I picked up a YHM drop-in rail for a song (literally, a third of list) on ArfCom, and a GripPod-02 from another ArfCommer. The scope is a Nikon P-223 3x32, which was out of stock everywhere for quite some time. I stumbled across them at Primary Arms with a deal on the matching rings, and grabbed it immediately. (I'm VERY happy with that scope, by the by. Smacking head-size rocks on the 250yd berm at my range is a snap from the bench.)
The only thing it was missing was a light. I had a spare Surefire G2L floating around, and today I stopped at Dicks and got a Viking Tactics light mount. That's been mounted. End result:
Loaded with a full (pre-ban) magazine of 55gr VMax, it'll cure what ails ya. I'm pretty happy with it. I'd like to replace the A2 grip with an Ergo, and the pinned CAR stock with a MAGS EFX, but those are low-priority for the time being.
ETA: Just tossed it on the scale out of curiosity. With the magazine, it's 9lb4oz. Less the mag, 8lb5oz. The Delicate AR is 7lb10oz and the NM A2 is 9lb10oz (both unloaded). So - hanging all the extra crap on there really didn't add much weight.
5 comments:
VERY nice! I don't think you'll find much to complain about with that one!
Beauty!
I have $1400 saved up for my AR, but I am so overwhelmed by it all, the money sits.
AGirl - $1400 should be able to build you a VERY nice AR when you decide what you want! The one pictured above has about a thousand in it as it sits.
AGirl --
It's easy to get overwhelmed and go into a continual rest cycle of indecision. BTDT, but I have a E&E plan to get you out of those woods. . .
I would recommend you start figuring out what you want the gun to do, in a decending priority list; it'll make it easier to figure out what componants to get in the end:
By and large, stick with a traditional gas system - piston systems are best for SBRs, silencers, and lots of full auto.
Primary role/secondary role? A pure home defense gun will end up looking different than a Zombie Apocolypse Blaster or a 3-gun rifle that is pressed into home defense. (note -- any of the three will work for home defense, but that 3-gun 4x32 ACOG is useless indoors). For a defensive gun, I recommend a mid length gas system on a 16" barrel, with a light or medium profile, a milspec 5.56mm chamber, and M4 feed ramps.
Pure practicality, or do you want to get some tacticool groove on? Nothing wrong with wanting a bayonet lug "Because!", but honestly you don't need one unless you are in a warzone. (Of course, you don't "need" a lot of stuff -- it ain't about "need", it's really about "want". If a bayonet lug gives you warm fuzzies, great! If you actually want a bayonet to go on your lug, I recommend the current USMC issue OKC3 as the best deal under $300, possibly under $500. . . yes, there are $500 bayonets. . . {chuckle})
Primary sights: magnified scope, red dot, or irons? If it's primarily home defense, go with a red dot. If it's a plinker/hunter/long range gun, go with a magnified optic. If it is intended for any fighting role at all, it needs backup iron sights (BUIS) mounted. If you have a red dot, no problem -- you can use the BUIS THROUGH the red dot. If you have a magnified optic, you should either have an offset BUIS that you can use with the scope mounted, or a scope you can jettison without tools. Flip up front sights are nice if a fixed front sight is distracting through your optic. Fixed front sights don't have to be flipped up to use. Easily adjustable rear sights (like the M16A2 sight as opposed to the M16A1 style) are unnecessary on a BUIS, but are fine for a pure sporting rifle. You can always upgrade your optics later.
Your first $ priority is the barrel -- buy the best your budget allows; it is the one part you really can't economically upgrade later. Get one already mounted to an upper receiver. Dedicate about $800 - $1000 to a barrelled upper with a free float tube, and you will not regret it. Check Bravo Company for good uppers (plenty of other good companies, too). Anything from 1:7" to 1:9" will run almost any defensive and most hunting loads, although 1:7" is a tad tight for the really super-lightweight varmint bullets, and some guns with 1:9" don't quite spin 70+ grain bullets fast enough. DO NOT get a SAAMI .223 Rem chamber on a fighting gun.
Get a decent chrome lined bolt carrier and a milspec bolt. If you're going to go anywhere up from a milspec bolt group, go whole hog and go NP3 coated. But a milspec bolt group is just fine. I recommend you use an "M16" bolt carrier (perfectly legal, despite the wailing and gnashing of uninformed teeth on the internet), and the extra mass helps. Gas key staked hard.
Pretty much any in-spec lower is fine. Whatever stock and pistol grip you like is fine. Milspec or commercial carbine buffer tube is fine, as long as the stock you like comes in the same size.
The other place I would drop some coin is the trigger group (but you can always do that later; it's an EASY swap). The best "fighting" trigger out there is the Gissele SSA, without a doubt.
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