NcStar will being selling a new kit of AR-style rifles in 2017 called the VISM BlastAR Kit.

According to NcStar, the VISM BlastAR Kit will take your “AR-15 to the next level” by transforming “your ordinary AR into a modern, cutting edge battle rifle.” Before I go any farther, let me say that this could be a great product. However, over-hyped marketing like this does more to make me not want the product than it does to want it.

Ok, so what does the BlastAR Kit include? This:

• hand guard: a two-piece hand guard with KeyMod attachment points and Picatinny rail on top
• carry handle: this is a forward positioned carry handle that wraps around an F-marked front sight tower; it has a riser in the back and M-LOK slots on the top
• magwell adapter: two-piece unit that acts as a funnel
• thumbhole stock: fixed length with internal storage and QD points

A few things that left me scratching my head on this one. First, why mix KeyMod and M-LOK attachment points on the same rifle? Aren’t most people buying into one or the other, but not both? Secondly, doesn’t that carry handle location seem to be too far forward to balance properly if you were to use it to carry the rifle?

No word yet on a shipping date or what the suggested retail price may be. NcStar components tend to be inexpensive, so I am guessing the BlastAR kit will not break the bank.

So, what do you think? Do you agree with NcStar that this kit will transform your AR into a “cutting edge battle rifle?”