Before I start, a note about how I came to determine which parts would work for me. I
am neither high-speed nor low-drag. I do not carry a gun or shoot
people for a living. What I do, and have been doing for the past 3
years +/-, is run and shoot in a monthly carbine match where we shoot
anywhere between 50 and 200 rounds per match per shooter at distances
from right in front of you to 120+ yards. In that time I've seen all
manner of rifles, gear, accessories, and parts come through, and I've
seen which ones work well for others, gotten a chance to try out their
gear for myself, and gotten to test out some of that gear on my own
rifles. In the past year I've also been fortunate enough to take 3-day
carbine classes with both Randy Cain and Pat Rogers. These classes
were approximately 750 and 1200+ rounds each (respectively). You learn
alot about your equipment firing 1k rounds in 3 days. Randy's class
also afforded me the opportunity to shoot my ARs out to 200 yards;
something I had never done before due to the limitations of local
facilities.
I learned in architecture
school that the only way you can truly evaluate whether a design, or
"solution", is successful is to know what the intent was at the
beginning. "Form follows function", if you will. In other words, if a
thing looks stupid but it does what it is supposed to do and does it
very well, it's not stupid. As Pat Rogers is known to say "determine
your mission and select your gear accordingly" (or something very close
to that, my memory is not the best and I'm sure I've screwed up the
quote somehow). So, in order to evaluate the tools pictured here, one
must know the mission.
Mission One
thing that is universal among all of my rifles is that they are light.
One thing I've learned from matches and classes is that standing around
with a 12 pound rifle, whether slung or at low ready, isn't fun. No
matter how strong you are, or how much of a he-man you are, you can
carry a lighter load for a longer period of time. When I started out I
assumed that I would have to sacrifice certain other functions to get
this reduced weight. I have been pleasantly surprised that I can find
gear that is equal-to or better-than some of the heavier alternatives.
The
other things is that, wherever possible, I wanted to keep the equipment
as close to identical as possible on each rifle. I want to see the
same sight picture, feel the same grip, manipulate the adjustable stock
the same way, etc. I don't want a learning curve when going from one
rifle to the other.
Brown Rifle The
intention of the Brown Rifle is to have something with good terminal
ballistics beyond 100 yards, with possible use out to 200. It's also a
non-NFA (National Firearms Act, AKA "Class III") weapon so that I can
more easily travel out of state with it to attend matches and/or
training classes. The goal is to be able to hit a man-sized target out
to 200 yards and have enough energy at that range for the bullet used
to terminally perform properly. Ideally it would also be capable of
making shots with even greater precision if required. This rifle is
intended to be a "general purpose" rifle (as much as that is possible)
or could be thought of as a "field" rifle.
Green Rifle The
intention of the Green Rifle is to have something that is potentially
shorter and more maneuverable indoors than the Brown Rifle, and also to
be a host for a sound suppressor without exceeding the overall length
of the Brown Rifle. It is intended to be used as a home-defense
carbine as well as a hog-hunting carbine. While those two roles appear
at first glance to be totally opposite ends of the spectrum, I have
found that my requirements for each are surprisingly similar. Light,
compact, maneuverable, operable without hearing damage, quick to get on
target at close range, etc. The intended effective range of this
carbine is 50 yards and less.
Base Rifles Both
base rifles are Colts. Rather than get into a debate regarding "the
pony", lets just say that at the time I started buying ARs for what I
consider "serious use", Colt was the only one that was making what I
wanted in a factory configuration. Since they use different sized
fire-control-group pins than the other makers, I have decided to stick
to Colts for everything in order to maintain uniformity of parts. The
criteria I was looking for when choosing which manufacturer to go with
were:
* .650" barrel profile * 1:7 rifling twist * Chrome-lined bore and chamber * M4 feedramps * Availability of factory SBR (more on that later)
Brown Rifle The
base gun for the Brown Rifle is a Colt 6520. The 6520 is a 16" long,
.650" barrel profile, with M4 feedramps and a standard A2 carryhandle
upper receiver. It comes with a 4-position collapsible stock, an
H-Buffer, and an M16 bolt carrier. Since I knew that I wanted to add
optics I changed out the A2 upper for a Colt M4 flattop upper but kept
the light-profile barrel.
