AR-24 Range Report

The AR-24 reads up on ballistics

I took the AR-24 out and put 160 rounds through it this weekend. I had two strange malfunctions, which I will address later. Other than that, it was pretty fantastic.

When it comes to accuracy, the AR-24 was everything I hoped it would be. My crappy trigger pull left more than a few rounds hitting just below the bull's eye. A quick mental scolding, and most rounds thrashed the bull's eye. We (James and I) were also shooting clays with our tacticool 12ga shotguns. Those that got away were subjected to a pounding by the AR-24 or James' amazingly accurate Steyr M9A1. Keep in mind that those clays were lying on the ground at 20 yards or better--and often on a side profile which didn't present much of a target.

I had read on Gunblast.com that the AR-24 handled "like a rimfire target pistol". I have to agree. Its weight, balance, and ergonomics really make it easy to keep the sights glued to the target. Most 9x19mm pistols don't have much recoil. This one has less than usual. The swooping cut of the back strap almost forces you to grip the pistol properly. It makes you put your hand high and firm.

I am not left-handed. (bonus points if you get the obscure reference)

The AR-24 has only right-handed controls. Sorry, southpaws.

If your grip looks like this, you are wrong.

Now for those two failures to eject. The first one occurred in mid-magazine. The slide locked open, a live round was on the extractor, and the spent case was below it, wedged between it and the magazine--but entirely free of the extractor and chamber. The second failure was on the very last round fired. The slide locked open on the empty magazine, and I visually checked the chamber to make sure it was clear. Sitting on top of the magazine was a spent case. Again, free of the extractor and chamber. Just sitting there, making my head hurt from trying to figure out the cause of such a malfunction. The common denominator was the factory magazine which was in use for both malfunctions. This particular magazine required extra force to lock in place, would not drop free of the mag well, and would only feed the first round if you used the slide release. My other three magazines don't do any of that. Oh, and while we're on magazines, EAA Witness magazines function flawlessly in this pistol.

Overall, I am really digging the AR-24. Hopefully I find the gremlins behind my failures to eject. It sure as heck is accurate enough for duty or even bowling pin matches. It's a real tack driver. But a pistol shouldn't have a malfunction from firing just 160 rounds. I will pull the extractor off later this week and check for a glob of cosmoline or some other defect. If I can fix the reliability issue, this thing would be just about perfect.