We have found it! The end all, be all, hard-use rifle for only the most discerning professional end user. The Sons of Liberty Gun Works (SOLGW) M4-89 is a 10 out of 10 duty rifle. This SOLGW M4-89 is one of the very few rifles to earn the National Tactical Officers Association's approval for duty use. Earning the trust of the NTOA and many other like-minded professionals is why this rifle is my new duty rifle of choice.
It's not often I buy an AR-15 on a whim, to try and I am impressed by it. This mid-length 14.5” Pinned and welded AR from the M4-89 series of rifles has stolen my heart. It is flat shooting, soft recoiling, and 100 percent reliable. Through 2000 rounds, I experienced no stoppages, no malfunctions, and not one single mishap. I cannot say this is the case for all the duty rifles I have tested over the years, let alone standard-use ARs. The M4-89 is built like a tank which can be run like a competition rifle.
From the quality control (QC) process at SOLGW, with two test fires during a gunsmith-built manufacturing process, or the high-end quality parts, no stone is left unturned. It's common to get a test-fired casing with pistols in years past, but with the SOLGW M4-89, you get a test-fired casing to go along with a host of other things. Out of the box, this rifle needs not one single thing. The controls feature a Forward Controls Design 50-degree ambi safety selector, Liberty Fighting Trigger, and the SOLGW ambi charging handle.
Why does it shoot and run like a sewing machine? Well, that's simple, it's gassed properly with perfect .750 gas ports and then weighted with the VLTOR A5 buffer system. The operating system is proven and tuned to perfection. It didn't matter whether this gun was hot, cold, or dirty, it just ran and maintained its brass pile building a perfect ejection pattern. Although we didn't have a chance to use a suppressor, SOLGW states they build their rifles to run reliably suppressed.
What does my rifle feature? I mounted an EOTech EXPS3-0 holographic sight on the Unity FAST riser, HRT AWLS rifle light, and then a Grovtec sentinel sling. The rifle comes with B5 furniture, a QD socket on the bulletproof M89 wedge-lock handguard, and my new favorite muzzle device, the NOX key mount. I cannot say enough about these rifles, outside of if you are on the fence, try one immediately. I have no doubt it will likely be the best shooting, best performing, and best out-of-the-box value in a duty gun anyone could buy.