Max Velocity on Patrol Loads and Packs

Max dropped some truth bombs in a post today over at the MVT blog - check it out.

A few quotes, but the whole write up is worth a read:

You have to figure out what you think it is sensible to carry, and what you can carry, and how it applies to your task. I tell people to pack smart. You need what you need, but you should try and cut down. Prepper mindset can lead you to try and pack a whole bunch of stuff, ‘just in case.’ Well, unless it is absolutely essential, like your weapon, then don’t take it! Be smart about it. Concentrate on ammo, water and food, shelter (as applicable) with items to support that WITHIN REASON.

You have to get away from the idea that you can operate in some sort of self contained way indefinitely. So you pack a weeks’ worth of rations and all your camping gear. Now you can hardly move, and are no longer alert on patrolling. After a week you run out of rations. Perhaps pack 2 weeks? NO. You need a base and you need logistics. If you are operating out there for an extended period, you need a team and a logistics plan. You cannot operate on your own indefinitely. How about someone resupplies a cache by some means? ATV, vehicle, whatever? Use your brain to figure it out so you can move lighter and smarter. If you are planning on some sort of extended forward patrol base operation, see what means you can use to get supplies in there without having to hump them, or at least cache them close?

If you are conducting security patrolling, you may be patrolling light at relatively close range to your base, in your standard loadout, like my light battle belt/ CUTT chest rig configuration as an example. Ballistic plates or not, pick your poison. I recommend a light hydration pack so you have water and the ability to carry a small amount of other gear, such as night vision, some food , extra mags etc. Camelbak MULE type item. That loadout will probably have at least 8 or 9 x 5.56 magazines on it (including your rifle). If you are going on an extended patrol and need to take the patrol pack, then you need that ‘second line ammo scale’ on the patrol pack, which would be another 8 mags. See how this is never going to be light anyway, so you need to cut it down where you can.


I will carry the least amount of gear that I can get away with, but there are basics that will always be present. Here are some examples, not an ultimate list, just what pops to mind mentally going through gear:

First Line: Light Battle belt / CUTT Chest Rig / hydration pack:

• Rifle
• Rifle magazines (9)
• Handgun
• Handgun magazines (3)
• Small IFAK
• 2 x TQ
• Radio – if using.
• Leatherman Tool
• Knife
• FLIR Scout
• PVS-14 / Crye Nightcap
• Map/Compass
• Basic rations – energy bars
• Water bladder
• Water purification tablets / straw
• Lighters
• Smoke
• Batteries for all above.
• (Ballistic Plate carrier – if applicable)

Add Patrol Pack:

• Magazines (8)
• Water (either stow the hydration pack as a mini ‘grab bag’ or carry a separate bladder in the patrol pack)
• Rations (3 days stripped down)
• Light jungle sleeping bag / blanket (upgraded for winter)
• Goretex bivvy bag
• Thermal sleeping mat
• MVT SHIELD (use as tarp shelter)
• Spare socks
• Spare clothing / cold weather gear
• Foot care kit / first aid / medications
• Lightweight rocket /solid fuel stove with pot
• Helmet – if applicable / night vision
• Folding saw
• Paracord
• Add misc. items such as batteries and misc. gear.
• Add special to task gear as appropriate.

From Alex: Again, read the whole write up, it's good advice.

I've been writing about keeping bug out bag/patrol packs/go to hell bags (I prefer the latter term personally, but whatevs) as light as possible for a while. That doesn't mean ditching the essentials, it means packing what you need and trimming weight where you can. Your pack might not be an ultralight one, especially if you're conducting some variety of post apocalyptic patrol/operation, but it shouldn't be heavier than it needs to be.

Example - you don't need a stove, but you might want to have one for convenience/comfort. But if you are going to pack one around on foot, it'd better be pretty lightweight.

My personal pack lists is fairly similar to what Max details above -- certainly some nuances; I don't have a stove or a bivvy bag, have 5 mags versus 8, I do have a weapons cleaning kit, that kind of thing. Max didn't intend his lists to be exhaustive and all encompassing, just a starting point for a total collapse, armed citizen's patrol pack.

