The Charles Daly Defense D-M4LE Carbine is an M4-pattern carbine
with a 16" 1:7 chrome-lined barrel weighing 6lbs 4.4 oz unloaded and
without rear sight chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO .
Specifications are as follows
MPI Bolt: Batch HPT Bolt: Batch Shot Peen Bolt: Yes Black Extractor Spring Insert: Yes Staked Gas Key: Yes M16 Bolt Carrier: Shrouded AR15 Milspec Barrel Steel: 4150 MPI Barrel: Yes HPT Barrel: Batch Chrome chamber & Bore: Yes 1:7 Rifling Twist: Yes 5.56 Chamber: Yes M4 Feedramps: Yes "F" Front Sight Base: Yes Taper Pins at FSB: No Parkerize Under FSB: No Double-Shield Handguards: Yes 1.14" Receiver Extension: Yes Staked Castle Nut: Yes "H" Buffer: Yes .154" Fire Control Group Pins: Yes Rear Sight: Yes Lifetime Warranty: Yes
6lbs. 4.4oz.
Upon first inspection the finish of the barrel, upper and lower
receiver, and receiver extension appear to be high quality, even and
well applied. The carbine comes with a standard military-style M4
stock on a milspec 1.14" diameter receiver extension with 6 stops. The
toe of the stock has a "CD" logo on the starboard side. The receiver
extension is properly staked in two places to prevent the loosening of
the castle nut. The forward assist is the round A2 type and is one
piece as compared to the Colt two-piece. The upper receiver is T-marked
but not filled in with white paint like some brands. The pistol grip
is the A2 type and secured with the proper slotted head stainless steel
screw with locking washer. The underside of the lower receiver has a
considerable amount of flash left un-machined and the magazine well has
a good bevel to it. The starboard side of the safety has a red marking
to indicate "safe" and "fire". The handguards are oval M4-style with
the correct double heat shields and is held in place by a delta ring
with good spring tension. The barrel is capped with an A2 flash
suppressor and the front sight
base is marked with an "F" and appears to be of the correct height.
M4 Stock with CD Logo
6-Position Receiver Extension
Castle Nut Staking 1
Castle Nut Staking 2
Forward Assist
Upper Receiver T-Markings
Pistol Grip Screw
Underside of Lower Receiver
Safety
Double Shield M4 Handguards
"F" Front Sight Base
The buffer is "H" marked and weighs 3.6oz. The lower receiver appears
to be the "low shelf" type without a sear block. The carrier is the
AR15 type but does have a shrouded firing pin and weighs 9.1oz. the
carrier key is well staked and the allen-head screws are the type that
have serrations around the outside of the heads like a quarter. The
feed ramps are the extended M4-style and were machined in to both the
upper receiver and barrel extension prior to finishing. The interior
of both the upper and lower receiver are well machined and free of
burrs or other defects.
"H" Buffer
Lower Receiver Internal
Carrier Weight 9.1oz.
Carrier Key Staking
Extended M4 Feed Ramps
The carbine comes with one 30-round aluminum GI-style magazine with a
Magpul Industries self-leveling follower and a floorplate bearing the
Charles Daly Defense logo.
Magazine Follower and Floorplate
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
Seating Magazines
The magazines that came with the rifle are VERY difficult to seat on a closed bolt when loaded with virtually any
rounds. I initially found the problem with 28 rounds, so I emptied the magazine
and started from scratch loading in 5 round increments. I found the
magazine extremely difficult to seat on a closed bolt, and equally so, with
anything from 5-28 round. There is no problem seating any magazines on an open bolt.
I tried some various P-mags as well. The orange ones I have, dated code
10/07 exhibited the same problem and would not drop free (and do not drop free on my other rifles either). The window
version, dated 04/08, and the twenty-round version, dated 03/08, both
seated much easier even loaded to capacity and dropped free either
empty or loaded.
I tried backing the magazine release out two turns and it had no
effect. It appears that perhaps the magazine release sits just a hair
too high. I'll need to try it out with other known magazines to see if
perhaps it's just an issue with the CD mags.
With the CD gun and
mags, I have to insert the mag, push it all the way in, and then give the ass
end a hard smack. This is something that goes against all my training since
smacking a magazine when loading to an open bolt can result in an eruption of
rounds with older mags with worn feedlips. As such, I do not
"smack" the magazine under any circumstances.
I speed-load a carbine from a belt pouch or a pocket. I "beer
can" the magazine in my support hand (left hand, in my case) and bring it
to the magwell, pushing it all the way in and then pulling down to test to see
if it's seated. Obviously, I rarely speed load on a closed bolt.
The potential issue, as I see it, with the difficulty in seating the magazines
is the tac-load or "reload with retention". I have gotten away
from trying to handle two magazines at once, so I strip out the partial, stow
it, and then proceed as I do with a speed load. This is when I encounter
the problem with the CD since the bolt is closed. For a guy that does a
tac load with two mags in his hand, it would be a very big issue if the
magazine was hard to seat.
