quattro-15 Archives

Preface

I have always been a big rifle shooter, but my practice has changed somewhat over the past few decades. As a much younger man, I was a big fan of guns that made lots of noise, and shot lots of bullets. Accuracy through volume was the the way back then, until I learned what accuracy could actually be. I seem to have completed the circle however, and have once again returned to guns that run ammo like peaches through a Labrador. Today I bring something a little different to you all, a little lead pump based off of the Quattro 15.

quattro 15 receiver — Left-side of the ambidextrous Quattro 15, note QD cup at rear

Defensive weapons or PDW’s as they are often called, are mostly small carbine or sub-machine-gun styled weapons. SBR’s are common for this purpose, but unfortunately require negotiating your rights with tyrants at the Federal level. In a situation where you need a firearm for defensive purposes, a compact controllable weapon you can shoulder sure beats your daily carry. That is basically what I had in mind with todays project.

The Quattro 15

The Quattro 15 is a purpose built lower receiver for AR 15 style rifles. The receiver is built around the QM53 magazine, which is a quad-stacked fifty-three round magazine. The whole purpose of the Quattro was to create a reliable quad stack magazine that can drop right into standard equipment. The 53-round mags are the same length as 30rnd P-mags, and drop perfectly into double mag pouches.

plate carrier, quattro 15 magazines — The QM53 magazines fit perfectly in your favorite double mag pouch like these **HSG Tacos**

Having 53 rounds between reloads in a defensive position sure sounds better than 30, especially if the magazine in the gun is all you’ve got. You can also use standard capacity magazines by snapping in an OE adaptor to the magwell.

quattro 15, qm53 magazine — **QM53 magazine** detail, note ambidextrous bolt-release

Other than that, the Quattro 15 is just like every other ambidextrous AR lower receiver. Your favorite safety, trigger, grips and such will all fit. And the ambidextrous mag button and bolt release will make it easier to operate for all.

Upper receiver

After loading my favorite parts into the Quattro receiver, it was time to mate it to an upper. For that I chose the CMMG Dissent MK4 upper, which uses a 6.5 inch 5.56 barrel. The Dissent uses a buffer system contained within the upper receiver, which is ideal for a gun you want to keep small. I chose it because it would allow me to forgo the use of a buffer tube and the related parts. The ultra short barrel would seriously cut short the velocity of the rifle, but there is a give and take with this type of firearm.

The Dissent uses a forward charging handle located at the front of the handguard. This is another operational advantage over other styles of receiver, as your support hand rides with the charging handle nearly captured by your fingers. And since it doesn’t reciprocate, your support hand is always in the right spot to operate the rifle action.

banish speed K suppressor — left-side charging handle works as a thumb-rest

Using the Dissent upper required fitting CMMG’s buffer-tube plug to the Quattro receiver. This also allowed me to put a picatinny rail on the back of the receiver, which would allow me to install a buttstock.

The Zhukov

The Magpul Zhukov stock fit perfectly into my idea for this rifle, but it would require using the Haga Defense 1913 rail adaptor. This little feature would allow us to fold the stock to the side and cut the size of the rifle nearly in half. The Zhukov is adjustable in length with the press of a button.

Matching the Zhukov buttstock, I mounted a MOE vertical grip to the handguard, which made for a very nice and comfortable grip of the rifle.

desert tech Quattro 15, trijicon MRO, banish speed k — the **Trijicon MRO** makes a great sight option

Sights and Suppressor

All that was left was a good sighting option and a suppressor. For that I chose a Trijicon MRO, with a cantilever mount that made it a perfect match for the stock height. The MRO is easily zeroed and allows full view of the target and surrounding area with no magnification.

For a suppressor I installed the Silencer Central Banish Speed K. The Speed K is a full inconel suppressor built for heavy use. It uses a controlled flow design, with a ventilated fourth baffle. This results in reduce back pressure on semi-automatic rifles, as well as excellent sound suppression for its size. And at only four-inches long, it doesn’t add much to your PDW.

Shooting the Quattro

Shootability

As you might imagine, a PDW type rifle isn’t really meant for shooting beyond ones immediate area. That’s why I didn’t feel bad using such a short barrel. And for shots inside 100 yards or so, there is plenty of velocity to do what I need.