Discussion on Gear Evolution - Battle Belts, flexibility and plans

Last week, MVT posted up a video talking through his current fighting gear / load bearing equipment, which includes a new chest rig made to his specs. It also includes a pretty cool first person run through a shooting scenario - worth paying attention here to pick up on some of the tactics/techniques that Max teaches.

The set up that Max shows here - a light battle belt and midweight chest rig is interesting in that it is a pretty significant shift from the heavy British Para-webbing style battle belt that he used to be a big advocate for--here's the most recent example that I can find:

Image via MVT.

10-12ish mags, handgun, 4x canteen pouches on the back and a couple handgun pouches to round it out. We'll call it a "British-style" battle belt for lack of a better name.


I toyed around with a British battle belt, similar to Max Velocity's, through part of last year. Went cheap on the belt - got a Condor knock off and their harness, bought a few surplus USGI canteen pouches and used pouches that I had lying around to cobble one together.

Found a lot to like about it - way better load carrying ability and generally more comfortable / better mobility than a comparable weight of chest rig. Gives you the ability to carry a decent amount of food, a canteen, survival gear and a big IFAK, which can be a challenge using other load carrying gear. Good place to put your sidearm and good access to it. Easily adjusts to different weights of clothing, too.

After a bit of T&E, I ended up giving up on a British-style battle belt for my purposes, at least for the time being. Why?

The big deal breaker is operations in/around vehicles, and to a lesser extent moving through structures/room clearing. Canteen/utility pouches on the back and triple-thick mag pouches on the hips extends your width pretty significantly and you start having to turn sideways to get through doors, can't sit in a normal car comfortably, etc.

Image via BPRE

There's also no lighter/low threat profile to choose from with just the heavy belt. A lighter battle gives you the option of operating with just the lighter, more comfortable, lower profile belt on. Options and flexibility are good.

Of course, this isn't exactly a revelation--Max's heavier weight battle belts were a bit of an outlier in the tactical gear world. Folks have been running lighter battle belts in conjunction with a lighter chest rig or plate carrier mounted pouches for a while.




It looks like Max has arrived at a similar conclusion and ditched his big ol' battle belt, at least for general use. In his recent write-up on the new chest rig featured in the video above, Max says:

I have most recently been settling on using a light battlebelt, which is comfortable enough to wear most of the time, augmented by a chest rig. I feel that this is the most practical application across operational environments; it works well for both dismounted operations, vehicle operations, and with or without armor.

This matches my own personal assessment after running a variety of gear - plate carriers with pouches directly attached, stand alone chest rigs of a variety of sizes, 'British' battle belt, etc.

I'm currently mid-process of re-building my kit to incorporate three different layers - light battle belt, chest rig and slick plate carrier. In conjunction with concealed carry/daily carry gear, these standalone pieces give you the flexibility of different profiles to address different situations. Slick plate carrier and CCW if anticipating potential trouble but need to maintain low profile. Light battle belt for running drills on the range or hunting. Throw it all together if the Nazi Zombies are at the front gates.

Chest rig and carrier are sorted out - HSP D3CR and a Velocity Lightweight Plate Carrier. I may down the line drop some coin on a custom rig from Extreme Gear Labs, designers of the D3CR, but generally the stock D3CR does what I need it to do. Looking forward to a couple of the enhancements HSP has in the works this year. The ability to directly attach the D3CR to the carrier, or run it as a standalone rig is money.

Battle belt is a work in progress - ideally want pistol, pistol mags x2, 2-3 rifle mags, dump pouch, IFAK, H2O of some variety, flashlight and multi-tool. Maybe comms, too. Not sure if I can manage all of that with the given real estate, but we'll see.

Follow up posts/reviews are incoming.

In my experience, most people are continually tinkering with/adjusting their gear. Trying new things, incorporating new ideas or revisiting old ones. Travis Haley makes a big emphasis on preaching the importance of staying dynamic and adaptive...and at worst, adjusting and evaluating what you're doing exposes you to different ideas and keeps you on your toes.

Interested to hear from the tribe - are you tinkering with your battle rattle? What gear ideas have you tried out recently and left by the wayside?

