We got some "gun nuts" on this board. We do all kinds of things, depending on where we live, and what we're interested in. Maybe by telling these stories, we can show the people who don't understand the gun culture why it interests us. This is an account of what a smelly old man did with his scary black rifle today. Warning! One backing board was shot to smithereens. This big idea was brewing in my head. Since I started foolin' around with a carbine, I've thought all kinds of things about what it's supposed to do and be for me. When should I carry it? What range should I set it up for? How will I ever keep the same ammo in my installed 20 round mag as I keep in the 30 round mags that are in the pouches in the bag? How much does that matter? While I've pretty much settled on 3 loads for the AR's, I keep messing around with different powders. I was convinced that Varget is the go to powder, and loaded a bunch of ammo with it. Then, it got scarce, which prompted me to try TAC, CFE 223 and AR Comp. Today turned out to be the test day. It was 106 degrees at the range. I wanted to try a load with the Nosler 55 gr. Ballistic Tip, and one using the 65 gr. Sierra Game King and TAC, but the procedure for this kind of testing kinda' precluded that. To do this, I set up the targets at 100 yards, then fired the first 5 shots. Lay the carbine in the back of the car where it's shaded, cover the ammo, and walk down to the target. Mark those with a circle, and the number 1. Walk back to the car. Take out the carbine and ammo. Load the next 5 rounds. Fire those, and repeat. Circle those five holes, and mark them with a 2. It's 106 degrees. I didn't include my load with the 55 gr. Hornady PSP and 26.8 gr. of TAC, because it turns out that this lot of TAC is NOT temp. stable. I blew a primer out of one round, and the next 3 were blowing dust all over the place, just in front of my shooting position. That bullet must be going about 3,600 fps to fly to pieces like that Well, you see what the target ended up telling us. I could have moved the scope to the left another 1 or 2 clicks, but what I was interested in was the overall spread with the 4 different loads. That 20 round "group" is 5.25" high and 2.75" wide. Again, this is at 100 yards. I guess I should explain my load legend. "55 PSP 25.0 V" is the Hornady 55 gr. PSP with 25.0 gr. of Varget. "65 SGK 23.6 AR Comp" is the Sierra 65 gr. Game King with 23.6 gr. of AR Comp. "60 H SP 26.1V" is the Hornady 60 gr. SP with 26.1 gr. of Varget. "65 SGK 25.6V" is the Sierra 65 gr. Game King with 25.6 gr. of Varget. This carbine is basically a PSA build. The upper uses the FN 16" CHF "double chromed" barrel in 1-7" twist. The lower is a PSA blem. The scope is a Weaver K-6 in a Weaver quick detach mount. It has Magpul furniture, to include the trigger guard, MOE grip, forend, and back-up rear sight. Of course, P-Mags are all I own. What else is there? I've been trying to decide if I like the angled forend grip. So far, yea.
I meant to get back on this one and it would be nice for some "gun talk." I'll critique your weapon if I may. I've used the MOE hand guard and I like it. I don't think the forward grip is necessary and the hand guard is probably not tough enough to support it. The hand guard is, however easy to install, especially if you want to cut off some weight. I'd also think about replacing the stock with Mission First Tactical Minimalist, it will balance the weight loss up front from the MOE. I also think that guys really "overpower" their optics on carbines. IMHO, anything beyond 4X is too much and you'll need a cheek weld. Mission First also makes a stock with an adjustable cheek piece. It also has a storage compartment. Overall I think that carbines generally do best with a red dot or holo sight. I've used an EOTech with a Burris tripler and flip over mount. The Burris is a lot cheaper than the EO tripler and for practical purposes works just as well. Optics for carbines are another discussion. The ACOG is the gold standard with 2, 3, 3.5 and 4 X being standard BUT they all give you something different in terms of FOV and eye relief. Good variables get expensive and include the VICOG and products from Valdada and US Optics. IMHO, the best variable for the price is the Vortex 1X4. An option to consider is a canted or side mount for a Holo sight. You can keep the higher power scopes that a lot of people seem to like but use the holo for close in. You just angle the weapon and convert to the close in sight. Two thumbs up to the Magpul Magazines. I have a Magpul sticker that I'm going to secretly put on an anti-gun liberal's car right next to his Hillary sticker.
