik found investors to set up a new company called Nous Défions - this is a French phrase, the corresponding English is "We Defy", which can be translated as "We Challenge". This slogan originally came from the special operations training personnel of the Army Special Forces. Despite the opposition of the military's top brass, they changed the training center of the former Blue Light Force (the unit that robbed Delta for money and people, see " Delta Force-Rumors and So-called Insider ") into a CQB and anti-terrorism training ground, so it has the meaning of "We Challenge" (it is said that it actually refers to the meaning of "Who Dare Win" of SAS). Of course, it can also be combined with the skull logo of Nous Défions to make a more bloody translation, such as "See death as home" or "Not afraid of sacrifice, overcome all difficulties" or something like that. Later, this slogan was first passed on to the 5th Special Forces Group (5th SFG), and then spread to the entire Army Special Forces, becoming the slogan of the direct attack action company (CIF Company) under each brigade.

Logo of the slogan Nous Défions

The newly established Nous Défions bought all the assets of the former AD company, and Pavlik officially retired from the National Guard Special Brigade and ran the entire company as CEO. The first thing Pavlik did after taking office was to complete all the orders owed by the previous AD company and announced that all the previous warranty services of AD company were still valid. At present, Pavlik is indeed very active in fulfilling his promise and is very active in contacting old AD customers to complete old orders.

Although AD's service was poor before, those who were lucky enough to get the rifle still praised it highly. The new company's product quality is still as good as before. In addition, the new company renamed the original Reaper 33 to AD-15 (the two series of "first generation" and "first generation"), and called the newly launched second generation rifle AD-16. "Arsenal Democracy" is still printed on the receiver of AD-16. Now "AD" is not the name of the business enterprise, but the brand of the product.