Rifle Setups for my Family

[artoter]

Well OP, your wanting to "simplify" the home arsenal is a sound one. It sounds like your wife at least likes to shoot...mine really doesn't care to shoot that much. She would not be able to figure out how to run an AR, because she does not want to shoot one. Sigh.

I like the SIG Romeo RD sights, and some quality BUIS. It's a simple mix that works for me. For my wife, I keep two S&W revolvers, a 637 and a 642 loaded up and ready to go. She has shot both of them, can hit a human sized target up to about twenty-five feet well enough, and they are simple for her to operate. I told her if one runs dry, drop it and grab the next one...that's the best I can do with her limited shooting and her unwilling nature towards firearms.

Just be happy your wife is willing to be proactive with her self defense, because a lot of wives don't seem to take it seriously.

[Core781]

I purchased several Vortex Crossfire's and took one to an aggressive modular training event. I beat the hell out of the Crossfire, dropped into gravel, slamming the carbine back while drawing pistol, bounced off barriers, etc. It holds zero and is tough enough for me and I'm pretty destructive. If they do break, Vortex will warranty it and I have redundancies. I have heard folks saying they exploded when they dropped them on cement, so they do break. If you need something military grade Eotech 512/552 are around $400 on sale. SIG Romeo 4M is also good bang for the buck around $200 I'm told, but I have not used them, but the FBI does.

I would get Magpul BUIS, they are excellent for duty use and affordable. If the Crossfire dies, you have BUIS. Train with BUIS and point shooting, it will save lives if you ever need to use it. Red dots are great for medium distance precise aiming and leading moving targets: not really things you'll deal with so much for home defense hopefully. So IF the dot goes down, the BUIS will be fine in most cases where you might need to take precise shots. Set the BUIS and Red Dots up at 300 meters with a laser, with lower 1/3 co-witness mounts: this is approx 2.8-2.9inches above bore axis. Crossfire's come with lower 1/3 mounts. And then take them out to 400 meters to zero, and back to 10 meters and aim for the forehead of a FBI style target and it will typically hit the nose/upper jaw area. And test them both for zero and readjust. (5.56N 62g) Bore laser first if you can, it will help save ammo and rule out fundamental flaws. I use red playing cards to maintain my zero, but I zero my dot at 400 meters full prone with milsurp 62g and get playing card sized groups with a Colt SOCOM barrel. With Eotech you can zero the center dot at 400 meters and use the bottom ring up close, as they are lower to the bore axis, again you will be very close. If I can point shoot at 10 meters inside a playing card, and full prone at 400 meters (very low wind) inside a playing card for the most part, you have you zero and fundamental down. Practice some close in shooting, and you'll see where chest and head shots land with the 400 meter zero. You may like it. If it's does not work, you can back to a 300 meter zero. With the Eotech it's less of an issue as long as you train your family to use the lower ring at closer ranges. Train consistently and build confidence.

I would go with the M4 type configuration it will be cost effective and provide a defense gun/weapon, that can work close and far enough for all of your defensive needs. I would consider magpul pmags versus usgi, but they are fine, I use them on several but I stipple my pmags and its easier for my daughters and myself to maintain a grip on them while loading. Six mags is enough for each person.

Setup each carbine exactly the same, you'll be glad down the road. A good 2 point sling like a BFG Vickers is a good choice. Magpul K grips are a nice angle. The Magpul hand guards are also nice and affordable. The heart of the carbine is the barrel, so a nice chrome lined barrel with a 5.56N chamber is my preference. I prefer FSP pinned at the factory, and save having to buy a front BUIS and machine work that can result in less reliable gas and sight alignment. Unless you're comfortable doing it. Honestly the best barrel you can afford, and budget tight on the lower and upper receivers. I like SOLGW Blaster Packs for lower parts, and Toolcraft BCGs are great. Source good military grade gas tubes from BCM or SOLGW. Any military grade forged charging handles are good, but BCMs ambi's really make a big difference. I also like ambi safeties: Colt type. I have sourced Colts for mine, and you want to short safety on the right side. There are a lot of options if you can't find the Colt type. The Remington Defense barrels are really nice and come assembled and a CHF CL per mil tech specs: good stuff. Sprinco Springs go in all of my rifles. And you need the nylon to hold the mags: a minimalist Israeli type kit might work. Botach sells Israeli mag holders and they're affordable.

Good luck!

[MS556]

Another nice, reliable duty grade optic for HD use is Leupold’s motion-activated Deltapoint Pro. It is priced below T-1 and T-2 level, but smaller and lighter. It’s rectangular screen is much larger and has much greater field of view.

Our current mil sidearms comes with the slide pre-milled for it and it has been mil tested for durability.

When sitting on a 1/2” riser, it is an absolute cowitness height (like iron sights) on an AR. I have been running two of them for some time now, the first one for five years or so with total reliability. That one gets knocked about a lot. It’s outer shell shroud has been scraped and scratched from being dropped several times. It just keeps going. Battery life is insane, Aimpoint like.

