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Monday, June 13, 2016

Thoughts On Carrying a Firearm in the Aftermath of the Orlando Terrorist Attack.

This post is off the rails of the intention of this Blog and has nothing to do with building a Black Rifle.  It does, however, have everything to do with the idea of using a Black Rifle, or a smaller tool for remote application of heavy metals, for it's original designed purpose: to eliminate the threat from the most prevalent and dangerous of predators.  It was written originally in response to a discussion on carrying a firearm for the purpose of self protection. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the respondents had an unclear view of what exactly that meant.  The picture below started the discussion:



Unfortunately an individual that wasn't necessarily anti-2A but not a gun owner chimed in and expressed his concern with the general premise.  Not that he is against people carrying, but he is not comfortable with buying a gun and carrying it without the knowledge of how to use it.  Similar thought to someone stating that the only way to be safe in an airplane is to buy a parachute and wear it when you are in a plane - without the training on how to use said parachute. 
The disturbing element was when a firearms instructor chimed in and made the statement that handguns are not all that dangerous and that 80% of the body is non-vital, therefore you don't have to be the first shooter in a situation - with the implication that one can absorb bullets from an aggressor and still respond in kind to end the fight....  My reply to the situation is as follows:

******, if the premise of carrying a gun was to kill someone your thought process is right on. However, if you adopt the philosophy that a firearm is merely a highly efficient tool used to end a threat to your (or an innocent's) life, the connection is much easier. HOWEVER, one does not simply strap a gun to one's hip (or wherever) and suddenly become a defender of the masses. There is an enormous responsibility one must understand and embrace when one decides to carry a firearm (with great power comes great responsibility), AND thoughtful and serious education and continual training must be committed to. I am somewhat disturbed by the comments by ******** (a firearms instructor) that portend (at least appear to) the thought of someone using a firearm defensively to "wound" (if I misconstrued your comments ******* I apologize). No legitimate training teaches the use of a firearm to accomplish any mission other than to stop the threat. To do that, you visit harm on the threat until that threat is no longer functioning as a threat. This action can be as slight as exuding a non-victim presence to the extreme of introducing a volume of heavy metals into the circulatory and neurologic centers of the threat sufficient to cause said systems to cease to function. NEVER EVER put a weapon on your body or in your hands thinking you will use it to kill unless you also intend to spend the remainder of your life in prison. Finally, understand that "killers" and "terrorists" do not view or value life as you or I do. They are able to disassociate their actions with the weight of life. This is an enormous hurdle that the 'normal' person has to overcome when trying to deal with how to accomplish the action of ending the threat. I cannot begin to explain this concept in a Facebook post (too long already). Tim Larkin's book " How To Survive the Most Critical 5 Seconds of Your Life" does a very good job of illustrating the difference in mindset between predators and their prey and should be read by anyone that wants to enter the discussion of self protection. Sorry for the lengthy post but this is heavy stuff that cannot be understood in Facebook 'sound bites.

I would actually like to hear any feedback anyone has on this topic.  Again, I apologize for the non-build post (not that there are many of those on here), but things being what they are I felt it appropriate.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Next step?

Now I am looking at CNC machines for creating my own parts. I am looking at this company and they have a give away going on.... Maybe I will get lucky.

http://www.probotix.com/

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Dark Times



In media-frenzied anti-gun rhetoric chaos spurred on by another gun free zone mass shooting, personal-fear driven political agendas are once again threatening the American way of life. Ignorance abounds...or not. Seriously, do politicians really expect me to believe that they truly believe eliminating the second amendment and eliminating guns in America will make Americans safer? BULLSHIT. I know the agenda is NOTHING about keeping me safer. It is 100% about eliminating my ability to exercise the fourth branch of government the founders built in with the second amendment 
. The citizens ability to check tyranny.
Ask yourself this: In a time of mass shootings and "out of control" gun violence, when was the last terrorist attack on a politician protected by an armed security force? What if these wack-jobs knew that the school they were going to shoot up had an armed security force and trained armed faculty?
That being said, on to the build updates
.264 LBC
Finished.  BHW 22" barrel in the semi-bull contour. Great barrel but a bit of a PITA due to the .875 dia at the gas block and muzzle.  
After an exhaustive search I found www.muzzlebreaksandmore.com. Nathan hooked me up with a gorgeous four port break that matches the BHW barrel perfectly. After some smithing, I was able to time the break without a washer. New skill learned. The best part - the price. This is a very high end quality, custom brake at mass production Chinese prices. 

