KtKC Day 23

Late night bike ride leads to late posting.

Finally got around to installing the RRA Two-stage trigger into the A2, had to try it out.

It's pretty sweet.  Eventually I'll swap out a NM upper and get serious, but it's a start at least.

It's still September, so there's still time to DONATE!  I'm currently dead middle of the pack, but I'm still convinced I can do better.  Help me out!

80% Poly Lower?

Sounds interesting.  I'd be willing to give it a shot (heh).  Looks very well thought out, and requires no jig to complete.  Looks to be $100, plus some time with a dremil I guess.  May be something to play with down the road.

B-CC & Matech Sight

The B-CC (Business-Class Carbine) is now range ready.  After a bit of a hassle with a messed up Amazon sale (third party, wrong price and product number for the item pictured and described...) I snagged a Matech rear from Ares Armor (this is the same BUIS on my issue M4.)  It folds pretty flat, and the ability to dial it in for range is pretty cool.

Eventually I'll toss an optic of some sort on the gun, but for now I want to concentrate on getting back to basics and plan on running it with just irons for a bit.

All the B-CC really needs now is a fittingly lightweight sling of some sort.  Wonder if Blue Force is going to add one to the Helium Whisper line...

Business-Class Carbine

So when I was declaring the awesomeness of AIM Surplus the other day, I had good reason.  They recently had a deal going where you could get 5 free PMags with any complete Spike's Tactical upper assembly, and it ended a few days before my next paycheck, sucky, since I needed an upper along the lines of the 14.5" lightweight.

Bryan from AIM heard my laments on one of the major forums, and let me know that as long as it was in the next 10 days or so, they could hold my order and I wouldn't miss out on the mag deal.  Like I said, awesome.  So I ordered and let them know to hold it until last Thursday.

300 BLK Barrels

In 9" and 16" AR and 16" Remington 700 flavors.

Too True

"Armorer" ≠ "Gunsmith"

MOE Rifle-length Handguards

Are now shipping.

I like the looks of the MOE handguards personally.  It's a nice change up from the normal round or oval ribbed two piece guards.  This one rounds out the set of Carbine, Mid, and Rifle length handguards in the MOE line.  I'm probably going to use a Mid-length one on the next couple builds I'm contemplating.

I'm not holding my breath either...

...but it sure would be neat for the CLEO Signature to disappear.

ARrrgghh!

Got out of drill early enough to hit up the gun show.  Thanks to the door guy for letting the uniformed soldier in for free, always cool.  Of course that also starts many random conversations with the standard slew of gun show personae.  On the upside, helped a guy with some coyote problems pick out his first AR, so bonus there, and my usual dealer cut me a deal on this-

I've always wanted one of the Jolly Rogers variants from Spike's.  Unfortunately the flag that's supposed to come with them was missing, but I do have a Calico Jack flag (skull and crossed cutlasses) stashed in a footlocker somewhere.

Sig's 2011 Products

The Sig Sauer Handgun Blog has the skinny, the P210 looks to be returning, and the 7.62x39mm carbine has made an appearance.  Part way through the list is this one too-

SIG 50 .50 CAL BMG, 29″ Barrel, 5 Round Box Magazine, Bi-Pod

It should be interesting to see Sig's take on a big rifle.

Convenient

Palmetto State Armory has AR lower parts kits with the pistol grip and trigger guard swapped out for Magpul MOE equivalents.  I've got at least two, maybe three plain pistol grips and two or three trigger guards laying around from prior builds, good to see this option out there.

Dan's First AR

Not his first blaster, but we assembled his very first AR yesterday afternoon.  Eventually he hopes to drop a UBR stock on it, which should balance out that 20" barrel pretty nicely.  Overall it's a pretty decent looking gun though.

MP Testing

And what does it all mean?

A member at the Weapons Evolution forum gives us a simplified insider's look into what all the jibber-jabber's about.

It's worth a look if you've ever wondered.

Plotting...

Anybody have any experience with this upper?  I gather they're pretty new, but BCM is a pretty good manufacturer, and being a Wisconsin company is a definite plus.

Note to self: get that paperwork rolling...

I can haz shorty?

So more and more I feel the desire for an AR in the 10.5-11.5 inch category, and I think the idea of an AR pistol is stupid.  The question is does the $200 and hassle seem worth it for the mere privilege of having a stubby gun? And how much of a hassle is it in Wisconsin?  Something to distract myself during classes this semester I suppose.

AR Lowers and Legalness

So the big laugh going around yesterday was a picture, via ARFCOM, from a dealer down in Texas with posted notice that stripped lowers are NOT to be sold for building rifles.  This of course got more than a couple people poking fun at the incorrectness of the notice.

Well apparently the shop's owner spoke up, and says the ATF said so.  Er, at least an ATF agent told somebody who worked there you can't.  In my experience, ATF agents have an uncanny ability to make up things on the spot, and quote "legalities" they really don't know anything about.  Last time I checked, if you buy a stripped AR lower receiver, you still have to fill out all the paperwork and get a background check just like you're buying a whole new rifle.  In fact, last time I picked one up, they had to ask if I intended to build a pistol, because if I did I would have to deal with the state required waiting period.  Not to mention the lower receiver is the firearm according to the ATF, so I don't think it would really be possibly to actually use it to replace the lower on an existing AR.

