V Seven Enlightened Lithium AR15 Aluminum lowers

[fledge]

Weather was awful today. Icy rain and wind. With all the snow, the exposure on the dark rifle misrepresents a little on the full body shots. But you still get the idea. I've included some indoor pics too which are overexposed. LOL. Test firing was 100%. Looking forward to testing the precision of this barrel.

Paint design: follow VSeven branding. Color is titanium with battleworn effect.

I wasn't counting ounces with this build. Arrived at 5lbs 8oz without mag but including Rainier BUIS.

I'm very pleased with the balance and overall weight. Most parts are VSeven. Noted exceptions: PWS buffer tube, SLR adj block, Dead Air flash hider, BCM CH, FC bolt catch.













Axlnut kept the coat thin here to allow the laser mark to come through.

[Aragorn]

Looks good Fledge.

[Stone]

Is that V7's ENLIGHTENED M-LOK HANDGUARD? I have been eyeballin that one for a while. Does it feel solid like it could take some serious abuse? How does it feel in the hand? Oh and nice job on the Cerakte Axel, we all new it was you...

[Tyrannosaur]

That is f*#kin' awesome

[fledge]

Thanks guys.

Stone, yes. The rail feels as solid and comfortable as the SMOS and Noveske rails. The material is supposedly more durable than 7075. I believe SMOS let VSeven take their SM15 rail design and update it with a few tweaks and new material. It does not perfectly mate with the GFY or SM uppers though. Wish it did.

[fledge]

[Axlnut]

Hot diggity I love that gun. Didn't want to send it back!

[Cotton68spc]

Amazing build


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[JGifford]

But 7075 AL-Li isn't aerospace alloy, really, and it has its own flaws that Ti doesn't have. Sure, a firearm won't exploit those weaknesses, but Neither will plain old 7075 AL. So, it better be a hell of a lot lighter, because they took away the whole exclusivity thing by including that horrid trigger guard. It doesn't fit the design any better than a snorkel hoodscoop fits on an Enzo.

7075 Al-Li isn't a thing, either.
(however, 7075 WAS(when in vented)/IS(currently in use) Aerospace, as well... fun fact )

2055 and 2099 Al-Li is a thing, and both ARE Aerospace alloys, being currently used by Boeing because they reduce maintenance cycles, have enhanced corrosion resistance, decreased crack propagation propensities, and higher modulus of elasticity. They also weigh a few percent less. *all as compared to 7075

The only "flaw" with AlLi is how painstakingly careful the anodizer has to be to get Type III RIGHT, and increased tooling wear and different CNC programs to account for thermal and shift differences in the material when cutting. It literally trumps 7075 T651 in every aspect from strength to weight to rigidity to resistance to fatigue to corrosion resistance. There is NOTHING it does not do better.

But...7075 will also do the job of "M4 lower". I won't argue that in the least. That said, so will 6061. Would you like a 6061 lower for the same % less as Al-Li costs more, than 7075? Why or why not?

OP, did you double-check the ACTUAL weight on that lower acclaimed at 6.4oz? I am not at all saying Joel is not 100% accurate, I would just like a 3rd party verification.

[JGifford]

BOT: "Just to be different" is a good enough reason for me, but sinner' right; that boxy, afterthought trigger guard cuts that number down.

I mentioned this to Joel. He took my criticism politely and from what I know of V7, they are very "mobile" as a design producer, and I would not at all be surprised if we see a refinement of a few things in the future. Unless Joel plans on just not innovating anymore. Which is not going to happen. He was Noveske's "idea guy", and V7 allows him to be HIS "idea guy", and we are seeing the fruits of that constantly.

Does Noveske even have an Ambi lower yet?

I bet they miss Joel.

[Axlnut]

I mentioned this to Joel. He took my criticism politely and from what I know of V7, they are very "mobile" as a design producer, and I would not at all be surprised if we see a refinement of a few things in the future. Unless Joel plans on just not innovating anymore. Which is not going to happen. He was Noveske's "idea guy", and V7 allows him to be HIS "idea guy", and we are seeing the fruits of that constantly.

Does Noveske even have an Ambi lower yet?

I bet they miss Joel.

Does V7 have an ambi lower?

I know a few of you are being hard on the triggerguard, and I can maybe see it in photos - in your hands though, it's a different story. Functional and flows elegantly with the rest of the lines.

[fledge]

Apparently they like boxy handguards. Their newly released lower (7075) mostly keeps it and adds the Noveske-like magwell flair.



I didn't weight my lower to verify weight. I wasn't personally chasing ounces with this build.

Joel isn't the only idea guy. There is a reason SMOS sells the GFY that Noveske made popular.

[JGifford]

Apparently they like boxy handguards. Their newly released lower (7075) mostly keeps it and adds the Noveske-like magwell flair.



I didn't weight my lower to verify weight. I wasn't personally chasing ounces with this build.

Joel isn't the only idea guy. There is a reason SMOS sells the GFY that Noveske made popular.

I was just curious. I weigh things to check claims. For example, NONE of my Surefire suppressors weigh what they should, but all of my Geissele mounts weigh what they should. Mainly, I wanted to compare the ACTUAL weight of the V7 lower to the less trimmed, but also Al-Li Hodge Defense lower. I am sure the V7 will be lighter, but I was curious by how much. It's an inevitable comparo, given the materials.

You'd be surprised at the things Joel and John Noveske cooked up. Right or wrong, I have always, and always will view Joel as the idea guy behind Noveske.

SMOS sells a GFY lower...and calls it that...for a reason. Yes, you are absolutely right...but that has more to do with politics than it does "ideas".

My point with the ambi-lower crack on Noveske was to point out...what have they innovated in the last few years? Seriously. What?

Let me go to their website...hold...

...well, they are doing MLOK now. I guess when Kincel went over the BCM, that was that for the KM / Noveske exclusivity marriage. They brought back the N6...cool. They slightly re-designed their upper and lowers, which are now billet instead of forged ingot/hand forged. I see an Ambi-safety selector.

Welp. That's it. Brought back a .308, slapped an ambi-safety in. Aesthetically re-designed the upper/lower slightly (I bet they now take G3 PMAG's, too).

That's all.

That's it.

That is the complete sum of Noveske innovation over the last 1/2 decade. A face-lift of the lines of their billet upper/lowers. Switched their NSR over to MLOK and tweaked the profile a touch. Different small-parts kit. That's it.

Even COLT has innovated more than that in the last 5 years.

So if Joel wasn't their only idea guy, I am not sure who else was, but they probably wish they had him/her back, too.


_____________________

It is and always has been my opinion that the only think Noveske about Noveske since John passed, has been the name on the mailing address. I know why they didn't change the name of course,but I wish they had. Some legacies need to be left alone. Today's Noveske is like "Independence Day II".

[UWone77]

Well.... Noveske did come out with some new QD sockets a couple of years ago.

Virtually everyone at Noveske that I knew is gone. The talent has spread out to other Southern Oregon companies.

[GOST]

...and Noveske's new Mega produced receivers have a nice fit and finish.