Green Rifle The
base gun for the Green Rifle is a Colt 6933. The 6933 is an 11.5"
long, .650" barrel profile with M4 feedramps and an M4 flattop upper
with detachable carryhandle with A2 sights. It is available from
several vendors as a factory SBR (Short Barreled Rifle), which means
that it does not have to be engraved like to do when you convert a
non-NFA AR into an SBR.
Railed Forend This
particular piece of equipment seems to have become the most ubiquitous
piece of gear that people want and is often the first thing added to a
new rifle. They are available "free floated" where they are mounted
to, or replace, the barrel nut and they are available in two-piece
designs that basically replace the stock handguards and attach at the
delta ring to the rear and the handguard cap at the front. I prefer
the free-floated versions for the following reasons:
* Can be had longer than the stock sight radius and installed over a low-profile gas block (or shaved front sight base)
* Do not apply pressure to the barrel when pressure is applied to the
rail as in resting the rail on something and/or tension from a sling * Can be used, if needed to mount optics/lasers * Are generally sturdier and more robust than the two-piece designs
In
my mind there are two major players in the free-float railed forend
game; Larue Tactical and Daniel Defense. There are others out there
that are at least as good as these two, but these two are the most well
established and the most readily available. I initially chose the
Daniel Defense for one reason; lighter weight. As it turns out there
are other added benefits. One of these is the ability to be (easily)
installed over a shaved front sight base. I believe that the best
possible gas block is the front sight base that came on the rifle
because it is held in place by two taper pins. Many of the aftermarket
low-profile gas blocks are held in place with set screws, and while
there are methods of making them more secure, the taper pin holes are
already in the sight and the barrel so all that is involved is a little
time with a hacksaw/Dremel/file and some spray paint. So, I like the
fact that I don't have to shave quite as much off to get the FSB
underneath the rail.
I like to run my
rails a little longer and cover up the front sight base largely for
heat protection from the barrel when slinging a hot rifle. There is a
balance, however, between covering up the barrel and adding too much
weight.
Brown Rifle Daniel
Defense 10.0 rail. Extends one inch past the shaved front sight base
to offer a little more heat protection and a slightly longer sight
radius for the BUIS (Back Up Iron Sights).
Green Rifle Daniel
Defense 9.0 rail. Stops just in front of the shaved front sight base
and allows the Ops Inc. 15th model suppressor to mount properly.
Optics Optics
are probably tied with railed forends for the most commonly purchased
first upgrade for an AR, and the number and styles of choices in this
realm are staggering. From 1x electronic sights, to 4x BAC (Bindon
Aiming Concept), to the recent popularity of the 1x-4x
illuminated-reticle scopes, (not to mention the cheap knockoff versions
of each), it's easy to get overwhelmed with the choices. When
selecting the optics it's critical to keep your "function" in the front
of your mind when selecting your "form".
I
have tried Aimpoints, Eotechs, fullsize ACOGs, and Compact ACOGs, and I
find the Compact ACOG line to be the best fit for me. They are
available from 1.5x to 3x, they are lightweight, they don't require
batteries, and they are astigmatism-friendly. Most of your electronic
sights (Eotech and Aimpoint, for example) have a tendency to bloom when
looked at with an eye with an uncorrected astigmatism. I have an
astigmatism so I prefer non-powered optics. There's also the benefit
of not having to turn anything on, not having to worry about batteries,
etc. The other aspect that is beneficial (see "Mission") is that both
the 1.5x and the 3x are functionally identical, and the reticles are
close enough to being identical so as not to matter.
Brown Rifle Trijicon
TA33R-8. 3x30, 7 oz., red chevron ranging reticle calibrated for
.223 and 1.9" of eye relief. Functionally the eye relief seems like
much more, as I only have it mounted one rail space further to the rear
than the 1.5x on the Green Rifle. The 3x is nice to have when reaching
out a little further, but it does slow down target transitions at close
range.
Green Rifle Trijicon
TA45R-2. 1.5x24, 6 oz., red triangle reticle and 3.6" of eye
relief. The lower magnification makes it faster at close range, but
makes it a little more difficult to get precise hits at distance.