[Bimmer]

I have two young boys so I wanted a third to have for them as they grow up. I don't want to worry about what I might not be allowed to buy in the future.

I bought three standard BCM complete lowers...

If you’re worried about lack of availability in the future, maybe get another quality bolt for each, gas rings, extractor kits, or other wear parts. I’d get another K of ammo each as well. It’s doubtful optics will be under legal restriction (other than maybe NV).

As far as optics go I’ll probably just wait.

Good call... Time is on your side. Optics aren't going to be banned, and they're getting better and cheaper (at least in real terms) every year.

I understand buying stuff now, before it's banned (I'm in California), and I would focus on lowers and magazines: They're not perishable, there aren't going to be significant improvements in quality/price (unlike optics), and they'll be the first things to be restricted.

After that, depending on your local political climate, stockpile ammo... If you want to see how gun control is going to unfold, just look at the last 20 years in California.

I’d strongly consider additional G19s to use as training guns to save wear and tear on your primary defensive pistols. Shoot enough rounds to validate that your defensive pistols function with your defensive ammunition and then only shoot them once or twice a year when cycling through carry ammo. Everything else (practice, training classes, competition) gets done with your training pistols.

+1

I do this. Virtually all my handguns are G22/G35/G24 variations, I have a some that are "go-to" and others for practice/competing/plinking.

[ThirdWatcher]

Wisdom.

I’m also with you on the wife situation, but since early ‘16. Immense respect for what women go through for a family. She doesn’t shoot, but balances three small kids while rebuilding our kitchen cabinets. Again, immense respect.

Well said! Our families are what it’s all about.

[DC2FA5]

Personally I'd buy Aimpoint PROs for each. I know they are significantly more expensive than the Vortexs, but I'm a firm believer in the Aimpoint Koolaid.

100% in agreement.

OP, my wife and I have similar synchrony in weapons. Aside from her work pistol, which is a .40, we use G19’s and AR’s for everything. Any “fighting” mag we grab can get us from point blank to 800+ yards depending on the rifle, both of our primaries have NV capability, etc.
Where we differ from your thoughts are in optic choices on primaries. I use an Aimpoint, she has an LPVO-purely preference.

[grizzlyblake]

OP here.

Here is what I ultimately decided on and have in my hands to be zeroed today.

2x BCM 16" ELW standard uppers w/ 13" MLOK rails
2x BCM standard lowers
2x Aimpoint PROs on QRP2 mount
20x OKAY 30rd Mags
20x OKAY 20rd Mags
2x BFG sewn QD slings

I received two sets of the Midwest Industries Combat flip up sights, however, when I was installing one set using my Fat Max torque wrench set to 35 in/lbs the mounting screw on the front sight sheared off and the sight fell apart. These came from Primary Arms so I'm assuming they are not Chinese counterfeits. I cannot trust iron sights that are so fragile they disintegrate that easily, so I'll only be running the Aimpoints at this time.

Do I need to use loctite or vibratite on the QRP2 mounting screw?

As far as ammo I have 3k M193, 1k Mk262, 700ish LE223T3. I think that's enough as long as I ration my shooting until normal supply chain returns.

[DC2FA5]

I think you’re in good shape OP.
I’m not a Magpul Fanboy, but the MBUS PRO sights have served me well and have a nice sight picture to boot.

I have been using QRP2’s hard for 7 years now, and haven’t ever had one even try to come loose.

[RHINOWSO]

OP here.

Here is what I ultimately decided on and have in my hands to be zeroed today.

2x BCM 16" ELW standard uppers w/ 13" MLOK rails
2x BCM standard lowers
2x Aimpoint PROs on QRP2 mount
20x OKAY 30rd Mags.....

Now save up some $$$ and buy a stripped lower for each child and you'll be all set.

[Red*Lion]

OP here.

Here is what I ultimately decided on and have in my hands to be zeroed today.

2x BCM 16" ELW standard uppers w/ 13" MLOK rails
2x BCM standard lowers
2x Aimpoint PROs on QRP2 mount
20x OKAY 30rd Mags
20x OKAY 20rd Mags
2x BFG sewn QD slings

I received two sets of the Midwest Industries Combat flip up sights, however, when I was installing one set using my Fat Max torque wrench set to 35 in/lbs the mounting screw on the front sight sheared off and the sight fell apart. These came from Primary Arms so I'm assuming they are not Chinese counterfeits. I cannot trust iron sights that are so fragile they disintegrate that easily, so I'll only be running the Aimpoints at this time.

Do I need to use loctite or vibratite on the QRP2 mounting screw?

As far as ammo I have 3k M193, 1k Mk262, 700ish LE223T3. I think that's enough as long as I ration my shooting until normal supply chain returns.

Sounds like things are coming together. I am surprise about the Midwest Industry Irons. I have them on a couple AR's and absolutely love them for quality and durability. Aero Precision makes some pretty good metal flip up irons as well.