Roller delayed upper from Mean Arms

[Norther]

[ryan45kim]

Is there a any other information out on this? There is nothing on there website 

[Eric802]

Is it just the bolt, or does it require a proprietary upper?

 

Nothing on the MEAN website yet, I assume this is a SHOT show release. 

[Ming the Merciless]

11 hours ago, Norther said:

 

2 hours ago, Eric802 said:

Is it just the bolt, or does it require a proprietary upper?

 

Nothing on the MEAN website yet, I assume this is a SHOT show release. 

 

The blurb reads "packaged within a standard AR-15 upper"

[Norther]

It was a Facebook announcement. I don’t really know much about it but it could be interesting. There was more to the post, could check that. 

[ryan45kim]

From the picture I’d guess it comes with the bolt and a sleeve that the bolt rides in and the rollers lock into. My guess

[Bwillis]

I’d like to see how reliable it will be with various loads and what proprietary parts will be needed. 

Edited January 20, 2020 by Bwillis

[Eric802]

Speculation on another site is that the upper isn't modified at all, but the barrel extension is - something that protrudes farther than normal into the upper and hits that nub above the boltface. 

[Scooter]

But you are stuck with the stupid Endomags. 

[Salsantini]

On 1/20/2020 at 4:58 PM, Scooter said:

But you are stuck with the stupid Endomags. 

If it uses Endomags with the ejector in the mag I would think you can also use this with a Colt or Glock pattern lower with an ejector.  

Edited January 23, 2020 by Salsantini
punctuation

[caspian guy]

Sure is strange to see what looks a lot like an hk bolt head on an ar bolt carrier. I'm curious to see what the barrel extension the rollers lock into looks like (and if the chamber is fluted.) Also curious to see if they use a locking piece like HK or something different to drive the rollers out and control the unlock timing.

Edited January 23, 2020 by caspian guy

[Norther]

1 hour ago, Salsantini said:

If it uses Endomags with the ejector in the mag I would think you can also use this with a Colt or Glock pattern lower with an ejector.  

Ejector is in the bolt. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with other lowers though, just remove the lower’s ejector. 

[Scooter]

The endomags are limited to 30 rounds. Even if you download them to 20 rounds, it is almost impossible to insert with the bolt forward.

[Norther]

1 hour ago, Scooter said:

Even if you download them to 20 rounds, it is almost impossible to insert with the bolt forward.

Perhaps there is some variance with which bolt you’re using. While it is difficult to insert with a Guard bolt forward, I would hardly characterize it as “almost impossible”. Not really harder than my Colt mag lower. 
 

On the other hand, I had interference between my Spinta bolt and the Pmag body. Endomags could not be used with that bolt without modifying the Pmag. 
 

I like them with the Guard. I expect they would be similar with this upper.
 

Maybe someday they’ll make a 40 round version.  

[Eric802]

While I (unlike Scooter) kind of like the endomags, it is damn near impossible to seat a full mag with the bolt forward.  I have a Foxtrot Mike upper and bolt, and in my brief experimenting I found that I had to download to 15 rounds to seat it with what I'd consider "normal" force.   I don't want to screw around with a brace, I see no point in a 16"+ 9mm barrel, and my SBR'd lower is 5.56, so the endomags are a solution for me.  I can see why they wouldn't be particularly suitable for PCC competition, though.  

 

Might still try it sometime. 

[Norther]

1 hour ago, Eric802 said:

I don't want to screw around with a brace, I see no point in a 16"+ 9mm barrel, and my SBR'd lower is 5.56, so the endomags are a solution for me. 

This is why I have them also. 8” sbr is fun. My son’s favorite pcc. Reason enough. Tried a mag block and didn’t like it much. 
 

I need to sbr a Glock mag lower sometime. 

[LipschitzWrath]

On 1/20/2020 at 11:17 AM, Eric802 said:

Speculation on another site is that the upper isn't modified at all, but the barrel extension is - something that protrudes farther than normal into the upper and hits that nub above the boltface. 

I was watching the GIF on their facebook post.  To me, it looks like the barrel extension idea is correct.  You can see what looks like an extended barrel extension in the very front of the ejection port.  The upper receiver appears to be otherwise standard (aside from it being a "slick side" without the F/A).  The downside to this is that barrels will be proprietary.  I read somewhere else it would be compatible with existing flat-faced barrels.  I don't see how that could be true.

 

I am also a fan of CMMG's guard system, if they could get the ejector spring issues sorted out. Someone got a revised design BCG from them not long ago and is testing it.  Last I checked, he was only up to 600 rounds or so.  He had stated that spring failures weren't happening until around 1000 rounds so he's got a ways to go.

