This thought experiment is courtesy of an interesting discussion with @Wolfward and @TheMarksman
How would I put together a semi-basic AR that goes on a rack to be used by a broad range of people for a variety of basic AR tasks.
Let's say a major earthquake just took half of California underwater, while at the same time two simultaneous hurricanes half drowned the bulk of the Eastern seaboard. Basic services and utilities are going to be out for at least a couple of weeks or more. Eventually, civilized life is going to be restored, but in the meantime, the dregs of society will make their presence known.
You get together with your neighbors and find a way to keep your neighborhood reasonably protected. Chances are, this will not descend into outright civil war, but armed patrols by groups of two to four people might be in order.
I need to build five general ...
I went onto Faxon website to look at barrel because I was planning to do this build around either their Gunner or Pencil barrel profiles and realized that they have a fully built AR that is almost identical to what I would choose, the Sentry model:
https://faxonfirearms.com/faxon-sentry-16-5-56-rifle/
It is right at 6lbs without optics, which is very good. It comes with ambi controls, collapsible stock (important for fitting people of very different sizes), Gunner barrel, long handguard that covers the and protects gas block and gas tube, decent general purpose grip:
16" 556 Gunner Profile Barrel - Nitride Coated
Enhanced Forged Receiver Set w/ Tensioning Screw
Nitrided M16 BCG w/ Superfinish
15" M-LOK Aluminum Handguard
Hiperfire EDTDM Single Stage Trigger
Ambi Charging Handle
Radian Talon Ambi 45/90 Degree Safety Selector
Magpul MOE SL® Carbine Stock or similar
Magpul MOE® Grip or similar
Faxon MUZZLOK® Muzzle Device
Mid Length Gas System
Rifle Weight: 6.1 lbs
They also have a lighter weight Ion rifle, but that adds a few things that might compromise reliability and durability, like carbon fiber handguards and lightened reciprocating parts.
Honestly, when I was going to configure a rifle out of pieces, I was planning to do an almost identical build, except with a Reptilia Recc-E stock:
https://alnk.to/gVJ2rgV
I discovered that stock somewhat recently and it has become my favourite.
I also prefer the MCMR handguard from Bravo Company: https://alnk.to/dAkDOEi
I find that slim handguard with mlok slots everywhere gives me very good options for hanging lights and other stuff on it should I want to.
With optics, I am going to stick to my guns. For this application, Primary Arms GLx 2x is the best currently available option: https://alnk.to/fHjJzZq
At 11 ounces, it is not terribly heavy. It requires no manipulation except for turning on illumination should you be so inclined. It has proven to be very robust. It has very flexible eyerelief which makes it easy to get behind for a very broad range of people. The reticle illumination adjusts from night vision compatible to daybright. In other words, if you want to do more with this optic, you can.
If you put the rifle back on the rack without turning illumination off, it has a motion sensor, so it shuts off on its own. For shooting within a couple of hundred yards, it is plenty of magnification without slowing you down too much. Unlike red dots, it works with nearly all eyes.
While GLx has proven to be remarkably robust, my paranoia demands a supplementary sighting system, preferably something that does not rely on batteries.
For that there are a couple of options and the one I really like comes from XS Sights in the form of their offset XTI2 sights. While they have a tritium version available, I am partial to the less expensive model with huge orange dot up front: https://alnk.to/8PCbkiW
Beyond that, a flashlight is a good idea. They vary tremendously in price and quality. I am not a flashlight snob, but one thing I know is that if I am setting something up for general purpose use, I prefer to not have wires running all over the place. From an ease of use and weight standpoint, I'll lean toward Inforce WMLx: https://alnk.to/cwQ5VuU
As configured, the rifle comes from Faxon for around $1150. The scope is $370. Offset sights are $125. The light is $170.
We have a well equipped rifle for under $1900. Five of these will cost almost $10k...
I did say that it was something of a budget build....
With cheap rifles and cheap red dots, you can get five guns well under $5k.
For example, if I were seriously looking to do something like this, I would just wait for a good sales and pick up five rifles like this one from Palmetto for $500 each: https://alnk.to/7fnmv7n
Pop five of the these PA red dot sights on them: https://alnk.to/hDo4nhY since they have Autolive, the practical battery life should not be a concern.
On two out of five, I would throw on a compact 3x magnifiers: https://alnk.to/7fnmvba also at $200 each.
It forgoes some niceties, but now I am only $3900 plus tax and shipping in, instead of $9k.
The big question is whether I am sacrificing reliability with a cheap AR. I probably am, but that is a bit of an open question. These days, even cheap ARs are fairly robust and I know how to make them run if I get a chance to test them.
The one remaining point that was brought up is that after some amount of rapid fire, aluminum handguarrds get hot.
For $45 I can get one of those Hot Pocket rail wraps that mitigate the heat.
The nice thing with going with a mid-range rifle like the one from Faxon or something built around a Ballistic advantage Hanson profile barrel (https://bit.ly/43gCH8O) is that you are very likely to end up with pretty accurate rifle that can be coerced into an SPR role with nothing more than an optic change.
