He wasn't bothered by the off-set Handguard Screws nor the Charging Handle impingement because neither "issue" had any impact whatsoever on the rifle's performance. There are good reasons to prefer the Makasi over the Carmel, including the ability to upgrade key components such as the trigger, Bolt and Barrel with standard AR15 parts if desired. As opposed to the Carmel where everything is proprietary. Some think that the Carmel has the edge in reliablility and longevity being an IW product, however as the OP noted he has fired 1000+ rds through the Makasi without a single stoppage. I would seem the Makasi is plenty reliable enough for a range toy, but time and more reviews will tell the true tale. Either way people decide, I hope that they are pleased with their purchases.
The key word missing from your statement is “yet” they don’t impact the rifles performance yet. Those issues are certainly something that could cause future problems. I’ve seen other reports where that charging handle issue did cause performance issues. Being able to “upgrade” the Makasis key components is not all it’s cracked up to be. Remember you are putting AR-15 key components into a gun that is not an AR-15. You have no idea of the “upgrade” parts long term compatibility in this platform. or if putting different AR components in this gun will cause tolerance issues. With the other gun the Carmel is already good to go. They made the parts quality from factory so there’s no point in changing it. It’s how gun companies should make their guns and not put just generic bs parts in their guns to save money because they know you are going to upgrade it anyway.
OPs Makasi is the only one that somehow ran fine. Everyone else's Makasi is significant performance issue to the point making through 10 rounds LAR mag without a stoppage is a miracle
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u/Geralt-of-Rivai Aug 08 '26
TLDW
Which is better