Introduction

There is something to be said about a rifle that is near perfectly balanced and maneuverable. Today I am here to share with you one of those rifles, an AR-15 that just feels perfect in my hands, the Aero Precision X15 5.56 carbine. Built from an Aero Precision M4E1 lower receiver and mated with a lightweight eighteen-inch upper and barrel.

What makes a perfect carbine?

Obviously, that varies for most of us, but I’ll tell you what I think this carbine is perfect for. The lightweight barrel and handguard assembly make this rifle very balanced, and it has a very effective muzzle brake as well to help reduce any recoil or muzzle rise.
A fairly minimalist Magpul MOE SL-K buttstock also helps keep the weight down but still offers all the agility and modularity I’d want for shooting on the move. The trigger in this rifle is nothing extraordinary, but it breaks clean enough to shoot accurately.

On top of the rifle is a Vortex Crossfire II 1-4 LPVO, I know some of you are gonna disagree with me here but I like this scope for this gun. Apart from a good color combination, I think the 1-4 power is great for a rifle intended to shoot n’ scoot.

Any kind of shooting scenario where you expect to be rapidly moving and engaging targets from fairly close distances would be a great. That could be a two or three gun competition or a car lot in Wisconsin, but you’d find yourself pretty well equipped with a little carbine like this.
Your idea of a perfect carbine might be a little different than mine, I have no issue with that as ten years from now we may have swapped opinions.

Good Parts

Good parts make a good rifle, and while the X15 receiver from Aero may not be the greatest or best of all time but it is still a good place to start. The barrel in this rifle appears to be a Faxon gunner eighteen-inch barrel, it is nitride finished with a nickel teflon coated barrel extension and 5R rifled. Sounds like a winner, but we would see for sure on the range. The handguard is an MLok carbine length from AT3 Tactical, it’s pretty minimalist, and comfortable to hold.

Rangetime

The first time I took this rifle to the range I wanted to basically just prove it out and make sure everything worked together. I was quickly pleased to see that everything was in order and needed no additional attention, it was ready to burn up some ammo.

I ran several magazines through the rifle and I found it to be very controllable, the light recoil was further reduced by the brake making target acquisition quick and easy. I was also impressed that the light weight made it much easier to hold the rifle on target, not just hold it but to hold it still. Something I am not used to due to the heavy guns I usually shoot.
My daughter had come along and wanted to give the rifle a try herself. She too found the rifle comfortable to maneuver and shoot, which further credits the rifle’s handling.

I did put the rifle across some sandbags to see how it patterned. For a proper accuracy test I would have liked to put a better rifle scope on the gun, and perhaps shoot some better ammunition than I had on hand. The Crossfire II scope did work well enough for my purposes however, I didn’t have much trouble hitting what I was aiming at. The best group I came up with during my testing was a 2 MOA pattern, not exactly match-grade shooting but I’m sure I could have improved on that with a little more refined aiming and magnification. Continue Reading Here…

The maneuverability of the rifle was awesome and transitioning between various targets at different distances came easily. I really wish I could have shot the rifle in some kind of carbine match, as that surely would have exposed its weakness and mine. I also would love to shoot it more suppressed – personally I think it’s only proper to do so.
 

PROS & CONS
 

I can’t say that this rifle is perfect, but it certainly is a great rifle for a lot of scenarios. I love the lightness and clean handling of the rifle. Matched with its flawless function and mean green exterior, there’s little for me to complain about.

As a precision rifle purist, I am always motivated by accuracy. Pencil-thin barrels and carbines aren’t typically the best combination for improving accuracy. But accuracy is defined entirely by the shooter and his or her targets, and for many practical purposes, the accuracy potential shown here is just fine in my opinion.

This rifle is a perfect example of what makes the AR-15 platform so appealing: compatibility with a massive assortment of parts and accessories that seem to mesh in perfect unison.
 

CONCLUSION

Whether you are putting together a fighting rifle or a competition gun for matches, there is an innumerable selection of possibilities. I find this particular rifle to be fantastic for competitive-style shooting, but not ideal for the type of precision shooting I prefer myself.

The Aero Precision X15 or the more prevalent M4E1 receiver are both fantastic starting points for putting together a rifle, and as you might imagine, Aero has a whole catalog of other parts for your build.
 

-CBM

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