The compact package was incredibly easy to maneuver with its compact size. It is easily stowed in a backpack, especially with the stock folded. One thing I wish was that the Zhukov folded both ways, as I would prefer it on the left side of the rifle. While the rifle can be fired with the stock folded, it’s possible to have an issue after the first shot due to the stock blocking the ejection port. This is with the stock at its shortest configuration, which I preferred.

quattro 15, trijicon MRO, banish speed k suppressor — The **Silencer Central Banish Speed K suppressor** kept things to a dull roar

With an oversized grip on this little rifle I felt it was much easier to manipulate one-handedly. A smaller less-sticky grip might make it a little tougher to wield. The foregrip is comfortably used as a stop for your hand, sort of half on the handguard and half on the down-grip. This positions your support hand perfectly on the charging handle for easy operation of the rifle.

Recoil of course is miniscule, and its easy to keep the rifle on target. And with the impressive capacity you can bury your targets with one shot after another.

Reliability

I’ve yet to have any malfunctions while shooting this little rifle. But I have had issues unloading the magazine, which is curious. Perhaps the jarring activity of the rifle going off keeps everything moving properly when it unloads in the gun.

With such a short barrel, adding a suppressor does create quite a backflow of gas. The Banish Speed K is a “controlled flow” design, which is supposed to help reduce backpressure. And it might, but there is still enough gas to make you cough if you’re not in a ventilated area when sustained shooting.

I’m not sure how to interpret this, it is likely that a PDW will be used indoors. And excessive gas to the face isn’t ideal in any place but worse indoors. But shooting loud in confined spaces isn’t exactly fun either, and suppressed shooting seems like a better proposition when trying to gain a tactical advantage. So maybe the rifle would do better in certain situations without the suppressor.

Accuracy

Accuracy from this little package is not surprising. I mean shooting IPSC targets inside 100 yds was easy, and it got easier the closer they were. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say accuracy isn’t needed at PDW ranges, its certainly not as important as long-range precision rifles.

That said I think the accuracy of this little rifle is more than adequate for the intended purposes. Shooting soda cans off a fence from 100 yards is good enough for me, and allows a level of proficiency needed for most gun owners.

Value

Since I pieced this unit together, its hard to put an exact price on it. But using quality parts was high on my list of priorities. The result has proven to be a very reliable PDW style rifle, and being such I would consider it a valuable rifle. When considering the value of a tool that could mean the difference between life or death, folks tend to spend their money a little more liberally. And considering all this I feel like this little project is well worth the money spent.

Also, as Americans we love tinkering with our firearms, AR’s in particular. The likelihood that this rifle ever be used on a two-way range is slim, especially if I play it safe. In my opinion if a threat is close enough to need this rifle for defense, I’ve failed already. So at a minimum this has been a great exercise in fun.

banish speed K — Testing ammunition provided by **MWLP Trailforger**, check em out!

Final Words

You may or may not see a value in a project like this one, that is entirely up to you. For me it is just a fun project with a purpose, and one I thought some folks might enjoy coming along with me for the ride. Hopefully if you’ve made it this far you have found some inspiration for your own projects. Leave us a comment below if you’ve got any ideas or criticisms that might be helpful.

-CBM

Read about my other Quattro 15 project here

Introduction

The AR 15 rifle has become the most popular rifle in America at this point. Countless configurations and options are available, but the reason the rifle is so popular is because of the massive aftermarket allowing customization. This has driven American gun owners wild as they can tinker and alter every aspect of their rifle. Today I am putting together an AR 15 of my own, and for fun I’ll bring you along for the ride.

Desert Tech Quattro 15 Eotech Vudu fab defense — Modern AR rifles have countless options

Often referred to as adult Legos, the AR 15 market has nearly too many options to discuss. Every aspect of the rifle has its own little niche market allowing you to change to your liking. The very basics consist of lower and upper receivers, a barrel, handguard, bolt carrier and gas system, trigger, grip, and buttstock.

But before I get into the particulars, it would be silly to start without a purpose in mind. If you plan to shoot 3-gun for example, you might build a different gun than someone looking for a fighting rifle. The rifle I’m putting together today is for general purposes, some sporting and always for fun.

desert tech Quattro-15, eotech Vudu, Aero Precision — the Aero Precision upper looks and functions very well

Parts Selection

I’ll start out with my parts list, because that is what makes a rifle. I took the easy way and got an Aero Precision complete upper, they are pre assembled and well known so it was an easy choice.

Aero Precision M4E1 upper receiver 16-inch 223 Wylde SS Hanson barrel
Desert Tech Quattro-15 ambi lower receiver
Trigger Tech AR trigger
FAB Gradus pistol grip
FAB Defense GL Core Impact buttstock
CMMG buffer tube assembly
Area 419 One -Piece scope mount
Eotech Vudu 1-8 LPVO rifle scope
Eotech EFLX Red Dot

Lower Receiver

With all my parts in one place, I started with putting all the lower receiver parts together. Adding takedown pins and detents can be a challenging process if you’ve never done it. My advice would be to get a couple extra springs and detents before you start.