Project AR-(20)15 Complete...for now

Mk1 version of the rifle is complete. Click here for the 'before' view. Build is as follows:

Upper:

• 14.5" ELW Barrel w/ BCM Mod 1 Pinned and welded to bring it to 16"
• KMR 13 rail
• Arisaka Defense DIY Scout light - Malkoff bulb, Arisaka body, Surefire tailcap, attached to the Arisaka Keymod scout mount
• Aimpoint H1 on the Larue LT-751 Absolute Co-Witness mount
• Troy folding battle sights
• BCM BCG & Stag charging handle 

Lower:

• Vanilla home-assembled CMMG lower
• BCM Gunfighter handgrip
• BCM QD Endplate
• Magpul STR stock
• Magpul BAD lever

Happy with everything at this point, and will throw out some more detailed reviews/thoughts around some of the components here in the new future.

Weight sits just under 7 pounds without a mag, over 7 pounds with a mag. Very handy, well balanced and comfortable AR. Pretty much exactly what I want.

The Troy's are much more what I am looking for in BUIS than the Magpul PROs were. The Arisaka light setup puts the light exactly where I want it, with a lightweight, low profile mounting solution.

The Microsight is slick and well proven, and purchased second hand for a pretty good deal. Went with the absolute witness mount as that's what I'm used to. I may get some kind of variable magnified scope to switch in and out in the future. Larue's really nice QD mount should facilitate that.

The Gunfighter grip is a huge improvement over the old Magpul grip that I was using, as it has an angle more appropriate for a modern shooting stance, and thus makes the AR a hell of a lot more comfortable shoulder. The old grips end up putting strain on my wrist, which gets annoying after a time.

Life, southern ice storms and waiting on optics and sights to arrive has delayed the initial break in. Should be sometime this next week, and I'm looking forward to throwing some lead with this thing.

As thread title suggests, I'm not entirely done. Need a better charging handle - planning on picking up a Raptor. Need a forward sling QD mount. Probably an upgraded trigger, too. And might swap out the stock.

The black rifle disease...it never ends...

More to come later.

What was in the box - Project AR-(20)15

The BCM upper discussed a little bit back was purchased and arrived in short order. The stats:

• 14.5" Enhanced Lightweight Barrel (ELW)
• Pinned BCM Gunfighter Comp Mod 1
• KMR13 Free float handguard 

The combination shorter barrel along with BCM's proprietary ELW profile and magnesium alloy KMR rail make for a lightweight, agile and all around handy carbine. It's very slick.

Look - a box!

This showed up on my doorstep...hmm, what could it be?

Damn you, BCM, for announcing the end of your perpetual free bolt carrier group sale! Damn you!

Also - try not to get too jealous of my rug.

That is all.

For now.

AR-(20)15 plans

As mentioned in my 2015 goals, one of my big goals is a less specific "General consolidation of stuff / updating / completing various systems (go-to AR, battle rattle, EDC, etc.)."

A commenter asked for specific plans r.e. the AR-15, so here goes.

My current go-to AR-15 is a Stag carbine-length 16" upper w/ MOE handguards and an assemble-it-yourself lower. Current config:

The upper has been 100% reliable through the variety of ammo that I've run through it and ~8 years of use, but it's also pretty outdated, and I find that the carbine-length handguards put a limitation on adopting a more modern grip.

I've had a more up-to-date AR on the back burner since literally the last election cycle (pre-Sandy Hook). I tend to have 1 or 2 major firearms related purchases in finances per year, I decided 2015 was 'bout time to get AR upper done. Prices and availability are not going to get any better, that's for sure.

Current plan, as it stands, is a BCM lightweight BFH 14.5" Mid-length with their 13" KMR rail. Likely the BCM "tactical" gunfighter comp, perma-pinned. That should bring me pretty current in terms of AR-tech, da?

To get ahead of the follow-up questions:

Why BCM? They're pretty universally well regarded as high quality, go-to level stuff. You can save a few hundred bucks going with other brands, and you can spend several hundred more going with others. I'm concerned with having something that I can put confidence in right out of the box, and BCM is one of the brands that I'd put that trust in.

They also do a lot of cool marketing, collaborations and support for the firearms industry as a whole, and I don't mind supporting that, either.

Why 14.5 inches with a pinned comp? It's the shortest you can get without either getting into an SBR or the now questionable AR pistol / SIG Brace territory. Moving indoors and in vehicles is a part of life, and having a maneuverable gun helps make that a bit easier. The downside is that it makes switching out muzzle devices harder, though a capable gunsmith can cut off a pinned on comp if a change is needed down the road.

