This Should Probably Be Your Next AR Build – The Micro-16A2 SBR

I’ve been quiet on AR build posts for a couple of months but that’s only because I’ve been, well, building, and not writing about them. I have a few more that I finished up though, and I’m going to start with one that may be a little controversial. I call this one the Micro-16A2, and I’ll admit folks are going to question the practical value on this one, but it’s fun and one you should really consider building yourself.

The Micro-16A2

When I built my version of the Recoil N23, I did mine in 300 Blackout rather than 5.56mm and dubbed it the N23A1. I thought 300 Blackout was a lot more practical than 5.56 out of a 7.5 or 8-inch barrel and I still think that’s true. With that said, I still had it in my head to do something like the “original” N23 concept, but I wanted to do something different. I’d been looking at fixed entry stock builds for a while. and wanted to do something with that. After some thought and a couple of beers, I decided a shrunken down M16A2 was the way to go.

I started by ordering an M16A2 marked lower from Bad Attitude Department. I knew this was going to be an SBR build so I got my NFA markings added when I ordered the lower. Most of the rest of the parts I got from B. Kings Firearms. I ordered a complete A2 upper, bolt carrier group, a lower parts kit, a 7.5 inch barrel, gas tube, and a KAK buffer and buffer spring.

Since the barrel didn’t have a front sight base, I used a set screw FSB from American Icon. I picked up a round handguard cap and delta ring assembly from JSE Surplus, and used a set of 3D-printed CAR style handguards that my buddy printed for me.

I topped off the barrel with a KAK Industries SAW flash hider. I considered using a regular A2 flash hider, but partially just wanted to try something different, and also thought the SAW flash hider might work better on the short barrel.

Entry stocks come and go as far as availability goes, and when I was looking around most places were sold out. While looking, though, I discovered Brian Stocks. Brian 3D-prints his stocks, but he isn’t using standard PLA or PLA+. The material he uses is similar to the stuff GLOCK frames are made of and it’s actually a lot tougher than a GI stock. Brian mainly makes stocks to order and can do them to work with a Mini A2 tube, a standard carbine tube, or an A5 buffer tube as well.

He hand sands and finishes the stocks so you don’t see any print lines, and you can get them in a variety of colors with either paint and clear coat,or Cerakote finishes. I went with a basic black Cerakote on mine to keep a GI look to the build. You can take your pick of a GI type sling swivel, or QD mounts as well. He basically makes your stock to order. Brian sells either through his Facebook page, on Northwest Firearms, or on Gunbroker.  When I showed him this article, he offered up a 15% off any stock order if you reach out to him directly on FB or NWF and mention that you saw this article when you reach out to him. How cool is that?

I finished my build with another chopped pistol grip like I did on my N23. I used an A2 grip this time in keeping with the M16A2 theme. I cut it off so that it’s even with a 20-round magazine in the mag well and cleaned up the hacksaw marks with a file and some sandpaper. I had a spare elastic rifle band from Zahal that I added to the handguards since the 3D-printed handguards are functional, but a little rough finish-wise. I tossed a GI surplus silent sling on as the final touch.

Since this is a fixed stock with a 7.5 inch barrel, I e-filed a Form 1 with ATF to SBR the build and was approved in four days. Not bad, especially considering I waited over a year for my first two SBRs.

Honey, I Shrunk My M16

The final build is just 22.5 inches in overall length. It’s the size of my N23A1 with the stock collapsed. The empty weight with the sling is 5.9 pounds. The whole thing looks like you threw an M16A2 in the dryer set on cotton and shrunk it.

If you haven’t used an entry-length stock, it’s basically like shooting with a CAR stock that’s fully collapsed. It’s about as compact as you can get with a buffer system. Advantages over a collapsible stock are arguable. There are no moving parts and nothing to go wrong, and you don’t need to deploy it to shoot. On the other hand, I’m not sure how often anyone has catastrophic failures with collapsible stocks to begin with, and you could always shoot a CAR stock from the collapsed position if you were in a hurry. Still, it’s a neat build and has a definite aesthetic to it.

