musicman

Whuddabout angled irons? I have a couple sets and love 'm.

Agreed on all points, Mike. Though not my first choice these days, my second AR (and the oldest, most used AR in my collection) is built with a pre-assembled PTAC upper. It has seen easily over 2k rounds of all kinds of ammo... steel, milsurp, match grade, and even tracers once for fun. Not a hitch yet, except for one hangup with a ratty old thermold mag. I blame the mag for that and threw it away. Accuracy has been great, imho. I just have a red dot on it. Originally a cheapie truglo, I put on a Vortex Sparc II AR on it a couplemonths ago. A buddy and I were at OK Corral sighting it in and I decided to try it at 200yds just for fun. I kept 4 of 5 shots on a 6" shoot 'n see. I couldn't even see that sticker. I just had to cover the sticker with the dot. I don't know what else I could expect from a $200 complete upper. I don't think I'm a good enough shooter that more money spent would gain me anything, either. Sure, I build rifles with different stuff now, but mainly because I want to pick and choose each part. If a PTAC branded barrel were available that met the specs I wanted (length, twist, gas system, finish, etc) for a fair price, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

Precisely

Quietguy nailed it. I bought five lowers at once, no prob. Multiple handguns at once also get another form (3310 I think) filled out and sent to the FBI and your local law enforcement agency. Still not a "problem", but just more reporting. As per the costs for the transfer, that's up to you and the shop to work out. Most charge per item, not per transaction. Though I did get a crazy awesome hookup when I got my handful of lowers. I shoulda bought a dozen. :/

The last sentence of the article caught me off guard and I literally lol'd.

I agree on the idea that anything cheap is fine. EXCEPT the Winchester bulk stuff. That is the only shell that consistently gives people problems. It works fine in one of my shotguns, but sticks and hangs up in 3 others (a 500, an Ithaca 37, and an Excell Auto) whereas literally no other shell gives me trouble. From Wally those Federal packs are my favorite. Sometimes Academy runs their Monarch brand or the Rio shells for $5 box, which is $19.96/100. Also, they include the 10 cent per box ammo tax in the price, whereas wally ADDS it to the price of the ammo. :/

Bwahahaha! "Skadoosh" lol!

Pics or it didn't happen. Even if it IS just another boring Glock, haha! :-)

The only gun to ever cut me was a brand new 870 I had for two weeks last year. The bolt release had a razor edge and sliced my finger open the first time I racked it. I hit it with a file, but remain disappointed. Poor casting of the receiver saddened me as well. The last two Remington rifles I've touched, a 2 yr old 700 in 7mm mag and a new 770 in 270 both have sticky chambers, requiring beating the bolt open. The 770 actually had a better trigger than the 700. I have factory polymer pistols with cleaner, lighter triggers than that 700 did. I'm just not a fan. I'm glad some are, because all the factory workers need someone to buy their stuff.

My thoughts are this: you could get one really nice Smith or an average Colt Detective variant for the same price as those. Those two taurii will most likely never appreciate in value, unless you just happen to stumble into a Taurus aficionado at the Piggly Wiggly who's dying for a 357 at each ankle. One classic Smith or Colt will most likely only continue to appreciate, and will be something of quality and craftsmanship that you and your family can enjoy for generations. They are still churning out humdrum taurii daily, but there are no new p&r Smiths, or ANY Colt revolvers being made any more. But if these are destined to be tackle box or glove box guns, then throw all that value and quality junk aside and go for it it they'll make you a package deal. $475-500 for the pair, out the door, is probably fair.

Everything about this post is spot on. Many interwebnet +1s to you, sir.

Gotcha. Agreed!

I usually start around 10-15% below max... 1.3 - 2 gr or so in your case. A lot of that depends on the speed of the powder, imho. I don't worry so much about speed as I do a consistent load that functions and goes where I want it. As I start really getting into loads for 10mm (finally have around 4-500 pieces of brass collected) that may change as I chase velocity in earnest.

Ok, I'm a Smith fan, but that's the best post of this thread, haha!

I might agree, except I don't see that this gun is either lighter or smaller than its 9mm competitors. It's simply poorly designed and badly executed.

