Liberator II, the AR Standard from Quality Arms

Posted by Lance Earl of Lance Earl, LLC on October 10, 2012

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When you hear AR15, what comes to mind? I suppose that we all have an image of a tacti-cool black rifle that defines the current state of the art. If this is the case, you just might be incredibly, significantly, woefully misinformed. The truth is that the AR design is now securely in the public domain. This reality means that just about anyone can build a rifle from just about any material. On one end of the spectrum is the state of the art rifle described above. On the other end... well, you get my point.

The trick then, is sorting out the good from the bad in a world where they all look dangerously alike. Another trouble spot can be found in the fact that the difference between good and bad cannot generally be measured by a gun's ability to run or not run. Rather, it can be measured in the gun's ability to keep running over the long haul. The problem is that low quality, low cost parts are more likely to break and less likely to be covered by an extended warranty.

I recently took delivery of a Liberator II from Quality Arms. My Liberator is a sexy looking thing with dark earth components. It may not be necessary, but it is always preferable to shoot a good looking gun. Quality Arms really got that part right.

Before purchasing an AR, I took a hard look at AR manufacturers. I knew that I wanted to buy from a company that willingly and aggressively stands behind their product line. The truth is simple. This type of rifle is often subjected to alot of abuse. In the case of my personal weapon system, abuse will be the norm. This rifle will regularly be used in DallyPost Tactical Challenges where transitions between the rifle and pistol will be frequent. The rifle will be regularly slammed into barricades, smashed against the ground and fallen on by me, a fat man. Run hot and put away dirty will not be unheard of. I am completely confident that through it all, Jim and Jeremy of Quality Arms will stand by me and stand behind their rifle.

In my opinion, when choosing between the many rifles available today, you should first look at the people behind the gun. If they are awesome, chances are that your experience with them and the guns they manufacture will be rewarding. Second, look to the gun. Generally speaking, dedicated people will produce a solid product. Such is the case with Quality Arms.

The upper and lower receivers form the foundation of the rifle. Start with bad components here and these parts will negatively affect the overall weapon. Generally speaking, these components can be made from forged or billet material. Forged components are considered to be stronger and more reliable than comparable parts that have been machined from billet. In keeping with their dedication to quality, the upper and lower receivers used by Quality Arms are mil-spec forged 7075 aluminum parts.

The rifle includes a ChromeMoly Vanadium barrel. This barrel is not chrome-lined. Now, I know that "chrome-lined barrel" is kind of the buzz phrase for the firearms industry right now. I visited with Jim Barron at Quality Arms about his choice to not include a lined barrel. He states that the expected life of a lined barrel vs a non-lined barrel is only a few thousand rounds and is, therefore, not worth the extra money. Jim indicated that this is due to the fact that the chrome lining will be worn off of the lands after 2000 rounds or so. I Googled this issue and found those who said that the barrel life will be doubled with chrome lining. However, there are others who indicated that the difference in barrel life is insignificant. This seems to be a subject that is being answered with a lot of opinion and very little fact. There were, however, a few facts that were easily established;

1. The first M16 rifles issued in Vietnam were not chrome lined and they did have some problems with corrosion. They later switched to chrome-lined barrels to help control this problem. That is all well and good in the hot steamy jungles of south east Asia. How applicable is this to me living in a much different and cleaner environment? Who knows.
2. Unlined barrels, of good quality, can generally achieve sub-MOA accuracy. Chrome lined barrels, of equal quality, commonly suffer with 1.5 to 2 MOA accuracy. Therefore, the unlined barrel, all other thing being equal, will improve accuracy.

In the end, I will leave it to you to decide which is the better barrel of choice.

The fire controls are nothing short of spectacular. The trigger group, bolt carrier and bolt are all hard nickel plated. An operator in Afghanistan summed up these fire controls as being simply FASTER, CLEANER, SMOOTHER. I whole heartedly agree. Where these enhancements can be most easily noticed is in the single stage trigger. Personally, I have never experienced a nicer trigger in an AR. It is absolutely smooth and seems to break cleanly at about four to five pounds. This trigger is, without a doubt, the most notable and attractive aspect of the Liberator. High five to Quality Arms for this achievement.

A free float guad rail covers everything up to and including the gas block. Mounted on the flattop is a set of A.R.M.S. flip up sights. These are quality sights that offer positive lock down and consistent and repeatable flip up.

Co-witnessed with the iron sights is a red dot optic. Quality Arms has traditionally shipped their guns with the 30mm Red Dot by Primary Arms. In recent months, this sight has been in short supply. As a result, Quality Arms has been required to seek other sources for their red dots. My rifle originally shipped with a Stinger 1x28 Red Dot Scope by Tac Vector. My initial impression was that this was a solid and useful sight. The only down side might be that it has a 6 - 8 MOA. This will be no problem for close quarters work, but bullseye shooting at 100 yards and beyond will be difficult. One nice feature is that the sights has both a red and green dot.

My Stinger, however, proved to be a disappointment.

During initial shooting, I noticed that the red dot seemed to shift as much as six inches at twenty-five yards without provocation. Several times I got the sights close only to have them shift again. I chased that dot all over the paper. Finally, I discovered that the front objective of the scope was loose and free to move a bit. Ah-haw, I thought, that explains a lot.

