Hey, everybody, welcome back to gun.deals. Today on the table we have an LMT Defender. Let’s get this review started.
Alright, folks, as I said this is the LMT Defender, it is an AR-15 chambered in 223, 5.56. Let’s get started here, let’s start at the back, it does come with a very basic M4 stock back here, these do function just fine, although I do prefer to upgrade these whenever I can, but it does come with a sling attachment right here and another one right here, and obviously it’s an adjustable stock.
Moving forward you have your buffer tube which has that kind of gray look to it, it’s one of the things you can…it can set aside the look of an LMT and actually Knights as well have the same kind of color and I believe it’s like a dry film they have back on here, dry film lubricant.
And then you have your castle nut, it’s been staked in two places, the staking looks really good, then you have your QD sling mount right here, and moving it forward we’re just gonna go to the lower first. This looks like pretty much a typical AR-15 lower, right, everything’s in the same place, you’ve got your mag release, safety, bolt catch and release, you’ve got an LMT grip here, it feels really good in hand, it’s got a slight rubber over mill to it, and has a little storage compartment down here.
And then you have a mil-spec stage trigger. The pull weight average about 5.5 to 6 pounds for me, it’s not a bad trigger, it’s a mil-spec trigger at the end of the day, it’s nothing like a Geissele or anything like that.
So, let’s get over the trigger, you’ve got a little bit of take up, just I mean, just a tiny bit. Very, very crisp, you heard, I mean, obviously you heard the break on there, it’s very crisp and tactile, the reset and positive and that reset’s very positive, tactile and auto. So, even though it’s a mil-spec trigger it’s not too shabby at all.
It does come with a straight trigger guard right here. I would have liked to see that's been a curved trigger guard, but that is just a personal preference kind of thing. On this side, it’s all engraved with the LMT logo and things like that, then you have a slightly flared magwell for easy insertions of your mags.
Moving up to the upper receiver here, now this upper is actually a monolithic upper and that means it’s all one piece, typically on AR-15’s your handguard will come to about here and then it’ll be attached to your upper receiver here.
This is all one piece, it’s forged out of one piece of forged aluminum so that’s why these cost more to make, right, when it’s one big piece like this it costs more and it’s one of the reasons why these guns are more expensive amongst other reasons, but it’s just more of an expensive process to do, but it does come with a lot of benefits, so like you’ll see on some AR-15’s like, you know, the handguard can rotate so they’ll put little tabs on the other side to stop it from rotating and things like that. You can’t have a mount that crosses the line because, you know, with that if the handguard’s trying to move, there’s a whole bunch of different reasons, right, this just takes all of that out, so it takes all those problems away and you don’t have them, which is awesome.
You have a 1913 pic-rail the whole way along here and it’s got the T markings and there’s M-LOK slots the whole way around this handguard, including two QD sling mounts right here, actually there’s the third one right here, I didn’t notice it right there.
It comes with a charging handle, it’s an LMT charging handle, the left, so if you’re a right-handed shooter… The left-handed tab right here is enlarged, it’s metal and it’s easy to get a grip off as well, so it’s definitely a decent upgrade right there for the charging handle.
One of the really cool things with the LMT, also what they do, is they actually have their barrel system, is really, really easy to change out, you have these two torques right here, take them out and you can take the barrel if you need to put a new barrel in, different length, different caliber, whatever it may be, and that is how you take that, just those two screws, pop that out, pop that back in, and it shouldn’t change your point of impact with your zeroing, so another really cool feature.
Underneath the handguard we do have a, this is a direct impingement gas system, so your gas block is here and then you have a gas tube underneath there.
16-inch barrel with 1:7 twist, it is a chrome barrel and an A2 flash hider on here. I have found LMT’s to be extremely accurate as in like half an MOA accurate out to about 50 yards, and this has been the same, it’s been very, very accurate for me, very, very nice indeed.
Some of the things I do recommend checking is just popping out your bolt carrier group when you get it on your AR-15, making sure everything looks ok in there, I mean, all these things should be inspected before they come out, LMT does a good job of actually doing that, but it’s always good to check, so you want to check your staking on your gas key, which actually looks really good, and then just look around for any embellishments, things that shouldn’t be there. This is stamped MP for MP tested, and everything looks good, but that is your bolt carrier grip.
This is your charging handle, you’ll probably get better view of it here, you can see, as I said, this has been extended out, and it’s not ambi at all, so if you’re a left-handed shooter you will probably want to change this out, but it’s not a bad charging handle as it comes.
How you’re shooting it?
Shooting these LMT’s, I’m telling you, they are so nice. So, this is the second one in my time that I’ve reviewed. I review a lot of AR-15’s and a lot of them just feel the same to me, but these LMT’s are on another level, just they’re super nice, just the quality, the construction, how they shoot, everything.
I’m just, I’m not a fanboy, I’m not a fanboy of any company, but LMT’s are probably my neither number one or number two pick for top AR-15’s, and Knights is the one I’m battling out with, which I prefer. These are absolutely excellent AR-15’s.
One of the things I like to do also, actually before I forget, is a wiggle test, a wobble test between the upper and lower receiver to see if there’s any play in there.
There’s absolutely no play between that lower and upper receiver, again, excellent fit and finish. The quality of construction is phenomenal. There’s a lot of work and effort going through these guns and it really shows…yes, they’re a little more pricey than some other AR-15’s.
Do I think it’s worth it?
I absolutely do, again, I told you, I shoot a lot of AR-15’s and some are just better than others, it’s just how it is. For my personal opinion I think you absolutely get what you pay for with the LMT’s.
Alright, folks, that is pretty much it from me.
Highly recommended for sure, as you’ve probably seen throughout the process here, I absolutely love these LMT’s, huge fan.
