Wilson Combat Tactical Ultralight 5.56 NATO (MSRP: $2,215)
A true master is a master in more than one discipline. Wilson Combat started out making top-rated 1911s, but now the company has branched out into defensive shotguns, bolt-action rifles and AR-pattern rifles. It’s that last group, the AR-15, that we’ll be looking at today.
At slightly less than 6 pounds in weight without a magazine or optic, the Wilson Tactical Ultralight AR-15 is what it says: Lightweight. However, that light weight doesn’t mean that Wilson Combat skimped on the details. It has a match-profile barrel with a Q-Comp muzzle brake, a Mission First grip, a outstanding, four-pound Wilson Combat trigger and a Wilson Combat/Rogers adjustable stock. Our particular model came with a camouflage-pattern Armor-Tuff finish applied over the upper and lower and receiver. It looks great, and if you don’t like it, well, Wilson Combat will be happy to make sure your AR looks as stylish as you do.
One of the more obvious weight-saving features are the slab-sided upper receiver without a forward assist, which shaves a few ounces off your build. Inside, you’ll find a nitrided, low-mass bolt-carrier group and attached to the barrel is an intermediate-length gas system with a low-profile gas block. Wrapped things up is a 12.6-inch long handguard that has Picatinny rails on top and M-Lok slots on the other three sides, as you’d expect from any other modern AR-15.
So now you may be asking yourself, “Okay, all of that is nice, but why should I pay over $2,000 for this rifle when I can get most of those features in a rifle that costs less than half that amount?”
Good question. Let me explain. No, is too much. Let me sum up.
Nestled inside of most major cities in the U.S. is a large discount store that will sell you meatballs, home goods and build-it-yourself furniture. Is the furniture you buy there adequate for your needs? Probably. In fact, as I type this, I am looking at an entertainment center that my wife and I put together with a screwdriver, an Allen wrench and three hours of marriage counseling after we were done. Is it a good entertainment center? Yes, it suits our needs. However, next to it is a bookcase that’s been in my wife’s family for generations. It’s handcrafted, and the attention to detail put into it shows in the joinery and finish. That bookcase will be passed on to our children once we have left this mortal coil. The entertainment center (assuming it stays together that long) will be recycled, as it is nothing special.
And that, in a nutshell, is the difference between a Wilson Combat AR-15 and a budget AR-15.
Leupold Mark 4HD 1-4.5X24 SFP Firedot Reticle (MSRP: $999.99)
Leupold’s Mark 4HD line is a more-budget friendly version of the popular Mark 4HD line. The scopes in the Mark 4 HD lineup have all the features you’ve come to expect from Leupold, like outstanding optical quality and rock-solid build quality, but the 4X zoom range means they’re a little easier on your wallet.
The 1-4.5x24mm model we’ve selected for this build is a good example of a “do it all” low power variable optic, or LPVO. At 1X, this scope gives you an unmagnified sight picture. As a second-focal-plane optic (that’s why there’s “SFP” in the name), your crosshairs will be easy to see at that magnification, unlike a first-focal-plane optic, which shrinks or enlarges the reticle depending on the magnification.
The tradeoff with a second-focal-plane scope is that any measuring marks inside the reticle are only accurate at a specific magnification, using maximum power. With a more powerful scope, say, a 4-16X, this could be a problem. However, LPVOs are a natural fit for AR-15s, which in turn tend to be chambered in cartridges which max out at around 500 yards. The FireDot BDC (bullet-drop-compensating) reticle in this scope gives you aiming points for common 5.56 NATO and .223 Rem. ammunition at longer engagement distances as well as an illuminated aiming point at the center for when things are up close and personal.
Magpul MVG Grip (MSRP: $22.95)
The introduction of Picatinny rail fore-ends for the AR-15 in the early 2000’s led to an explosion of accessories for this platform. All of a sudden, it became the rage to add bipods, lights, lasers and tactical coffee makers to the front of your AR-15.
Okay, maybe not that last one.
In the late 2000’s, Magpul produced a series of videos which showed off Chris Costa and Travis Haley using Magpul gear, and one video in particular highlighted Costa’s “C-Clamp” grip on the front of his rifle, and the rest, as they say, is internet history. The C-Clamp grip, where the support hand thumb goes over the top of the fore-end, forcing the support hand into a “C” shape (hence the name), allows a shooter to quickly transition between one target to another at short ranges.
A properly placed vertical grip makes this easier to accomplish, as it gives you an index point for your support hand on the fore-end as well as providing a better grip for when you’re not using the C-Clamp method. Thanks to those videos, Magpul has been a leader in this sort of accessory from the very beginning, and the MVG (or Magpul Vertical Grip) is just one of the accessory grips you’ll find at magpul.com.
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