I have an M&P10 and love it. Only mod I made was to drop a CMC 3.5lb single stage flat trigger in it. It's right at an MOA gun with off the shelf ammo in my hands, probably much better with a better shooter and tailored ammo. I will eventually change out the stupid round handguards and go free float, though. As others have said, building an ar10 is NOT as easy as an ar15. Too many variances to assure everything fits. You will have a VERY hard time saving any money while also trying to build a .308 that works. As much as I don't like DPMS, the G2 is a really good design and worth a look as well.

You'd think they'd use a smaller grip on a BUG.

Very cool man, very cool. Thanks for taking the time to share that with us. Great ideas, and it sounds like you've got a really good thing going. Even without a TEOTWAKI situation, you are going to wheather the economic meltdowns coming our way much better than most.

Call me harsh if you want, no worries. I worked at Gibson USA making guitars for a few years and watched them do a lot of the same dumb stuff Freedom group has done. Gibson has a gold mine in quality Les Pauls and SGs. They are both (especially the LP) fantastic designs that have stood the test of time and newcomers. Even today a Les Paul is just as useful and desirable as some whizbang Ibanez shred machine... maybe more so. I watched Henry and whoever else is at the helm that day push out some ridiculously crazy, poorly designed and executed garbage out the back of the plant, while reducing focus on their bread and butter. Like the R51, many were pushed out only to be found wanting and recalled. On some models we made entire production runs... literally thousands. Then scrapped every one. (Except the ones the midlevel managers snuck out the door) They also made some stupid decisions with the core products that really hurt LP sales for awhile (robotuners and stupid wide brass nuts, anyone?) but thankfully they saw the error of their ways (read million$ in lo$$e$) and for the most part have gotten back to doing what they do best. Freedom seems to be doing a lot of the same. The 870 is NOTHING like it used to be. I don't know much about the 700 because I never really liked them anyways (and I prefer to know WHEN my guns are going to go off) but I know it is an industry standard that still has appeal to many. I think they HAVE done a good job with their 1911s, and I hope they build on that. I feel like the R51, though, is a poorly done pistol (even the second time) that is a drain on resources for the company that could be better invested elsewhere. This is all my opinion, and worth exactly diddlysquat to anyone.

I still think it's a terrible gun. It's clunky, chunky, and it's impossible for me to get a normal grip on it AND engage the grip safety. I have to consciously rotate my grip a little, as I can't get enough leverage on the safety due to how tight the beavertail is. The slide release is nigh on unusable. They should have just done like the Nano and not bothered putting one on the gun. The best thing I can say about it is that the trigger was mostly acceptable. I've talked to about a dozen people who have played with it now, and two had positive impressions. Of course, if they sold one of them to 16% of all the gun owners in America they would have a best seller on their hands, haha! Anywho, I'm sure this heap will blow someone's skirt up, but not me. I personally have a PC Shield but would choose an LC9S, 43, XDs, PF9, or even a (cough cough) PT111G2 (cough cough) over the R51.

Just an update: I got my replacements and return shipping box in today and all is well. I'm a satisfied JoeBob's customer.

Ditto pretty much all the posts above. For plinking, I simply get what's cheapest, which is usually 223. I don't plan on hunting with a 22, so I don't bother with many HP designs. Maybe I'm naive, but for TEOTWAWKI I just have a bunch of Federal XM193, and some green tip. I have experienced zero funtional difference between 223 or 5.56 across all of my rifles.

On my last order of parts I got 3 extra of every pin and spring type! I've only built 4 rifles so far and have never lost a part yet... I know I'm due, so I stocked up!

I don't think they're a total waste. For total noobs who don't have a trained eye yet they are useful as a reference for what happens after they pull the trigger. The wad is a little behind the shot cloud. When you connect, the clay breaks, and then the wad comes flying through the dust a split second later. I took a friend who had only ever shot pistols before to shoot clays. I started him with regular shells. He went 1 for 25. I gave him a box of the trackers and he got to see what was happening. After 5 or 6 shells he improved to about 50%. Then he went back to regular shells and continued to improve. For an experienced shooter, they're pointless, but for noobz I think they're great. I've found them at Academy, Bass Pro, and Cabela's. Use the black wad during the day, and orange for night shooting with strong lights. It says right on the boxes, in case you forget. ;-) I think that often us folks who have been shooting for a long time forget that some people don't have the skills and experience we do. I don't use training wheels on my bicycle any more, but that doesn't mean they don't serve a purpose. That's how I view the tracker shells. Happy shootin'!

And check that Academy in Rivergate, too. The store in Smyrna had some last month, regular price $17.99.