Go On, Shoot Your Upgraded AR15

Keen-eyed readers of this family oriented info blog, will know that I decided to take my AR15 apart and install a new gas block and a Yankee Hill free-float tube. Why? Just for fun and because I wanted to learn more about the rifle, with a view to building one myself. Neat project.

Must Get Front Sight...

I reckon the reassembled gun looked good, in a deadly black assault rifle kind of way, but I took it to a friend who knows about these things before I shot it. He gave it the green light, so off I went to the range with some boxes of cheap steel cased Tulammo and a value pack of Remington .223.

That'll Do

How did it shoot? Just fine, and I had fun setting myself various drills from 30, 50, 75 and 100 yards. Were the groups any better with the free-float thing? Maybe a bit, given no magnification, eyesight that could be better and a dog who enjoyed leaping up in sheer joy and excitement at the sound of the gun.

I Love The Range!

I had to put him on a leash in the end. But I'm pleased with my first foray into the world of under-the-hood ARishness. The gun worked and worked well. Next step? Keep this carbine to shoot cheap steel cased ammo and build a 7.62/.308 on the same platform. I've decided against a "6", you see, but that's a whole new story.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Deadly Assault Rifle Hi-Jinx

Because I'm a patriot, I have an AR15. It's made by CMMG and I've had several years of shooting fun with the little gas-driven blaster. But I wanted to change it up; swap out the stock handguards with a free-float tube, install a gas block, and a single point sling mount. 

Go On, Take Your Gun Apart

Off went the flash hider, the barrel nut and the front sight gas block. Fine, but the gas tube roll pin didn't want to come out. It did in the end and the new one, that came with the new gas block, didn't want to fit in it's allotted hole. After a lot of aggro, I filed it down slightly and drove it home.

The Old D Ring

The new barrel nut went on easily enough, along with its Yankee Hill handguard, and the sling mount was simple to install. I'm pleased with the end result, but there was an adventure half way through the project.

Oh No, We Can't Sell You That!

Looking down at my old, dirty, gas tube, I thought why not get a shiny new one? So I drove to Ray's and asked for one.

"Do you sell carbine length gas tubes?"

"Oh no, we don't have any."

"But what's that, there, in a plastic bag? Look you have about five of them."

"Hunh! We do!"

"Well that's great, I'll buy one."

"I'm sorry, you can't."

"Excuse me?"

"No. You can't buy those."

"And why not?"

"You can only buy one if we install it for you."

"Of course. And how much would that cost?"

"I don't know, sorry."

"Goodbye."

I felt, for a moment, there in the gunsmith's section of Ray's, that the world had gone completely mad. 

Looks Good, Does It Work?

As soon as it stops raining and snowing, I'll take the gun out to the range and see how it shoots. The free float tube should improve accuracy, we'll see.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Climate Change

It started out like any other day in Texas, with freezing fog and snow falling heavily from the sky. Like Donetsk, or Kharkov, or something.

Blue Exuberance liked that and had fun romping about in the snow. I took him for a walk and he tried to attack a mail truck. He hates mail trucks.

Then the Climate Changed and it became warmer. But I'm confused; I thought it was colder because it was warmer, thanks to all the CO2 in the atmosphere and not enough carbon taxation. So if it's warmer, then it must be colder, right?

So how come the snow's melting? 

LSP

Pumpkin Shoot.

Exhausted by the seriousness of First Things, I headed off to the range with some rifles, a pistol and some pumpkins. Nothing complicated; set up the pumpkins and shoot them with the guns. That was my plan.

And that's what I did. I was going to name the pumpkins, Old Tory, Little Lib, Rural Dean, etc. very funny. But I didn't.

I just shot them with an AR 15, a .45, a .22 and a 30-06.

The 06, an old Remington 700 ADL, dealt out furious damage, blasting great chunks out of the hapless Halloween ornaments and I was pleased to see my scope was pretty much dead on. The other guns worked fine too, but for sheer drop the pumpkin down power the 30-06 was a stand-out winner.

So I learned something today. If you go up against pumpkins, take a 30-06 to the fight. You'll win.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Just Get Out And Shoot

Sunday afternoon being as good a time as any, I loaded some guns in the truck and went for a shoot. Part of that meant taking down White Flyers which were placed at various ranges in these cunning brackets that stick into the ground on a spike.

It was neat shooting the clays down with a Ruger American .17 HMR and I told myself that the targets simulated small game, like rabbits. These notoriously glow bright orange. My ancient enemy, the green silhouette, took a beating too, with a CMMG AR15. Lots of fun to shoot and I worked on breathing, which affects accuracy.

Some Ancient Old Guy With A Gun

Sometimes I'm tempted to hold my breath when I squeeze the trigger. Don't do that. Here's an excerpt from Art of the Rifle on how to breathe:

"Say you’re in the prone position. You’ve slung up, gotten your position just right, found your NPA and you’re ready to fire. Inhale. You’re reticle should drop. Now relax and let your breath escape naturally until it stops on its own. The reticle should rise. If your NPA is truly on, your reticle should rise and stop exactly on your target. You should now break the shot within 3-5 seconds. If you go longer than that, take another breath and start over. If you wait too long, you’re likely to have trouble focusing your vision, you’ll feel panicky and rushed, and your trigger finger may not perform its duty as well as you’d like.

"Now you know the proper method of breathing for optimum accuracy. What if you are in more of a hurry and the demand for accuracy is less pressing? Then just do what you need to do that will work to get the job done in the time allotted. This is rifle shooting, not dogma. One method may not apply to all situations. Just use your head."

Just use your head. I like that, good advice.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Alright There, Ye Guns

In a big effort to cheat the stereotype, I went for a shoot; nothing fancy, just an AR, a sporter Lee and a .45. I was curious to see if I was still able to use a gun and hit anything smaller than a barn door, like the silhouette of a green terrorist.

Typical Texas Range

Sure enough, the green "terr" took a beating, mostly with the AR, and I was pleased to see decent off-hand groups at 30, 50 and 75 yards. Not so good at 100, annoyingly, and I had to compensate a bit for an ironic tendency to shoot left. Some sort of trigger issue, probably -- don't pull left, LSP! The Lee shot well for an ancient rifle that I'd porch project 'smithed; it was especially good to note that the $50 2nd hand Burris Fullfield scope hadn't drifted. Well done Burris, well done Lee.

Shoot straight,

LSP