Couple new guns....and a couple older ones.

[LouSiffer]

Just built a couple more AR's. Decided to add the Glock G19 and Kimber 1911 to the mix as well. I have a few Glock G19's ( Greatest carry gun ever in my opinion ). Both AR's have Aero uppers/lowers ( Super tight fit....the way it should be ), Wilson stainless barrels with Specter flash hiders, nickel-boron BCG's, BSM charging handles with oversized latches, and stock trigger groups ( heavily worked over by me ).

The 16" has Magpul MOE butt stock, MFT grooved pistol grip and MFT vertical grip, 12" Gen 3 quad rail and Tru-Glow holographic sight ( EOtech coming soon ). The Tru-Glow does hold zero ,but, it has 5 different reticles in green and red which is nice, however, after a day of shooting, those reticules became fuzzy. You truly get what you pay for in this department.

The 20" has a Luth AR sniper stock, Harris "quick deploy" bi-pod, Bushnell 4.5x18x40 scope ( Don't laugh.....I will take this over my 15 year old $700 Leupold any day! ), 15" quad rail ( Really wish I would have gotten the Gen 3 upgrade on this one as well to lose some weight ) and MAG B.A.D. assist. Kind of a mini-S.A.S.S. so to speak. All AR's should have the B.A.D. assist or something similar. It is one of those things that is very minor, but, for the cost....I fell in love with.

Next two are going to be AR10s/.308's....probably an 18" and a 24" laid out similar to these two.

[xenophobe]

Sweet!

I'm sure that's a decent scope, but what was your $700 Leupy?

[LouSiffer]

It is a Leupold VX III 4.5x14. In my opinion, the old adage that you have to spend 3 times as much on a scope as you do the gun is no longer true. I have had a $80 Simmons, $200 Bushnell, a $300 Nikon and this $700 Leupold sitting on guns on a bench......focused on the same target........and the newer cheaper scopes have as good/better light gathering than the more expensive one. Technology has come a long way on optics in the last 10 years. As long as it holds zero, I see nothing wrong with using scopes costing $200 or less. -Lou

[straycat]

Optics really have come a long way.
I have a Bushnell on my AR long range gun and it is a great scope $330 when I bought it.

[xenophobe]

It is a Leupold VX III 4.5x14. In my opinion, the old adage that you have to spend 3 times as much on a scope as you do the gun is no longer true. I have had a $80 Simmons, $200 Bushnell, a $300 Nikon and this $700 Leupold sitting on guns on a bench......focused on the same target........and the newer cheaper scopes have as good/better light gathering than the more expensive one. Technology has come a long way on optics in the last 10 years. As long as it holds zero, I see nothing wrong with using scopes costing $200 or less. -Lou

In normal daylight, you're absolutely right. The added expense only shows up in horrible lighting conditions... dawn/dusk when the sun is near your target but out of visual range... internal lens reflections and internal baffling is where the added expense starts to show any significant difference. Also parallax. That's where the Vari-X III will show it's difference.

I haven't done any testing in a long time, but just on the bench, during bright light, there's almost no significant difference with similar magnification scopes except with the most budget scopes.

And yeah, optics have gotten increasingly better in the last decade. Leupold also has probably the best customer service though. I've sent them a scope that was dropped and broke at the mount, they sent a replacement for free.

[Razor]

Very nice builds Lou!

[straycat]

Here is my GPI billet lower build long range AR.
Don't like the muzzle brake all that much because it sends too much concussion to anyone next to you.I'll find some other brake soon.
The shorty is a Colt XM177 upper on an SOT lower.

[xenophobe]

Yeah, I don't like muzzle breaks. Just give me a good flash hider.

[straycat]

I agree xeno.
I have 4 or 5 A2 birdcage style in a box and a few 5 1/2 in carbine muzzle devices too but I think those just wouldn't look right on this gun.

[Razor]

Here is my GPI billet lower build long range AR.
Don't like the muzzle brake all that much because it sends too much concussion to anyone next to you.I'll find some other brake soon.
The shorty is a Colt XM177 upper on an SOT lower.

Had a guy at the range a couple of weeks ago shooting a 6.8 SPC with a very similar muzzle brake as yours. The concussion on me was bad ass, but it really didn't bother me that much as I was shooting the Garand anyway. You all are right though, the muzzle brakes certainly make the concussion more noticeable to the point of feeling it.

[straycat]

I had the same issue with my AR pistol so I put a flaming pig style muzzle device to direct the flash and concussion forward.
It works very well to eliminate concussion and damn near eliminated any flash.

[WRC]

straycat the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot is April 10th, 11th & 12th..
I always go on Friday afternoon & on Saturday Night..
Haven't missed one in years other than when they flooded out..
BE THERE!!

[Razor]

I've thought pretty seriously about getting a Griffin Armament QD Blast Shield for my pistol build.