DNT's 7-35x56 has been here since February and I have managed to have some reasonably significant amount of time with it to date. This video is mostly in the nature of a "first look", although a bit more extensive than that. I will follow up with a careful examination of the reticle and low light performance.
https://amzn.to/4iGPl9w
So far, I am quite impressed with what the scope offers for the money.
Talking to one of the owners, he said he wants to be the undisputed bang for the buck champ under $1k. It is too early to be sure, but he might have a point there.
So far, I am quite impressed with the optic for what it costs and everything I have heard about customer support has been good.
The scope I have did have a minor glitch with the focus cell (I talk about that in the video), but it seems to have worked itself out. Perhaps there was some sort of a minor machining mark somewhere in there that got polished out.
Beyond that, it has been a good scope for me. I tried it on a ...
Here is another scope that has been here entirely too long without a formal review.
Delta Javelin 4.5-30x56, along with Athlon Ares ETR 4.5-30x56, stands at the top of the ladder of Chinese-made precision scopes I have seen to date.
To be fair, there are some new ones that are popping up that I have not tested yet (like the Telson 5-25x56) and some excellent ones that are less expensive (like DNT 7-35x56). Still, of the ones I have had a chance to spend some serious time with, it is Javelin and Ares ETR. Athlon has a Gen2 of the ETR that was announced this year, that I am very curious to test against the Javelin. Compared to the Gen1 ETR, I thought they were extremely close optically, but I slightly preferred the turrets and the reticle in the Javelin. We'll see if Athlon's Gen2 will change that.
I talk about Delta a good bit, but the brand is still not very widespread in the US. Still, there are several people selling them including Don at @AnnexDefense . Since he is a member here, I...
As I was getting this final video ready, I could not help but think that I have been talking about this LRF bino incessantly since December when I first got my hands on it.
https://alnk.to/eONAsar
I was very impressed with it when it arrived and I am very impressed with it now. I thought it was worthwhile to do a video wrap-up, see if any questions come up (i.e. something I forgot to address) and cover all the unintended omissions in an article.
Leica is, occasionally, a mystifying company in terms of their market strategy, but there is never any doubt about their technical capability. They can and do make absolutely exceptional optical instruments. There is new leadership in Leica's US office and I walked away from a meeting with them very encouraged. They seem to be listening to the market and have some good things in store.
In the meantime. as I said in the video, as far as LRF binoculars go, this is the best image quality I have seen to date combined with a very consistent LRF. ...
Hey ILya, have you had an opportunity to look at this new one?
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/i-spy-new-baby-razor-g3-4-24.7252761/#post-12086413
What are your thoughts on the new 5-40I dlr from Kahles for prs and nrl hunter? I was looking at either a zco or tangent to upgrade from my atacr, and came across this. Area 419 did some testing, but I would like to know your thoughts on this before I spend the money on it.
My understanding is that their warranty used to be problematic, but they have improved their warranty and customer service.
I am not crazy about their reticles, I really like my mil C, but could probably live with the skmr + if the brightness, fov, depth of field, and paralax forgiveness are a big improvement from what I have now.
Well, since I was running a little low on AAC Precision 175gr 308 ammo, I ordered another batch. This one came from a different lot than the batch I had before.
I have about 13 months left to be in my 40s, so I figured this is my last opportunity to get cheeky with this project title.
As I mentioned during last week's livestream, I am kicking off a large review encompassing seven different riflescopes that really share only one thing in common: their objectives are in the 42-44mm range.
Here is a comparison table of the specs for the scopes I have on hand. Note that the Swampfox Warhawk 2-10x44 is not going to be in this comparison very much. I'll do a separate video on it. The biggest reason for that is simply that this spec table is becoming too long and comparing so many scopes all at the same time is exponentially more difficult. I was going to take out either the Warhawk or the Blackhound since neither of them have a zero stop, so I flipped a coin and Blackhound got to stay. I will go over it a little bit below the table.
I did not set out to have this particular line-up in mind, but I like this riflescope type, so I ended up with all of these on hand.
Some of these scopes I have lready reviewed quite thoroughly, namely the Blackhound and Tract.
If you look at the specs carefully, you'll see that these range from true ultrashort designs (GPO and March), to "kinda short" designs (Leapers, Delta, Leupold and Blackhound) to a conventionally sized Tract Toric. Some of these lean toward the MPVO category. Some are unabashedly aimed at the Crossover market. Tract stands alone as a relatively conventional hunting scope, except configured very nicely to do everything as necessary. Another scope that would fit this category very well also that is no longer here is Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18x44. I might reference it occasionally.
I have a good amount of mileage with all of these, although I have not yet released a final review on every design. Still, I can offer some initial thoughts in order of ascending price.
Like any self respecting firearm enthusiast I always have some number of projects going on concurrently. One of them is a fast twist 22-250 bolt gun.
Every once in a while Tikka makes a run of 22-250 T3x rifles with 1-8” twist barrel and I happen to have one. That dramatically changes the varminty character of the 22-250. With a modern 80gr bullet, it is a nicely viable hunting rifle for small and medium game (just about perfect for pronghorn). It is also a very capable long range number. At the altitude where I live, it does not go subsonic until you get to about 1400 yards.
1-8” twist will not stabilize the heaviest available 22 bullets, but works well enough for anything up to about 80grains, depending on the bullet construction.