TA45R-2 1.5x on left TA33R-8 3x on right
Optic Mounts Optics
need a mount. Even the Eotech, which is capable of being mounted
directly to the rail, really should have a mount. There are many
different options when it comes to mounts, but the two biggest
categories are fixed and throw-lever. Fixed optic mounts typically
have thumb screws, or allen screws, or some other method that should be
tightened with a tool and then left alone. If you need to remove the
optic for some reason you will need that tool, and the time to do the
work, and you may not return to zero when you're done re-mounting it.
Throw-lever mounts make it possible to remove and re-install your optic
quickly and without tools while retaining your zero. The two main
players in the throw-lever market are Larue
Tactical and A.R.M.S., with GG&G being a bit of an also-ran.
A.R.M.S. is generally thought of as the originator, while Larue is the
improver. A.R.M.S. mounts have no adjustability and only mount with
one tension and only mount to rails that strictly follow the 1913 spec. The
Larue, on the other hand, have adjustable levers that can be made to
fit even out of spec rails and which are adjustable for the tension
that the user wants. In addition, in the last year or so, Larue has
added a locking lever to prevent the lever from getting bumped open
which allows the user to set the tension at the proper level without
having to over tighten it.
I used the Larue
Tactical ACOG Compact Mount QD LT-105 for both the [u]Brown
Rifle[/u] and the [u]Green Rifle[/u]. The [u]Green Rifle[/u] has the
older model without the locking lever, while the [u]Brown Rifle[/u] has
the newer version with the locking lever.
Back Up Iron Sights If
you're going to have optics, you need to have BUIS (Back Up Iron
Sights). In both matches and classes I've seen people have their
primary optic go down (most often an Eotech) for one reason or
another. With a good BUIS (and assuming they've taken the time to zero
same) all is not lost. Presumably the same would hold true if fighting
with the carbine. There are probably as many BUIS available as there
are optics. The two primary categories are fixed and flip-up. With
the free-float rail extending over the shaved front sight, and with the
magnified optic, the flipup front and rear proved to be the best choice
for me. When using a 1x optic (like an Eotech or Aimpoint) I greatly
prefer fixed front and rear BUIS, but with magnified optics they (the
rear especially) can cause distraction and limit your ability to find
the reticle.
Within the category of
flip-up, there are those that are spring loaded, those that lock in
place, and those that do neither. I prefer iron sights that lock in
the up position because, among other things, they can be used as a good
fixed BUIS if I change the optic out to a 1x. Anything else (springs,
ball bearings, etc.) is just something that is waiting to wear out. I
also want something that, at least for the rear, is as low profile as
possible. These two requirements led me to the Troy Industries BUIS
BUIS that I chose for both the [u]Brown Rifle[/u] and [u]Green
Rifle[/u]. The round hood on the front sight and the way it lines up
with the aperature on the rear is also a nice feature.
Stock Stocks,
grips, etc. are very personal choices, and most often are chosen based
on comfort as much as anything else (as well they should be). With
that said, there are three major players in the aftermarket AR stock
game; the Vltor
Modstock, the
Magpul CTR, and LMT
SOPMOD. Of those, the LMT and the Vltor are the only ones that
offer storage, while the Magpul provides the most wobble-free mount of
all three. In addition, the Vltor and the Magpul weigh approximately
the same while the LMT is both larger and heavier. I decided that I
wanted to have battery (and NFA document) storage capability which
limited me to the Vltor and LMT. The LMT requires you to remove the
stock from the gun in order to access the storage, while the Vltor
allows you to access the storage while mounted. That, and the lighter
weight (again, see "mission" above) led me to choose the Vltor.
Vltor
makes two versions, a "standard" and a "clubfoot". While I find the
shape of the Clubfoot interesting, and in some ways prefer the lever on
the clubfoot, the Standard is lighter so I went with that for both the
[u]Brown Rifle[/u] and the [u]Green Rifle[/u]. I also strongly
reccomend the rubber buttpad although not for recoil absorption but for
the non-slip surface it provides when shouldering. Just be sure to
slip a tie-wrap around it as it can and will get pulled off.
With that said, if I didn't want/need the storage the Magpul would be my stock of choice, and the buttpad is screwed in place.
