Anderson Rifles AR15 Complete Upper Review rf85 coated

Anderson Rifles Complete Upper Review

Editor: Mike, Matt, Cameron

Basic Description of Item:
Anderson RF85 16” Complete Upper comes with M4 contour barrel 1-8 twist, Forged Upper Receiver, Anderson AM-66-FF-MGSL16-8.75 free float, Anderson Low Pro Gas Block, Knight Stalker Flash Hider, 1 long rail and 1 short rail, BCG, and Standard Charging Handle. This kit comes completely assembled.

Just the Facts:
We chose the RF85 coated 16 inch barreled complete upper:

The Anderson Rifle uses RF85 nano-technology to fire with
•85% Less Friction
•23% Faster Action
•Never Needs Oiling
•Cleans Up with Soap & Water
Weight 5.0 lbs
Dimensions
26 x 3 x 3 in

Story:

I love a company that is looking to innovate, make improvements, and makes BOLD statements…hence I was so intrigued with the Anderson Arms Rifle Company.
Anderson Rilfe company has been making tactical weapons: AR15, 300 Blackouts, 308s, Uppers,Lowers etc in Hebron Kentucky for many years.

What is so different about Anderson Arms? They make bold, very bold statements:

“The Anderson Rifle is the only rifle in the world that never requires lubrication. It is only possible because it is permanently treated with RF85, the nano technology that injects calcium into the molecular fabric of the metal. RF85 is permanent. It is IN the metal. RF85 reduces friction 85% and wears with the metal. Under heat and pressure the calcium nano particles elongate and form a protective barrier that eliminates the need for lubrication.”

See what I mean, Anderson has innovated, and created a treatment, that gives them the confidence to say “Never clean your gun, only with soap and water” Pretty cool, if true.

We took possession of our Anderson Lower and Upper in January of 2015. We bought all of the needed parts to complete the lower from Ready Gunner in Provo Utah.
We spent a few hours in Ready Gunner building the lower, using their tools, THAT WAS NICE!
The lower from Anderson is pretty standard, and has a nice look to it.

The Upper is NOT standard, it is a thing of beauty.

The upper we chose does have the RF 85 coating. We were anxious to get to the range and test it for 3 main areas of focus:

-How accurate is the gun?
We shot the new gun from Anderson at 3 distances, 30 yards, 50 yards, and 100 yards. I will not go into great details, but suffice it to say we were confident that this gun would work very well for a home defense gun, and be adequate for longer range shooting such as rabbit, or predator hunting. We were able to shoot 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards with a marginal bench set up. NOT BAD.
We concluded that the Anderson upper was as accurate as any of the other 16 inch barreled ARs that we own: Rock River, Bushmaster, CCG, etc.

-How is the temperature compared to other guns?
We were very anxious to compare the heating up of the gun after a series of shots to other ARs. We did this with a very simple test.
We took out our reliable and handy Southern Wire 31040S 1500°F 20-to-1 Infrared Thermometer.
We then fired a series of 20 rounds through each of our test guns in rapid succession. We took readings with the SouthWire Thermometer after each burst of 20 rounds.
Before the test I would have predicted very little difference in temperature reading, but man was I shocked!
The Anderson Rifle stayed cooler than any other AR that we shot. On average the bolt carry area of the upper stayed 10 degrees cooler on each round of 20.
The Anderson Rifle started at 64 degrees, and increased to 84 degrees after 40 shots. The second best performing gun went from 64 degrees to 104 degrees after 40 round shot through the gun.
WOW, I was shocked the Anderson Rifle absolutely stayed cooler, Great work Anderson.

-Next, can we really clean it with soap and water?
After shooting about 150 rounds through the Anderson Rifle, and all of the other rifles in our test, we decided to clean each gun.
The goal was to inspect how clean they each were, and if the Anderson came clean with just soap and water.
We first separated the upper and lower. We then dropped the Anderson bolt and carry group into a sink full of HOT water and soap. We then plunged the barrel, exactly how we would clean a muzzle loader.
We noted that a good amount of carbon came out, and the gun seemed very clean. We wiped down the bolt group, and noticed that it returned to a new look. COOL, and easy.
We then dried the gun the best we could, and went and shot it some more. It ran like a well oiled (except there was no oil) motor.
Nice work Anderson, we will continue this cleaning test over the next few months, but it passed the initial test.
We felt the gun cleaned up very easily with just normal water, and dish soap.

Summary:
The Anderson upper is a good looking, tough made peice of equipment.
The RF85 coated based on our tests, works!
We believe you can buy with confidence from these guys, and also have the confidence that the bold statements are true.
We love the idea of a lifetime warranty, that is a nice touch, and should add to your level of confidence.
It is a buy!

What they could do better:
-I think they nailed it, We love this gun!