 

Is he running a lightning link?  Is that why he is able to go from semi to full auto by just holding the trigger down?  You can see that he does not rotate the selector another 90°.

 

No matter what, I am impressed and I want one.  My direct blow back upper is a load.  I have a 4.5" barreled AR in 9mm that weighs as much as some of my guns with 16" barrels because of the added weight of the bolt, buffer, etc.  Stupid.

[Halo09]

On 1/23/2020 at 10:29 AM, Salsantini said:

If it uses Endomags with the ejector in the mag I would think you can also use this with a Colt or Glock pattern lower with an ejector.  

I wonder if this came about through their partnership with cmmg.  You will need to modify a Glock / Colt mag lower of you go with this system.  The mag catch sits too high in a Glock mag lower.  I bought the cmmg rotary bolt, barrel combo when it first came out only to find that I needed their lower or needed to modify my mag catch or my mags...neither one sounded reliable.  The factory barrel, bolt, lower combo in my Gibbz upper has been flawless though. 

[LipschitzWrath]

On 4/23/2020 at 7:53 PM, Halo09 said:

I wonder if this came about through their partnership with cmmg.  You will need to modify a Glock / Colt mag lower of you go with this system.  The mag catch sits too high in a Glock mag lower.  I bought the cmmg rotary bolt, barrel combo when it first came out only to find that I needed their lower or needed to modify my mag catch or my mags...neither one sounded reliable.  The factory barrel, bolt, lower combo in my Gibbz upper has been flawless though. 

When you say "the mag catch sits too high", what exactly do you mean?

 

Do you mean this causes the magazine to sit too high, thus interfering with bolt (presumably the lugs) of the CMMG guard system?

 

How does this lead you to believe that the roller delayed system will be the same way?

 

Not calling BS or anything, just trying to understand your thought process.

 

P.S. How has your CMMG system been?  Any ejector spring issues?

[Marshal82]

On 4/30/2020 at 3:25 PM, LipschitzWrath said:

When you say "the mag catch sits too high", what exactly do you mean?

 

Do you mean this causes the magazine to sit too high, thus interfering with bolt (presumably the lugs) of the CMMG guard system?

 

How does this lead you to believe that the roller delayed system will be the same way?

 

Not calling BS or anything, just trying to understand your thought process.

 

P.S. How has your CMMG system been?  Any ejector spring issues?

 

Because Mean arms makes the Endo mag and are marketing this roller upper as a bolt on to any standard 5.56 lower to run with a Endo mag. Since the Endo mag is also has direct compatibility with the CMMF RDB system that has known issues with non cmmg glock mag lowers, it makes since this Mean Roller upper may also, unless you have the $375 cmmg glock mag lower or use a endo mag with a standard AR lower. 

[BartCarter]

On 5/3/2020 at 11:49 AM, Marshal82 said:

 

Because Mean arms makes the Endo mag and are marketing this roller upper as a bolt on to any standard 5.56 lower to run with a Endo mag. Since the Endo mag is also has direct compatibility with the CMMF RDB system that has known issues with non cmmg glock mag lowers, it makes since this Mean Roller upper may also, unless you have the $375 cmmg glock mag lower or use a endo mag with a standard AR lower. 

The Endo mag is not a Glock type of mag.  It is an AR 5.56 mag with an insert that allows it to be used in a AR lower with 9mm uppers.  There is a version for the CMMG RDB that doesn't have the ejector on the mag.

 

The CMMG Glock lowers do not use Endo mags.  The CMMG RDB uppers use AR 5.56 lowers when paired with the Endo mags.

[Marshal82]

On 5/4/2020 at 9:26 PM, BartCarter said:

The Endo mag is not a Glock type of mag.  It is an AR 5.56 mag with an insert that allows it to be used in a AR lower with 9mm uppers.  There is a version for the CMMG RDB that doesn't have the ejector on the mag.

 

The CMMG Glock lowers do not use Endo mags.  The CMMG RDB uppers use AR 5.56 lowers when paired with the Endo mags.

 

I didn't make that parallel. I know how it works. I was explaining their marketing strategy.

 

While also explaining that the Mean System, like the CMMG RDB, likely won't work well with Blowback Glock mag lowers.....because they've designed it for the Endo mag and standard AR lower. This is due to the mag height of normal glock mag lowers for blowback systems. The glock mag lower that should work is the CMMG one specifically for the RDB system. MkGs I believe.