Night Fighters Broad Sword

Around January of 2023, I decided to build out my 2nd rifle. The only rifle I had at the time was a 16" BCM & used a riflescope with a 2-12 magnification level. And while the platform itself was very capable & a bit of a sweet spot in its own right, it also lacked in some areas. Particularly when paired with a night vision unit & when working in confined areas such as vehicles. I had just recently committed to a Gen 3 white phosphate PVS-14 so the desire to have a weapons system that would complement my newly found capabilities was strong.

My prior rifle being a complete upper & lower I had just slapped together, this would be the first rifle I would piece together from individual components. In efforts to minimize the number of mistakes I was sure to make, I decided to map out the entire build on an excel spreadsheet prior to ordering any highly specific parts. This would also act as a reference point since I would need to save & purchase each component over time.

Being new to this process I didn't really know where to start so I just began with what I did know to be true and that was what I wanted from the build when it was complete. Having defined goals would keep me from turning this into one giant mess of a "Do It All Rifle" & ideally let me optimize for its intended purpose. I've mentioned the original purpose of this build was primary to be paired night vision equipment & while that is true, personally I don't spend enough time under NODs, nor do I make enough money to build out a platform that would solely be for that purpose & that purpose alone. No matter which way I cut it, this rifle would have to server more than one role. But if I'm wise about it, those roles may end up benefiting from each other instead of being an hinderance.

Mapping Out The Build

Even though I can't do a build strictly for the purpose of nighttime fighting, it's still a main theme of this build & we can start to take note of what aspects make-up a good night fighting rifle & then cross examine them with other roles, seeing if anything matches up.

Far as the weapon system is concerned there are really only a few aspects that aid when employed under night. A passive aiming system such as a red dot or holographic site, an active aiming system typically in the form of an IR laser device, & an illuminator in the IR spectrum. And while there absolutely are other aspects that help aid when it comes to NVG use, these aspects are the big three & at minimum 1 of the 3 will have to be incorporated into this build in order to achieve my goal.

Vehicles are extremely prevalent in both military & civilian day to day life & will continue to be this way regardless of how good or bad the times are. While a 16" scoped carbine is absolutely useable in & out of vehicles, the optic & barrel length are aspects that you will have to work around, instead them enhancing your performance generally speaking. A shorter platform & a smaller optic that's more easily used in unorthodox shooting positions will ultimately be the better choice. These factors obviously also make it a good weapon system for other confined spaces such as structures, ladders, and what not over our prior mentioned existing rifle.

Origin Story

Heart of the Rifle

Lastly there's what I'm calling the 'Other Environmental General-Purpose Consideration". I live in an area that borders 2 fairly different environments. To the North-Northwest lies vast open plains with flat lands & to the South-Southeast are large hills with trees & thick shrubs every square foot. The AR I already had & ran did very well in the more open area, but I did notice that not only was the larger optic getting snagged on all the vegetation, I also wasn't able to use it to its full potential. When you can't see past 150-200 yards in any direction, having that much glass just ends up being a waste & even a pain. Having a smaller optic with more field of view vs magnification would be the wiser choice for this area of operations.

Looking at all 3 of these factors we can see some common aspects start to pop up. An AR with a barrel length shorter than 16" using an optic with zero or very little magnification such as a red dot or holographic sight &, if possible, the adoption of a L.A.M. or Laser Aiming Module into the system for increased capabilities at night is preferred. And while not priorly mentioned, a white light & sling for this system is a non-negotiable requirement. Not a ton of information to go off of, but enough to get started.

Now if you're a follower of Brass Facts at all you may have heard him refer to the optic as the heart of the rifle. His reasoning is that the optic will ultimately determine how the platform will be used. While I understand his reasoning & even largely agree, I find a more accurate representation of the optic would be the brain. Since it determines how the body will operate similar to how he views the optic determines how the rifle will be used. Unless he's more of a lead by the heart kind of guy lol but I digress, the BCG would likely be the heart since it pumps ammo into the platform, keeping it up & running like blood in the body. However, at running the risk of being wrong even by my own logic, I prefer to refer to the barrel as the heart of the rifle since it ultimately determines what the rifle is capable of doing. I have a broad idea of what my optical situation will look like thanks to our prior planning, so before I attempt to nail down that aspect, lets hammer out some more details starting with the barrel.

We know that it can't go past 16" in length &, if possible, we may want to try & keep it on the shorter side since they do better in both thick shrubs & vehicle use. Barrel length doesn't necessary matter for NVG use specifically. However, a longer barrel would likely aid in reduction to any muzzle flash which is an overall plus especially when using night vision. Since there are other ways of dealing with muzzle flash & typical engagement distances are reduced at night even under nods, a short, barreled AR seems to be a flat win across the board. Almost... There is one large draw back to shorter platforms in the 5.56 caliber and that's velocity, the largest factor in what makes 5.56 so effective.

Go too short with a barrel & not only is it harder on the internals of your platform, but it may not have enough speed to reliably fragment when it hits its target at medium-extended distances. Theres also the added downfall that shorter AR-15s just have a lower overall lifespan than that of say a 16" or 18". Both the NVG & thick wooded area use case don't have a large need for taking shots at extended ranges due to their own unique reasonings & even though a shorter barrel does better for moving in & out of vehicles, that doesn't automatically mean our targets will be at a closer range. I could be traveling in a vehicle on the flatter part previously spoken of & if we had to bail out of the car due to an ambush or something else, a super short barel