rgaper

Not knowing your background, the only thing I'd mention is that most ARs don't have an ambi selector. If you are military or LE and might need to use someone else's rifle at some point, you need to think about the risk in adopting a piece of equipment that is unique to your personal rifle. I'm a righty and when I run the gun on my left side, I plant my firing hand's thumb (left thumb) on the left side of the gun. No matter whose AR I use, that'll work.

I run my ARs bilaterally (I'm a righty that trains on both sides) here the two methods I've used... After inserting the new magazine into the well, move your support hand to the forearm Partially break your firing grip with your left hand to sweep your hand up to the BAD lever "pad" that covers the factory bolt release. Depending on the size of your hand/fingers, you may be able to accomplish this with varying degrees of breaking your grip. Benefit here is that you are effectively training for a method that will work on any AR, including those without BAD levers. Downside is that you are breaking your firing grip. After inserting the new magazine into the well beer can style, sweep the BAD lever with your thumb as you move your hand away and towards the forearm. You can make this part of your push-pull process. Benefit is that it's fast. Downsides...you're getting your thumb into the trigger guard under stress and you need to really get comfortable with this before adopting this method. If you get too quick on the process, it's also possible you will send the bolt home on an empty chamber without seating the new magazine. In addition, you're training on a method that will only work on a BAD-configured rifle. (last one doesn't matter for most, but if you are .mil, it's a consideration)

Don's turns up some pretty interesting used guns from time to time and is good on the pricing for those guns too. The parking situation for the store is a little tricky.

I guess that's where I'm troubled by your posts... there's nothing to defend. I didn't offend or insult any shop. You didn't understand what I was saying and yet decided to go on the defensive. In fact, I would encourage you to go back and read this entire thread from the start and then decide where the insults came from. <insert Michael Jackson "Man in the Mirror" music here> With respect to the OP - my intent was to save you time or guide you appropriately based on your interests, not start a pee-pee match. You didn't say what you were interested in upon your original request so I attempted to give you a quick and dirty... if you like fudd stuff (hunting rifles and sporting guns) Classic is your place, if you like EBRs and NFA, Arms Fair is your shop.

If it's a Colt, it definitely should be in-spec, but I'd get it checked out by someone who actually works on ARs. Any in-spec gun should cycle it. The only basic maintenance thing you can do wrong is to let the chamber itself get so much carbon buildup that after just a few dozen rounds, the carbon/crap blowback is turning into glue. When you removed the stuck cases, did you notice any residue on the cartridge case walls? Normally, if it's there it appears as a black residue.

You clearly do have a problem. I've laid out very clear information and anyone who's not affiliated with either shop could arrive at a similar conclusion. On the other hand, you have presented information that shows you are emotionally tied to Classic Arms and cannot present an unbiased opinion. At the end of the day, my opinion and your opinion don't really matter. If someone posted a question on where to shop for a hunting rifle in Memphis, I'd tell them Classic Arms. If one of the guys I shoot with asked about a gun shop in Memphis, I'd tell them Arms Fair. Easy.

You're clearly personally offended and unable to have a logical conversation about this. The fact that a few hours ago you had never heard the term "fudd", you admit that you still don't understand it, and yet you're arguing that Classic Arms isn't a fudd store is pretty funny in itself. That's great that you like the shop - go for it, have fun, fabulous. I'm sure they are a nice bunch of guys. I'll say it again... Classic Arms is a different type of store than Arms Fair is. The people behind the counter and their base of knowledge at both stores are very different as well. Go into Arms Fair and ask about a comparison of Surefire vs. AAC suppressors, then go have the same conversation at Classic Arms. Go into Arms Fair and ask about hunting season, then go into Classic Arms and have that same discussion. Go into Arms Fair and ask about SBRing a gun, or ask them which SBRs they have in stock, then go to Classic Arms and do the same. I'm not being mean, or emotional, or unfair. To answer your questions... 1) Sure Classic Arms may have a Benelli, sure they have a KAC, sure they have some Glocks. The Kia dealership I passed by tonight had a Ford Mustang out front, does that make them a dealership that specializes in muscle cars? 2) I have no clue who it was who told me to get a Mini 14, but in fact it was multiple people in the store. If you have a lineup, I could pick them out of it, but it wasn't a really big, important day in my life to recall.

You're off track, let me help... Let's say you tell me to meet you at your favorite bar. When I arrive, I spend 10 minutes walking through the place and it's filled with 200 hot & sweaty dudes dressed in leather, spandex, mustaches, all bumping and grinding against each other listening to The Village People. After making my way through the writhing sea of man meat, I get to the back of the place, and there you are waving at me saying, "isn't this great!" I say to you, "dude, there are a lot of dudes here, this is a gay bar." Then you say, "no Gaper, there are like 3 or 4 chicks here tonight, this isn't a gay bar." It doesn't make it not a gay bar.

Thank you for capitalizing "Operator." Yes, I fastroped in to pick up my DD M4, then went retro with a Fulton recovery on the exfil.

Wait, was taht sarcasm from the guy who didn't know what a fudd was? You ladies get bent out of shape a little too easily sometimes! Perspective is a hell of a thing - these two shops are quite different. Arms Fair caters to a different audience, and if you don't realize that after you walk into the store, I'm not sure if I can help. They carry NFA items, and are a stocking dealer for Colt, Daniel Defense, and LWRC. Most of their handguns are Glock and S&W M&Ps. They also have a good process for online buyers who buy stuff from other dealers and online auction sites. Sure, they still have some entry level stuff there, but it's not a duck hunter's paradise like Classic Arms is.

