For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sionics Weapon Systems, I thought I'd put up a mini-review with my initial impressions of a complete lower I just received from them. I ordered the lower during their 4th of July sale and it arrived yesterday. Yes, it took a little while. The reasons are simple. Sionics is based in Tucson, AZ and they are a relatively small manufacturer. They also cater more to Law Enforcement sales, which take priority over commercial sales. Contracts have due dates guys. 
And I'm OK with that. On a side note, Sionics is the official rifle of the Atlanta Police Department. And they are currently delivering the last of more than 100 patrol rifles, SWAT SBRs and MGs.
Moving on, I count them among the few that are doing things right. Quality is comparable to BCM, Colt, Sons of Liberty Gun Works, etc. I often refer to them as the BCM you've never heard of and they are very similar to the early days of BCM. A small shop, putting out a great product that adheres to the milspec TDP where it really counts and improving on it where they can. Barrels and bolt carrier groups are fully mispec compliant in regard to materials used. However, they do a few things differently. All bolt carrier groups are NP3 coated, which I believe is superior to NiB. Barrels are not HPT tested. They are x-rayed and MPI tested. And they will be either 1/7 or 1/8 twist. All gas ports are correct sizes = NOT overgassed. Upper and lower assembly techniques are among the best in the industry. And all uppers and bolt carrier groups are test fired before shipping. And customer service is excellent. The owners are very active on M4C and respond to messages quickly. If you call them, one of the owners will probably answer the phone. And they respond to emails quickly too.
Prior to receiving this lower, I owned one other Sionics product, an 11.5" reduced gas port barrel designed primarily for suppressed shooting. And I've been very pleased with that barrel. It runs great. Additionally, I have attended the Sionics / Semper Paratus Arms Armorers Course, twice. I am not affiliated with them beyond that in any way and paid for this lower with my own, hard-earned cash. This is not a compensated review.
Now, on to the good stuff. Upon receiving the lower, it did not disappoint. Assembly is excellent, no marks or scratches, excellent staking on the castle nut and the Sionics NP3 trigger is very nice. Naturally, it's a little heavier than my Geissele triggers, but it's crisp with little to no creep. Overall, this lower represents a very good bargain, especially considering that it includes an A5 buffer system and an enhanced LPK. I was very happy to see that it used the A5SR as well, versus the standard A5 RE.
Standard features of the Sionics A5 lower are as follows:
Enhanced parts kit with NP3 coated trigger - similar to the BCM PNT LPK and the ALG Defense triggers.
QD receiver end plate - looks to be the B5 Systems version
Vltor A5 receiver extension and buffer system
Lower is standard 7075 forged - Type III anodized coating was very even and a nice dark black in color - no visible blems
All other lower parts are milspec, sourced from the same places as Colt, BCM, etc.
The supplied grip was a Tangodown model
One of the nice things about these lowers is that you can customize them to an extent. Want an ambi selector? No problem. With a stock or without, your choice. Price varies accordingly.
Of course, I had to make a few changes. So I installed the following:
Forward Controls EMR & ABC-RF
KAC ambi selector (from the spare parts box)
MOE grip (also from the spares box)
Swapped out the MOE trigger guard for an aluminum one
Added a Magpul MOE SL stock
Battle Arms EPS set - This was a trick, because the staking is so clean on the end plate, that I didn't want to break it loose. After I mentioned this on M4C, Steve sent me a PM almost immediately with instructions on how to swap the takedown pin without removing the endplate. I didn't ask, he contacted me. I thought that was pretty awesome.
The lower fits well with my other uppers. A very small amount of play, almost nonexistent. But the pins still push in and out without the use of tools, which is perfect in my book. Overall, I'm very happy with the quality of the lower so far and especially impressed with the service provided by Steve, Josh & Ryan out in Tucson.
Complaints:
The magwell could have a better bevel, but its comparable to Colt. Not as aggressive as DD and Noveske.
The magwell is also pretty tight fitting on my lower receiver block. BUT, USGI mags all dropped free and the 5 or 6 pmags I tried also dropped free. So, that's not really a complaint, but more of an observation. This is not an issue, as all mags I tried did drop free from the magwell. The mags do have less play in the magwell versus my BCM & KAC lowers.
