Texas-based rifle manufacturer Radical Firearms advises they're adding a 6.8 long gun to their rifle lineup.
Radical is headquartered near Houston and hires veterans by preference. The firm is a manufacturer of rifles, not a place that assembles pieces someone else builds "Lego style," Radical officials maintain.
The new upper receiver is a 16 in. flat top HBAR (Heavy Barrel) drop in receiver they describe as both "law enforcement grade" and MilSpec, ready to be mounted to an MilSpec lower receiver. It will come complete and assembled upper receiver, forward assist, ejection port door, barrel nut, 16 in. HBAR profile barrel and A2 flash hider.
The bolt carrier group and charging handle are included in this build, which retails for $459.99.
Full specs of the Radical Firearms Six-Eight Upper
· 16" 6.8 SPC II HBAR Melonite Barrel 4150V Chromoly
· 1 in 11" twist rate
· 5/8x24 Thread Pitch
· M4 Feed ramps
· 6.8 SPC II Phosphate BCG
· Low Profile Micro Gas Block
· Stainless Steel Mid-Length gas system
· Direct Gas Impingement
· Mil-Spec A2 Flash Hider
· 15" Free Float Radical Firearms FHR Rail
· Integral Hybrid Keymod and Picatinny Rails for Mounting Lights, Lasers, Bipods & Sights
· Forged Upper Receiver with Forward Assist, Shell Deflector
· Milspec Charging Handle
Six-Eights are just the newest calibers to be added to the RF lineup. At SHOT this year they were displaying what they called an RF-10L (essentially an AR10 built from the BCG on out specifically for left-handed shooters) and they manufacture an array of AR15 rifles and AR15 pistols. All of the latter, it should be noted, retail for as little as half of other, similar weapons often do.
Radical's David Spector says this is because they can and do build everything on site, allowing them to manufacture a "....boutique quality rifle for an everyman's price."
Whether the quality is there would require testing, of course, but the prices on their site are certainly much lower than other manufacturers. The RF 16 in. M4 starts at less than $600, for instance, and their 16 in. quad rail 300 BLK rifle is less than $700.