Guns

,

Sharps Bros Livewire

,

Sharps Bros Livewire AR-15 lower receiver review

Written by: Buddy Murphy

  This is a review of the Sharps Bros Livewire AR-15 lower receiver. Yes, these are the same guys that make lowers with skulls, warrior helmets, or other goofy things on their magazine wells. But when they get serious, they make a quality, functional piece of kit.

  One of the first things you'll notice is the heavily flared mag well, which not only looks great but also makes reloads faster and more intuitive. The ambidextrous bolt release is another welcome feature, providing ease of use for both right and left-handed shooters. This particular design for a right side bolt release has the perfect amount of force needed to release the bolt. Some other receivers take too much effort to release the bolt, forcing you to move your hand off of the fire controls, like the PWS Alpha.

  The right side bolt release is especially useful for me (right-handed shooter) when shooting CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program) courses of fire. The first and last stages are single load stages. Meaning, you have an empty magazine in your rifle (or a specialty mag), you drop a round into the ejection port, close the bolt, and fire your one round. You repeat that 10 or 20 times depending on the stage. This forces you to break position between each shot. By having the bolt release on the right side, I can hold my rifle against my shoulder with my left hand, and get another round, drop it in the rifle, grip the rifle with my right hand, and close the bolt, minimizing my movement between shots.

  The transition between the integrated, oversized trigger guard and the magazine well is stepped, giving it a distinct and clean look. The threaded bolt catch pin and rear takedown pin recess also add to its overall precision and durability.

  As of July 2021, Livewire has undergone a significant upgrade, it is now made from a forging. The process begins with a 7075 aluminum billet, which is heated to 800 degrees and then forged into a near-final shape using a custom tool in an impressive 4100-ton press.

  Post-forging, the receiver undergoes final machining on CNC machines. This reduces material costs and machine time without compromising quality. The result is a receiver that feels incredibly robust and well-finished, with every detail meticulously crafted. The anodized black finish, done to MIL-A-8625 standards, ensures durability and a sleek professional look.

  Putting the lower parts in the receiver was a standard affair except for the left side bolt catch. Instead of a roll pin holding the bolt catch to the receiver, it has a small hex-head screw. This makes it much easier to attach the bolt catch than tapping in a roll pin. Also, before you attach the bolt catch, you must insert the included transfer bar. The transfer bar allows the bolt release, on the right side, to push the bottom of the bolt catch toggle (causing the top to move in towards the receiver as if you pushed it), releasing the bolt.

  In summary, the Sharps Bros Livewire AR15 receiver delivers on every front; strength, precision, and aesthetics. It’s a top-tier choice for anyone looking to build or upgrade their AR15 with a receiver that truly sets itself apart from the rest. While it maintains the classic AR15 aesthetic, it brings its own unique flair and functionality to the table: like the oversized integral trigger guard, beveled magazine flare, and ambidextrous bolt release. It is fully compatible with mil-spec parts and magazines. Weighing around 8.7 ounces, it strikes a perfect balance between weight and durability.

Firearms Insider Reviews - Key Points

Claim to Fame:

AR-15 lower receiver with right side bolt release.

Target Market:

Lefties, Competition shooters, those that want ambi-everything

Features, Benefits, and Specifications of this product:

  • Large integrated trigger guard

  • Right side bolt release

  • Flared mag well

  • Forged lower

  • Mil-spec

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?

Only black anodized finish

What others are saying?:

5/5 stars from Dave K. at Brownells

Absolutely the best value for the $$$

I am very impressed with this lower receiver. Everything fit perfectly. Best value for the money! All of my future builds I will use this receiver.

Link to other reviews:

The Firearm Blog

Price point:

MSRP = $136.79

Retail = $124.99 at Brownells

I need it now! Availability:

Brownells

Our Rating:

Pros:

  • Forged Receiver

  • Flared Magwell

  • Right side bolt release

  • Integrated trigger guard

  • Oversized trigger Guard

  • Mil-spec dimensions

Cons:

  • None

Score: 8.00 Great

,

FOXTROT MIKE RANCH RIFLE

,

foxtrot mike

ranch rifle review

  I had great pleasure in getting one of the Ranch Rifles from Foxtrot Mike after SHOT Show this year. When I saw one, I was intrigued with how it looked, how it functioned, and the machining that went into it. I liked the fact that it was 50 state legal, was set up like a familiar 870 shotgun, had a forward charging handle, and still took standard capacity AR mags. 