Pistol Grip Anyone
who has spent any amount of time carrying or shooting an AR-based rifle
away from the bench and the square range will tell you that you need to
address "the gap". The gap is the space between the stock grip and the
trigger-guard, and it will wear a hole in your social finger in well
under an hour of shooting. There are many ways to address the gap,
from grips that extend out to cover it, to trigger-guard replacements,
to "the gapper" which inserts into the space, to wadding up a foam
earplug and sticking it in there.
The
second thing that most will find is that finger-grooves are a bad
thing. The worst is typically the A2 grip with it's single finger
shelf that fits almost no one's hand, and once you start shooting from
non-conventional positions REALLY fits no one's hand. Then you have
grips like the Hogue, the Ergo, etc. that have series of built in
finger grooves. These are rubberized grips so they are better than the
A2, but typically even these eventually just don't line up with a real
human's fingers.
I considered two grips,
and still consider two grips, to be the best options available; the Tango
Down Rifle Grip and the Magpul
MIAD. Both grips offer internal storage for batteries and such,
and both grips address the gap, although in different ways. The Tango
Down has a short shelf that projects out in front of the grip and that
spans the gap, while the Magpul has either an integral trigger-guard or
a separate replacement trigger-guard. The Magpul also has the ability
to change our front and back straps to customize the feel of the grip.
I
ultimately chose the Tango Down for both the [u]Brown Rifle[/u] and the
[u]Green Rifle[/u] simply because it was the more comfortable of the
two for me. Even with the adjustable parts of the Magpul it never sat
just right in my hand the way the Tango Down does. The only way to
pick a grip is to get out there and find someone that has one and try
it out. No amount of internet research is going to make the final
selection for you, but it may help narrow it down to two or three
choices.
Vertical Foregrip There
is a move lately to eliminate the vertical foregrip for some shooters.
Many of the 3-Gun shooters have gotten away from it. If you are used
to shooting with a support-hand-on-the-magwell grip then you may find
the foregrip useful. One reason is that the delta ring, or nut when
using a free-float tube, gets hot after sustained fire and having that
separate grip gets your hand off that hot part. Another reason is that
it allows you to move your support hand position fore and aft as needed
for better control of the rifle as well as to coordinate with other
gear positioning like slings and lights. Many vertical foregrips are
also available with internal storage that can hold a spare bolt,
batteries, etc. There are many vertical foregrips to choose from. I
chose Tango
Down because of the storage, the comfort, and the availability of
two lengths.
Brown Rifle For
the Brown Rifle I chose the Original
Length for a couple of reasons, but primarily because I wanted
the ability to store a complete spare bolt. If this rifle is truly
intended to be a "field" rifle, then conceivably I could find myself
away from spare parts when I may need them. I like the peace of mind
of having a spare bolt and firing pin in the grip.
Green Rifle For
the Green rifle I chose the Stubby
Length because it's lower profile and I don't need a spare bolt
for this rifle's "mission". The version I have is an older one where
the cap is non-removable, but the new versions do have a removable cap
which I guess would allow you to store maybe one Surefire battery. In
my case I have battery storage in the pistol grip and stock, so it's a
non-issue for me. The "mission" for this rifle is such that I would
not be concerned with not having a spare bolt on the gun as I'd likely
either be totally screwed if the bolt failed (home defense) or have an
adequate backup in the 1911 on my hip (hunting).
Charging Handle Yes,
even the charging handle bears discussion. The stock unit is really
intended for the "split finger" method of operation. Most schools now
teach the "left side" method of running the handle, and most people
find the stock lever to be a bit small for this task. The catch-22 is
that if you go too big, like what a benchrest shooter might use, you
wind up with something that can snag on all sorts of things, and poke
the hell out of you when slinging to do a transition to pistol. This
leads to finding a compromise between having it long enough to run from
the left side, but not so long as to become a hinderance.
Precision
Reflex, Inc. makes the Gas
Buster charging handle. This charging handle is intended to
deflect the added back-blast of gasses that come through the rifle when
shooting suppressed. It also happens to include their
excellent Big
Latch-Military which is a fantastic compromise length and is well
rounded off so as not to poke the shooter in all the wrong places.
Since I knew that at least one of these rifles would be suppressed, I
wanted the Gas Buster. Unfortunately the larger rear area of the
charging handle can get stuck on the raised front rib on most
adjustable stocks. Because of this, I filed off this front rib on both
guns to increase the clearance a little bit and I haven't had a problem
since. I also chose to use the complete Gas Buster on the [u]Green
Rifle[/u] only, and installed the Big Latch-Military in the stock
charging handle on the [u]Brown Rifle[/u].