I found with my N23 that I really don’t mind the chopped grip at all. It was inspired by the old Colt 608 Survival Carbine prototypes and it works just fine. I can get a three-finger grip on it with the pinky hanging over a just a bit. When using 20-round mags it helps keep the size of the gun down, although if you put a 30-rounder in, that’s a moot point and you may as well stick to a regular grip.

Overall handling is different than a standard size carbine, but not bad. With the entry stock you’re tucked in tight to the shoulder and shooting with your nose to the charging handle. The handguard gives you just enough room to grip it and not much more. I found myself pulling back against the mag well, which wasn’t a bad thing as I found out later.

Range Time

I took the Micro-16A2 out to my local range to give it a shakedown. I was prepping myself for issues since short 7.5-inch 5.56’s can be finicky. I started with ZQI 62gr FMJ loads and I had a couple jams at the beginning. I hit it with some extra Ballistol and gave it another try and that seemed to help. I proceeded to go through a half dozen magazines with no issues after that.

I switched to some old 55gr TulAmmo steel case stuff after that and found that the micro did not care for that. It didn’t seem to have enough oomph to cycle reliably and I had multiple jams and ended up having a round fail to extract from the chamber. I gave up on the Tula at that point and went back to the ZQI and some brass cased 55gr FMJ I had as well.

Being that I was shooting iron sights with a 7.5-inch barrel, I kept things close. I was shooting on a 25-yard bay at my local club and shooting at clay birds on the backstop as well as Caldwell Duramax self healing targets. They’re fun to shoot and I was kicking those things all around the range.

Since the range isn’t that big, I used Daisy Shatterblast clay targets rather than standard sporting clays. They’re smaller and surprisingly durable. They’re about the size of an Oreo cookie and when you break them you get a series of ever smaller targets to engage. I’ll eventually shoot the micro on paper and take it out a little further, but I’m really thinking this is a 100 yards and in gun, with probably 50 and in being more practical. It’s mainly for fun though, so that’s okay.

One thing I noticed while shooting was that the FSB gets hot and you don’t have much room for your hand. The 3D-printed handguards don’t have a heat shield, but I lined them with heat shield tape. That seemed to work okay, but if your hand crept forward and you hit the metal of the handguard cap or FSB you know it…immediately.

I expected the 7.5-inch barrel to be a flamethrower even in the daylight, but I was surprised at how little flash I noticed, at least from the shooter’s end. The KAK SAW flash hider did a very good job of taming the blast and keeping the muzzle down. I need to take it out in dimmer light to see how it does, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. Muzzle blast is still pronounced, though, and the micro is loud.

Practical or No?

Overall the Micro-16A2 build went together pretty easily and it’s functioned better than I expected. It didn’t love the steel case TulAmmo, but that doesn’t concern me much. I plan on shooting up my remaining stash of it in the guns that do run it and probably won’t venture down that path again. I’ll stick to brass case NATO spec stuff in the future.

I’m pretty happy with the look and feel, and it’s fun to shoot. But is a 7.5-inch carry handle AR in 5.56 practical? Honestly, I’m going to say no. I didn’t really build it to be practical though, I built it as a fun project.

With that said, I have a spare upper I can drop on the lower that actually would be practical for a truck gun, PDW build, or the like. It’s an 11.5-inch upper currently rocking a detachable carry handle. The 11.5-inch barrel is going to be much better ballistically than the 7.5 inch one and won’t have the punch you in the face muzzle blast either. The longer handguard makes it more pleasant to handle when things warm up too, and you get a better sight radius when you’re running irons. It’s still a pretty compact package too.

The nice thing with AR’s is that I can run my 7.5-inch micro-16A2 at the range for fun, but I can still easily swap out uppers and have a little more practical carbine if I do have need for it.