Why mid-length? Longer gas system = lower pressure slamming through the direct impingement system, less wear and tear and softer recoil impulse.

Why the KMR rail? Ridiculously light weight for a full length rail, super strong, and direct mounting of tacticool accessories via keymod. Does look a bit like hardware store shelving, though.

Why the gunfighter comp? It's a combo flash hider and compensator, so you get goodness from both worlds.

Looking at other options as well - nothing being set in stone at this point. I might go for a 16" barrel, different rail, different comp, etc. Arranging federal reserve notes now. Will make the purchase within the next month or so.

I'm undecided about what to do with the Stag upper - it will be collecting dust in the safe after new upper arrives.

The minimalist don't have excess stuff part of me wants to sell it and roll said funds into the purchase of the new upper. I'm not the type who wants lots of average firearms...I want a few, trusted and higher quality ones. The extra cash to dump into the new project would be welcome.

Survivalist side of me has me holding onto it for a backup / hand out. I have extra lowers hanging out, so it's a complete carbine with a good track record. Not bad to have around.

And the cheap side of me says scrap the new upper, just dump a couple hundred bucks into the current upper to modernize it a bit. New hand guards/rail, maybe free float it, and a few other enhancements to bring it more up to speed.

Thoughts from the tribe?

Compact Cleaning Kit

Off-the-shelf cleaning kits are pretty crappy. I don't ask for a whole lot.  I don't need a giant bag full of cleaning gear, and I don't want something that is 3 feet long. Nor do I want to rely solely on one of those little snakey Otis wires. I'm primarily concerned with having a solid rod that I can use to dislodge an obstruction from the barrel, should I need to. Other stuff is gravy.

This minimalistic kit, based around an extended length OscarDeltaGo Tube has been pieced together components from various places. It fits snugly and securely, nice and self contained, no rattles and no worries about the elements.

From top to bottom, left to right:

• GoTube lid with a length of shock cord
• GoTube - this is an extended length. SnakeDr will hook you up if you ask nicely. Wrapped with:
•  Battle Tape 
• Mossy Oak Gorilla Tape
• Snare wire protected by more Battle Tape
• Space for more...had some cordage wrapped on, but I never have good luck with that staying put
• Single serving of Frog Lube
• Spare battery for my Aimpoint - expires 2021
• Cleaning patches
• Brush and patch loop thing from a USGI-style cleaning kit
• Glock 9mm nylon brush
• 3 cleaning rod sections from the same USGI-style cleaning kit

Discussion on Scout Rifles

Ryan over at TSLRF brought up the question of scout (forward) mounting a scope:

'Scout Mounting' a rifle scope. Presuming we are not talking about a weapon whose unique characteristics (utilizes stripper clips, Bolt gun with strait bolt you do not want to bend, M1 Garand, pre 'AE' Winchester 30-30, etc) what is the train of though behind forward mounting a magnified optic in this fashion? Pro's? Con's? Suitable for some element of precision at intermediate ranges (out to 600m or so)?

For goodness sake do not mention that Jeff Cooper liked it as a reason to do this. Sir Edmund Hillary was a heck of a mountaineer but times have changed and so has equipment. Let's stick to practical reasons and avoid dogmatic circular thinking. 

Now, Cooper popularized a rifle with some specific criteria for the scout rifle. One of his goals (amongst others) was a do-all rifle that could engage targets from 5 yards out to several hundred, rapidly and effectively. He chose a forward mounted, low magnification (2.5x seems standard) scope offered that kind of capability.

Now, you've got to remember that this was in the day before Aimpoints, ACOGs, flip-mounted magnifiers, 1-4x scopes, piggybacked micro red dots, etc. All more modern solutions to similar problems.

Were Cooper alive and pontificating about firearms today, I'd imagine he may very well choose something entirely different than the scout rifle he built back in the day.

Now, that's not to say that scout mounting a scope or the general Cooper-esque scout rifle is without merit. I see them as having value in two scenarios:

A Public Service Announcement on the SIG SB15 Brace

In case you hadn't heard, MAC lays out the latest on the AR-15 'brace' and the BATF.