And finally, pictures for all you folks that didnt want to read all that...
And finally, the BAD Enhanced Pin Set. Installed without removal of the endplate.
And I'm OK with that. On a side note, Sionics is the official rifle of the Atlanta Police Department. And they are currently delivering the last of more than 100 patrol rifles, SWAT SBRs and MGs.Moving on, I count them among the few that are doing things right. Quality is comparable to BCM, Colt, Sons of Liberty Gun Works, etc. I often refer to them as the BCM you've never heard of and they are very similar to the early days of BCM. A small shop, putting out a great product that adheres to the milspec TDP where it really counts and improving on it where they can. Barrels and bolt carrier groups are fully mispec compliant in regard to materials used. However, they do a few things differently. All bolt carrier groups are NP3 coated, which I believe is superior to NiB. Barrels are not HPT tested. They are x-rayed and MPI tested. And they will be either 1/7 or 1/8 twist. All gas ports are correct sizes = NOT overgassed. Upper and lower assembly techniques are among the best in the industry. And all uppers and bolt carrier groups are test fired before shipping. And customer service is excellent. The owners are very active on M4C and respond to messages quickly. If you call them, one of the owners will probably answer the phone. And they respond to emails quickly too.
Prior to receiving this lower, I owned one other Sionics product, an 11.5" reduced gas port barrel designed primarily for suppressed shooting. And I've been very pleased with that barrel. It runs great. Additionally, I have attended the Sionics / Semper Paratus Arms Armorers Course, twice. I am not affiliated with them beyond that in any way and paid for this lower with my own, hard-earned cash. This is not a compensated review.
Now, on to the good stuff. Upon receiving the lower, it did not disappoint. Assembly is excellent, no marks or scratches, excellent staking on the castle nut and the Sionics NP3 trigger is very nice. Naturally, it's a little heavier than my Geissele triggers, but it's crisp with little to no creep. Overall, this lower represents a very good bargain, especially considering that it includes an A5 buffer system and an enhanced LPK. I was very happy to see that it used the A5SR as well, versus the standard A5 RE.
Standard features of the Sionics A5 lower are as follows:
Enhanced parts kit with NP3 coated trigger - similar to the BCM PNT LPK and the ALG Defense triggers.
QD receiver end plate - looks to be the B5 Systems version
Vltor A5 receiver extension and buffer system
Lower is standard 7075 forged - Type III anodized coating was very even and a nice dark black in color - no visible blems
All other lower parts are milspec, sourced from the same places as Colt, BCM, etc.
The supplied grip was a Tangodown model
One of the nice things about these lowers is that you can customize them to an extent. Want an ambi selector? No problem. With a stock or without, your choice. Price varies accordingly.
Of course, I had to make a few changes. So I installed the following:
Forward Controls EMR & ABC-RF
KAC ambi selector (from the spare parts box)
MOE grip (also from the spares box)
Swapped out the MOE trigger guard for an aluminum one
Added a Magpul MOE SL stock
Battle Arms EPS set - This was a trick, because the staking is so clean on the end plate, that I didn't want to break it loose. After I mentioned this on M4C, Steve sent me a PM almost immediately with instructions on how to swap the takedown pin without removing the endplate. I didn't ask, he contacted me. I thought that was pretty awesome.
The lower fits well with my other uppers. A very small amount of play, almost nonexistent. But the pins still push in and out without the use of tools, which is perfect in my book. Overall, I'm very happy with the quality of the lower so far and especially impressed with the service provided by Steve, Josh & Ryan out in Tucson.
Complaints:
The magwell could have a better bevel, but its comparable to Colt. Not as aggressive as DD and Noveske.
The magwell is also pretty tight fitting on my lower receiver block. BUT, USGI mags all dropped free and the 5 or 6 pmags I tried also dropped free. So, that's not really a complaint, but more of an observation. This is not an issue, as all mags I tried did drop free from the magwell. The mags do have less play in the magwell versus my BCM & KAC lowers.
And finally, pictures for all you folks that didnt want to read all that...
And finally, the BAD Enhanced Pin Set. Installed without removal of the endplate.
Steve, you're a genius.Steve-0-;2370641 said:
