Gun company Beretta is tone deaf when it comes to calls for restrictions on powerful guns sold in the United States. It must be the chance to make money.
Now, this is a short article on the Beretta ARX100, which isn't terribly powerful, no matter how you configure it. And yes, they make money selling guns. Duh.
And maybe most important of all, the ARX100 is reasonably priced at $1,950, which does not include bullets.
Oh, my! Only $1950! I think I have that stuck between the seat cushions in my car.
Most of the rest of the article is regurgitated from Beretta's press release.
They're kind of expensive rifles, but good rifles aren't cheap, and these are good rifles. When you add in the free EoTech sight, it's a pretty darn good deal.
DSG is pretty good for aluminum AR magazines and other gear, if you're like me and don't really need another AR, take advantage of the free shipping offer. Coupon code "NOFREIGHT4YOU"
You can read a little more on the Hotchkiss Universal here, from the Modern Firearms website. Somewhat unusual for a French gun, it's chambered for 9mm Luger, rather than something wimpy and obscure like many French service pistols, or the 7.65x20mm MAS-38 submachinegun. Retracting the barrel, for folding it, requires putting fingers perilously close to the muzzle.
The Hotchkiss Universal is fairly complicated and was probably pretty expensive compared to SMGs of it's day, like the British STEN and American M3 Grease Gun, which were mostly made from bits of tubing welded together, and maybe a stamped steel grip frame, with a barrel screwed on the front.
British Farquhar-Hill rifle - Antique Tacticool
First designed in 1908, but adopted by the British in 1918.
The drum magazine of the WW1-era British Farquhar-Hill rifle doesn't have feedlips. The rounds are held in the magazine by a manual latch. The feedlips are machined into the receiver, sort of the way it was done with the Mosin Nagant. After loading the magazine, and releasing the catch on the magazine, the bolt is released by pulling the trigger, which makes it easy to put back into action, but somewhat dangerous for anyone who happens to be nearby, such as your brothers in arms in the trenches, as you are preparing for a run across no-mans-land.
According to the Wikipedia article, the standard drum held 20-rounds, but there were also 65-round drums. The .303 British cartridge, like most very-old rifle cartridges, is a rimmed round, which doesn't work very well in box magazines. The rim of the top round in the magazine can get "locked" behind the rim of the round under it. Drum magazines are a way to get around this, providing that you can made the drum magazine work properly. As far as I know, the SMLE box magazines worked fine, but at the time the Farquhar-Hill was designed, the SMLE magazines were all 10-round capacity. However, the year that that the Farquhar-Hill was adopted, there was a run of 20-round Lee Enfield box magazines produced.
The Lee Enfield SMLE remained the primary British service rifle, until being replaced by the L1A1 SLR (Self Loading Rifle) in 1957, which is the inch-pattern version of the FN FAL rifle.
I'm up to 1110 rounds through the ACR with no lubrication, and without cleaning the action. The manual says that no lubrication is necessary, so I've been running it completely dry. It doesn't seem to be doing any harm. I have cleaned the bore and chamber though, hoping to squeeze a little more accuracy out of it.
I've tried a bunch of "match" loads through it, trying to get a decent group, but the best groups I've gotten have been around 2" at 100 yards. These same loads have been around .9" to 1 1/8" out of my LMT M4. I tried removing and reinstalling the barrel, and really snugging down the barrel nut. I tried supporting the handguard at the middle, and back toward the magazine well. I checked to make sure my rifle rest was solidly locked down and screwed together tight. Getting a really good group out of the ACR is proving to be frustrating. My best load to date through the LMT has been a round with a Midway 55gr varmint bullet, which the ACR puts into sloppy 3 inch groups. Maybe some of the lighter MatchKing or Hornady bullets will do a little better from the ACR, fingers crossed.
I'm not sure if the 1:7" twist barrels are available yet. They have been extremely slow introducing barrels for the civilian market, which kind of makes the "A" for adaptive kind of a joke. Mine is a 1:9" twist. I was told that 1:9" twist barrels will sometimes shoot heavy bullets just fine, so I tried some. The Nosler 77gr Custom Competition bullets just sort of sprayed. I actually couldn't keep them all on a 14x14" target. It was really that bad. 75gr Hornady match bullets did very much better, but still didn't produce anything resembling an impressive group. 69 grain MatchKings were good, but still not impressive.
But at least it runs. It's chewed through the softest shooting ammo that I could find, and obviously has no problem with hot 5.56mm spec ammo. Steel case ammo has not yet posed a problem, at least not with the ACR.
It does have magazine preferances, but then most rifles do, to some extent. A Fusil steel magazine or two have seemed to lock in, and pass the pull test, only to fall back out when a shot is fired (embarrasing). A couple of my old English SA80 steel magazines lock in well, but then you have to really mash the magazine release to get them back out again. But the ACR chugs along happily with G.I. aluminum magazines, PMags of various generations and capacities, TangoDown, C Products stainless steel, Lancer and Troy magazines. I'm not sure if Fusil is even still making magazines, and I suspect that a lot of the old English steel SA80 magazines have been crushed, scrapped, or trashed, as 3 of the 5 that I bought in 2002 have proven to be sub-par.
Oh, and I dumped the trigger that came with the rifle. I bought a Geissele SSA-Enhanced AR-15 trigger on sale from Palmetto State Armory, and installed it with the ACR hammer spring, which doubles as the selector detent spring. Soooo much better. I run an SSA in my main AR-15, and I've got another with a 15-minute trigger job. The ACR trigger really sucked compared to both, and couldn't even compete with a Tapco AK trigger. I usually take 2 rifles with me when I got to shoot, and the ACR always came in 2nd place because the trigger pull was always heavier than whatever else I took. Just unpleasantly heavy if you have anything to compare it to.
Here is the video I put up on YouTube. It's a little less than two and a half minutes. I spent way too much time on it, struggling with Windows Live Movie Maker, restarting my computer about a dozen times before I got it all together and working properly.
Since I was rebuilding one of my AR-15 uppers anyway, I decided that I should try a compensator. I would have preferred a BattleComp, but was not willing to pay the price for one. There are a few options for similar comps, and the one that I chose was the Pigsticker from Palmetto State Armory. Things did not go exactly to plan. Although muzzle flip is minimal. . .
That upper will get it's A2 flash-suppressor back, and I'll probably put the Pigsticker on a 16" barrel at some point in the future, to see how that goes. When that happens, I'll put up another video.
"At the time the Constitution was written, the weapons in question were muskets."
You know what? You're right. And marriage was between one man and one woman. So what's with gay marriage? No longer will I offer any moral support, oppose any online statements attacking it, speak out for it. They have the same right as anyone—to marry someone of the opposite gender. And given that all gays support raping little boys (just like all gun owners support shooting school kids), I don't think I can support them. We should do things just the way they were done 220 years ago. That's the liberal way.
I thought the Bill Evers, "How to convince a socialist" video was pretty cool, although admittedly pretty boring. This "Post in Which I Piss Off EVERYBODY" is basically Bill Evers' technique masterfully applied to gun control. I love it.
Natchez has Promag AK-74 and AK-47 magazines in stock for around $18. The new Promag magazines are supposed to be pretty good, but lack the metal reinforcements. They also have some Glock magazines, but they are running $35 now. Nosler 9mm bullets at 14 cents each.
PLR16 with modified Vltor Handguard. Spike's Havoc launcher, because Tacticool.
Kinda funny that this should come up a few days after Eric at the Gunmart Blog posted The Definitive List - You Might Be An Internet Commando. . . I have a Kel-Tec forum membership, because I owned a P3AT for a few months, six years ago. So when I read, "… if you are a member of the Kel-Tec forum but don’t own a Kel-Tec," on the list, it gave me a big stupid smile. "I resemble that remark."
I've been pretty mad, for the last month or so. Can't turn on the news for long without hearing talk of gun control (civilian disarmament). Except for maybe Fox News Channel* or talk radio, it's always some dope who has no idea what they are talking about. "Assault weapon" this, "assault rifle" that, still confusing semi-automatic and full-automatic, magazines called clips, and rounds of ammunition are called bullets. Really quite aggravating, when the fools are running the show and setting the agenda. Obama's executive orders, and trotting out elementary school students who don't know any better, really only twists the knife.
And then, finally, the slushbox transmission in my brain changed gears. The thought occurred to me that an AR-15 lower is not inherently semi-automatic. Hell, there's even a crossbow upper. The Brits have been shooting manually-operated ARs. CMMG is working on a black powder muzzle-loader upper. Should the day come, when a confiscation law passes, we may not necessarily have to completely give up our $2000 ARs. A barrel without a gas port should do.
Magazines are not serialized. Uppers are not serialized. There's no paper trails. It's completely legal to sell these things to anyone without a bill-of-sale or involving a dealer. I never had very many anyway, and sold most of what I had for a tidy profit anyway. . . What? It's true! Prove that I'm lying!
AKs are a trickier nut to crack. Maybe someone's already got a solution to that one, that doesn't require a hydraulic press, and a few hours of gunsmithing. I know that "bullet buttons" are nixed by the 2013 feinstein ban, and we probably won't get away with "freatureless builds" either.
There's a mid-term election in 2014. The NRA and SAF, if they're smart, are already working on a lawsuit. The world will likely not come to an end, and the country will most likely not crumble into chaos. All is not lost, at least not yet. We'll have to see what comes of this "ruling by decree" B.S..
So hang in there folks. Keep calm. Continue to call and write to your congressmen, and go to one of the upcoming capital building marches, if at all possible. But maybe start to think more about short-term work-arounds, than going out in a blaze of glory fighting off the SWAT team or National Guard and starting a new civil war. Maybe you're smarter than me, and you've already figured that out.
* - That asshat o'reilley can suck one, though. He's almost as bad as piers morgan.
Sorry, videos were deleted from YouTube. Can't really say I blame the dude for doing it.
mattv2099 has finally revealed how he makes those Bumpinator stocks, which are a sort of ghetto, redneck-engineering versions of the Slide-Fire and Bumpski stocks.
REMOVED VIDEO: VIDEO DELETED
Most of the work can be done with a Dremel tool. I'm not sure about the square tube, but the other hardware you can find at your local ACE or Home Depot. This one seems to be for the AK/Converted Saiga series of rifles and shotguns, but with a little ingenuity, could be applied to SKS and 10/22 rifles, as you can see in mattv2099's other Bumpinator videos. EDIT: Nevermind. I forgot that the pistol grip is attached to the butt, and not the part of the stock that the action drops into.
Here is Br0dBaNd's home-made AR-15 bump-fire stock. Because of the way the grip attaches to an AR, you have to do it differently.
(For educational purposes only, obviously, Suburban's Domain not responsible for any damages to persons, or property, bail, lawyer fees, or anything else, and I will not make one for you either)
EDIT, 2/27/2013: Matt added a new video on how he did the 10/22 Bumpinator.
REMOVED VIDEO: VIDEO DELETED
EDIT, 6/9/2013:He put this one back up. This is all for now
This is the response I received from Senator Casey after writing him about the proposed "assault weapon," and "high-capacity" magazine bans, with the now-obligatory bullshit about him being a 2nd Amendment supporter.
Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue.
As you know, on December 14, 2012, an individual in Newtown, Connecticut forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and opened fire on teachers and staff in the building. In total, the perpetrator murdered 20 students between the ages of six and seven years old, as well as six adults, many of whom heroically sought to stop the shooter and save the lives of children. Like many Americans, I was deeply affected by the scope and brutality of this act. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
The motives that led to this senseless massacre will likely never fully be comprehended. However, I believe that all public officials have a responsibility to work to prevent such an event from occurring again. This incident reflects a complex problem that requires a comprehensive strategy, including funding for law enforcement officers and the mental health care system. Too many individuals with mental illness are not receiving the services they need and tragically, sometimes a small number of these individuals turn violent. I have supported access to affordable and accessible mental health services for all Americans and I will continue to review proposed solutions to improve our mental health system.
As you may know, I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. Pennsylvania has a fine hunting and sporting tradition, and I will defend the right to bear arms as it is enshrined in our Constitution. However, I also believe that the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School highlights very serious dangers posed to public safety by the misuse of certain weapons and technology originally developed for warfare. According to reports, the shooter was able to kill many children and adults very quickly because he possessed a military-style semiautomatic weapon. He also allegedly used magazines containing up to 30 rounds of ammunition and carried hundreds of rounds more. After much reflection and careful study of the issue, I have decided to support a federal assault weapons ban as well as legislation restricting high capacity clips. In light of what occurred at Sandy Hook, these are two measures that will lessen the chances that this will happen again soon. (emphasis mine)
Our Nation has already begun a critical dialogue as we examine what steps must be taken to prevent this type of tragedy in the future. On December 19, 2012, President Obama announced the formation of an inter-agency task initiative, led by Vice President Biden, to study these issues and recommend possible actions. I look forward to reviewing these proposals, as well to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address this complex issue.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.
Sample Letter to send to Senator Casey
------------------------
I'll thank you for replying to my e-mail about the proposed "assault weapon" bill, but I feel that I must remind you of your two primary jobs as a senator. You took an oath, swearing to "support and defend the Constitution," and if you are not going to abide by that, you need to resign. Your other primary job is to represent your constituents in congress.
Let me quote, for you, the unabridged 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
You probably also know, but I will remind you, that when the 2nd Amendment was written, that all males over the age of 18 were considered to be members of the unorganized militia, and they were required to provide arms and ammunition for militia service. The National Guard did not come about until over 100 years later. The militia is the people, not the military or the National Guard.
So, we have established that the 2nd Amendment applies to all males of age, and through equal opportunities also applies to women. There is nothing there about "sporting purposes" or hunting. Nothing about "reasonable restrictions." Certainly nothing about "conforming to global norms." Keeping and bearing arms is not a privilege. What it says, is "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
As your constituent, I want you to uphold your oath to defend the Constitution, including the 2nd and 4th Amendments. The 4th Amendment? Yes, the 4th also. The 2013 Feinstein "assault weapon" bill requires that "assault weapons" and "high-capacity" magazines be transferred to the government upon the death of the owner, and can not be transferred to family or anyone else. The 4th Amendment protects the people from unreasonable search and seizure.
No more gun bans. None. Don't compromise back to the terms of the 1994 ban, or something else We have thousands of gun laws already, they just aren't prosecuted, and criminals break laws, by definition.
The 1994 Clinton "Assault Weapon" ban did not stop mass shootings. The Columbine shootings, and the North Hollywood bank shootout both happened while the Clinton ban was in effect. Connecticut already had an "assault weapon" ban, and was a "gun free" zone - a lot of good that did at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I want you to fight against further restrictions of the right of law-abiding Americans, and I am really serious about it. Guns do not cause crime any more than chairs, coffee cups, or the leaves on trees.
Sorry, I wish I had something entertaining, gun porn, or something better to report. I've also broken my rule of keeping language clean, because this shit is really fucked up.
Here's what I e-mailed my congressman, and the president (for all the good that'll do).
I've been working on a more detailed letter, however, time
seems to be of the essence, and Senator Feinstein's 2013 "assault
weapons" ban would affect far more gun owners than the 1994 Clinton "crime"
bill. The new bill requires
grandfathered firearms to be registered with the ATF, and that registration
will likely cost the taxpayers, all taxpayers, billions of dollars. This registration requires fingerprinting and
FBI background checks that will tie up local police departments and the FBI for
many months. Canada spent over two billion
dollars on their gun registry, before finally admitting that it just wasn't
working, and they just gave up on it.
The guns covered by the proposed 2013 ban are NOT machineguns. Sales of real machineguns have been taxed,
registered, and subject to serious FBI background checks since 1934, and
further restricted by the manufacture ban of 1986. The new Feinstein ban would cover ALL pistols
of the type carried by police officers, and essentially all other
semi-automatic firearms. Basically every
type of rifle, pistol, and shotgun designed since the beginning of the 1900's
would be banned from manufacture, and the ownership and sales of existing
banned firearms being heavily controlled.
There are times when great expense is justifiable. This will not be one of them. The 1994 ban expired in 2004 because
"assault weapons" were used in less than 2% of crimes to begin with,
and no amount of legislation on these guns will have a significant impact on
crime. A University
of Pennsylvania study, commissioned by
the National Institute of Justice, wrote of the 1994 Clinton "assault weapon" ban, “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of
the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no
discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence.” Crime rates have actually dropped since the
expiration of the 1994 Clinton "Assault Weapon" ban. The 1994 ban didn't stop the Columbine school
shooting, and it didn't stop the North Hollywood
bank shootout. The problem with gun laws
is that criminals break laws, by definition, and the gun laws only affect the
law-abiding citizen.
Gun owners took note of who voted for the 1994 ban. Thirty-three of the congressmen that voted
for the Clinton
ban in 1994 were defeated in the elections of 1994, and 6 more were defeated in
1996. Bill Clinton and USA Today, to
name two, largely blame the NRA advocacy in the wake of the the 1994 ban, for
Gore's defeat in the presidential race of 2000. Don't get yourself defeated in the next
election, think of what that means for the rest of your personal agenda and
objections to current policy.
Sign White House Petition to Press Charges against NBC Meet The Press host David Gregory, for breaking Washington D.C.'s "assault weapon" ban. He held up, on camera, a 30-round AR-15/M-16 magazine, and stated, "Here is a magazine for ammunition that carries 30 bullets." Oops! D.C. gun laws say these magazines are not legal in the district. It doesn't matter whether you have a firearm that it goes to or not. Since Gregory is advocating a federal ban on these magazines, I think it's important that we hold him responsible for breaking the D.C. law. I'm sure that he'd probably rat you out for doing the same, given the opportunity.
Screencap from NBC video (link posted below)
NBC has the episode posted on their website. He holds up the magazine at about the 9 minute 45 second mark on the video. You can skip to that point by dragging the triangle underneath the video.
I know that there's lots of stupid crimes, I've seen the TV shows and read the reports, but usually they don't involve asking the police beforehand, doing it anyway, announcing it, recording it on video, broadcasting it nationwide, and putting the video on the internet for the whole world to see. THAT is a kind of stupid, the likes of which I have not seen in a very long time!
Brought to my attention by hickok45, on YouTube, posted by ammoland.com is a form letter to send to your representatives and senators. Although I would have focused more on "criminals break laws, by definition," than "let's not give government complete control over our lives," I know that we are all busy to one extent or another, particularly around the holidays, and cutting and pasting the form letter is far better than doing nothing.
I was out shooting some more Tula .223 Remington steel-case ammo, and had a couple more failures. This time it was a stuck case, one of the things I had been warned about with steel-case ammo. The extractor would not hold onto the rim. I had an AK-74 cleaning rod with me, but it wasn't long enough to knock the case out. I have a Colt bolt with the gold extractor spring, black insert, and Crane o-ring installed in this rifle. The extractor is still completely intact. I only had 4 30-round magazines through a clean upper, with a clean chamber. I have never had this problem with brass-case ammo. I don't know what else to call it but an ammo failure.
I also experienced a fraction-of-a-second hang-fire. The Geisselle trigger in the lower I was using was installed for shooting 5.45x39mm Russian surplus ammo, and gives the primers a good smack, so that should not have been an issue. Again, I have to call ammo failure.
Would I buy any more? Eh, I don't know. It's about as cheap as you're going to get in this caliber, but it won't run in one of my rifles, and apparently cakes the chamber with carbon fouling. I guess for shooting cheaper ammo, I will stick to 5.45x39mm, which at least has a tapered shell casing. The Spike's 5.45x39mm upper has been running well, now that I have the magazines figured out.
At the moment, there is probably none in stock anywhere anyway. What there is available is likely marked up so high, that you'd have to be a fool to buy it. Black rifles, lowers, and "high-capacity" magazines have been selling like crazy over the last 7 days, and finding anything in stock at a reasonable price is getting nearly impossible.
That's my M4 there with UBR. Compartment doors removed.
Use coupon code "UBRSALE" at checkout to get $50 off the regular price of $249.95. All the Magpul stuff from AIM comes with free shipping. I'm not entirely sure if the sale applies to colors other than black. The link in the newsletter took me to the product page for the black stock.
I think I bought mine 50% off, years ago. I think the AIM sale price is the cheapest that I've seen them since. If you can get past the extra weight and the price, they are very nice.
I bought a bunch of Primary Arms red dot sights when they ran a sale a few years ago.
Bright Enough
One of the biggest things to be careful of, when buying cheaper dot sights, is to make sure they are going to work in bright sunlight. I sucks when you go out shooting with someone, and then you have to explain to them that you can't shoot now, because your dot isn't bright enough to see against the target. What's worse is when you've traveled to a match, and paid your entry fee and then discover that your sight no worky. Fortunately, the Primary Arms sights don't have that problem. The dots in the PA sights can be made bright enough to work in bright daylight.
Blue Tint :(
When I took the M3 clone out of the box, and looked through it, the blue tint of the lenses was immediately noticeable. I didn't immediately notice the tint with the Micro clones, but it is there, though not as bad as the M3 clone.
The blue tint of the M3 clone is not a deal-breaker, as far as I'm concerned, but it is sort of annoying. The tint of the micros is barely unnoticeable
Battery Life
One of things you lose, over a real Aimpoint, is battery life. An Aimpoint M2 will go about 3 years, left on, on a single battery. The new Aimpoints with the ACET circuits are said to go 5 years. The Primary Arms sights will not go nearly that long, but I have not personally measured battery life.
I left one of my micros left on for about 9 days with the battery that came with the sight. When I went to pick up the rifle again, the battery was dead. I replaced the battery with an Energizer. I have since left it on for a few days, before realizing that I left it on, and that Energizer will still operates the sight just fine. So battery life is good, but not as ridiculously long as the Aimpoints.
I don't think I've replaced the batteries in the M3 clones, though I don't use the uppers that they are mounted to as much as I use the uppers with the micros. A little research shows owners of PA micros and M3 clones reporting about 200 hours battery life.
The M3 clones run on 357 button batteries (that's pretty easy to remember), and the Micros run on 2032 coin batteries (same as the Aimpoint Micros). These batteries are easy to find and inexpensive at Wal-Mart, and if you are in a pinch, at drug stores and other places that sell electronics for about twice the price, maybe more. Keep spares in your range bag, your pistol grip, vertical grip, or stock.
Primary Arms Micro QD Riser Mount
The PA micros, with detachable Picatinny mounts, should work with any mount that is made for an Aimpoint Micro. There are some Primary Arms micros with built-in mounts though. Primary Arms offers a QD mount high enough to co-witness with back-up or fixed sights on an AR-15, as long as you aren't using the Troy Micro BUIS made for the HK 416 uppers.
The sliding button that locks the lever in place has a stiff spring. The locking lever itself is rather stiff to operate also. It's not as good as the American Defense mount that I bought for the real Aimpoint T-1, but the Primary Arms mount is three-eighths the price of the AD mount, and less than a third the price of the Larue mount, so it's kind of hard to complain. The PA riser mount works, and it's very inexpensive. It's just not very slick, and it's made in China, or some such place, while most of the other more expensive options are made in America.
AK Platform Use
If you are going to mount a micro sight on an AK with an Ultimak gas tube or TWS Dogleg mount, and you want the micro and iron sights to co-witness, then you'll want one with the built-in mount (model MD-07), not a detachable mount (models MD-06, or MD-08). The Primary Arms micro with detachable mount I have on the WASR-10 with Ultimak sits too high to co-witness. The built-in mount would also probably be desirable for mounting on a pistol with a scope rail. Primary Arms Blog: Why Three Versions of the Micro Sight?
The PA micro sight that I mounted on the Ultimak does get warm after shooting a few magazines through the rifle. Although it did come loose, the heat doesn't seem to have done any harm to the sight. I haven't bump-fired drum magazines, but everything seems to be good to go.
Micro Kill Flash
One option available from Primary Arms, but not available from Aimpoint is a micro red dot optic with a screw-in Kill Flash. If you are not familiar, a Kill Flash is a honeycomb disk that hides the light from the LED emitter from everyone not looking directly through the tube. Kind of silly, for something that's not really a combat optic, but I credit PA for innovation.
Primary Arms Micro Kill Flash
I tried taking the Kill Flash from my Aimpoint M2, and screwing it into the Primary Arms M3-clone. The Primary Arms sight seems to be too small in diameter, and the castle nut holding in the front lens goes right up to the front edge of the tube anyway. No go.
The Verdict
If you need a red dot optic for a plinker, or even a competition gun, definitely consider a Primary Arms sight. Probably skip the Kill Flash though.
Besides the blue tint, there isn't really anything that I have to complain about. I haven't had any mechanical or electronic issues.
Durability seems very good. The lens covers on the M3-clones are holding up, which is surprising for "freebies," considering that I've had several sets just fall apart with normal use, including Butler Creek covers. The bikini lens cover from one of the micros broke, but that sometimes happens with the Aimpoint Micro lens covers too. If you look on YouTube, there is a video of a Primary Arms micro sight getting tossed around and dropped on the concrete pad of a shooting range, then picked up, and it's still working. Placed back on the rifle, it's still holding zero.
