MEAN Arms showed off their ‘bearing’ delayed upper at the 2023 Shot Show and also brought it to the Iraqvet8888 range day in late 2022. Several videos were seen from the event including some in full auto.
If this sounds familiar, you may have heard about them promoting their roller delayed upper in 2020 that was never released. I have details on that here.
Link to their Facebook page which has several videos: https://www.facebook.com/meanarms
They now have an Industry page on AR15.com: https://www.ar15.com/forums/Industry/MEAN-Arms-/817/
They started to take $50 Pre-order’s on 2/2/2023: https://www.meanarms.com/products/detail/reservation-for-bearing-delay-upper
Video of it being taken apart:
Here is a video of it running in full auto at Shot Show 2023 range day. I was impressed with it’s slower cyclic rate in this video compared to the videos I saw on their FB page at the IV8888 range day shoot. I asked mean about this and they told me it was whatever 115Gr ammo they could get, standard power buffer spring and an H2 buffer.
Some pictures that friends took for me at Shot Show 2023
Picture below is from their FB page from 2023 Shot Show Range day. Notice the CMMG RDB lower used on the setup on the far right and GSL Phoenix suppressor mounted.
Most configurations displayed are standard AR lowers using their Endomags but the system is also compatible with dedicated pistol magazine lower receivers. Fixed ejectors in pistol mag lowers will need to be removed.
I think I saw a post saying it wouldn’t be drop for a Colt mag lower. I presume it will be similar to the
CMMG RDB in the mods required to get a Colt mag lower to work
. I will test that if I ever get my order.
As many of you know, I have done a lot of tinkering with the CMMG Radially Delayed Blowback (RDB) setup. I have stated many times that I was not impressed with it out of the box but with tuning and a custom fixed ejector it is my favorite closed bolt 9mm SMG at this time. Details on my site here. Even with all the tuning and fixed ejector, I do not like having to run custom parts and was hoping for a configuration that was backed by the manufacturer for running full auto and suppressed. Yes, I know CMMG has their weight tuning kit which I have tried and I personally do not like the bandaid of just adding more reciprocating mass at the issue. It could have been accomplished mechanically. Which is what I did, I run a .40SW bolt in 9mm to get the delay I want. I also run a custom barrel that is headspaced for the .40SW bolt.
It seems to me that the MEAN Arms is going about this the way I would expect by offering different ‘lifters’ to control the delay.
If you are reading this, you are probably like me and want some configuration that is not straight blowback for the AR15/M16 family.
Here are ones that I know of
| Tunable | Suppression Platform | Full Auto Capable | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sig MPX | Not enough. Aftermarket gas blocks were available but not enough to make a difference in cyclic rate and suppression. | Terrible suppressor host IMHO. However, I was using a muzzle suppressor and have heard good things when using a ported barrel. I found it to be gassy and loud. | Yes. but since it is basically not tunable it has a very high cyclic rate (over 1000RPM and nothing you can really do about it) |
| JP-5 | Yes. Note uses proprietary upper/receiver length. Available as a complete gun only. | Most likely excellent. | No, their ejector design is like an MP5 and would interfere with a sear. |
| LMT MARS L-9 (Piston operated but not released as of this writing, introduced Shot 2022) | Probably since appears to use a buffer tube. | Unknown but LMT makes awesome stuff | Yes |
| Angstadt MDP-9 | Doesn’t use a buffer tube so probably not | Probably excellent | Unknown |
| CMMG RDB | Yes. However requires a custom fixed ejector for heavy use in 9mm/40SW and 10mm. .45ACP doesn’t appear to have the same ejector spring failure issue. | Yes, suppress | Yes |