The New GEISSELE Reaction Rod quickly and easily holds any AR type rifle chambered for the 5.56 x 45 cartridge.
I spend a lot of time behind my rifles, which means I spend a fair amount of time building, cleaning and maintaining my rifles. Anything that I can find that has the potential to help make my life easier or that saves time, I am willing to give a try. I read about the Geissele Reaction Rod and about how the AMU’s armorers were using something like it several months ago and had been waiting for it to be released ever since. Santa was good to me and I have been working with this new tool for the past few weeks.
The Reaction Rod allows the user to mount their AR rifle solidly in the vice without removing sights or accessories.
The Reaction Rod is a very simple device that allows the end user to hold a complete upper assembly, or just a barrel for the 5.56 caliber AR solidly in a vice without the need for plastic clamps and support rods. Clamping the Reaction Rod in a sturdy vice and then sliding the AR upper on until the locking lugs engage with the barrel is all that is necessary. There is no need to remove optics, BUIS or accessories. Everything can simply remain as you have it mounted now. The locking lugs on the barrel provide all the holding power you need to assemble, disassemble or service the complete upper assembly. I even tried it on one of my older rifles without the M4 feed ramps and it locked up just as well as on those with the ramps.
The locking lugs on the barrel lock up tightly with the Reaction Rod providing a firm hold on the AR upper assembly. After working on 6 different weapons, I note no damage to either the locking lugs, the barrels or the rod.
Because the Reaction Rod allows the user to rotate the upper 360 degree around the bore axis as well as hold the work anywhere between vertical to horizontal, I was able to build a complete upper assembly, including installing the FBA and Ejection Port Door assemblies, gas system, free float rails/tubes and hand-guards with a minimum of hassle. In fact, I found it much easier to align the gas tube and torque the barrel nut with the upper in a vertical position. There was no need to unclamp, reposition and then re-clamp a clamshell holder. Swapping out a flash hider was no work at all. The Reaction Rod was my extra pair of hands that held the barrel and upper in place throughout the process of applying the correct torque with almost no flex. I actually felt as if I could crank down on the wrench without fear of the clamshell type assembly letting go of the upper.
Being able to rotate the upper around on both the horizontal and vertical axis makes for a much easier time when working on the AR type rifles.
When it comes to maintenance and accessorizing, the Reaction Rod solves the holding problem again. Being able to install things like optics, BUIS, WML, laser guided panty warmers and all the other stuff we mount to the rails on our rifles without having it move all of the place is a god-send. Being able to do it all from a single holding location without having to reposition any other accessories makes things even better.
Comparing the old to the new. I have always managed with my clamshell device, but the simplicity and ease of the Reaction Rod makes me wonder what took so long for someone to think of it?
The only warnings I have about this is that the user must have a sturdy and solidly mounted vice, no hobby tools here, and understand that this will not hold the upper in place if the user needs to pull on something such as a barrel. I found it was easier to remove the upper from the barrel by tapping the upper off of the barrel rather than pulling the barrel off of the upper.
No flex, simple to operate and easily repositioned, the Geissele Reaction Rod makes me wonder why it took so long for some one to think of this. Available from Geissele direct at $59.00 or Brownells for $61.99 some of the skeptics out there may not see the value. Work with one for a few days and you will never want to let it go. Check out the Reaction Rod by Geissele Automatics at http://geissele.com/reactionrod.aspx or http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/rifle-tools/barrel-tools/reaction-rod-prod55168.aspx?ttver=1
Glad to hear it does what it’s intended to do; thanks for the review! Might have to look into getting one.
Now, where can I get one of those laser guided panty warmers?
Have you run into any problems when torqueing a barrel nut? It seems that this tool would transfer all the force to the barrel extension pin and the receiver slot when installing a barrel nut.