I wanted to give Tac Vector a fair shot, so I called the owner, Garth Davidson, to discuss the problem. He assured me that my sight had indeed been a fluke and he offered to send me a replacement. Per his instructions, I emailed my address and true to his word, the replacement sight arrived in the mail.

Upon discovering the problem with the Tac Vector red dot, I spoke with Jim and Jeremy about the issue. They assured me that they have sold quite a few and that the optic has been solid and reliable. I have every reason to believe that they are being truthful in this assessment. Therefore, I will assume that my sight was an exception to the rule. Without question, they immediately replaced the Tac Vector with a Primary Arms sight.

The Primary Arms red dot has seven brightness settings for the 3 MOA dot. At the lowest setting, the sight is easy and precise in extremely low light situations. The glare and haze that is sometimes seen in other sights is not a problem. The brightest setting is also equally usable. Around noon on a bright summer day, I set the intensity to seven and pointed the gun at the sun. I could clearly see the dot even with the edge of the sun showing through the scope. In short, even if you plan to go sunspot hunting, this may be the sight for you.

I checked for parallax issues in both optics in my typical non-scientific approach. With the optics removed from the gun, I placed them on a fence post, centered the red dot on a power pole seventy yards away. I then secured the sight so it could not move. Next, I moved my eye from left to right to see how much the red dot could be moved. I could cause the Tac Vector dot to move just past the left and right edges of the power pole. That is about twelve inches of possible error. The primary Arms sight was more stable. By shifting my eye behind this sight, I could only get the red dot to move a few inches. Parallax issues can be largely corrected if the shooter is careful about being consistent in keeping the eye centered behind the sig.

When I first shot through the Tac Vector optic, I noticed a reflection that seemed to be of some internal component. The reflection covers the right hand third of the viewable area. At first, I found this really distracting. However, once I began shooting and focusing on the dot and target, the reflection did not bother me.

Now, let us be realistic. These optics are entry level red dots. Never the less, I find them both to be bright, solid and very usable, under most circumstances. They have endured some pretty rough treatment and come back for more.

The grip on this rifle is a bit different, and I like it. It is obviously designed for a right handed shooter. It has a significant bulge on the right side. This bulge rests directly under the trigger finger. It goes a long way toward promoting correct finger placement on the trigger. This little gimmick does not bother me in any way because I have no compulsion to place too much finger on the trigger. There is a slide out door in the bottom of the grip giving access to handy storage. The down side to this grip is that it will be in the way if you intend to add an ambidextrous safety. I have no plans that way and am, therefore, completely satisfied with the grip. Jim Barron assured me that they build guns for shooters. They do not try to make all shooters a good fit with a single gun. If you want a different grip, just say so.

The butt stock is all kinds of cool. It is the Enhanced Modstock (EMod) by VLTOR. This is a fully adjustable unit that features tons of storage. There is a large water tight compartment in the club foot, and saddle bag type tubular compartments off both sides. In my opinion, the best feature is the improved cheek weld that is possible because of the tubular storage on the side of the stock. This allows me to create a solid and functional connection between me and the gun.

Shooting the rifle is a lot of fun. In DallyPost Tactical Challenges, the gun performed with precision and accuracy.

From fifty yards, the Tac Vector sight produces a two and a half inch group. This is not a great group. The likely causes are parallax issues and the large dot size.

I can easily achieve a one inch group at fifty yards with the Primary Arms optic. The dot is sharp and crisp. For the money, I feel that this is one of the best products on the market.

With either optic, I can deliver solid combat effect hits out to 100 yards. Beyond that, the Tac Vector will begin to suffer. The Primary Arms optic is obviously the better sight. However, on a defensive carbine where action will almost certainly be within 50 yards, the Tac Vector can be very effective. I feel reasonably confident shooting it out to 100 yards or so.

The one inch group with the unmagnified Primary Arms sight pleased me. Any gun capable of doing this is almost certainly capable of one MOA or sub MOA accuracy with a good telescopic sight.

In summary, the Liberator rocks. I have put well over one thousand rounds down range without a cleaning. The gun just runs. It has been bashed and smashed, beat and drug around my range and the gun just runs. It has been run so hot that it was scary and the gun just runs. It has been 100% reliable. It is smooth and shootable, fun and pretty to look at.

So, I suppose the question is, will I recommend the gun? Absolutely, yes! If you are in the market for a great AR15 at a great price. Quality Arms should be your next stop.

Score Card

Feature	Score
Fit	9
Finish	9
Grip	8
Accuracy	9
Trigger	10
Reliability	10
Thumb Safety	8
Iron Sights	8
Tac Vector Red Dot	5
Primary Arms Red Dot	9
Value for the Money	10
Final Score / Primary Arms Red Dot	9.0
Final Score / Tac Vector Red Dot	8.6
Explanation of Score Card The range of scores is 1 - 10 where 1 indicates very very bad and 10 indicates exceptional. A score of 1 - 5 indicates a problem with the gun that will inhibit performance. These are problems that may negatively affect a shooter's ability to defend himself. A score in the range of 6 - 10 indicates a satisfactory score. A review where all scores are 6 or higher indicates a gun that I would not be afraid to take into a fight.

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Comments

Comment by: Jeff Halverson 2012-08-15 20:53:21 Jim is certainly a unique character!!!!

Comment by: Lance Earl 2013-01-16 17:41:20 I should add that I have put several thousand rounds through this rifle without cleaning it. Runs like a clock.