DOLOS AR15 Quick Detach Barrel

[jerkface11]

How is this better than just taking the upper off?

 

[Sam1911]

How is this better than just taking the upper off?

As was pointed out to me up-thread, if the bag you want to stick it in is 6" too short, this will solve that problem. Might be cheaper to get a different bag, though.

 

[patriot53]

Since the point IS to use your pistol to fight to get to your rifle, then why make it any worse than necessary? Speed of deployment being paramount, what is better, a gun that can work straight out of storage, or one that requires some time spent getting it into action?

The folding stock AR15 pistol can be carried loaded inside a vehicle, a rifle, even broken down, is often required to be in a locked case with ammo stored separately. I didn't make that distinction in my comparison. When you are ducking for cover and attempting to retrieve it, which is better?

Hiking on a trail, you encounter a cub and discover you are between it and it's mother, or you glimpse a cougar stalking you up the hillside. Which is better, a loaded AR15 carried on a sling, or your takedown rifle neatly stored in your pack?

What is it about assessing the risk and accepting you need a rifle, but then trying to cover up you have it? In the great outdoors it's no big deal. What I'm reading is an attempt to hide it for social reasons, not tactical.

Like I said, these have been on the market before and there doesn't seem to be enough business to sustain it. It's a small niche of users who apparently aren't repeat buyers and certainly haven't convinced many to jump on the bandwagon. Take downs aren't uncommon, but even the firearms makers tend to limit them to just a few offerings for a short duration. Kind of like short bed pickups, everybody thinks they are cute, but don't really rely on them to do any major work. That's why we don't see standard sniper rifles issued to the various armies in takedown mode. They apparently can't benefit from it.

Here's an alternative - clamp a round tube free float to the barrel nut and keep it short enough to get to the gas block. Cut away enough of the barrel nut teeth to clear the tube when hand tightened. Use thumbscrews to clamp the block to the barrel.

Install barrel, tighten hand guard, slip gas block down, tighten thumbscrew, shoot. A take down that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The barrel nut torque isn't 60 foot pounds, it's a minimum of 25, that's hand tight. The nut tooth is to keep it from loosening up under combat stress over months of action - that's not a high country hike. The gas block seats against the shoulder on the barrel and the set screw fits into a drilled dimple. Five minutes with a grinder and the properly threaded screw and I could fix up my Apex Gator Grip 6.8. It would take longer to shop for the thumb screw than do the work. I'm not going to bother, post up how it worked for you and tell us you saved $160.

Oh, wait, sorry, it doesn't have a Brand and therefore isn't Cool. And yet it does the same thing. If it sounds too hillbilly then maybe the point isn't about being a takedown, it's about buying something to reflect on someones social status, I Have One and You Don't. That is the #1 selling point of most aftermarket AR15 products anyway.

Vets and the Army both know that the standard GI rifle is plenty good enough, it's the people who don't rely on it for literal life and death who tend to "improve" it.

Evidently...This major AR "player" does not agree;
LaRue Tactical : PredatOBR 5.56 & 7.62

http://www.laruetactical.com/predatobr-556?sort=popular
http://www.laruetactical.com/predatobr-762?sort=popular

 

[patriot53]

The same thought occurred to me, and it would be nicer if there was some sort of positive lock to prevent the handguard from accidentally turning.
But then I thought, 'ya know, this isn't really a rifle where you're going to be busting through a basic load of ammo from. It's made to pack in (discreetly), do it's thing, and then get out, not for a sustained firefight. This in an over-the shoulder bag could go just about anywhere without attracting unwanted attention like a collapsible stock AR slung over the shoulder or carried in a sporting bag would.

You mean, like this;

http://www.laruetactical.com/predatobr-556?sort=popular
http://www.laruetactical.com/predatobr-762?sort=popular

And NO, I do not work for these guys, have ANY affiliation, or even own one of these...

 

[patriot53]

Sometimes, there are considerations that outweigh the 'speed is paramount' mantra, i.e. ---

http://www.defensereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/LaRue_Suitcase_Rifle_Data_Sheet.jpg

 

[Dr.Rob]

When he said 'you wouldn't want to use this as your three gun rifle' I kind of lost interest. The lack of A LOCKING system makes unintentional disassembly a very real possibility.

If the intent was to create a small package rifle that can be hard handled inside a vehicle or under stress, there are other specialized builds available that do it better.

Is it neat? Sure. Not neat enough for me.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I guess it's answering questions I've never asked.

Most likely never will.
Clever, seemingly well made but if all I'm saving is the length of an upper - minus however long that protruding gas tube represents... guess I'll pass.

Over half a century of snapping to take-down pins has got me hooked.

I thought that the back pack observation from BRIAN923 was pretty sound but I keep going back to that protruding gas tube.

As novelties go - it's right up there in gee-whiz factor.

Exposed gas tube
Limited options in hand guards
Exposed bolt head
Exposed barrel extension

Nope, the more I think about it as a go-to response weapon, the less I like it.

 

[g5m]

To me it's simply a niche item. If you fit that niche, and I did for a number of years, it would be useful.

 

[justice06rr]

A LAW folding stock adapter would be quicker, and you could get a least one shot off sooner.

But that completely ignores the situation that might exist, where a handgun at ready access would be up and firing long before any carbine or AR15 pistol could.

Taking it at face value, you get to the back of the vehicle, access your firearm in it's locked container, and pull it out. Which is faster? In this rough order:

1) a standard AR15 carbine locked and loaded ready to go.
2) an AR15 pistol with 12" barrel locked and loaded, ready to go.
3) an AR15 carbine or pistol with folding stock, locked and loaded, ready to go for one shot, and seconds later, for the magazine.
4) a broken down carbine or pistol with detached barrel, locked and loaded, that requires "a few minutes to assemble."

What we have is a $160 kit that allows you to quick detach the barrel, which is an expensive proposition not readily available for self defense purposes. That means it's really for a caliber change - which makes it a choice of 5.56 or .300BO, plus the few other wildcats using the GI cartridge. Other choices would require the use of a different bolt, and the QD attachment is no help there at all. Separated uppers with a bolt carrier equipped with the correct bolt is how that would work better.

I don't see this as a method to rely on for self defense when detached. It's simply one in a long string of QD barrel accessories that have come and gone on the market for decades. For those who want to change calibers, the downtime doing it isn't horrible, and the standard GI barrel nut works just fine. With the cost of uppers dropping, plus adding a handguard and sighting system that fits the cartridge, it's easier to swap complete uppers.

What remains to be explained to me is how the gas tube gets into the upper and inserted into the key if you are rotating the handguard. And what happens if someone is practicing speed drills to get their time down.

You pretty much nailed it.

I don't understand these types of devices, for anything but a caliber change.

The AR15 is already a take-down design; that's why there's 2 take down pins! every AR15 has it. Oh, you want a different caliber? Bring another complete upper e.g. 6.8spc, 300BLK and pop it on your lower. Bring extra mags too.

It takes the same amount of time if not faster.

 

[Rangemaster]

I just finished my Dolos takedown conversion.
As you can see in the pics, it fits great into my briefcase.