11.5″ Samurai Series Yasuke 弥助 Black Samurai Edition A5 Pistol SOT Custom Shop build · right and left side · drag to pan, scroll to zoom

CONFIGURATION SHOWN: a Caracal CAR816 upper receiver with Second of Ten additions — a laser engraved nickel plated ejection port cover and an arrow-indexed radiused cam pin — red and black dragon rail scale handguard panels and a removable Faxon MuzzLok® ported 5.56mm steel flash hider in nitride, on an 11.5″ QPQ nitrided 4150 CMV barrel in 1:7 twist — paired with the Yasuke lower receiver with a Radian Weapons red anodized selector switch, a Battle Arms Development enhanced magazine release, on a VLTOR A5 recoil system with a Forward Controls Design CN5F billet extended castle nut and an SB Tactical SBA4 brace, paired with a Magpul PMAG laser engraved with the Oda family crest. Right side shown — 将軍 (shōgun) on the magwell, the MDL. SHOWDOWN · CAL. MULTI rollmark, the nickel plated ejection port cover and the 十の二 · 弥助 Yasuke handguard marking.

CONFIGURATION SHOWN: a Caracal CAR816 upper receiver with Second of Ten additions — a laser engraved nickel plated ejection port cover and an arrow-indexed radiused cam pin — red and black dragon rail scale handguard panels and a removable Faxon MuzzLok® ported 5.56mm steel flash hider in nitride, on an 11.5″ QPQ nitrided 4150 CMV barrel in 1:7 twist — paired with the Yasuke lower receiver with a Radian Weapons red anodized selector switch, a Battle Arms Development enhanced magazine release, on a VLTOR A5 recoil system with a Forward Controls Design CN5F billet extended castle nut and an SB Tactical SBA4 brace, paired with a Magpul PMAG laser engraved with the Oda family crest. Left side shown — 侍 (samurai) on the magwell, the Sharps Bros. rollmark with the serial masked, the SOT 816 Yasuke Edition “Black Samurai” handguard mark and the red dragon scale rail panel.

* Sharps Bros. manufactures the receiver; Second of Ten is the builder of record. The receiver is manufactured, rollmarked and serialised by Sharps Bros. of Eugene, Oregon as a 7075-T6 billet SHOWDOWN, and Second of Ten claims none of that engineering. Samurai Series and Yasuke Edition name the complete Second of Ten pistol built on it — the SOT816 upper, the barrel, the controls, the furniture and every applied finish are Second of Ten’s selection and work. The pistol is the whole assembly; the serialised part is the lower.

This is the lower from SOT-WEB-SAM-LWR-010, assembled. The receiver photographed here carries the same serial as the Yasuke A5 pistol lower on its own inspection page — one receiver, two states. The A5 recoil system, the red selector, the silver-foil grip and the brace all match that page; what is new here is the SOT816 upper in front of it.

A5 names the recoil system, not a Sharps Bros. model. With “Showdown” also in the name, A5 could be read as another Sharps Bros. designation. It is not: A5 is the VLTOR A5 recoil system carried in this build, the same suffix used on the lower’s own inspection page.

The menpō mask is finished by hand, so no two are identical. The face, the gilt scrollwork and the white teeth are applied and blended by hand over the Cerakote® base, and the burnished graphite is graded rather than flat. Highlight placement and the exact break of the burnished panels will differ from the pistol photographed here. That is the nature of the work, not a variance to be corrected.

The crest runs the length of the pistol. The Oda mon is laid in maki silver foil on the grip panels, laser engraved into the nickel plated ejection port cover beside the caliber marking, printed on the handguard beside the edition name, and laser engraved into the Magpul PMAG. It is the same crest at four scales by four different methods — foil laid into wood, laser through plating, print on anodizing, laser into polymer — and it is what carries the edition rather than any one component.

The CN5F is the correct nut for an A5, not a compromise. Forward Controls Design note that the CN5F is 0.1″ longer than their standard CNF and will not let a stock fully collapse on a standard TDP-length extension. That caveat does not apply here: on a VLTOR A5 the extra length is what the system asks for, and the nut carries four staking notches at 30°.

The bore-obstruction pedigree is the platform’s, and we say so. The CAR816 platform passed NATO catastrophic obstructed bore and “over the beach” testing as part of its procurement qualification. Second of Ten did not conduct that testing and does not claim it as our own — the lineage is Caracal’s, and this upper inherits the engineered handling rather than being re-qualified. Three things do the work: a short-stroke push-rod piston that breaks the gas path between barrel and carrier, a three-position regulator that vents excess pressure at the block instead of forcing it rearward, and an extractor support pin that denies the case anywhere to extrude. The failure is directed at the barrel, not at the operator. Full treatment in SOT-FAQ-BORE-001.

Our additions to the upper are two, and neither disturbs that handling. The laser engraved ejection port cover and the arrow-indexed radiused cam pin are Second of Ten’s work, built on top of the platform rather than into it. The port cover carries the chambering so it can be verified at a glance before loading; the engraved arrow keeps the cam pin’s wear pattern readable across service cycles, since a radiused pin that can be refitted in any orientation otherwise loses its own history. Neither touches the gas system, the barrel or the bolt architecture — which is what the platform’s test pedigree depends on. Aftermarket barrels, gas blocks or piston components would fall outside that envelope; these do not. The bolt group is left as the platform builds it — Second of Ten does not substitute an HMB™ bolt on the Samurai Series — so nothing in the pressure path is ours.

That engineering is not a reason to skip a bore check. It exists so a missed obstruction is survivable, not so one can be ignored. Inspect the bore chamber to muzzle before firing — after a squib, after a suspected short cycle, after storage, after cleaning. If a round sounds or feels wrong, stop, clear the pistol and inspect before chambering the next one. The design also makes no promise the firearm survives: a catastrophic obstruction can bulge or split a barrel and destroy an operating rod. The barrel takes the hit; the operator does not.

The MuzzLok® comes off, and that is the point. A Faxon MuzzLok® indexes on its own shoulder, so it needs no crush washer and no shim stack and returns to the same clocking every time it is refitted. Removed, it leaves a bare muzzle thread for a direct-thread suppressor. That is a service feature rather than a decorative one, and it is the reason the device is described as removable rather than simply fitted.

The two sides do not repeat each other. 侍 (samurai) is carried on the left of the magwell and 将軍 (shōgun) on the right. Read one side and you have only half the piece — which is the reason this page shows both.

The grip crest is a foil inlay, and it wants a light touch. The Oda mon is applied in maki silver foil on Brazilian cherry and sealed under a Valspar protective finish. It is a finish, not an engraving: wipe it down, and keep aggressive solvents, bore cleaner and abrasive pads off the wood. A grip panel can be refinished; a stripped foil cannot be put back.

Nothing in these frames is retouched except the serial. The serial number is masked on the left-side frame. The manufacturer and address rollmarks are left exactly as struck, and no mark, blemish or tool witness has been removed.

Photography © Second of Ten LLC. Caracal, CAR816, Cerakote, Faxon Firearms, M-LOK, Magpul, Battle Arms Development, Forward Controls Design, Radian Weapons, SB Tactical, Sharps Bros. and VLTOR Weapon Systems marks are the property of their owners; their appearance indicates that Second of Ten incorporates the component, not sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement. Photography shows the item as built; the mask is hand finished and shipped configuration may differ.