Is there some foreshadowing going on in the ZEV Technologies booth? Considering they recently bought Mega Arms, seems plausible to me.
Is there some foreshadowing going on in the ZEV Technologies booth? Considering they recently bought Mega Arms, seems plausible to me.
Oxnard, CA – January 26, 2017 – Today ZEV Technologies, Inc. and Mega Arms, LLC announced their plans to combine the companies.
ZEV Technologies Chairman and CEO, Matt Ridenour, said, “We are tremendously excited about what this combination brings to the market. Both of our brands are focused on top tier products and our customers are very excited about ZEV’s addition of a line of AR and rifle products.”
Mega Arms President, Mike Miller, will immediately take responsibility for ZEV’s and Mega’s manufacturing operations. According to Miller, “These two companies fit together like a puzzle. We will bring our Quality Management System and manufacturing experience and ZEV brings amazing design, engineering and marketing skills and the financial strength to facilitate our continued growth”.
Ridenour commented that, “I want to emphasize to customers of both companies that, in the near term, nothing will change in our approach to the market. Both brands and product lines will remain in place. We will use 2017 as an opportunity to talk to our customers and evaluate all the ways to add value through the combined company”.
AR-15 Wedge Lock in KeyMod
The AR-15 Wedge Lock in KeyMod is a KeyMod model of the WedgeLock rail which features short 45 degree KeyMod slots at the front. It is made from 7075-T6 extruded aluminum, and is compatible with any MilSpec upper receiver.
Includes handguard and comes with wedge system, titanium barrel nut, and assembly tools.
www.megaarms.com/ar-15/ar-15-hand-guards/wedge-lock-ar-15-hand-guard-keymod
MATEN MKM
The MATEN MKM has been updated with the replacement of the KeyMod slots at the 45 degree angle with cutouts, save a small section of KeyMod still at the front of the 45 degree section of the rail. The MATEN MKM is a two-piece design, and has been black hard anodized with a surface hardness of 60 Rockwell. It is compatible only with the Mega Arms MATEN Billet lower.
Includes upper and hand-guard and comes with dust cover door installed, assembly screws, one 9 slot rail, barrel nut & wrench.
www.megaarms.com/maten/upper-receivers/mkm-maten-keymod
I spent Veterans Day this year at Range 37 near Ft Bragg with Grey Ghost Precision checking out their new Specter series of rifles. Manufactured exclusively for GGP by Mega Arms, the Specter is offered in Heavy (7.62 NATO) and Light (5.56mm) models. Both were a joy to shoot. My main concern was reliability and overall shooting experience. The day was not the best opportunity for me to look at accuracy and hopefully, this will be happening soon.
For years shooters have been asking Mega Arms to build complete rifles based on their popular MATEN 7.62 Upper and Lower sets. Mega heard what they are asking for but decided to team up with Grey Ghost. These are the only guns built completely by Mega Arms and this new relationship is a natural fit considering the two firms’ close proximity to one another and privately held status.
Truth be told, I spent most of my time with the Heavy since it was something new. The initial rifle I shot performed flawlessly with the first magazine but then I started to notice failure to fire on the second round out of the magazine. After it happened three times, Jason Curns, Firearms Manager at Mega Arms took a look at it and replaced the firing pin. After that, it ran like a sewing machine the rest of the day. This was the only malfunction I noted over the several hours our group spent at the range.
Gemtech also brought in two suppressors that they will be offering with GGP as well as their Blast Jackets which help dampen the side blast of comps.
Here, you can see the Gemtech suppressor mounted to a Specter Heavy.
I also fired the Light carbine on a pop up range. After a morning with the Heavy it was a lot of fun to shoot and was equipped with the new Mega Slide Lock charging handle.
Although, I’ve talked about the specs for the rifles before, I’ll go over them again.
The proprietary receivers are built from 7075-T651 billet aluminum and are True Black Type III hardcoat anodized to military specifications, with a surface hardness of 60 Rockwell. The forends are 14″ extended Mega MKM KeyMod handguards, which are hand fitted to the upper receiver using Mega Arms’ custom lockup system; M-LOK forends will be available in the future. The barrels are medium weight 16″ 416 stainless steel with 11 degree target crowns. They are fitted with Gemtech Jake Brakes and are treated with black nitride inside and out for superior corrosion resistance. One thing to note is that the Heavy’s upper does not incorporate a Forward Assist. This is a holdover from the MATEN. According to Mega, most .308 BCGs don’t have serrations so the BCG wouldn’t do much good.
The lower receivers feature ambidextrous bolt releases and BAD-CASS selectors. The triggers are single stage, with a 4.5 lbs pull. They also come equipped with properly staked mil-spec six position receiver extensions, Magpul ACS stocks, and Magpul MOE+ pistol grips. The Specter Light comes with enhanced takedown and pivot pins directly from the factory.
As I stated up front, I used this experience as a familiarity shoot and came away very pleased. Numerous people fired the weapons in both Light and Heavy configurations. Several times we had to wait for weapons to cool down due to the amount of rounds fired. I only noted the firing pin issue during the entire range session. In addition to our range, the rifles were used the day prior by every competitor during one of the stages of the Green Beret Foundation fundraiser shoot. There were no malfunctions noted during that event and no one complained about the weapon’s accuracy during the competition. While the range was not optimized for an accuracy evaluation, I hope to get the opportunity soon.
Last week I had the opportunity to try out Grey Ghost Precision’s new Specter heavy and light rifles. These are manufactured exclusively for GGP by Mega Arms. One of the 5.56mm light guns had an interesting charging handle. At the time, the new Slide Lock was still under press blackout but they allowed me to snap a photo for when it did come out.
Well, it’s out now. The patent pending design is ambidextrous but doesn’t rely on all of the moving parts that rival makers incorporate into their designs. Instead, it’s pretty straight forward. Much of the design has to do with the tooth on the catch. Rather than a sharp tooth it is more angled which allows for an easier opening on the pull. You can’t say there aren’t any moving pieces because there are. It’s just simpler than everything else out there.
What’s more, it works. I messed with it quite a bit to get a feel for how well it locked and unlocked as well as the pull. I must admit, I had a smile on my face as I cycled the Slide Lock over and over.
So far, the Slide Lock is only available for 5.56mm AR-style platforms, but Mega is working on a 7.62mm compatible version.
Here, Jason Curns, Firearms Manager at Mega Arms goes over the new charging handle.
Coming soon from MegaArms.com.
Mega Arms has announced they are now manufacturing 5.56mm barrels in both 16 and 18 inches with a 1:8 twist. 16 inch barrel has a mid length gas system and Gov profile. The 18 inch barrel has a rifle length gas system and a true SPR profile. Both barrels are nitrided in and out, have an 11 degree target crown with ½-28 thread. Both have M4 feed ramps and are manufactured from 416 stainless with traditional button rifling.
The best part? $269 MSRP for either the 16 or 18 inch barrel.
The Mega Arms Megalithic AR-15 upper is machined from billet 7075-T6 aluminum, giving it a 70% increase in strength over 6061 aluminum. It is black hard anodized with a surface hardness of 60 Rockwell. Its material and construction allows it to weigh only 22.3 oz.
The Megalithic upper features a fore end with keymod at the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions, and a flat top Picatinny rail. An integrated leveling system placed between the upper receiver and handguard rails can be configured for both left and right handed shooters.
Comes standard with a dust cover door, forward assist, a keymod compatible Picatinny rail segment, barrel nut, and barrel nut wrench. Available only in rifle length at this time.
megaarms.com/ar-15/upper-receivers/mts-440