97SVTVERT Torture Testing A Primary Arms Micro Sight
For a defensive firearm? Well, they do hold a zero pretty well. You can't leave them on, like you might with an Aimpoint, but if you have iron sights co-witnessed through the optic then you should be fine, just turn the sight on when you need it. Maybe not optimal, but workable and a lot cheaper than an Aimpoint. Don't spend ALL your money on optics, and not have money left over for ammo. Live-fire practice is important to develop the software needed to be effective, don't skip it to buy better hardware that you don't really need.
I will also caution you not to buy cheap, and then ending up buying twice. If you are going to end up with a quality optic eventually, consider holding off and saving your money. I knew when I bought my Primary Arms sights that I could always put them on rimfires or airsoft guns. The tan M4 in the photo above is actually an airsoft gun. The AR upper with the M3-clone at the top of the group photo is a 9mm upper that I bought for practice at indoor pistol ranges, and that sight isn't going anywhere.
If you think the blue tint of the M3-clone might bother you, maybe check out a Vortex sight.
The magazine adapters just bolt onto the bottom of the SKS action. With the magazine adapters, you hack the duckbill off the front of the Tapco 20-round magazines. The 5th generation allows the modified magazines to drop free when you press the trigger-shaped catch, if your bolt is modified so that it doesn't retain the magazine by the feed lips. The magazines go straight in, with no rock-n-lock.
This video does a good job of showing how the 5th generation adapter works.
Unaltered SKS bolt doesn't allow Tactical mag changes, or magazines to drop free
The 3rd generation magazine adapter allows for trimming the duckbill off the front of the Tapco magazines, but the adapter is really just a front lip for holding in the front of the magazine.
3rd Generation Mag Adapter
For use with stock rifles and the 3rd generation mag adapters, they also have an extended magazine catch. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the catch is sitting right in front of the trigger guard.
The mag release is pretty expensive though, at $58 (shipped). They will send you $7 through PayPal if you send them your stock SKS mag catch though. The 5th generation mag adapter works out cheaper than the 3rd generation adapter and extended mag catch.
They say this stuff will work with ALL SKS rifles, regardless of which country they're from.
I think there will be an SKS rifle build in my future. I'm thinking a 16" barrel (or maybe a 14.7" barrel with permanent attached flash-hider/brake), 5th generation mag adapter, folding stock, scout scope base. . . Sounds like a lot of money to put into a $300 rifle, but have you priced AKs lately?
If you thought the origional PMag test videos were a little crazy, you haven't seen nothin' yet. Green and tan follower G.I. mags, PMags, Tapco mags, Troy Blattlemags, Tango Down ARC mags, and Lancer AWM. The magazines get soaked in various cleaners overnight, run in the dishwasher, heated with MRE warmers (I dunno either), dropped multiple times. . .
There were some mag body cracks, rounds popping loose, one mag rusted, one badly rusted spring, some discoloration, one floorplate melted some, a floorplate came loose, a couple dented magazine bodies, an explosive disassembly, and even a cracked follower.
I realized that I had a collection of reviews, and just maybe some wisdom to share. I hope to keep the information as unbiased as humanly possible.
Why do I bother writing all this stuff? When I buy something, I want it to work the way I want it to. I hope that what goes around, comes around, and that I'll find the reviews or advice that I need when I go looking for information.
The items reviewed on the blog are, almost without exception, purchased or rented by myself, with real money.
I am also kind of hoping that maybe someone in the right position may see some glimmer of genious in my ramblings, and help get me a paying gig at a gun magazine or website.
I hope that some of this nonsense in the blog is helpful to someone.
Don't be afraid to post comments!
About Me
Some of you may wonder what the deal with the nickname is.It’s short for Suburban Commando, a nick I picked up in high school.A few companions that were a little left of center though it was quite funny, I accepted it out of spite.
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit of a Glocker.I really can’t have nice things, so the basic black pistols work just fine for me.
I’ve also shot rimfire benchrest.I even managed to win a local match.My best score to date was shot with a completely rebuilt Ruger 10/22 with a KID trigger and barrel, although my Remington 40XRBR is more consistant.
I started shooting rimfire benchrest in 2004, I think.I got into action pistol competitions in 2006.