The next item of consternation was the gas block. Being that I am dealing with a .875 barrel and wanted to keep the gas block matching the barrel, I spent a bit more at Brownells to get what I wanted. I made it up with the hand guard I got off Craigslist from someone wanting a shorter look. I ended up with this 15" key mod free float hand guard for ~$50.  I added a Magpul UBR stock and a CAA bipod to finish it all off. As far as optics go, I had a couple options. I have an older Nikon that was on a .280 Norma mag; it performed well but I didn't like reticle. I tried a NC Star MKIII 2-10 scope just for kicks and am constantly surprised by the way these scopes perform. I feel like this gun can outshoot me right now.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

.264 - Progress?

As with most of my builds this one is taking on a life of it's own. The hold-up right now is with the free-float tube. I have decided on the 24" bbl, but I don't like the rifle length handguard on such a long barrel, and 15" handguards are hard to find and not what I am wanting. Sooo, I am going to build my own using a Seekins Precision FF handguard nut and a carbon fiber tube. Thus the first hurdle. The nut has an OD of 1.8", most carbon fiber tubes come in either 1.75" or 1.84" ID, do I sand down or shim up....? On a side note, I am going shooting this weekend and have been turned on to the Black Death Challenge. A work colleague came up with his own target and I will give it a try. Feel free to make it your own.

Monday, February 11, 2013

.264 LBC

This is definitely NOT the time to start another build, but I have been doing a ton of research and have decided that I want a long-range rifle that can also be used to hunt pig, antelope, and deer.  I like the idea of the 6.8SPC and have many friends that swear by it's accuracy, but I want something that has some legs.  Thus the .264 LBC, a slight variation of the 6.5 Grendel. This slight change from the 6.5 Grendel gives more consistant accuracy and longer brass life...sounds good.

What I have:
I have, as I have shared before, is a very nice lower that I purpose built for accuracy on my Service Match Rifle.  I love the trigger pull, but the grip and stock is a bit clunky.  I would like to have more tuning options on the length, and a the Pearce grip on my first build is incredible...so, for now I will probably use the lower on my first build.
I also have a nice upper from SOTA Arms.  This is a very high quality piece of engineering that will hold the rest of the upper parts very well. 
I have the rifle length gas tube, a low-profile gas block, and a muzzle break and crush washer from SOTA Arms.
Not a lot, but enough to make me want to finish the upper.

What I need:
The heart and soul of this build will be a BlackHoleWeaponry barrel.  I haven't decided weather I want a 20 or 24" barrel, but am leaning for the 24" just to have the ability to really stretch the capabilities of the .264 LBC round. 
Obviously, with long range accuracy I will have a free-float hand-guard. I will try and keep this as light as I can without breaking the bank.  I am looking very hard at YHM lightweight designs, however I also really like Rock River Arms TRO XL handguard.
Now for the tough part, I need a bolt carrier group. Right now, bcgs are not available anywhere.  I have one on order from Del-Ton, but....waiting....
A bolt is fairly easy to get from Tactical Ammunition, and if I need to I can use a bolt carrier from another upper for the time being.

That's pretty much it for now.... I guess I will see what I can find and hopefully get something together in the next few months.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Service Rifle Build

Here is what I got:
White Oak Armament Service Rifle Barrel: $205
RRA NM barrel sleve: $90
RRA two stage trigger: $75
RRA NM Carry Handle: $115
A2 Stock: Free (traded for M4 Stock)
RRA Stock weight: $20
.050 NM front sight post:$5

Total paid for this build was ~$550 after shipping and misc. pieces and parts. If you check the RRA page you will see that the prices I am posting are way below the retail prices. I have an 03 FFL for the purposes of collecting old firearms, but it really pays off with the discounts RRA offers. If you are serious about building AR platforms, pay the $30 and get your FFL.

The actual build process was very straight forward, the most difficult part was getting the barrel and the sleve installed to where all the parts line up. Also the Front Sight Post on the WOA barrel is windage adjustable, and the set screw lines up right under the sling mount on the barrel sleve. This is a pain, but a few seconds with a dremmel and a cut off wheel created a notch that gave me access to the set screw. The key to a NM build is to take your time, don't force anything, and use the right tools.

Results:
I don't have a 600m range to really put this rifle through it's paces, but after getting the sights dialed in I was sub-moa at 200 yards with very little effort. This rifle is HEAVY, which is bad if I wanted to take it on a jungle patrol, but the furthest this thing will travel on a sling is from the firing line to the mat. Strictly a match rifle, unless the zombie appocolypse hits then I will post up on the roof and get them before they know I am there.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Here we go

After tons of research on the way ahead for the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDM-R) and looking hard at what I am wanting, I decided to build an AR for Service Rifle matches. I have the upper and lower receiver, but I will basically need to start from there. I believe I can do this for under $500 if I am smart and look for bargains.

Barrel ~$200
Sights ~$150
Free Float sleeve~$75
Stock~$50

That leaves about $25 for incidentals.