Thoughts on Fighting Gear: Guns

Thanks to all those who have commented so far on the 'question' post from Monday. It's good to get a gauge for where everyone is before launching into any discussion on a topic.

Based on those comments, I wanted to talk through the firearm part, since several folks seem to be figuring that out. There's no reason to worry about a holster before you've bought the handgun, a sling before you've bought the rifle or how you will carry magazines if you have neither.

And, I will preface this and future conversations by recommending having some emergency savings, food and water storage and other basics before diving into the deep end of fighter gear. I'd also recommend an assessment of risks that you see yourself facing and whether you would play an active role in the defense of your community or whether a support role might be more appropriate.

If you are skeptical of the need for a citizen to take up arms in defense of his community, religion, nation or liberty, please keep your skepticism to yourself and do a little bit of reading on both historical and current events.

Anyways, onto the gun talk!

Carbine Chest Rig in PenCott Greenzone

Criteria for the rig:

• Carbine support + IFAK and water
• Vehicle-friendly
• Single-stack only & comfortable when prone
• Able to wear with/over a vest or plate carrier
• Compatible w/ an 'Assault pack' for a scout/overnight load or extra gear

AR-10 for the Apocalypse

AR-10 for the Apocalypse


Nice ad from PWS, filmed at an abandoned concrete plant with a very nice rifle. Their homepage teases some more end-of-days themed marketing.

Side Note: Black is still the official color of the apocalypse.

Food for Thought: Long guns for home defense

Good video from the HossUSMC on various cornering techniques with a shotgun, which of course can be applied to a rifle as well. The longer the barrel, the more of a problem you'll have.

I would add that if you need to enter a doorway, you want to get through it as quickly as possible - you're most vulnerable to a gun grab if you're slowly edging your way into a room. You're also usually silhouetted in the doorway, making you an easier target - hence the nickname "funnel of death." Don't hang out their any longer than you need to.

No one will argue the superiority of a long gun in a firefight, but when bringing 'em indoors or in vehicles, they bring some special considerations - compromised maneuverability and leverage during a gun grab being two of the biggies.

Another consideration - it's tough to use a shotgun one handed - same goes for rifles, but to a lesser extent. If you need to open a door, pick up a child or shove a loved one out of the way, that long gun can be sub-optimal.

While the long guns win in terms of terminal effectiveness, they have their own tradeoffs that you need to be aware of and train for. And, for many, a handgun may be the better choice for use in the home.

There's an interview floating out there on the interwebs with Chris Costa, where he talks about his choice for home defense: a suppressed handgun. Costa is a guy who has access to pretty much any kind of firearm he wants and has more than a fair amount of knowledge and experience with long guns. He's weighed the options and chosen a handgun over an AR or a sweet Benelli semi-auto for defending his home, at least in normal times.

Interested to hear your thoughts, experience and personal choices.

Thumbs up for Larue Tactical

You know, I'd heard a lot of good stuff about Larue Tactical - there's a lot of enthusiasm about 'em throughout the firearms community. But I'd never bought anything from them, up until recently. I picked up an Ares Gear Ranger belt from them, mostly because they had the belts in stock, versus the 6-8 week wait when ordering elsewhere.

Given the madness throughout the industry right now, I didn't expect to see the belt anytime soon. To my surprise, Larue had it shipped within two business days, and it arrived on my door soon after.

To my surprise, the box held not only the belt, but also a Dillo beverage entry tool, a bottle of 'Dillo Dust seasoning, two bumper sticker-sized stickers and a catalog. That's like $25 worth of free stuff on a $90 order...pretty sweet. No mention of me being a blogger or anything other than an Average Joe anywhere near my order.

They're got a great return policy, too, in case you need to use it, though I imagine the slew of goodies helps reduce returns. Shipping charges were totally reasonable.


If anything wins me over, it's fast shipping, a company that stands behind their products and, of course, a pile of free stuff. I'll be picking up one of their pivoting magnifier mounts at some point this year, and will have one of their .308s at the top of my list when the market calms down and I start shopping for one.

Add me to the long list of Larue Tactical fans...

Obama Election AR Lower - Image

Was going through some older stuff and realized that I never posted up a picture of the assembled AR lower that I talked about at the beginning of December, prior to the current madness. Looks like the upper half will be waiting a while, but even if a ban somehow makes it through, uppers should still be legal, as they are a part, and not the serialized firearm. This will be getting a mid length BCM upper of some variety. Parts list at the original post.

