The idiot's guide to the AR-15 rifle (or an idiot building one)

matthewdanger said:
You are most welcome! I could talk about this stuff all day!
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If I could find someone to pay me $10/hr to talk guns I'd be a millionaire. Well probably not, I'd have more guns to talk about. :D

Semi on topic, Matt do you have a "first line/war belt" that you run rifle and pistol mags, etc on or are you a chest rig guy?
 
adaman04 said:
Semi on topic, Matt do you have a "first line/war belt" that you run rifle and pistol mags, etc on or are you a chest rig guy?
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I have an use both.

Belt:
The belt is great for hot weather training. I grew up in Florida and played soccer year round at a pretty high level (for a kid) but I have always struggled with heat. I sweat like crazy. So a belt rig makes a lot of sense for me. However, I don't like to have more than 2 primary mags mounted on the belt at a time - more than that and it become ungainly. Perhaps most importantly, reloads come from the belt very quickly as long as you are using a pouch that is well suited to belt use (open top).

I use an ICE Tactical belt pad with mostly Diamondback Tactical pouches and a Safariland 6004 on a VERY short drop (rides nice and high). There are any number of great open top pouches that work well with a belt. I like these: http://jerkingthetrigger.wordpress....tactical-short-open-top-m4m16-magazine-pouch/ . Emdom, ATS, and Eagle all make great pouches that work with belts. The new Emdom ones look very nice (HERE).

Chest Rig:
A good chest rig is a necessary even if you have a belt in my opinion. Many training classes like those run by Pat Rogers will require shooters to have at least 5 loaded mags available when they hit the line. 5 mags is torture on a belt rig so I support my belt rig with a chest rig by rotating magazines from the slowest position on the chest rig to the fastest position on the chest rig. In most training classes you are going to need more than just a belt rig.

A chest rig is also nice for cold weather training. Most heavy coats make using a belt rig a real pain so it is nice to be able to run a chest rig over the jacket.

I have been using the ATS Tactical Low Profile Chest harness and it is phenomenal. You can see my thoughts on it here: http://jerkingthetrigger.wordpress....e-chest-harness-compact-chest-rig-perfection/
 
I should also add that the HSGI Bleeder/Blowout Pouch (more here) makes a great addition to a battle belt. This particular pouch is compact vertically so you can find space for it in the limited real estate you will have with a belt. It also gives quick easy access to all its contents and allows for carrying shears.

I keep my blow out kit on the belt because I always wear the belt in training classes but I don't always have the chest rig on.
 
Here is a pic I just snapped of my belt rig:
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From left to right...
- Diamondback Tactical (DBT) dual pistol mag pouch with det-loc
- 2X DBT short MOLLE AR-15 shingle (works great with 20 round AK mags too)
- HSGI Bleeder/Blowout pouch
- DBT dump pouch
- ESEE RC3MIL
- Safariland 6004 on drop flex adaptor so it rides nice and high (click here for my thoughts on drop legs)
- DBT GP pouch (for pen and notebook, Slip-2000 EWL, small tools, any other small item you need in a training class)
- All mounted on an ICE Tactical MOLLE belt

It looks a little cramped laid out this way but everything falls under hand well and it isn't cramped once it is wrapped around you.
 
I'm not much of a knife guy (yet- my ESEE-4 just shipped) but I have a few guns. I see lots of different people posting different pics of their guns so I thought I might show you what I did with mine. It seems there are allot of MOE handguards on here so I'll show one of my AR-15 that has some MOE and lots of Magpul smeared on it. This gun was built with exactly what I found I like and what works for me. I've built a few guns that didn't work so well and this gun is what has become of what I've learned along the way. All with a conservative budget in mined.

I'd call it a M4 because of the M203 cutouts and the barrel is cut to 14.5". Spikes Tactical Thug lower, Rock River Arms LPK and Bill Springfield worked the trig to 4.5 lbs. Brakes like a glass rod. RH Ergo grip with three rounds shoved in the core around some barrel patches, Mil spec buttstock kit, With the Spikes ST-T2 buffer. KNS Gen 2 Mod 2 anti rotation pins. And now starts the Magpul. Trigger guard with allen screw upgrade, three metric tons of pmags, ACS buttstock with enhanced buttpad full of cr123 batteries, lost part spring and pin kit, break parts (extractor, hammer, and such), earplugs, little bottle of Slip EWL, micro first aid kit, seven feet of electrical tape, 20 feet of 10# fishing line, and six feet of 550 cord. That wraps up the lower.

