'The' Gun Thread (Page 43)

Bought a muzzle brake for my M1A.  Went to install it last night, and I could not get the front sight off of the flash hider to swap it over.  That thing was on there tight.

I completely stripped out the head of the hex bolt that holds the front sight on.

So, I have a new front sight on the way.

I have almost no memories of basic training.

Well, since we are on the subject of basic training, I can tell you all that I remember it more than most people because I spent a lot of extra time there.  I was the Yeoman.  This is a recruit job that basically handled the paperwork for the company commander.  When someone wanted to use the phone, it required a signed "chit" from the CC.  After it was used, it was handed in to me.  I realized quickly that I could lay a signed chit over top of carbon paper and trace the CC sig, then go over the copy with a felt tip to make it look real.  I began selling those to recruits so they could sneak out and cry to mama or their girlfriends.  Two weeks later, some butthead went out in the middle of the night and another CC questioned him.  He took the chit and asked our CC why he would let his guys out so late.  I got the recruit equivalent of captain's mast.  They set me back two weeks but before I could join up with my new company I got a week of "Short Tour."  Basically, for 5 straight days I would wear full dungarees and pea coat and the drill rifle they had at the time.  I think they were lead filled 1903's or something.  It was constant running in place while holding the rifle on fingers in front of you, getting hit with water hoses to make you uncomfortable, situps, leg lifts, pushups, puke, water hose it away and keep going.

So I finally join up with my new company and I pass out on the grinder.  They haul me to the medic and say I'm burning up.  They make me sit and drink ice water for 2 hours.  They finally took my temp and it was 103.5.  Long story short I get medical setback for pneumonia so I get pushed back for an additional 2 weeks.  I forget exactly how long Navy boot camp was I can say that I did that plus 5 weeks.  

I was in better shape when I went into boot camp than when I came out.  My CC knew that I could do pushups all day so he would just tell me to start and tell me how many I got to when he remembered to tell me to stop.  He also made me polish his office floor with neutral shoe polish because he found out that I sprayed the floor with furniture polish in the area where he used to walk across the hallway in his socks.  He almost fell so he was ticked.  He was also the guy who convinced me to choose the rate I did.  He was a good man.

Oh man, what a story.  That just brought back a flood of memories for me.  Were you in Great Lakes?

My best friend went through boot camp about 6 months before I did and he told me no matter what, that I should volunteer for company mail PO.  I started requesting it the first couple days and finally got it.  Every time we were gonna get mashed I threw my arm band on and snuck out the back door. Hey, I had to sort the mail...

My little side gig was holding the garbage when the CC's went through mail for contraband.  It was my responsibility to throw the bag away, but I had a hiding spot for it in the mail room and people knew to come by later to buy their cookies/porn/candy.  I fortunately didn't get caught though.  haha

The other big scam was church.  They had to let us go to church and it was open to any military.  My best friend who was now in A School would buy me a Big Mac, Fries, and a Coke and I'd sneak out from church into the parking lot every Sunday to eat it.

I thought this was fake at first, but I saw it on the news today so it has to be real.  lol

So, with that I'll just say... "Like a Boss"

Armed robbery 1900 block of Burgundy 4/27/13 5:05AM

From the description:
On Saturday, 4/27/13 at or about 5:05AM, the victim was walking in the 1900 block of Burgundy when he was approached by an unknown black male. The subject pointed a shotgun at the victim's face and stated give me your money. The victim disarmed the gunman and then chased him. Moments later the victim was approached by two black males in a black four door sedan (possibly a Honda Accord). The driver of the vehicle said to the victim "give me my gun back and I'll give you your phone that you dropped". The victim then used the shotgun to strike the rear windshield of the vehicle causing it to break. The two subjects then fled on Frenchmen to St. Claude and then unknown.

Great story... the flip side to that is of the young man in the hospital I knew in the Navy when I broke my foot. He had been there a year, and did not expect to be leaving anytime soon. He was getting gas and man walked right up to him with a shotgun and darn near blew his leg off... THEN told him to give him the keys to his car. He lost 4 inches of bone, and still did not have his leg back together. He was pinned and rodded while they worked on grafts. They caught the guy in a another state, but that didn't give him his leg back.

Now I'm no saying being armed would have made the outcome any different. He didn't have any time... but the fact is, people do sensless crap for no reason. Sometimes you do what they want and they still shoot you. Being armed isn't a trump card, but I want all the options I can get. And I don't want to shoot anyone if I don't HAVE to, but you do not always know what the outcome is going to be either.

Couldn't have said it better.

Hopefully a purse full of ammo. 

Church!! That reminds me.  I went to boot in San Diego and I was in a 56 wk "A" school at NTC.  I learned that if you could get into choir, you would have to sing through the Catholic and Protestant services each Sunday.  You had to attend one mandatory practice each Wednesday night.  I made the choir so I fulfilled my duties.  As a result, I didn't have to stand watch while in San Diego.  

I have a couple AR 15 questions...

I'm doing a bit of research for a purchase...

First question, should I buy one completed or look into a kit?  It would be nice to buy exactly the parts and optics I want, and not something pre-configured.

Any recommendations?  Only been looking at Colt, Bushmaster and Armalite so far.  Leaning towards Armalite so far.  What the ballpark I'm looking at (w/o optics)?  $1,200-$1,500?

Bottom line is that you will spend more buying parts. But you will get the parts you want. Instead of buying a rifle... then changing out parts. I enjoyed building mine. Learned a lot. Can't go wrong with Armalite, same for colt. I really like Fulton Armory and got a few of their parts.

I had the same questions last year and I opted to just go with the complete unit.  I figured if i didn't even know what all the parts were I probably shouldn't be building one.  lol

I went with the Colt SP6940 for the monolithic rail.

I built 3 Del-Ton kits.  I was able to build the two 16" rifles with a 1x7 twist chrome lined barrel and good triggers and a stock and color scheme that I wanted.  It saves you money in the long run plus you become much more familiar with the rifle.  My 20" in a 1x9 chrome lined.  Most inexpensive complete units are simply a moly 1x9 barrel.  You can go a little heavier grain when you use a higher twist rate.  1x7's can go up to 80+grain.

Also, I suppose it's because I got all three from Del-Ton but the O.A.L. gauge showed them all withing +/- .02" of one another.  That means that when I size my cases and set the bullet depth in each rifle, they are all exactly the same.  This equates to much better consistency.  The only variant between my 16's and my 20 is the amount of powder being used.  I have them in black, earth and OD Green.  If I find a woman who wants one, I'll build one in pink.

There are tons of places making their own AR15s now. There is a shop a few minutes from me that makes their own and they are very nice looking and have a good reputation. Might be cool to look into a local shop in your area to find one.

Mine is a Rock River Arms. Good gun, good rep and I got a good deal back in November before things got too crazy. But yeah I would bet the slightly to never used AR market is gonna be flooded sometime in the next year. Everyone and their dog was trying to buy one, I think lots of people will decide they aren't using it and might as well sell it. 

Also the 5.56 and .223 ammo is still hard to find for a decent price. I haven't shot my AR in months because it is too expensive to shoot. Been shooting the SKS instead as I can still find cheap rounds for it.