  The 16" barrel version of the Ranch Rifle provides a balanced platform for out to medium-range engagements. The rifle features a **bufferless design**, which is one of the hallmark innovations of FM Products. This eliminates the need for a traditional buffer tube so that other stock options can be had. Hence the addition of the **Hogue 870 stock**. Which is a nice touch, offering superior comfort and control.  For shooters who are familiar with their old 870 shotgun feel, this rifle will fit like an old glove. Especially during extended range sessions. The stock provides excellent support and helps with recoil management.

  The charging handle, which is housed in the handguard on the FM Ranch rifle, can be changed from the left side to the right side. This is so you can choose which side you want to charge the rifle from. The handguard is also Mlok compatible so you can add your favorite accessories to it. They also offer a slap mod. This makes the charging similar to an HK. I did not have this option on my rifle, but it is another feature you can get to add to yours. 

  The 4-Port Muzzle Device is designed to reduce both muzzle rise and recoil, making quicker follow-up shots and better overall control of the rifle. This is especially helpful in rapid-fire scenarios where muzzle control is essential. The device works well in combination with the rifle’s bufferless system. The 16" barrel ensures that the rifle can perform effectively at varying ranges, from short to longer ranges. The rifle is chambered in 556 Nato. The use of Standard AR mags a plus.

  Shooting the Ranch rifle was a complete joy, once I figured out the manual of arms. Things are in a few different spots than your traditional AR rifle. I had a problem trying to reach the mag release to do fast reloads. But this is a ranch rifle and not a tactical rifle. Not saying that you can't use it as such. I had topped it off with an Atibal green dot and ran close to 2K rounds through the rifle, both at the range and at a class. When I first started shooting the rifle, I had a few malfunctions. These were just in the first few mags. Once I got it nice and hot, the rifle was ready to roll and it has been going ever since. Accuracy of the rifle is better than I can shoot, at 25 yards it will cut little cluster groups with a dot sight. Out to 50 and 100 yards it was still on target. It is accurate enough with the dot to hunt or do varmint control. I did not put a magnified optic on it. I am sure that if I would have, it would have been more accurate. I was shooting from a standing position most of the time.

  This is a rifle that I would suggest to someone who wants quality at a good price. Or someone who just might not want a black rifle for whatever reason. If you live in one of those states where you can not have certain AR style rifles, the Foxtrot Mike Ranch Rifle might be just what you need. I plan on taking it on some of my hunting trips this year. It also stays close by in the house. It swings like that old 870 shotgun but with that AR rifle fire power. 

Firearms Insider Reviews - Key Points

Claim to fame:

Bufferless operating system

50 State legal

Some AR accessories will interchange

Direct Impingement operating system

4-PORT muzzle brake

Target Market:

  • Hunters that want AR performance in a non AR rifle

  • Communist state people

  • Those whose choose quality and value

FNBs (Features & Benefits of this product):

  • CALIBER: .223 WYLDE

  • LOWER RECEIVER:  MACHINED FROM AIRCRAFT GRADE ALUMINUM HARD MIL-SPEC TYPE III ANODIZING

  • STOCK: Magpul SGA 870 Shotgun stock

  • TRIGGER: Mil-Spec ranch rifle

  • SAFETY SELECTOR: Reversible Push Button Steel Barrel Safety

  • BARREL LENGTH: 16" 

  • BARREL TWIST: 1:8

  • BARREL MATERIAL: 41V50 PREMIUM MATCH GRADE 41v50 BARREL, VACUUM STRESS RELIEVED, MELONITE COATED WITH A BURNISHED CHAMBER 

  • MUZZLE DEVICE: 4-PORT BRAKE

  • GAS SYSTEM: INTERMEDIATE-LENGTH

  • UPPER RECEIVER: BILLET AIRCRAFT ALUMINUM TYPE III HARD BLACK ANODIZING 

  • HANDGUARD: 15" M-LOK COMPATIBLE HANDGUARD, TYPE III HARD BLACK ANNODIZING

  • CHARGING HANDLE: 4-POSITION FRONT CHARGE, NON-RECIPROCATING 

  • BOLT: PROPRIETARY BOLT MACHINED FROM PRE-HARD 4342, MACHINED THEN POST VACUUM HEAT TREATED TO INCREASE HARDNESS, THEN COATED IN MELONITE

  • FIRING PIN AND EXTRACTOR MADE OUT OF S7 TOOL STEEL

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?

