Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Rifle Build

Well had a small delay a certain parts company I will name no Dang Songs After them does not have a live website so the upper and the delta ring kit I ordered are both on back order so I searched around and Del Ton had uppers and delta kits in stock and will be shipping this week.  The other company was still 4-6 weeks out.  I really do not want to wait that long.  Once get that switched out will get the optics situation resolved I am thinking something in the Nikon 223 line debating on the 1-4 or the 2-8x32.  The 2-8 would fit the midrange DM rifle theme I am going for.  Also having a debate on iron sight should I just go with the traditional BUIS or the slick offset irons.  I am not putting a quad rail on it so I think a tradtional BUIS rear and the original front sight tower will be fine.  Also stock to collapse or not to collaspse that is the question.

Nothing Says I love you like a Grenade

Thanks to Aaron for this one.

Monday, March 19, 2012

This will improve your shooting

The Marine Corps is testing a new work out/shooting training program that combines exercise and shooting.  In the midst of a nasty PT test you have to do a timed shoot.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

7/8" group

Today I was shooting and doing some rifle drills with a 16" carbine and was able to hold everything in the kill zone but was not my rifle and was shooting left.  Then I broke out my rifle and got a good prone position and one decent group 1.5" and another .78 this was a 50 yards so was not setting a distance record.  I had the target signed to verify it.

The seven shot group opens up to an inch and a half. This is shooting in the prone position.

This is my 7/8 inch group I was shooting in about a 20mph wind from a rested position.  I was using junk ammo I found in the bottom of an ammo can. Yes that is a smiley face I was shooting at. 

Thankfully I can shoot with a rifle because my handgun skills suck.  If I go slow I can hit but trying to double tap fast I will pull one every time.


Saturday, March 17, 2012

Random Firearms Knowledge for the day

Garry James address an issue I drive my friends crazy with in correcting them.  Clips vs Magazine and what exactly a bullet it is sadly the guy who did not know the difference between a bullet and a cartridge is a 20 year military vet. For those that do not know the bullet part is what comes out of the barrel and the cartridge is the whole round in today's terms the bullet, casing, propellant, and primer.

The best gun to use to defend yourself with is the one you have in your hand.  Having the latest uber-cannon is of no use if you cannot carry it (if you are a concealed carrier) or have handy in the case of home defense.  Yes that includes the lowly .22,.25,32, and the much improved .380
.22

.25

.380


Speaking of which with the explosion of conceal carry the .380 is making a huge comeback with all kinds of new personal defense ammunition coming out. Hornady has two new loads the 90grn TAP and the 90grn FTX Critical Defense, Federal has their 90grn Hydro Shok, Corbon also has two loadings the 90grn JHP self dense round and their new Deep Penetration 80grn DPX round that can go 12-17" inside a ballistic medium.  Heck the also have a .223 DPX round that I might have to try.  I would feel secure sending my wife out with a .380 loaded with any of these new rounds.

Also 12 Guage buckshot and 9mm rounds penetrate more sheet rock than .223 / .566 so why not use your AR carbine in the house?  There have been many tests that are easy to find on the internet.  Is interesting how a complaint in the military about barrier penetration of the 5.56 makes it a good round for the house even the XM193 FMJ.  Even the heavy 69-77 grain will break up once it hits a wall. 

You can get into an entry level 16" carbine AR for the $600 range but build one to your specifications for not much more than that. (Something I would be happy to help you with).

Well they went an did it

Arsenal Firearms has made a double barreled 1911.  Here is this beast in action getting hit with two .45 bullets would really suck but you would have to have the hands of Andrea the Giant to wield this thing.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Zombies and Ammo

Zombies have taken over the gun world and while I do not take it for the undead apocalypse as much as it is meant to be prepared for emergencies it is kinda fun.  I got one of these today as well as 40 rounds of Federal XM193 ammo

That XM193 is good stuff not quiet milspec but close enough.  No I do not need my primers to be water proof to 100 meters.  It has been suggested that this 55grain FMJ it is a good man stopper due to the way it will break up especially when fired out of a 20" barrel the round averages 3165 fps.  As we all know the minimum required velocity for the 5.56 to be effective is 2800 fps.  Unless we are using the new M262 mod1 or the Marine SOST round which are supposed to be able to buzz saw down to lower velocity.

Now to the horror of some people I like shooting steel case ammo the guys at CMMG would disagree but it has been proven by too many testers that the stuff works and I can afford to practice with it.  so this weekend I will be banging out that ugly brown russian ammo.  It must not be so bad Hornady is making it by the truck load. 

