The Caracal 816 A2, is this the best AR out there?

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Quality, what is quality? To many people quality can mean many different things. In the firearms Industry it can mean a firearm that has a great reputation for being consistently accurate. It could mean a firearm that fires every time without any jams or misfires. Ask any firearms expert or enthusiast and you’ll get multiple opinions on what a quality firearm is.

We here at Torqued Magazine believe we found the firearm that meets anyones opinion of what a quality firearm is. That firearm is the Caracal 816 A2. And here comes a short history lesson. Caracal started in the UAE and was made to be a firearm that passed all the tests when it came to quality. The gentleman who helped design the H&K 416, as well as Chris Sirois, who helped design the Sig 516, both contributed to the 816.

The 816 goes through rigorous testing that Caracal calls “over the beach” testing. What does that mean? They put it in boxes full of sand, they also place the firearm in salt water, basically ocean water, and then fire away. We’ve heard from other colleagues who have seen these tests in front of their own eyes and they say it is really quite amazing to watch. Caracal even has a video currently up on the internet showing these tests. Most typical AR firearms would not pass any of these tests. But Caracal has designed the 816 with the idea of this firearm being ready for battle and able to handle any conditions.

The 816 has a 16 inch barrel, and it is a gas piston setup. And for the first time I’ve ever seen, this firearm has 3 gas settings, adverse, standard, and suppressed.

That’s right you can control how much gas from the gas tube is pushed back onto the piston of the firearm. That is super impressive. The buffer tube on the 816 also contains drainage holes in case the rifle has been submerged under water. The buffer on the 816 also contains tungsten powder, instead of the typical weights you would see with other AR style rifles. This powder gives the gun a quieter and smoother reciprocation.

The BCG does have an anti-tilt design keeping the rifle’s cycle smooth and balanced. Also one of the most impressive features we found on this rifle is the extractor safety pin. It is found in the barrel extension of the 816. And what it does is super impressive. It holds the extractor in place while firing the rifle. In the event of an obstruction all the energy goes forward and not backwards. Keeping everything from possibly blowing up in the shooter’s face.

It’s these attention to every little detail type of attributes that shows how well made, and well designed the 816 truly is. I have never come across a rifle like it. And it’s obviously making the rounds and impressing others as we’ve seen police departments across the U.S. ordering up large numbers of the 816 for their officers.

We’ve posted some videos of our time with the 816 on YouTube and as with any internet video you get some interesting comments. The one that stood out to us most was from a user that stated, “this is arguably the best AR Style rifle on the market right now.” We couldn’t agree more with that comment. It was super accurate, with very low recoil. We were ready and on target immediately after each shot. It was one of those pieces of machinery you just have to take a step back and appreciate all the work that went into the design and production put into it.

They thought of every scenario this rifle could go through and designed it to handle that scenario with flying colors.

We stripped down the 816 to clean it and get a view of the internals. The BCG was fantastically designed and easy to take apart for cleaning purposes as well.

We honestly loved this firearm. You can just tell by holding it in your hands the amount of effort that went into its production. There are so many shooter aides on this rifle to make it easy to use, accurate and consistent. What else could you ask for in a firearm?

Visit CARACAL today and learn more about this fantastic firearm for yourself.