Upper is a DPMS cut to 14.5" and a A2 long from BCM pinned on. At the same time I put a F marked BCM front sight base on. I love re-putting together uppers the right way. Just to know everything is in spec. Magpul MOE handguards and VFG, BAD lever, MBUS. MOUNT-N-SLOT seems to be a big hit here so no need to talk about them. Except watch in the next month for the scout light direct mount to come out (come on Earl, your killing me!). Illumination is taken care of buy a Surefire M951XM07 I bought almost new for $100 shipped. The M951 has a Malkoff M61 cree XP-G led drop in lamp good for two hours at 260 lumens. It's on a five slot rail with cut bike tube on the gangster grip to hold the tape switch on. BCM Mod 4 Charging handle is a work of art. Red dot sight is an Aimpoint ML2 with caps, rubber bikini cover, and killflash ARD on a Larue LT-150. If you don't know what a Larue Dillo is, google is your friend. Larue (Vickers) padded QD sling, and a Spikes laser engraved Battle Flag/ Infidel dust cover.

Things to come are a mil spec bolt. Red diffuser on the light because 260 lumens is way too much for close quarter anything unless you want to be blind. And I think that is it.

This gun has a little over 2k rounds logged on the bolt and barrel. Still a new to me. It's only seen one 600 round weekend carbine corse but did great. Lots more to come!

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here is mine, rock river lower with national match 2 stage trigger. wilson combat 18" fluted upper(waiting to get barrel back from getting threaded) midwest ind. 15" free float rail. cant wait to shoot it! optic is primary arms 1-4x (almost identical to millet dms1)

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What is your Opinion on YHM Complete uppers ?
I really like the looks of the diamond fluted barrels ?
I am down to needing a complete upper to finish up my AR
 
I really dig that belt Matt. Multicam is growing on me. With OD and coyote/khaki it seems everyone’s color is a bit different, with MC you always know what you’re getting. Been thinking about setting one up myself pretty close to that. Depending on real estate, I might put in an extra double pistol mag pouch for a handheld light and a multitool or an extra pistol mag. It will go on the right side of the buckle so I can bump that pistol mag over to my primary side and so I’m not trying to shove a light into the mag well of the Glock. :D

I’ve got an Eagle chest rig (the SKD version) and for the money it’s been great, but I just really don’t dig chest rigs as a whole. I really think I might like running a micro rig just for rifle mags mainly in conjunction with a belt if and when I needed it. Gear is all about trying a bunch of stuff and finding what works for you and your application.

Like you said, belts are great if you don’t overload them.

Good looking boom sticks guys! I love the MOE handguards. I just like the simplicity of them and the ability to add rails where I need them and otherwise save weight. I just got a set of midlength for my primary AR. I think I'm going to do my other carbine in FDE.
 
adaman04 said:
Good looking boom sticks guys! I love the MOE handguards. I just like the simplicity of them and the ability to add rails where I need them and otherwise save weight. I just got a set of midlength for my primary AR. I think I\'m going to do my other carbine in FDE.
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Once IWC brings out their light mounts, there will be no reason to mount a rail on an MOE handguard. They are bring out mounts shortly for most popular lights.
 
Looking forward to those. Running a TLR-1 on it now and for inside the house, it's perfect.
 
adaman04 said:
Depending on real estate, I might put in an extra double pistol mag pouch for a handheld light and a multitool or an extra pistol mag. It will go on the right side of the buckle so I can bump that pistol mag over to my primary side and so I’m not trying to shove a light into the mag well of the Glock. :D
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there's an argument that some make, that only the fighting related gear should go on the front half, and the support gear should go on the back half of the belt.

that would mean that radios, cell phones, handcuffs, multi tools, etc would go in back, and that mags, knives, knives and pistols should go on the front.

some will say that a light is a fighting tool and some may disagree. OC would also probably go on the back, but not way back.

no absolute rules, just something to think about.

i occasionally have a rifle mag at 8:00, and many people carry their handgun at 4:00 or 5:00 but i carry mine at 3:00
 
texastonydobbs said:
What is your Opinion on YHM Complete uppers ?
I really like the looks of the diamond fluted barrels ?
I am down to needing a complete upper to finish up my AR
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Personally I would probably get an upper from Bravo Company they seem like the best bang for your buck out there. I really haven't seen many people comment on the YHM uppers.
 
Thanks , I ran across a NIB Delton complete upper for $400 1/7twist chrome lined barrel carbine upper looked pretty good too
 
texastonydobbs said:
What is your Opinion on YHM Complete uppers ?
I really like the looks of the diamond fluted barrels ?
I am down to needing a complete upper to finish up my AR
Click to expand...

I am in the same boat with KenM K. There are a number of manufacturers that I would look at before YHM in the same price range and BCM is chief among them.
 
texastonydobbs said:
Thanks , I ran across a NIB Delton complete upper for $400 1/7twist chrome lined barrel carbine upper looked pretty good too
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If you are ofter a budget upper that runs well, check out Spikes Tactical. They use correct parts, materials, and procedures when building and offer a great value. Delton will probably serve you well, but I think there are better choices for the money.
 
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