PSA: Crusader Crux

[u/ParalyzedNeckUp]

I bought this rifle as soon as it came out and was really excited as I’ve been enjoying my Templar. My first impressions were not great. When it got here the bolt carrier group was locked forward and stuck. I had to dismantle it and when I did the rear takedown pin just fell out. Then I had to beat the shit out of the lower receiver to get it to even separate from the upper due to there being too much friction between the upper and lower. I had to use a pair of pliers to remove the BCG from the chamber because it was stuck for a reason I cannot figure out.

Today I took it out for the first time. My first 15 rounds went fine and I was really impressed with the accuracy at 100m with the standard iron sights, and the trigger felt great. In my next 5 rounds I had 3 failure to extract issues resulting in the BCG ramming a live round into the back of the empty casing in the chamber, resulting in the casing of the live round being dented and the bullet being shoved down into the casing. On my 5th and final mag, I fired one shot, which resulted in my extractor snapping off.

When I got home and examined the rifle further, I noticed two of the bipod MLOK nuts had backed off, pieces of my extractor fragmented in the upper receiver, and an extraordinary amount of brass inside the rifle, like a ton.

I paid $3954 for this rifle. Basically $4000. So I’m obviously not thrilled that it feels so cheap and that it broke after literally 21 shots. I will be attempting to reach out to crusader for a new/better extractor. I am attempting to manage my expectations and frustrations.

TLDR: difficult to take down, feels really cheap for the price, and the extractor breaks after ~20 shots.

[u/MacPapRonin]

That's very frustrating.

I'm not going to try to defend Crusader Arms' QA/QC practices. They speak for themselves.

The M-Lok bipod came with the rifle, it sounds like?

The only thing I can help with here is maybe the problem with the upper and the lower being too tight together.

In the original post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/canadaguns/comments/10yxu41/crusader_arms_templar_crusader_9_maintenance_tips/

If you remove the screws completely (the two on either side of the rifle near the rear take down pin), then apply some blue loctite, then reassemble the upper and lower and tighten until it's mostly tight but not completely immovable, then back off a tiny bit. You can read the link above for a slightly more detailed description.

Very crappy. As someone who is happy with their Crusader Arms product as you were - so far - it's disappointing to hear of a different product in a parallel product line that's clearly not up to snuff. Disappointing, but at this point, sadly, not surprising.

[u/ParalyzedNeckUp → u/MacPapRonin]

The bipod comes attached to the rifle, it doesn’t really bug me too much if I have to pull out an Allan key and tighten the thing back down every so often. If I wasn’t trying to currently return the rifle I’d probably give this a shot. I’ve had a bunch of issues with the rear takedown pin too. Like you said they’re probably too tight together. I just don’t get why after it was assembled someone didn’t inspect it and say “yeah this isn’t supposed to be this difficult.”

I would have to do this stupid thing where I would put the muzzle between my feet, and hold down the buttplate with an Allan key or screwdriver or whatever while punching the stock down to get them to separate. I honestly thought I was doing something wrong, like they changed the crux disassembly from the Templar but they never gave me a manual with the gun and they only had templar manuals online. I’ve taken down the Templar tons of times and it’s a breeze. The crux not so much. Not to mention the BCG locks forward and I have to dismantle the gun to fix it.

[u/MacPapRonin → u/ParalyzedNeckUp]

Sounds like a PITA. Sorry you had this experience - hope you get the response you want from Crusader Arms.