All posts in AR15 Uppers

Adding to your Carbine could mean more changes than you intended

Every time you add on more and more accessories to a Carbine the more weight you will add to the firearm and movement and snagging can occur.  Anyone that knows what its like to wear tactical pants and walk around a kitchen is going to be able to tell you how many times they’ve torn a pocket on a kitchen cabinet or snagged your pants on a door knob.  You will know what I’m talking about if you’ve worn them and if not, do a YouTube search and you’ll see it discussed.   We’ve sold pants to people that torn pockets off their 5.11 and Woolrich Elite pants.

When you change grips or add on flashlights, the same things can occur.  Gun holsters can get sheered off your body going around corners and even Magpul Accessories can do the same thing.   Everyone keeps an eye o n where their optics are but snagging on windows with your gun grips is something that gets learned the hard way.  I’ve seen rifles fly out of peoples hands during live fire shootings because they did not clear obstructions and the fore grips latched on to something while they were backing up.   I highly recommend you look into the Magpul Angled grips.

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Research your guns before accessorizing

Nowadays many companies will hit you with restocking fees on gun accessories and in all fairness, the real reason is to deter people from being lazy asses and ordering wrong parts and acting like it was the companies fault something didn’t fit.   Many stock accessories tend to not be drop in changes and some fittings may occur, this is very common for non-AR15 style rifles.   People make mistakes but 85% of time we get a call about a return on a gun accessory its because somebody didn’t know that the gun had to go to a gunsmith or that they need to buy another mount or accessory to fit it.

Many companies also give Free Shipping on an item and if you’ve been a lazy bum and purchased a C-more optic and didn’t know that you needed a $75 mount for it to work on your gun and now you want your money back on the scope, we’ll you’re the person I’m talking about.   If you have a question ask it, if you aren’t sure about Magpul Accessories, the manufacturer of your firearm probable knows best.  Everyone and there dog is putting the MOE stocks on their guns and if you have a question about it, call them up.

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Customization of Firearms, fun, but necessary

Even since the AR15 got shortened down to the M4 Carbine, many in the Military and Law Enforcement have realized that there are ways to improve upon the design for the operators advantage.  No longer is an individual issued a rifle and forced to adjust to the stock length.  I have several World War II Vets and Korean War Vets that have told me that they actually hated shooting the M1 Garand and the BAR rifles.  All of those individuals were  under 5’6″ and it was pretty obvious to me as to why they didn’t like it.  They claimed that they couldn’t hit a darn thing with it, but anyone that is a firearm instructor knows that this is probable true.

Nobody starts a 7yr old kid out with a full size bolt action rifle and expects them to shoulder it, now that we have the M4 Carbine in service the stocks are adjustable.   Not just body size, but the types of things you may be wearing like a vest, armor ect can affect LOP.  Magpul Stocks and Accessories are our number one selling stock accessories and and everything from trigger guards to gun grips can be customized.  Body sizes and preferences mean a world of a difference for an operator to become proficient.

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Magpul accessories more fun than dressing up your date to the Prom

We’ve pruned some of gun magazines accessories down a little bit in 2011 based mostly on which products sold, and secondly on which products we got the least complaints about.  Breakage and fit issues is something we really don’t like dealing with because many of the times it was the customer breaking the part while trying to put it on the gun.  It seems to be better these days because quality control in machining has improved but its not a battle we want to deal with every week when people come back with the same products and tell us the part was broken when they got it, when we know that it wasn’t.

Magpul makes some really nice gun sights for the M4 Carbine and they are in the top 3 category with Troy sights.  There are differences in optics sights and having folding sights vs fixed sights is something that comes up fairly often.  Magpul pmags are in their own category and there is very little reason to think about using anything but these gun mags.   You can actually help camoflauge your firearm by picking certain color variations that help break up the look.  Foliage green, OD green an Flat dark earth as well as Black are available for all of the Pmags.

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Lighter Carbines and short magazine capacity?

At first thought many might think that to be a stupid thing to do, but for anyone that has taken a carbine course, lighter firearms don’t wear down an operator the way a heavy one does.   For all of the people that are bench rest shooters, a heavy AR15 barrel is something they want, but in a real fight, the difference between sub-moa and 4 MOA is pretty much a none issue.   I have never shot an AR15 that did worse than 2 MOA and most of them were about 1.5 MOA or better.  Rifle slings can make a bigger difference in comfort also so research that before you alter your firearm too much.

Once you have to get down in the dirt and fire from behind cover, you can really feel how well your firearms balance is.   If the stock doesn’t fit you right it can royally suck to shoot proficiently.  Magpul pmags are the best gun magazines I have ever used for my AR15’s but I have been using 20rd magazines more and more because of the balance it gives me with my firearms.   Sure I’ll use the 30rd magazines if I really need to, but for urban environments gun magazine capacity over 15rds is good enough for anything but a zombie attack.