Magazines & Haley Strategic Incog IWB Holster

Received a shipment of Black Dog 25 round, steel lip magazines for the .22lr conversion that I've yet to purchase - more concerned about the actual magazines than the conversion kits. Ordered from Palmetto State Armory on Christmas Eve, so that's a three week and two day wait. You're going to have to be patient these days and rejoice when the orders/backorders ship.

Was perusing ARFCOM, which I rarely do, when I read that DSGArms had FDE 20 round PMAGs in stock, at normal prices. I am fine for AR mags, but, really, a comfort zone of a dozen or two additional wouldn't be bad. So I moseyed on over to their site, which, after loading painfully slow, DID have said magazines in stock. I loaded 10 into my cart and proceeded through their checkout process - and yes, you have to sign up for an account, which I hate. The website chugged and churned and crawled along as I'm sure 1/2 of AR15.com was descending upon it. Finally, I entered in my CC info and clicked to finalize...and then taken to the homepage?

Wait, no order confirmation? Hey wait, the magazines are still in my cart? What gives? Let's see if my "order" is showing up under my newly created account...nope, no history of orders. Ok, let's try to check out again, see if that works...no, wait, the system just removed the magazines from my cart! And they're out of stock.

LAME!

Needless to say, not a happy. Understand that such things happen, but that doesn't mean that I'm happy about it, and I'll probably be hesitant before trying to order through DSGArms again. For those still looking for magazines and want to roll the dice with DSG, they do currently show Pink magazines in stock for $20 (yep - pink!).

I continue to kick myself for passing up deals in the normal days - PMAGs for $12 all day long? I have enough of those...Glock magazines for $22? Oh, I don't really need any more...and on and on. Was literally at a gun show the weekend before the madness began, passed up plenty of decent prices and left with nothing. Not that I'm in a jam or anything as far as magazines go - but there's enough and then there's really enough.

Haley Strategic Incog IWB Holster
A recent e-mail exchange with Ryan from TSLRF  reminded me of a glaring omission in my gear kit - a good concealment holster for my grip chopped Glock 17. There's a long story behind this, but basically I haven't found a holster that had a slim enough profile and offered the adjustability that I was looking for. Today, Haley Strategic and G-Code holsters came out with the Incog, which they collaborated on for design.

Image via G-Code Holsters

The holster is adjustable for depth, cant and tension, and can work in a variety of positions - appendix, as shown above, strong side, behind the hip and crossdraw. The slim construction and adjustability were exactly what I've been looking for. I took its release as a sign and ordered one up - should be here early next week. EDIT: Just read my order confirmation, and it looks like holster companies are getting hit hard by the panic buy, too...which continues to boggle the mind. So it might be a couple weeks...

I tend to like Haley's stuff because the designs, in my experience, are well thought out and put through their paces. Travis & crew test them constantly and refine their stuff multiple times before bringing them to market. For example, they've had a chest rig in the works since before the summer of last year and have run it in classes for months, sent it down range with spec ops guys and made refinements in the design...and they're still working on it. It's not the case of slapping a name and a logo on something and calling it good. They're running and gunning and going through thousands of rounds of ammunition and hours and hours of use with this stuff. That's the kind of thought and effort I like to see going into product design.

Should be one of the first Incogs out in the wild, so stay tuned for an initial rundown sometime next week.

Tip of the Week: Sniper 101

If you're interested in long range shooting, sniping or just learning more about the mad science behind it all, this series of videos from YouTuber Tiborasaurusrex is a wealth of free, excellent quality information. He's up to like video 24 or 25 now, and they'll all quite thorough, no B.S. discussions of the subject matter at hand. Ammunition, rifles, scopes, support gear and the technique and calculations behind extreme long range (over 800 yard) shooting.

Worth checking out!

Need a lower? Pre-order one from Brownells

Brownells has stripped lowers up for pre-order, planned for shipping later this month, and at reasonable prices. If you're still trying to find one, probably your best bet at this point.

Via Jerking the Trigger

Review: Operation Z Vol. 2 - Carbines, Rifles and Shotguns

Note: Please wear a shirt during the zombie apocalypse.