I've been to Classic Arms several times, and found that consistently the advice and products carried are geared towards hunting, sporting, and lower-end shooting. When it comes to "non-fudd" items, I would hardly call a few DPMS and CMMG rifles anything other than entry level, retail fodder. The accessories are off-the-shelf crap one could get at Bass Pro or Cabela's. Sorry man, I call it like I see it. The last time I was in there I was told that what I really needed was a Mini-14 or an SKS and that all ARs are exactly the same. There's nothing wrong with being a fudd shop, and my advice to the OP was honest. Classic Arms geared towards a certain group. If you want hunting rifles, shotguns, etc., that's your place.

I've fired thousands of rounds of Tula in carbine courses over the last few years and I treat my rifles like lawnmowers. Done the same with Brown Bear and Wolf and have never had a single malfunction with any of them. If you couldn't fire a single case of steel without it producing an FTE, your chamber may be out of spec. Because the steel doesn't expand, there's blowback around the case in the chamber. This really doesn't cause any problems unless you have a really tight chamber OR you switch back to brass (which does expand) after shooting the steel. Personally, I'd look at getting the chamber reamed or dump it.

If you're a fudd, go to Classic Arms. If you're not a fudd, go to Arms Fair. /thread

I set hours aside every day to spraypaint my Tula/Brown Bear/Wolf ammunition gold just to piss of the brass hounds. Non-issue for me.

Clicked here and thought we were talking about something else. I've used plenty of spinners, but they didn't look like that.

I haven't done any hunting in Tennessee yet, but I've hunted coyotes in PA, VA, NY, and CT. There's nothing quite like making a fort out of dead coyotes. I roll with a FoxPro as well - let me know if you need help.

What date did you go "pending?" Up until that point, nothing really matters.

Correct. There were three kinds... the M59 (no launcher), M59/66 (with launcher) and M59/66A1 (with launcher and night sights) The standard M59 without launcher was the most desirable one from a collector's standpoint. The good ones came out early and the remaining ones had significantly worse stocks.

East German, Vietnam capture (with papers), Russian parade model (with papers), and Albanian are the most sought after ones that you'll find with some slight degree of regularity. More on the oddball side, you've got the select fire SKS, and the Chinese 5.56 caliber SKS. Again, these are oddballs. Of the stuff that's common out there, the Russians are easily the "best" mass produced ones. As others have said, matching numbers and condition of the rifle are the biggest things. I've owned quite a few SKS and at one point had quite a varied collection. Please feel free to ask away if you have specific questions.

Everyone I know is getting them back in about 5 months, no changes to that timeline for a while. On the other hand, 5320.20s are getting approved faster than ever.

That's your choice and respectively, your loss. I've repeatedly driven through all of the northeast states (MD, DC, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA) with "southern" tags on my car, and a car load of FOPA compliant guns, including NFA, and never had a problem. If you drive like an idiot and act suspicious, sure you'll get stopped, but that goes for anywhere. The only place I've ever experienced being license plate profiled is in Virginia. I moved there with PA tags and got stopped 5 times in about 3 months. When they found out that I was "local" they let me go. There are good cops and bad cops everywhere and sometimes they have good reason to stop you.

Thanks as always for your detailed posts. I appreciate your practical approach to evolution and endure the same, just on a different platform. A lot of guys set up a gun based on what looks cool or what they think is practical, but never push the gun and find out what really work. I always find myself telling people not to get emotionally tied to gear or the way something is set up. You're clearly going through that process and will continue to. The use of the MFI barrel clamp is a really interesting idea for mounting the AFG a lot further forward and flush than the AK lower HG typically allows. I'm not sold on the WML configuration, but you've definitely thought through most of the obvious configurations that come to mind. With the Ultimak, the R-1, the light, the MFI, and the AFG all up front, how ugly is the balance?

I'm not going to push this point because you sound like you're set in your ways, but I don't notice any politics while I'm rock climbing in California, or walking the beach on Cape Cod. If you do, you're doing something wrong. I'm not a single issue person and if I got tied up with doing business with, talking to, or wearing things made by only the people who are 100% in line with my thinking, I'd be naked and lonely. FWIW, I regularly travel through MA, NJ, IL, and NY with a firearm. It's not a big deal if you know FOPA. Just don't drive a pickup truck with "I don't care how you do it up North" and "I hate cops" bumperstickers, doing 80mph in a school zone.

Indeed. Last spring I was out in the San Francisco Bay area for about 5 days and had my wife tag along. Yeah, the Berkeley area would freak out a lot of people on this site, but it's an amazing place to visit. Drive north or south for an hour along the Pacific coast on some of the best driving roads you'll experience. To the north just an hour or so, Point Reyes is just plain amazing. One of the days we drove East toward the mountains and you really get out into the country quickly. We spent the day at Yosemite National Park, had dinner at the lodge and were back in the city in time for drinks and late dessert. For your trip to LA, if you have some free time there are some cool places to check out for sure. PM me if you need help on some ideas. Last time I was in town I didn't have a ton of free time but managed to visit out the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Pardon my bluntness, but that's completely silly. Don't deny yourself or your family the opportunity to travel to some of the most beautiful and awesome places in this country just because of stuff like that. That's like judging all of Tennessee for the criminals and crooks in Cocke County, or for the ignorance and backwardness of legislators pushing the "Don't Say Gay" bill that's out right now. I've traveled extensively in just about all of California and all of New England. Aside from the beautiful scenery and things to do, as others pointed out, there are plenty of good, normal people, and plenty of them are shooters. I moved to TN from New England just this past summer, and I will tell you right now that there are a considerable number of serious shooters in New England. Vilifying the place is exactly the same as vilifying the gun instead of the criminal. Just my $0.02.