Gun Review: Hands on the Hard-to-Find Agency Arms Classified Rifle

AR-15s are common for home defense, sport, and protection

Sporting a 14.5-inch, 1-in-8-inch-twist barrel with a pinned and welded Dead Air flash suppressor and Pyro brake to redirect and minimize flash and concussion, the Classified is a short, fast-handling carbine.

Agency Arms Classified Rifle review charging handle — The gun also boasts ambidextrous controls, including the magazine release, bolt release, short-throw Radian Talon safety selector and Raptor charging handle.

Agency Arms Classified Rifle review target — “We used the Classified at Gunsite’s shoothouse and found the gun to be 100-percent reliable. Its short length made negotiating doorways, hatches and tight hallways bearable without reducing our effectiveness.”

The lower features a Magpul MOE SL collapsible stock and K2 pistol grip.

Agency Arms Classified Rifle review parts — One unique Bootleg part is the Classified’s bolt carrier group, which can be adjusted with two settings for suppressed and unsuppressed use.

Agency Arms Classified Rifle review rail — The barrel is covered with Bootleg’s 15-inch, free-floating PicMod handguard with a full-length Picatinny top rail and shorter rails along the sides and bottom that turn into KeyMod interfaces.

Agency Arms Classified Rifle review, range, aim — “Our gun had a very clean 3.75-pound trigger pull with an awesome reset. This made the gun devastatingly fast on the close-range targets inside the shoothouse.”

Agency Arms Classified Rifle review, Tatiana Whitlock — Tatiana Whitlock with Agency Arms Classified Rifle and the Nighthawk Agent 2 pistol (a collaboration between Nighthawk Custom and Agency Arms).

Back in 2015, Primary Weapons Systems (PWS) launched a sister company called Bootleg that focuses on direct-impingement ARs and accessories. To help launch the new product line, PWS contacted Agency Arms.

When it came to building its own AR-15, Mike Parks, the co-owner of Agency Arms, said, “We normally don’t stray outside of our lane. There’s just too much of a learning curve. But working in collaboration with another company shortens that curve.”

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Starting with a Bootleg forged receiver set, Agency Arms set about giving the rifle its own unique styling with dramatic lightening cuts. From there, the gun was outfitted with high-quality parts to produce what would become known as the Agency Arms Classified Rifle.

Built for Speed

The barrel is covered with Bootleg’s 15-inch, free-floating PicMod handguard with a full-length Picatinny top rail and shorter rails along the sides and bottom that turn into KeyMod interfaces. I like this setup, and it provides rock-solid mounting for lights and other accessories.

One unique Bootleg part is the Classified’s bolt carrier group, which can be adjusted with two settings for suppressed and unsuppressed use. Adjustments are made through the ejection port with a flat-head screwdriver, so the bolt carrier group doesn’t have to be removed first.

The gun also boasts ambidextrous controls, including the magazine release, bolt release, short-throw Radian Talon safety selector and Raptor charging handle. The lower also features a Magpul MOE SL collapsible stock and K2 pistol grip. Another neat feature of the Classified rifle is that its PWS castle nut ratchets with a locking detent, which makes staking the part unnecessary.

CQB Ready

We used the Classified at Gunsite’s shoothouse and found the gun to be 100-percent reliable. Its short length made negotiating doorways, hatches and tight hallways bearable without reducing our effectiveness. Our gun had a very clean 3.75-pound trigger pull with an awesome reset. This made the gun devastatingly fast on the close-range targets inside the shoothouse.

There’s only one bad thing about the Agency Arms Classified Rifle: Only 300 of these guns were produced last year, and if you didn’t get one, you’ll have to find someone who is willing to part with their gun. Based on our experience with the Classified Rifle, that will be unlikely!

For more information, visit AgencyArms.com.