Operation Z Vol. 2 picks up right where Vol. 1 left off - pretty much literally. If you haven't read that review, give it a skim to get some background on the series. Vol. 1 covered handguns, and this DVD delves into carbines, rifles and shotguns. Both were filmed over the same time period--probably a day or two on handguns, and then the next day or two on long guns.

Chris Costa seemed to spend less time on some of the fundamentals as he did the first time around, so you'll get less on things like trigger control, reset, sight picture, etc. He demonstrates proper technique and then hands off. Each shooter cycles through a couple long guns, firing off a magazine while Chris coaches. Most of the shooters are pretty bad, so there's a lot of teaching moments. Costa will occasionally interject, grab the long gun and start showing 'em how its done.

For the viewer at home, this teaching portion serves as a refresher on (or introduction to) the basics. The newbies' errors are fairly obvious and exaggerated, emphasizing why stance is important, why you don't want to flinch, etc. Seeing someone else making mistakes, Costa correcting them, and their shooting improving (a bit) is a helpful learning experience. Newer/non-shooters will of course benefit the most.

My Obama Election Celebration (AR Lower Build)

I'm sure I'm not the only guy who built up an AR lower in the past few weeks since the election. I put this together over the Thanksgiving break. Here's the "before" shot with the parts all laid out. The stripped lower receiver was purchased earlier this summer. The parts kit and other bits post-election.

If you haven't built an AR-15 lower before, they're not too hard. This is my second lower build, and I don't really have all of the "correct" tools or a great workspace. This time around I at least had a decent set of properly sized punches (these Stanley ones - good deal, sturdy too). I've used this Tapco castle nut wrench for both builds, it works, it was cheap and that's about all.

If you're interested in doing it, go for it. There are lots of "how-tos" out there - ITS Tactical has a pretty good one, but there are a ton.  Take your time and be cautious and it should go fine.

Why built it yourself? Learning experience is a big one - no better way to learn how an AR-15 lower half works! You can also pick the parts that meet your specifications up front--trigger guard, grip, sling plate, etc., versus having to switch those out down the road. You do usually save a little bit of money--I have, I dunno, about $265 into it, including the Magpul goodies. Don't expect HUGE savings though unless you're really keeping your eye out for deals, though.

One thing that was different this build: Amazon carries a really wide selection of AR parts at good prices, with free shipping. Last build (in '08), they sure didn't have what they do now. You can buy everything you need to build up a stripped lower on Amazon - I bought everything, save the lower and parts kit on Amazon.

Here's the run down:

• CMMG Inc. Lower - my first AR is a CMMG and has treated me well. They're mil-spec and good to go.
• Doublestar Lower Parts Kit - Nicer overall parts than the DPMS kit I used for my first build. Had a couple extra small bits, which can come in handy. I bent up a takedown detent spring up pretty bad - had a couple spares already, plus an extra in the kit. You can buy the CMMG and Daniel Defense lower parts kits - both good makers, in my opinion - on Amazon.
• Magpul MOE + Grip in FDE - An overmolded/rubberized grip with a storage compartment. Nice feel to it, very comfortable. Way better than the standard AR grip, and better than the plain-jane MOE grip, too. I'll probably switch out the grip on my other AR for one of these, too. Check it out here.
• Magpul Polymer Trigger Guard in FDE - Again, a definite upgrade over the basic trigger guard. Fills in that annoying gap between the trigger guard and grip, and is generally a more ergonomic/comfortable trigger guard. More room if you have to shoot with gloved fingers, too. Nice overall addition. I wish Magpul included the tiny size allen wrench needed to tighten down the grip's one screw, though. Amazon for under $9.
• Mil-Spec Buffer Tube/Receiver Extension and Castle Nut - Good quality, affordable, threads work fine and they're sized right. Not a lot more that I ask! Receiver extension for just over $20, castle nut for under $9.
• Magpul ASAP - I have one of these on my current AR, and generally like it for running a single-point sling. A bit pain to install after everything's put together, so I wanted to do it during the initial build. Here for under $24.

It will wear a Magpul STR in FDE - still waiting on that. And the actual upper will probably be some variety of mid-length - need to decide on that one. TEOTWAWKI Wife is claiming this one as her own...we'll see how that goes!