  • Wood furniture

  • Hiperfire trigger

  • Hunter crown barrel

  • Synthetic stock

Link to other reviews:

Gun Mag Warehouse   

American Rifleman   

Price point:

MSRP = $949 to $1449 depending on options

I need it now! 

FoxTrot Mike

Our Rating:

Pros:

  • American Made

  • Reliable

  • Great customer service

  • Takes AR mags

  • Bufferless

Cons:

  • Kind of a weird trigger to get use to

  • Different manual of arms

  • Mag release is hard to reach

Score: 8.00 Great

AR Build: A young woman's perspective

A young woman’s perspective on building an AR15

  So I pitched the idea of building an AR to my daughter and writing something about it. She thought it would be fun. I am not sure if she was humoring me or not. But either way, here we are with an awesome AR15, that she built herself. A special thank you goes out to all the great companies that helped sponsor this build, you can read about their parts later in the story. 

From Zoe:

 Putting together my AR was much more interactive than I expected it to be. In a way it was simple, yet complex. Many little pieces combine together like a delicate puzzle, but also a straightforward process to get to the final outcome. There were many different steps to complete to bring it all together. One of the most tedious was putting all the pins into place! Those slippery little rascals!

  When putting the AR together, all of the parts fit perfectly. Between all the different parts, and parts kits, almost everything needed was there, even little tools for some of the steps! Everything was beginner friendly (although having my father assisting me helped a ton). I enjoyed the experience and the reward was incredibly worth the time put into it. Building the AR also helped me feel closer to my dad and the big parts of his life. As a young woman, knowing that there are places that put these part kits together brought me a sense of safety. I am able to build something to provide protection for myself. Plus I got to learn the intimate process of building it, in turn making me a safer firearms owner and a safer young woman.

  Shooting it was a lovely experience. The parts used were all relatively light in mass and resulted in a very lightweight gun. Having to hold it for long periods was undemanding. Shooting it was like a well polished machine. There was very little recoil when firing the rifle. It also functioned flawlessly and did not jam. One thing that I did struggle with was pulling back the charging handle. Which can be a common issue as a woman, since our upper body strength is usually lower than are male counterparts. Charging the firearm is easier than other guns I have shot because of the larger size charging handle. All of the parts worked as expected and I was very satisfied with the experience as a whole. 

  I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. It provided me with important skills, and knowledge of firearms, that I did not have before building this AR. To any young woman who feels she needs confidence and a sense of security, I would highly recommend learning the safety and process of building a firearm. There are things out there to make life a little safer, and I believe this is one of those. 

Stay safe out there ladies.

Sponsored parts used in Zoe's AR build:

This AR15 is built for .223/5.56, so everything listed below is for that particle caliber rifle.

  When it comes to AR parts, there are many. We were fortunate to have some great sponsors who supplied top notch parts for this build. A lot of these are colorful, literally, but they are all high quality parts. 

  First up is the backbone of any AR build, the lower receiver. Our friends over at Foxtrot Mike Products sent one of their stripped lowers. These are billet receivers with a slightly enlarged trigger guard and a semi built-in magazine well. The Magazine well is 3D machined to give it a super smooth transition when loading magazines into the rifle. The Foxtrot Mike lower has a bunch of small added features that make it a little nicer than your run of the mill lower receiver. One of those is the ability to run a ball detent on the safety. That little detail makes a safety selector work so much smoother. 

