Thanks to Geissele Automatics of New Wales, Pennsylvania, civilian gun owners and firearms enthusiasts can now get their hands on an AR upper receiver worthy of US Army Special Operations Command.
In fact, the new AR-15 USASOC URGI, marketed by Brownells on behalf of Geissele, is virtually a clone of the same new Upper Receiver Group - Improved currently being phased into service with the US Army’s various Special Forces Groups, and the 75th Ranger Regiment.
Unveiled at SHOT 2018, the URGI — a joint collaboration between Geissele and Daniel Defense — has already hit the market and is making waves.
However, instead of being mated to an M4 carbine, it's designed to be used with civilian semi-automatic AR-15-type rifles, though still offering considerable improvements over the standard upper receivers most base AR builds come with today.
Geissele’s URGI is available in both a “Stripped” and “Complete” model, and can be snapped onto most available ARs on the civilian market today.
The Complete offering uses a 14.5-inch Daniel Defense barrel designed specifically for the relatively new M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round, and comes with a Surefire SF4P flash hider, which suppresses the highly visible flash that occurs during a shot.
The SF4P can also hook up to a Surefire SOCOM 5.5. Fast-Attach suppressor, though that doesn’t come with either the Stripped or Complete models of the URGI.
The SF4P muzzle device is indeed permanently attached, so that the overall barrel length meets the minimum 16″ regulation put forth by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ... also meaning that you don’t need to jump through any hoops to get your hands on this sweet upper.
In the guts of the Complete model is a mid-length gas system with a low-profile gas block — a non-standard modification that allows for better round cycling for follow-up shots than the average gas tubes that most ARs come with today.
An ambidextrous Airborne Charging Handle also comes with the Complete model.
Geissele's URGIs retail with a handguard -- the MK 16 M-Lok Super Modular Rail -- tailor-made as per USASOC's operational specifications, that can host a variety of attachments and add-ons, including sights and optics on its upper Picatinny rail.
For your friendly neighborhood cloner and mil-spec disciple, picking up Geissele’s URGI is definitely the closest you can get to running an AR similar to the rifles that America’s elite use on the front lines of battle every day.
Ian D’Costa is a correspondent with Gear Scout whose work has been featured with We Are The Mighty, The Aviationist, and Business Insider. An avid outdoorsman, Ian is also a guns and gear enthusiast.