Sling & Swivels In
trying to find the perfect sling I have used everything from the basic
webbing that comes with the rifle, to single-point slings, to 3-point
slings, to 2-point slings. What I have found is that single-point
slings leave the rifle to flop around too much when moving, 3-point
slings have too much webbing and get in the way of operating the rifle,
and that 2-point slings are the perfect compromise between the two. As
with most things, there are currently two major players in this
market. One is the Viking
Tactics sling which is available padded or un-padded, and the Blue
Force Gear Vickers sling. Both are similar in function in that
they attach to two points on the side of the rifle and have a tail on
the back that allows adjustment with the support hand for length. This
is important as some people will run their sling pretty tight when
standing but need a little extra room to go prone. With the tail, you
can hold the rifle with your strong hand and let out the slack a bit
with your support hand. The Viking Tactics version uses a
spring-loaded buckle to accomplish this, while the BFG uses a friction
slider.
In the interest of "simpler is
better", I chose the BFG sling for both the [u]Brown Rifle[/u] and the
[u]Green Rifle[/u]. I don't know if or when the spring-loaded buckle
could fail, but I just prefer a simpler method and less bulk. The
V-Tac version also comes with the swivels already attached, and I
wanted to use my own swivels.
I prefer
a sling that has some movement in two dimensions in the rear, and one
dimension in the front. I find this to help keep the sling from
getting twisted and always gives a reference point for the proper
orientation of the sling. What this means is, I want a swivel in the
front that only moves fore and aft, and a swivel in the rear that moves
for and aft as well as pivots in the hole. I used the Midwest
Industries MCTAR-06 in the front and a standard push-button
swivel in the rear.
Light & Mount I
prefer a light that is tail-cap activated to one that is activated by a
pressure switch, for a variety of reasons. Those reasons include:
* Wire and pressure switch are just more parts to break * Wire can get snagged on things * Wire and pressure switch must be mounted somewhere that is accessible from a firing grip * Wire and pressure switch make removing the light a more tedious task
I
like a tail-cap that can be pressed part way for momentary on and all
the way in (clicked) for a constant on. I also prefer that the light
be easily mounted/dismounted from the gun so that the gun can be made
lighter and more streamlined and so that the light can be used
hand-held with a pistol or on it's own. I wanted a light that was
brighter for outdoor and longer range use on the [u]Brown Rifle[/u] and
one that was slightly dimmer for indoor and close-range use on the
[u]Green Rifle[/u]. It is possible, as I discovered with the 9-volt
light, to have too much light indoors when bouncing off of white walls
and floors.
Surefire
sets the standard for weapon-mounted lights, with PentagonLight following close
behind and coming out with innovations of their own. Both companies
offer a wide variety of brightness, bulb types, activation switches,
mounts, etc. Surefire makes the lights that I wanted and is the more
established company, so I went with them.
Brown Rifle I
chose the Surefire
Millennium M96C weaponlight mounted on a ]Larue
Tactical LT-170. The 96C is a big heavy light. It takes 3 of
the 123 batteries and is extremely bright. With that said, I don't
always need it, and don't always want to contend with the weight, so I
wanted a way to be able to easily detach it from the rifle. I also had
a pouch made up that I can attach to my chest rig to carry the light
off the rifle but easily deploy it and attach it if need be.
Green Rifle I
chose an older version of the Surefire
Scout Light without the LEDs and with a clickable tail-cap. It's
an extremely lightweight light and does not have a quick-detach feature
(it's attached with a thumb-screw) but because it's so light being able
to easily remove it isn't such an issue. Nonetheless, I will still
eventually replace it with the Larue
Tactical LT-172 mount to gain the quick-detach feature.
Sound Suppressor This isn't a suppressor review, so I'll try to make this brief. The
civilian suppressor market has really taken off of late, with quite a
few companies forming to get into the market, and established companies
that seemingly have nothing to do with suppressors creating divisions
of their companies to spread out into the suppressor market.