Speaking of which I am have been making more of my kill zone targets and am going to poke holes in some of the this weekend. What I have done is measure the distance in an average person (me) from the sternum to the base of the neck and what would be between the breast pockets of a shirt. Put a good round in this area and whoever you hit is going to know it.  I also cut out some eight inch circles for heads and put effective hit areas there as well as not all head shots are the same.  Basically you want to hit from the mouth to middle of the forehead.  While the sniper T zone shot is basically the width of the eyes  and about three inches below that in a straight line.  Hit here and you will stop anyones clock including zombies.
 

Certified Gunsmith

Well I am finally a certified gunsmith! While I could have spent this money on tools or my AK armorers class my Queen is tired of hearing about "my upper" and I no longer had an excuse not to buy it.  I did not get anything for my college graduation so I got myself this for my gunsmith graduation.

For my final exam I am finally building my rifle the AR15RK.  I just ordered my flat top upper so I can join the 21st century.
In this I am going to put my current 1/9 twist heavy barrel from my Oly Arms if you can remember that saga finding out about that barrel.  Wondering why I bought a non-stripped upper and do the work myself my answer is, Why?  The parts cost another $40 and that C-clip on the ejector cover is a pain in the butt who wants to fight that.  DSA had such a good deal on it I could not go wrong.  I read a bunch of reviews and it gets 4 out of five stars.   Then I went on Amazon of all places and found this for $38.50 which is $10 less than Midway or Brownells and free shipping.  By the way as great as Brownells is they are currently out of everything.  You cannot even get a front sight bench block from them and they have no uppers for less that $150 stripped.  Of course hardly anyone has uppers right now Rock River Arms has "back ordered for indefinite period of time" on all the flat top uppers.
Yes that is a set of rifle length Magpul MOE hand guards.  Next pay check I order the gas system, front sight taper pins, BUIS which will also be a Magpul, and possibly a railed gas block.  I need to measure the diameter of the rifle where the front sight is mounted so I can order the correct size.  DPMS has a cool four rail gas block if I can find one that fits.  I will get me a couple of rail sections and will be able to mount my light and laser for the house and remove them real easy for when I go hunting.  Next step is to remount the scope and put a milspec sliding stock on it.  You may wonder why I did not free float the barrel.  Well let me tell you a story way back when I was a kid I was able to shoot 9 out of 10 at the 500 meter line in the rain with the wind blowing with an iron sighted M16A2 service rifle.  Currently I am shooting half dollar sized groups at 50 yards which puts me at 1-2" high or low out to 200 meters.  That is good enough to get me in the ball park on a man sized target out to 300-400 meters which by the way is a distance I do not foresee myself shooting unless the world falls apart which it could. 

Next though saving money for FFL so I can get my business started.  I intend to order rifles people want and would also like to do custom builds and for that you need an FFL to buy receivers.  The AR series of weapons can be tailored to just about any ones desires and while easy to work on not everyone has the tools to do it.  I am also doing to do the same thing with the AK. 

Next rifle build for myself will be to use the upper that I will have and combine it with a sliding stock lower and a 1/7 twist 16" pencil barrel and have a handy little carbine that the Queen or kids can use easily.  That will involve more web gear and magazines but that is never a bad thing now is it.

Friday, March 9, 2012

problems in bullet land

It appears that the new M855A1 round is having serious trouble.  I had read some on the new M855A1 round and it was supposed to be the answer to the carbine lethality and reliability issues it looks as like it is failing in both regards.  While the idea of having a 5.56 round that can penetrate body armor and still create good terminal effects maybe more than we can ask for from this round.  The military has recently fielded the two new rounds mentioned below and they are very good.  Guns and Ammo reports that the bullet is not all it is cracked up to be.  Why the Army is spending this money $32 million is beyond me there are already two better rounds out there the Marine Mk 318 Mod 0 SOST round and the Mk 262 mod 1.

Notice in the article the new accuracy standard is 5.5 MOA versus the current M855, MK318, and MK262 standard of 2.5. Also with a pressure rising 13000 psi in an already stressed system I do not see how this is going to improve weapon reliability.  Also according to the article the cost in doubling from what the current M855 round costs and is even more expensive than the two other rounds.  I was recently at a gun show and the MK 318 round was being sold by BVAC for a very reasonable price and if it had not been for the 64 grn PSP ammo I would have bought some.  BVAC makes good bullets by the way I have killed several deer with their 75 grain loading.

Any I digress why would the Army who is pushing this round want to add to weapon reliability issues, decrease performance, and increase cost.  This is flat freaking stupid.