Z-M Weapons LR300 Take Down Details

There seems to be some renewed interest in this rifle, the Z-M Weapons LR300, every since Para Ordinance purchased the manufacturing rights to the rifle from Al Zitta.

I thought I'd throw some pictures up again showing its inner workings.

The LR300 has been around for 20 years or so and now it's going to be reborn with an even tacticooler name. Just to mention it is a direct gas impingement rifle not a piston gun.

Here is what my Z-M Weapons LR300 model NXL looks like. I, unfortunately, have to have what is called a MonsterMan Grip instead of a traditional pistol grip because I live in California and due to the various laws etc. I wanted to put together a "featureless" build which allows me to run a rifle with the ability to use a normal magazine release button. So, to accomplish that I had to use a funny looking grip. It isn't too bad actually. Also, I don't have the fancy, expensive, folding stock, I just have the regular fixed skeleton stock.

This picture shows the top rail removed exposing the buffer spring that runs on top of the barrel inside the handguard. A bullet or some kind of object is needed to depress the detent just ahead of the front sights to remove the top rail. You can now see a metal rod inside the spring. This is the extra long gas key that invaginates (that's the exact word Al Zitta uses to describe it) the gas tube which you can just see near the end of the hand guard where the spring ends. Holding the spring in place is a little "C" clamp. The spring compresses along the gas tube which acts as a guide.

This picture shows the length of the gas key, the spring and the bolt carrier group. Notice the bolt carrier is about half the length of a regular AR15. Also, you can see the "C" clamp just below the spring. It fits in the groove that is at the end of the extended gas key once the rifle is assembled.

This shows a close up of the bolt carrier group. The gas key is staked. Notice the extra vents for gas to escape from, his allows the gun to run cooler since a lot of the gas and crud vents out of the gun. Also notice it's missing the portion of the bolt carrier that sits against the buffer which saves on weight. This also means less recoiling mass.

This pictures shows the length of the gas tube. That's about the distance the gas key moves, approx. 4.5 inches any more and the two tubes would come apart.

Finally, here is what the extended gas key looks like with the buffer spring around it.

There you have it. It's a very elegant design and so far I am very happy with it. It's very accurate and felt recoil is significantly reduced compared to my traditional AR15 style rifle. Not only that, but the rifle runs a lot cleaner too. And I mean a lot cleaner. Also, it doesn't seem to need a lot of lube to run compared to the regular Stoner design.