Unfortunately, it is also one of the nastiest segments of the firearms
industry, with quite a bit of drama, backbiting, accusations of theft
of intellectual property, etc. all fueled by company owners, employees,
and shills that can't seem to keep their bad manners to themselves on
the internet. It makes selecting a suppressor extremely difficult
because, while there is an abundant amount of information available,
you never know who to trust.
Fortunately,
the vast majority of 5.56 sound suppressors will be functionally
identical in terms of level of sound suppression (dB rating), weight,
length, diameter, materials and methods of construction. Where they
typically vary the most is in the mount and the mounting method. I
chose to use this criteria for my suppressor selection, as well as
overall length added to the rifle. My choices eventually were narrowed
down to the Surefire
FA-556K and the Ops Inc. 15th
Model, both of which attach to 11.5" barrels (minimum) and slide
back over the barrel to some extent. This sliding back over the barrel
was important to me because it allows for a shorter overall length when
the suppressor is mounted.
I
ultimately chose the Ops, Inc. 15th model because I liked the
combination of mount, overall length added to the barrel, price, and
weight. It really is that subjective and it should be for anyone
trying to select a 5.56 sound suppressor.
Magazines, Floorplates, and Followers For
the purposes of the photos, I just matched the color of the magazines
to the color of the rifle, but there is a purpose behind the colors.
First, a note about magazines in general.
With
the sunset of the Assault Weapons Ban, the AR market in general and the
AR magazine market in particular, has gone through the roof. Magazines
that were selling during the ban for $40 for dented, rusted specimens
of unknown origin as compared to the readily available variety of
GI-quality magazines available for $10-12 today. Generally speaking, as
long as a shooter sticks with GI-spec magazines they will have no
problems. Add in a Magpul
anti-tilt follower and the success rate increases. I also happen
to like the Magpul
Ranger Plates because they add a padded traction surface to the
bottom of the magazine when using it as a monopod, they provide a pad
on the bottom of the magazine if you drop the mag on a hard surface,
they give me something to grab when extracting a magazine from my
chest-rig, they give me a way to hang the magazine when doing a
tactical reload, and they allow me to color-code my magazines for
different purposes. The Magpul followers also aid in magazine
identification and can be used as an empty-chamber indicator. I use
the orange followers on my training and competition magazines because I
can tell at a glance which magazines are empty. I use the gray
followers on my "serious" mags simply to differentiate them from my
training mags. My magazine combinations look like this:
Aluminum GI magazine with Black Ranger Plate and Orange Follower:
Training mag that goes to the range empty. Many times in competitions
and training classes there is a need for a down-loaded (i.e. not fully
loaded) magazine. The color combination for these mags allows me to
verify that and readily identify the magazine.
Aluminum GI magazine with Tan Ranger Plate and Orange Follower:
Training mag that goes to the range loaded. I find it much easier to
load up 10 magazines while sitting in front of the television at home
than trying to stuff them at the range. As such, I keep the tan mags
loaded up with 28 rounds each and stowed in my range bag and chest
rig. Depending on the class, 280 rounds loaded could get you through
the entire TD-1 (Training Day 1) without ever having to load a magazine
Stainless Steel mags refinished green with Green Ranger Plate and Gray Follower:
"Serious" magazines meant for hunting and self defense use. I like to
keep my "serious" magazines separate from my training magazines. I
also like them to be the highest quality that I think is available. I
keep these magazines loaded with Black Hills 75 grain and I keep one
loaded in each of the rifles in the safe. I also use this ammo for hog
hunting and for precision shooting. I take these magazines to the
range once every couple of months just to make sure they still work for
my own peace of mind. So far there seems to have been no adverse
affects from leaving them loaded and I do not expect there ever will be
one.
So that's it. Soup to nuts, an explanation of essentially every part
that's on these two carbines. They appear to be serving me well for
their intended purposes so far and I will continue to shoot them as
much as possible. If new gear comes available and I find that it
serves my purposes better, or if my needs change over time, I will not
hesitate to change out parts. I believe that it's counter-productive
to get married to any piece of gear or equipment and that, at the rate
the industry is evolving, there are always newer and better products on
the horizon. It is up to each individual to determine if the hot new
"gotta have it" gear of the internet forums is worth the cash outlay to
re-outfit themselves or if their existing gear is still very
serviceable.
