Troy Defense PAR .300 Blackout Black Pump Action Rifle Optic Ready

This is a great idea,...

This is a great idea, very well executed! It's not hard to convert an AR-15 to pump-action, but Troy did it in detail, and they got it right. Their focus was on keeping it light and "sporteresque" and I think they succeeded. They went with a slender barrel since the PAR isn't meant for high-speed blasting, they introduced a modified, abbreviated bolt carrier that keeps all reciprocating parts inside the receiver, and thus eliminated the buffer, spring, and housing, which allows a pretty slick, side-folding stock for real compactness. The stock is also slide adjustable for length of pull. The pump system is also doe right. Like all other pump-actions, they invented a bolt-locking mechanism to keep the breech closed, yet unlock on firing, and it works very well, with a well-located release button just behind and below the magazine well. This model is chambered in .300 Blackout, a perfect generational addition to the AR platform since it uses the same parent case as the .223. In fact, with nothing more elaborate than a barrel swap, this rifle could fire .223, though for all practical purposes the .300 AAC is the better "sporting" choice...well, for a lot of things. The .300 AAC can easily shoot bullets from 90 grains to 240 grains, supersonic and subsonic, and delivers power a bit less than that of the classic .30-30. This rifle could be easily adapted to accept a sound suppressor in areas where that is permitted, and would be a super-quiet, powerful woods gun. One of the advantages of manual operation is the breech remains closed during firing so no sound escapes. Another advantage to manual operation is a wider variety of custom load options since there is not requirement for the round to function the action. Hand-loaders will love being able to eject their cases on the bench for reloading. As for the "fluted chamber" design which has drawn criticism as causing the cased to not be suitable for reloading, this is not even close to fact. I owned an HK-91 back before military style rifles were cool, and it too had a fluted chamber since it lacked a rotating bolt. Then, as now, the word was cases ejected from such a chamber could not be reloaded, but of course they could be, and I did reload them without any issues. The chamber fluting is VERY shallow, and intended to allow just enough gas leakage to make the case release from the chamber more readily. In point of fact, the semiautomatic version of the AR-15 would be more reliable if it too used a fluted chamber since the 7-lug bolt has rather poor extraction characteristics. Another point about that is that with .223 brass being so inexpensive, and once-fired being dirt-cheap, one need to care about reloading cases at all! So there's that. Overall the rifle is light, easily folded into a very compact dimension perfect for carrying in a short case, and well balanced. It feels even lighter than it is. The pump-action is smooth and functions reliably. I like the muzzle brake and the fact that it reduces recoil to virtually nothing, but as with all brakes, it can be painful if one shoots without hearing protection. Overall this is a solid buy and I highly recommend it!