Battle Comp 1.0 Review

Well, first impressions and whatnot.  After busting it out of the box late last night, I was quite impressed.  the device is cleanly machined, the finish is nice and even, and overall I felt it was worth the price of admission.  I went with the matte stainless finish, I felt it would help break up the colors of my carbine a little more, and would be a bit more photogenic as time goes by.

More (including short video!) after the jump-

Why Military Firearm rocks.

Military Firearm's predecessor forum, CETME Rifles, was the forum that really sucked me into the internet/gun world.  Even it's newest form it is possibly the best source of information regarding the CETME and G3 type rifle.  It's populated by quite a few outstanding and knowledgeable members, and trolls never last long.  It's easily the friendliest forum I have ever been a member of, and I'm pretty proud to have been a member of MF from the start all those years ago after the fatal hacking of CETME Rifles.


It's a free forum, anybody can sign up to access the full content, which there's an awesome wealth of regarding tons of modern military guns.  So to help pay for things and keep it running, there's occasional group buys.  We've done t-shirts and the like in the past, but this time around, custom engraved AR15 dustcovers.  And boy are they sweet.


The front has "MILITARY FIREARM.COM" engraved in nice military stencil typeface-

Once it flips open you get the site's logo and an American flag-

And overall it makes for a pretty sweet custom-cool look-

All that plus the fact that they were engraved by forum member bladeworks123, who graciously donated his own time to play with his new toy (a fancy laser engraving machine) they're just all sorts of cool.

(and before the safety Nazis, it's hammer down on an empty chamber)

More on yesterday's range trip.

So on top of putting the new 22 through it's paces, we also had the mission of testing out some things with the full size ARs. Nothing major, but I'm feeling proud of myself, so I'ma brag a little.

First off, and the most pressing thing on my mind for most of this last week was making sure Will's AR worked. I did some work on it for him the last couple weeks, including installation of the excellent ASAP (Ambidextrous Sling Attachment Point) from Magpul and a new gas block, in the form of a flip up front sight assembly from Yankee Hill Machine.

I have a YHM block just like it on my middy, and find it to be a perfectly acceptable BUIS. It accepts standard AR front sight post, and adjusts just like any standard AR front sight. My only complaint is the button to unlock and lower the sight tower is tough to get to with how I have my light mounted on my rifle. Not YHM's fault, and I can live with it. I figure I'm not going to ever be in a hurry (read life or death situation) to lower the sight.

Anyway, I was a bit nervous to test out the rifle, as this was the first time I did any work on the top half of an AR. I was 99.9% sure I had it lined up right, but I don't have x-ray vision, so there was that slight possibility.

Well, she ran like a dream.

I did run 10 rounds through it quickly to make sure it was holding up and cycling fine before I passed it off to him, so if anything blew up, it would have been in my face. It was my handywork after all.

Anyway, he's quite happy with how it turned out, and very happy to not have a front sight post in his sight picture anymore.

On my end of things, Sigtyr is pretty much done. I have all the big things on there and setup how I want, and aside from some little things a different sling swivel on the handguard and perhaps a different light setup, it's effectively done.
The biggest changes since the last comprehensive look at the carbine are the ACS stock, EOTech XPS2-2, and the light.

I was reluctant to swap out the CTR for the ACS, I do like the look, feel, and weight of the CTR, but when I swapped out the Tango Down stubby for the AFG, I lost my battery storage. I have the bolt/firing pin core in the MOE grip, complete with a bolt, cam pin, firing pin, and two fp retaining pins, and really like that little insurance policy. So, grudgingly, I ordered an ACS stock, and set aside the CTR for when the Smith showed up. With the addition of the EOTech and the white light, spare batteries on the system were too good of an idea.

A side effect of the ACS is the improved cheek weld. It's not that big of a deal with irons, but with a raised electronic type system, like an EOTech or an Aimpoint, it's nice to have a bit more bulk there. Also it's kind of nice to have a bore snake on board too.

A Viking Tactics offset light mount and Surefire G2 were tossed on the front, since zombies don't always attack in the day time. The only complaint (other than the earlier one about the front site) is that what VTac calls "OD" green is much closer to foliage green. I can live with it, but Will says I need to change it. He's definitely more vain than I am. (And at times obviously a Lieutenant)

Then of course came the EOTech. I decided to spend the extra cash on the XPS series, so I only had to keep one type of battery on the rifle. (Both the Surefire and the XPS use CR123A batteries) With the ACS that gives me enough spare batteries to swap out both electronics twice. (2 for the light, 1 for the sight, twice equals 6) I know AAs are easier to find, and an EOTech 512 would have been cheaper, but I like simplicity.

I also opted for the two dot reticle on the EOTech, at first because I like the range compensation ability, and I am a rifleman at heart. Some people don't like how "busy" the multi-dot reticles are, but now that I've had time to play around with it, the similarity between the standard post in a ring sight picture of the irons that I have used for years on issued M16s and the "donut and dots" of the EOTech are quite similar to me. When the excrement hits the rotating air circulator," the instinctiveness of that "post in a ring," steel or glowing red, should be good for me.

Things you should know...

before assembling an AR. Here's a list, and it looks like a pretty good one to me.
Confirmed this one this morning swapping the trigger guard on my buddy's AR.

Three hands are better than two. Four hands are too many, except when playing bridge.