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Geez... go out of town for the weekend and all hell breaks loose...
Ok guys, I get that there are better options than what I have. I want to offer my thanks but some of you mil-spec nuts need to chill; not everyone has an extra $2000 to build YOUR dream rifle. Nor does everyone have time to watch every gun related website at once, shopping for specific parts. I am not on a ranch collecting a military pension; I work all damn day. Need I remind everyone that right after I started my build, nearly all AR parts doubled in price and most were totally unavailable. If that weapons ban had gone through, I would have missed my opportunity to buy/build/own an AR so I did what research I could and bought what was readily available. In the same situation, I'd do it again; I have no regrets.
For those of you who didn't read my previous posts, let me clarify a few things...
(1) I started my build just before the reelection, Newtown, gun control, etc. panic buying fiasco. When I wanted to buy a lower, your 'top of the line' picks were NOT available. If they were, I'd be sporting aluminum, not polymer. So let's skip the "you could have bought better stuff" comments because; at the time, I really couldn't.
(2) The purpose of this rifle is to retrain myself on the AR15/M16 platform. I'm a vet and thus no stranger to weaponry. But it's been nearly a decade since I touched one of these and I wanted to get back in on the fun.
(3) Say what you want about trusting my life to a rifle, but given my current lifestyle, this is NOT my weapon of choice for self defense. I have much more effective options available to me that fit the kind of situations that I am more likely to face. For me, the rifle would be at most, a SHTF weapon; in which case I have neither the training nor logistic support to make relying on this particular weapon a viable option.
(4) The NFA lower was the only polymer lower I had researched that didn't crack at the rear take down pin or buffer. In fact; every review I read on it said that this thing can take substantial punishment without failing. Is it the best? No. Is it better than nothing at all? You better believe it.
EDIT: Some of you are actually trying to help and I appreciate that. But please don't try to upsell me on gear I could (at the time) neither find, afford nor even tell the difference between.
Back on topic; does anyone have any input on the 22 conversion kits? maintenance, cleaning accuracy, etc...
Last edited by Gauss Rifle; 04-22-13 at 07:03.
I enjoyed this thread and, as a new member myself, found it valuable in terms of understanding the culture as well. Thanks all and GL with the rifle OP. Very cool!
Thanks,
It's kind of a mixed bag. Some people have been at this for ages; they know their stuff and they only shoot the best. Others have been in the game five minutes and are just happy they have the chance to shoot after all the political crap we've been seeing.
The obstacle all new guys face in a place like this, is that there is always someone who is just dying to tell you how much your rig sucks because it's not top of the line mil-spec, when all you want to do is plink...
Grains of salt come to mind but there is some good info to be found here if you are patient/persistent.
Last edited by Gauss Rifle; 04-22-13 at 18:50.
OP, the beginning of your first post said you want feedback on your build. You got your feedback! It doesn't matter to anyone here what your lower is made of, we are just giving you our feedback. In this extreme time of hard to find parts none of us would have went polymer for the receiver. I would just have sat tight with a slug gun until I could get a proper lower or paid hundreds extra to buy one off of Gunbroker or the like. The problem is people buy first and then come here for advice when smart shoppers come for advice first and are informed buyers. Everyone wants to justify there inferior gun, it happens time and time again here...your situation is not unique. Just pick up a stripped aluminum lower when you can and swap it with the NFA and you should be good to go.
'Evil Minds That Plot Destruction'
You misunderstand. This is not about justification and it's not about the poly lower. I bought it because I wasn't sure if Feinstein's idiot gun ban would pass or not. The masses are getting dumber and more naive these days and I wasn't about to miss out because they have the collective IQ of a bag of rocks.
I own a 12 gauge as my main long arm and wanted to mess with ARs recreationally. That lower was my chance to do so. It very well could have been my only chance to do so. If I had a do over, I would have made the same choice.
I could really care less about aluminum vs poly at this point; that subject has been beat to death even before I joined your forum. For the record, I bought the NFA lower because of positive remarks about it on forums like these.
What I'm more interested in are things like maintenance of the 22lr conversion, its accuracy in a 1:7 twist barrel and cleaning. I hear the fast twist rate really kills the accuracy of 22 and low grain .223 rounds but I really can't see myself using it beyond 25 yards since all our ranges are indoors.
Also, I've been researching everywhere but can't get a straight answer. Other than firing .223 through it, can you actually clean a gas tube or do you HAVE to replace it when it clogs from 22 usage? I did buy spares just in case.
Last edited by Gauss Rifle; 04-22-13 at 21:21.
Get a dedicated 22 upper. It will save you a ton of heart ache and wallet burn.
Typos brought to you via Tapatalk and autocorrect.
No offense, but you are trying to gauge my needs based on your own preferences and ignoring what I already own/have access to. You don't know what my situation is regarding funds, range restrictions, parts/ammo availability or even my intent with regards to 22lr. I appreciate that you are trying to help, but your advice does not match well to my current situation. Simply put; If I were in the market for a 22 upper, I'd buy one. I have neither the funds nor intent to buy another upper at this time. Furthermore, the small amount of 22lr I do have is not enough to destroy my barrel assembly, nor does it justify buying a 22 upper assembly.
Does anyone have any input on the conversion?
Last edited by Gauss Rifle; 04-22-13 at 23:56.
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