There are SO many people I know who need to understand this concept who at present clearly do not.
Printable View
For me first and for most it's for fun. I stumbled across a thread on the MK12 and thought the Mod 0 was the coolest looking AR I'd ever seen. After some research I thought the Mk12 and Mk262 ammo represented the pinnacle of what could be done with the AR/5.56 (at least for our military). At the time a full blown Mod 0 clone wasn't doable so I put this together. http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/w...A/39f52875.jpg
This is the first scoped rifle I'd owned since a 10/22 with a 4x I had as a kid.
The first trip out to 500yds had me hooked. I had it on paper in no time and the first shot at a piece of 6"x6" steel resulted in PING! Benchrest doesn't do it for me, I'm more interested in honing my skills as a shooter. To me benchrest is more "how good of a wind call can I make" with a 100lb rifle covered in sandbags. One thing there is no shortage of in S. Nevada is .gov land. I have a good time driving out in the desert setting up some targets, taking a walk, throwing down an old blanket and getting to it.
a0cake and Jack-O hit on some great points.
I think people generally dismiss ultra low probability events without much thought. Furthermore, humans are plagued by results orientated thinking "nothing bad has happen so nothing bad will happen" is a common and deadly way of thinking.
Do I think I'll need precision capable rifle in the CONUS? No way. However, that doesn't mean I'll never need it.
1984:
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/...4-sarajevo.jpg
8 years later:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ding-burns.jpg
http://www.bosniak.org/wp-content/up...f-sarajevo.jpg
Turning the M-4 into a precision platform redefines what it can do. That's a good thing, and the more people do it, the better it gets. Private citizens who exercise their Second Amendment rights on their own dime by tweaking the M-4 into a precision platform (or turning them into SBRs or shooting in practical rifle matches or suppressing them or shooting hogs or whatever) are a massive part of the Pentagon's R&D component. Just look at how many individual techniques and how much of the gear that American soldiers use in combat today have been influenced by practical shooters and prairie-dog hunters and you'll see what I mean.
It's rare that one shooter, or even a small group of us, makes a great breakthrough. But when thousands of practical shooters cross-pollinate with thousands of precision shooters, and we start building rifles and loading ammo to test our crazy ideas, then we progress as a nation. Rifling twist rates start to change and rifles get more accurate. Bullets get heavier, resist wind better, and become more lethal. Scopes get tougher and clearer. Hell, even slings start to work better. And all of that adds up to more cops and soldiers going home to their wives and kids, and more bad guys taking the dirt nap.
So while your glass-sighted AR (and mine) may not seem significant individually, the whole thing is a win-win when you look at the bigger picture.
Okie John
+1
People need to understand the difference. There's nothing wrong with being prepared. It doesn't make you a militia member/nut-job/serial killer/tacticool gear queer or any of that. I hate the acronym SHTF just as much as a0cake but those scenarios have happened in several other countries, it can happen in ours just as easily.
Charles Whitman comes to mind. On 01 August 1966 Whitman (qualified USMC rifleman) became (at that time) America's most notorious mass murderer. When he started sniping his victims from the 28th floor of the tower there were several citizens who returned fire at him with their deer rifles forcing Whitman to take cover on numerous occasions. This undoubtedly kept him busy while two APD officers made their way up to the top of the tower and ended the murder spree.
Some good reading/vids of the citizens laying down some suppresive fire on Whitman.
http://republicofaustin.com/44-years...-graphic-pics/
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/n...n/tower_6.html
Now just imagine had Mark LaRue been around back then with his OBR? :p