Using the Quattro-15 lower would allow me to use either the standard 53-round magazines, or traditional twenty and thirty-round magazines. The Mil-spec receiver went together easily with my parts selection, and I really like the ambidextrous bolt-catch. The ambi mag release is nice too, though obviously I don’t need it.

Desert Tech Quattro-15 — the dual Eotech optics work great, read more about them here

Adding trigger, safety, and safety detent and pistol grip typically has to be done in sequence depending on your components. Often these parts interfere with each other, requiring them to be done in tandem. My Trigger Tech Trigger came with anti-walk pins that have screws on the end. Which made install a little more tedious, but allegedly they’ll be less problematic over time.

Buttstock

After trigger and safety, I tightened down the pistol grip carefully to get the safety detent right. Then moved to the buffer tube and then the stock. The FAB Defense stock came with several interesting options. It has an adjustable cheek piece that can be raised or lowered to fit you, but for this rifle I didn’t need it, so I was happy to see that it was also easily removed. Two sets of buffer tube guides came with the stock, one of them fit tighter than the other. I hate wobbly stocks so I was very pleased to see the option.

The GL Core Impact buttstock incorporates a shock absorbing feature using what appears to be an RC Car coil over shock. But in reality is simply a spring, it allows the stock to slip slightly back under recoil. And has three different adjustment settings.

Upper Receiver

Aero Precision’s M4E1 upper receiver was an easy choice to make, the 16-inch barrel and lightweight handguard fit in nicely to my plans for the rifle. The handguard is pretty large in diameter, but when paired with the high-capacity Quattro lower and magazines it fits very nicely. I’ll probably add an additional foregrip as well.

The 16-inch stainless Hanson barrel has a mid-length gas tube, and is threaded 1/2-28. I’ll remove the birdcage to run a suppressor because that’s how I shoot. The M-Lok handguard gives countless accessory mounting opportunities, having M-Lok slots on every angle and surface also reduces weight. Adding QD sling cups in several places also allows various sling configurations.

Shooting the rifle

With everything put together, all that was left was a test fire. Shooting some PMC Bronze 55 grain ammunition, I ran a few mags worth of ammo through the gun. As I had hoped, it ran flawlessly.

I added one of my suppressors to the rifle, a short one to reduce the size of the overall package. Using a traditional baffle-stack, the suppressor increased the backpressure of the rifle. While I didn’t find it to be a big deal, it was certainly noticeable.

The rifle shot very well, I was very pleased with the feel of the Trigger Tech. Making rapid follow up shots was incredibly fast because of the short reset. Even with 53 round magazines you can empty the gun quickly, though you will for sure have a tired finger when you’re done.

Accuracy from the Hanson stainless steel barrel was more than adequate for my purposes. I surely noticed that much of the rifles weight did come from the barrel. Anything from sport shooting on a steel target safari, to hunting the lightning quick jackrabbits in western deserts would be handily done with this rifle. I am quite sure I could get tighter groups out of the rifle with a different scope. But for my current purposes this works fine.

The dual Eotech optics on the rifle made for quick target acquisition and engagements, while also allowing much further shots with the 8x setting. Using heavier ammunition like Hornady 73 grain match would provide minute of groundhog accuracy even at distances like three and four-hundred yards.

Afterthoughts

One of the beauties of putting your own rifle together, is you can do it to your design. Changing parts out for something you like slightly better is what makes these rifles so appealing.

I’ve really liked the result of this combination of parts and sub-assemblies. The Aero Precision upper has worked out great, giving good accuracy and modularity. The finish and craftsmanship are great and match up perfectly to the Desert Tech Quattro lower. With the ability to run whichever magazine I need for any given purpose as well.

quattro 15 vudu banish suppressor — the rifle fitted with a **Silencer Central Banish Speed K suppressor**

Soaking up recoil is not a huge task on a 5.56 rifle, especially a larger one like this. The Fab Defense GL Core buttstock would shine even more on a 7.62 rifle, which could definitely use additional recoil mitigation.

It wouldn’t hurt my feelings to redo this rifle with a little less weight, but that’s the beauty of these guns. I can easily split it up and reassemble with lighter parts if needed.

So there you have it, go ahead and critique the way I did this rifle. Or if you like it, tell me why. I suppose in the meantime I’ll start rounding up the next batch of parts to try it again.

-CBM