Good evening. After reading the RRA site and this site I have a couple of questions about this nice Entry Tactical I picked up for a very reasonable price considering it's only had 60 rounds through it. Let me say up front that I like it a lot. These questions are just to satisfy my curiosity. I'm new to ARs, but not firearms (by about 50 years.)

Number 1 - The barrel code is 204, but it has the profile of the lightweight barrel on the RRA barrel page. It is chrome lined and CL is marked on the label. The label on the blue case also says "OTHER: L.W.B."  The L.W.B. is handwritten. It's a 1:9 barrel according to my cleaning rod.

The gun weighs 7-1/4 pounds on my old 25# brass fish scale. Oh, and the reduced-diameter-section of the barrel under the handguard measures .674", .642" & .600" at the front.

SN is 918xx.


Number 2 - Which trigger do I have, single- or two-stage? Measured with a Lyman digital scale, the takeup is about 1-1/2 pounds and the final reading is 5-1/4 pounds. Whichever it is, I like it because it has a similar feel to some of my 1911s (although a touch heavier) and my Browning HP (although a touch lighter). I've shot some single- and double-set rifle triggers, but never a two-stage.

Again, no complaints, just asking. I tried it before I bought it and liked it just fine. I have a couple of Mr. Jewell's 1-1/2 ounce triggers on bolt guns and a few nice 2-pound triggers on Remingtons and Coopers, but that's not what I wanted or expected this time around.

Thanks.

John

P.S. - You should have seen me wrestle the handguard off and back on without growing a third hand. That is one strong spring.  :)

It sounds like you have a 2-stage trigger (should be approc 4.5-5lbs when it leaves the factory, but can be a little heavier as yours seems to be) and one of the early lightweight R4 bbls that we had made with the number of a chrome-lined R4 bbl(AR0204) prior to the actual AR0219 designation being made at the time we decided to catalog them and make tham a standard option.
And yes, I think we've all been there with the handguards.  A whole niche market has arisen oin the past few years making HG installation/removal tools...and even though we don't use them in our assembly shop, I certainly do at home.
Have fun with your rifle.
Steve/RRA

Thank you. That's what I figured, but I thought I'd ask to be sure.

I got the HG off by standing the rifle on the floor between my knees and pushing down with both hands. I have a set of Tipton's plastic dental picks, so I hooked the end of one in a HG hole and pulled on the other end with my teeth. A piece of stiff wire would have worked. I was only interested in getting the top half off to look at the barrel code.

To get it back on I used a rubber band around the HG, although the first few times I tried it I had it way too tight and the HG was grabbing on the ring when I pushed down.

I don't think my trigger is heavy and it certainly is crisp. Of course heavy means different things to different people. I'm still shooting the 6-pound trigger on the Marlin Mountie my uncle gave me in 1963. I think about lightening it from time to time, but I'm used to it.

Thanks again.

John