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other than looks...what purpose does all the extra polymer serve on a 5.45 or 7.62x39 or 5.56 with rock and lock?? On the other versions it is a mag adapter, on the rock and lock, just added bulk and a bit of weight and restricts grip option. But if you dig the look...cool.
Interested to see how you will fix the bobbed front sight block. I picked up a few Gen1 ace rifles to mod, but now they are out of production I may just build up my project from scratch on a US receiver...maybe I will see if ICON makes a good receiver...
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My understanding (and I am not expert) is the entire design of the lower was meant to minimize potential exposure of the milled portion to dust and debris. As I remember it, the phraseology that was used was something along the lines of "protecting the internal mechanism" from sand dust and debris both with the addition of the cover plate, full length bottom polymer lower, and a gas cylinder made to exacting tolerances.
Realistically for me it is more about looks however. I am not some tier 1 military operator.... just a normal guy that goes shooting once or twice a month. There is no scenario that I can foresee where I will need to worry about using my rifles so much as to worry about excessive debris between cleanings.
More to the point, it is probably useful to discuss some of the other "upgrades" as well, not just their addition of the cut up polymer. For example, it appears the gen II units now lack the milled lightning cut as a means to save on production time and cost. This doesn't add too much weight to each unit, but it does add some, and make the gen II look uglier and less interesting to the average person. Again, a fraction of a pound is not really that big a deal, but it speaks to the cost-cutting measures imposed by IWI-US. Another major concern is the exposure of the gas piston in the gen II. Granted, I have not held one yet... so take my analysis worth a grain of salt, but it looks like railed cylinder is no longer there, exposing more components to possible debris.
The list goes on and on.