The Folding AR Is Back

A little while back I reviewed an interesting concept in ARs: a rifle that literally folded in half at the base of the handguard so that it could fit in even a small backpack, and returned to zero each time you “redeployed” it so to speak. The gun, called the XAR Invicta, was sold by a company called F&D Defense, but they were not the manufacturers. The firearm was actually invented and produced by another company and sold through F&D, which is no long the case.

Ch-Changes

That brings us to FoldAR, the original manufacturer of the rifle, who will soon be selling them directly, with a number of improvements, including an adjustment to the staggering price tags of the F&D products.

“While FoldAR did invent, design, and manufacture F&D’s XAR Invicta, many upgrades and design enhancements throughout the FoldAR platform have been incorporated since, making the FoldAR a much higher quality ahd robust system than the XAR Invicta,” said Aaron Weinstein, FoldAR’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

“At the same time, we have brought the costs down substantially from the XAR Invicta production line,” he added.

Going on to explain what happened with F&D, Weinstein said that in early 2017, F&D was provided conditional licensing rights by FoldAR’s parent company, to the technology, but that F&D failed to meet its basic contractual obligations, which resulted in termination of the license.

“As a result of this experience, we realized that the only company who could bring this product to market correctly would be us, which led to the birth of the FoldAR brand,” he said. “FoldAR’s parent company has been in the business of designing and manufacturing high-end ARs for over a decade, so this venture is no new territory.”

The Guns

FoldAR is certainly coming out swinging, introducing a rifle with a 16-inch barrel and a pistol version of the gun with a 9-inch barrel, as well as the Double FoldAR, also with a 9-inch barrel, which was featured at the recent TRIGGRCON with the Deadfoot Arms pistol folding brace.

Rifles will be available in a host of chamberings, including .223 Wydle (.223/5.56), .300BLK, 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC, and .224 Valkyrie. Pistol variants will be available in .223 Wylde, .300BLK, and 6.8 SPC.

Now lets get to pricing.

The standard FoldAR rifle and the pistol will have an MSRP of $1,495. The Double FoldAR, which is a new configuration that will measure only 10.75” long when folded, will be a bit pricier at $1,945.

However, you can use a current lower receiver with a FoldAR upper and get all the advantages of the folding system. Uppers alone will have an MSRP of just $850, but the street price will likely be significantly lower.

Accessories and Furniture

As I mentioned, the Double FAR will have a Deadfoot Arms folding brace; the pistol variant comes with the KAK Shockwave Blade attached. Otherwise, the rifles and pistols will be outfitted with Magpul furniture and Rise Armament 3.5LB SSA triggers.

The complete guns and uppers will have M-LOK handguards with top rails and the FAR pistol uppers will work with the SB Tactical PDW Brace and the SBA3 brace.

At the front end, all uppers and complete pistols and rifles will come with a standard A2 Birdcage muzzle devices.

The proprietary technology rests in the low-profile hinge located on the left side of the rifle that connects the receiver to the forend and barrel. On the opposite side is a hook-and-handle latch that is custom machined from hardened steel. It’s robust, yet surprisingly slim.

Just pop the latch to take the rifle down, and when deploying it, simply put the hook in its home and squeeze the latch shut until it locks.

As of now, the company is officially accepting pre-orders from customers and dealers. The guns can be ordered directly from FoldAR’s website with first shipments expected to go out on October 30.

Range365 is expecting to get on of the first test samples available to see how it stacks up against the earlier iteration. Stay tuned.

FoldAR Specs

Rifle

Pistol

Double FoldAR