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Magpul gun magazines and accessories

There are so many configurations and variations with the AR15 that I don’t think the gun is anywhere near going away.   For years people bashed the M16 and AR15 for it’s well known drawbacks but improvements on manufacturing and metal designs has improved the direct impingement design that it’s way above what the M16A2 has been.   Ambidexterous bolt releases and magazine releases has helped keep the gun viable for left handed shooters and now those south paws don’t have to worry about getting more gas blown in their faces than a right handed shooter.

Stocks that are adjustable and can be adapted to left handed and right handed shooting means a more proficient operator.   The Magpul pmags are just a small sample of the extensive magpul product line.  Their gun sights, stocks, and grips are very different and you can easily have 3-4 AR15 rifles that have multiple roles.   Even though the 5.56 round has it’s limits the firearm is completely capable of being a DMR rifle if you have a good shooter and use the right kind of ammunition.

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It’s Christmas shopping season, but there’s no laws on buying for yourself

I admit that I am guilty of buying stuff for myself at this time of year, the truth of the matter is that this tends to be a good time of the year to buy as well as immediately after the Christmas shopping season.  It’s very rare that people give firearm accessories or ammunition as Christmas presents because that can actually be more tedious for a wife or girlfriend than going to Victoria’s Secret and buying items that match.   When it comes to gun accessories on an AR15, you’ll probable have a frustrated female on Christmas wondering if she got you the right item.  Foliage green and flat dark earth aren’t in the Victorias Secret Catalog.

Now that there are different length AR15 rifles and it’s not as simple as the A1, A2 or A3 styles.  You might  be better off shopping for your on AR15 upper receivers.   You won’t find many options for clearance prices, but the used and hardly used guns parts are out there.   Spikes tactical uppers seem to be hot sellers right now because they are reasonable priced and of good quality for those that are looking for a good accessorized or plinking gun.   I’m sure there are people out there that think they are above that level, but Daniel Defense, Colt and LWRC are in another category.

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Magpul Stocks and Accessories

If you’re ready to do some Christmas shopping for your husband or boyfriend, ask them if they need anything for  their AR15 and I’m sure there will be something that they wish they could put on there gun.   Everyone with an AR15 has something that they want to try out or mount.   There are different accessories for different things and recently I got a phone call from a friend that was looking for an AR15 for varmint hunting.   Varmint hunting is something that comes up from time to time and its more about magazines and bullet styles than accessories, but sometimes that might mean rail covers on everything.

I tried the whole folding handguard thing but it didn’t work out too well when I found out that it was cracking.  The Magpul MOE accessories are probable the newest thing that is going to cause the AR15 world to go crazy over.   Everyone put a fore grip on their AR15 and some people never knew why they should do it, now people are realized how difficult it is to shoot with something like that and the Angled foregrips from Magpul give you the best middle of the road option.   The Magpul MOE also cuts out a good bit of weight for someone that cares about that.

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One thing at a time is the way to modify a firearm

People can move entirely too fast when it comes to customizing and AR15 rifle.   I  have seen countless times while attending Carbine courses where people end up just stripping their guns down and finish the courses with flashlights and grips being removed.   One of the biggest changes we’ve seen in recent months is a move away from foregrips.   That whole stance is somewhat un-natural for people although in some people’s minds, it looks cool  so they want to do it too.

The move away from using the foregrips of the past has actually been a move towards getting rid of them or the Magpul angled foregrips.   These Magpul stocks and accessories have really become original as a matter of fact, the MOE stands fro Magpul Original Equipment which very much lives up to it’s name.  Once students got down on the ground or were shooting from behind cover, the protruding gun parts and accessories really got in the way and opened an Operator up to snags and bonking.

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I’m an LWRC Piston guy, but……….

I’ve been on bandwagon with LWRC long before we sold their upper receivers and I really have a hard time spending money on anything but.  We’ve been involved with gun builds at various places in the Country and it’s been loads of fun doing it and see people build or assemble their first AR15.   The AR15 is still the next best training rifle after a 22LR bolt action for new shooters.   You can teach range adjustments and get people to learn how to manipulate a firearm that is basically the same thing that most of our standing military uses.

If you are looking to get your first AR15, I would not hesitate to tell you that you really don’t need to spend more than about $600.   I see nothing wrong with people buying something like Spikes Tactical Uppers and slapping it on a used upper receiver or a less expensive gun.   Spikes Tactical Uppers give you a very good starting point with quality parts and a good price point.   If you don’t think you’ll be put on the front line and be shooting 10,000rds a year through your barrel, don’t worry about spending the $2000 on an LWRC.

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