I started thinking about the forward grip because when I shoot without it, I kinda' subconsciously touch the gas block, bayonet mount, and sight tower with my right pointy finger (I'm left handed). Then I notice that I'm doing it, and it's a distraction. The foregrip kinda' settles that down. You can critique my stuff all you want, and we can all run with what we like. A friend of mine has the EOTech with the flip away magnifier, and I think it's ridiculous. Ever since about 1972, every long gun I've owned that could accept an optical scope has had one. I'm just a little bit accustomed to shooting that way. To me, all of this giant dot non-magnified optic stuff is just fanboy junk. About 99.5% of the time, when I shoot anything, I'm also evaluating hand load performance. That's with the exception of rimfires and the AK, cuz I don't load that ammo. With my 20" AR, nearly every round is fired @ 20x magnification. As for other aftermarket stuff, it's good for whoever wants it. To me, the important things that matter to me in an AR are reliability, accuracy (within my expectations for the platform), durability, and weight Before this test, the carbine was averaging 2 MOA for everything I tried in it. For a defensive gun that I carry in the desert, that's "good enough". In the above test though, both of the loads with the 65 gr. SGK came closer to 1 MOA, and both zeroes came in very close together. That figures, of course, because that's the most expensive bullet! It cost about twice as much to punch the blue and purple holes as it did to make the red ones. I have 3 of those MOE stickers. I like your idea!
A 20 inch barrel AR is a different animal. It functions differently and handles differently. The carbine is a bit different. I build them for 3 gun matches and self defense, so what I want out of them is a bit different on what I do. For all carbines I replace the extractor springs and extractor boosters. I'm on the fence for M4 feed ramps. Non-tilt mags like the Magpul are the only way to go, but there are a number of others that are just as good. I also replace the buffer with an H3 type. I don't think free floating a carbine barrel adds much of anything. Holo sights are just a lot quicker in terms of speed. I think the EOTech is a bit faster, but the Aimpoint is right up there. You give up some accuracy in the process but it's still much quicker than an optic. I also try to keep the weight down and fixed power optics do this. I'm rethinking a lightweight build with the ACOG 2X which is a compromise but a very good one. I know a lot of guys really like their optics, however and this a big however, in that good variable optics can be expensive and POI will vary with rear focal plane scopes. Money talks with this. Front focal plane scopes rule in terms of accuracy, but you have to accept the change in reticle size. The VGOG is probably the best of the best but United States optical a very close second. There are others out there. Like I said before the Vortex is a very cost effective alternative. I still think most AR's are overpowered in terms of optics. The exception is 20 or 24 inch models, but these are very specialized and you're looking at free float stainless steel barrels. They're not really self defense weapons. They will get you down consistently to 1/2 minute of angle if done right and with the right ammo. My two cents.
So- The casual reader would read your posts and mine. I should hope that he'd see that we're not arguing, but describing different ways of pursuing the recreational uses of our guns. My 20" gets high magnification because a longish barreled high performance .22 cal. rifle means "varmint gun" to me. I haven't shot a prairie dog, or a bolt action rifle since '98, but that's not the point. I never even considered an AR carbine until this year. Until I got the one pictured here, my "defensive carbine" was an AK under folder. Of all the discussions one sees between AR's and AK's, one of the "limits" I see with my AK is that it has the same problem as the SKS with hand loads. There is no feed ramp at all, so soft point bullets tend to snag on that square breech face, and that takes ALL of the fun out of trying to reload for them. I'm entirely familiar with stainless barrels. If my ArmaLite upper had a stainless barrel, it would be worn beyond acceptable accuracy by now. I don't compete, so the difference between 1/2 MOA and 1 MOA is entirely academic, within the working range of the caliber.
Absolutely, it's like beer and cigars around the campfire. I listen and learn, but don't have a problem with giving my two cents. I agree with you about the AK. Bolt lock up with an AK is with the receiver and not the barrel. It's a nice system for reliability but not so much for accuracy. It was also designed with a pre-existing round, the M1943 Russian military FMJ. By design it's not going to feed soft points well. Also all "new" AK are made here, there are no more foreign built weapons coming into the country. Unless you're into metal forming equipment and can acquire an AK flat, your best bet is a weapon made by Krebs or Arsenal. I still have an old Chinese Norinco that was a go to weapon for a long time. The best "civilian" AK variants I've seen is Valmet M76. The original Galil's by IMI were a close second but heavy and not well balanced. Both are in 5.56. BTW I appreciate the give and take here. I do wish "they" would have firearm discussion page instead of just gun control.
I'm not a big AK guy. I see a lot of discussion about which are the best and so on. Mine is the Century version of the Yugo, with a surprisingly nice Tapco trigger. It's heavy, with the 1.8 mm receiver. After roughly 4,000 rounds, everyone who handles it says it's the most solid AK they've handled. As for a firearms discussion page, let's see what this new Osama directive is about: http://www.politicalforum.com/gun-control/415276-gun-blogs-videos-web-forums-threatened-new-obama-regulation.html Have we already exposed ourselves as being "too American"?