  Since that lower receiver needs parts to make it function, ArmaSpec sent a stainless Lower Parts Kit (LPK) and their Stealth Recoil Spring. ArmaSpec’s LPK is one of my favorites. It comes with an ambi safety selector that does 45 and 90 degree throws. We did not use the ambi selector in this build, but I did install it elsewhere. All the springs and detents in the LPK are well made and I have no doubt that they will give the rifle years of use. The Stealth Recoil spring, that ArmaSpec manufactures, is a wonderful piece of equipment. Its complete unit replaces the conventional AR buffer and spring. It is called “Stealth” because it reduces the “twang” noise sometimes heard in normal AR’s. The Stealth Recoil system smooths out the cycling of the firearm and also reduces recoil, which was noticeable by how soft this AR shoots.

  If you want a barrel and need it to look fancy, Faxon Firearms has you covered. Since Zoe wanted something “pretty”, we went looking. Faxon has a match grade 16” Gunner series barrel that happens to come in “Chameleon” PVD. This color option fades from pink to purple, to blue, and then to gold. A perfect option for someone wanting color. It also looks amazing under the Robin Egg blue color scheme. Faxon also sent a gas tube and a 0.625” gas block to round out the package. This barrel is not only super accurate, but it is fairly lightweight too.

  When you are building an AR of this quality, you do not want to skimp on the Bolt Carrier Group (BCG). After all, this is what makes the firearm function. Walker Defense sent us one of their Nickel Boron BCG’s. Nickel Boron provides enhanced reliability, easier cleaning, and better lubricity. Walker’s BCG is super slick, literally, and has all the top tier options someone would want. It uses a properly hardened 9310 bolt, has properly staked OCKS screws, is magnetic particle inspected, uses a hard chrome firing pin, and has a M16 carrier profile. Walker Defense’s products are also 100% made in the USA with US components. 

  To finish out the build, and add a whole lot of color, Timber Creek sent an Enforcer build kit. These are fairly lightweight kits which work well when you are worried about the final weight of the rifle. Zoe opted for the Robin Egg Blue cerakote color version. The Enforcer kit comes with a ton of parts for your build. In this case, the Robin Egg Blue parts we used were the 15” handguard, pistol grip, charging handle, safety selector, buffer tube, end plate, port door, extended mag release, forward assist, and takedown pins. We also used the supplied muzzle brake, but it only comes in basic black. Timber Creek's Enforcer kit also comes with a 0.750 gas block, which we didn't use due to using a 0.625 barrel. We also did not use the trigger guard since we used a billet lower that has the trigger guard built in. 

  I want to mention two things about the Enforcer kit. First up is the Ultra Light M-Lok handguard. These handguards, by themselves, are stupid lightweight. They also have holes for QD swivels. Making it easier to add a sling. There are also plenty of M-Lok slots along the whole rail for adding whatever you want. The second thing I want to mention is the oversized charging handle. This handle is significantly larger than most. Zoe mentioned it made charging the rifle easier due to its size. I had never thought of this, but because you can get a good grip on it, it works better for those that have a smaller stature. 

  As we all know, you need a way of aiming a rifle. Since this AR is not being used for distance shooting, She opted for a red dot. Why? Because it is lighter than a 1x prism sight. Primary Arms Optics sent us one of their MD-25's with the 2 MOA dot. The Primary Arms MD-25 is a great red dot. It has a large window size and is pretty lightweight. Battery life is really good thanks to it having Primary Arms’ Autolive function. The Autolive turns the dot off after a few minutes of non use, and then turns it back on when it gets moved. The MD-25 is a great option for a defensive rifle. 

  Now you may have noticed that we are missing a few parts. We supplied the stripped upper receiver, stock, and trigger. Most stripped uppers are very similar and fairly cheap, so I just purchased one. When it comes to stocks, there are a lot of personal preferences. We just opted for a Hogue AR stock. They lock up tight, have a good feel, and are inexpensive. If you noticed, the LPK was not one that included a trigger. I had a TriggerTech Duty Trigger laying around. It is the 3.5lb version. This trigger is a really good option for someone that doesn't shoot a lot. Yes, it feels really good, but with the 3.5lb pull weight, it works well for beginners and seasoned pros alike. 

  Now my daughter has her own AR15. The experience of helping her build her own rifle will not be forgotten anytime soon. She has a life saving tool that will give her a lifetime of protection and enjoyment. 

SEARCH