Stop screwing around with those inferior gun magazines

I just pulled out one of my gun cases and noticed that I had a couple 30rd magazines still in it.   I never stow loaded magazines in gun cases, but there have been times that I have gone to gun ranges and realized I had a bunch of Mini 14 magazines and not the GI AR15 magazines I thought they were.   I still have a few GI magazines laying around but I never bring them to the range.   It’s funny that I view my AR15s in a different light now that I have been using PMAGS.   Almost a decade ago I use to spend a lot my weekends at a gun range about an hour from me, and use to watch the guys with the AR15’s in amazement because of how much money they had tied up in the firearms.

I finally broke down and picked up a Bushmaster XM15E2 and took it to the range.   I must have had close to 6 malfunctions with it the first month I shot the thing and almost retired the gun.   I heard about Magpul Pmags after a friend sent me the link to a Youtube video.  I picked up one magazine because I didn’t want to end up getting screwed if they weren’t good, well, needless to say I ended up picking up more magazines a few more AR15s.  Magpul industries really has their stuff in order when it means creating combat reliable magazines and accessories.

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Sometimes it’s not about self-defense and fighting

Sometimes it all about having fun and taking friends and family to the range and showing off your toys.   The AR15 is hands down the number one centerfire rifle that I teach family members to shoot on because the ergonomics and recoil are easy for even an older child to shoot.  Stock adjustability makes the gun an easy fit for the young and old, short and tall.    Sure there are plenty of customizations you can do but if you have an AR15, you already know this.  Some of the AR15s absolutely are better than others and sometimes in different ways.

I have several Bushmaster firearms that I still have fun shooting with but they stay home if I am doing serious training.  I have often looked at picking up some of the Spikes Tactical Uppers if I need to replace the Bushmasters just because the reputation of Spikes Tactical guns is so good.   The real reason people like the Spikes Tactical stuff is because the company seems to have their stuff in order and even their lower parts kits are a great thing to pick up.   The Mid Length and MOE uppers seem to be the most popular versions right now.

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Body types and preferences in fit and eyesight

There are a wide range of body types that we deal with when sell tactical clothing and sometimes certain cuts just don’t work out.   Recently we had a huge sale on Woolrich Elite half-zip sweatshirts and we had people tell us they fit them except for the length was too long.   Other people have said they were too tight around the waste.   The truth of the matter is that this is something you really can’t get around.   There are no perfect fitting pants or shirts for everyone.   The tactical market has gotten so big that everyone is going to have to just try things on and find out what works for them.

When it comes to rifles and carbines, gun accessories are going to be customized to your hand size and your arm length.   Magpul gun accessories give you cheek weld options and ever optic including Trijicon Rifle Scopes for sale in our store may need to be adjusted to the shooter.  Everyones face and cheek weld is going to be different and you won’t be a proficient operator unless you know how to adapt your gun to what you find comfortable.   Sometimes you just have to get use to it, but there are always stock extensions or shorting option available.

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Going form one AR15 to another configuration

The thing that I love about the AR15 is that there are so many choices out there and the guns are just getting better and better.  I personally prefer LWRC guns because they are easy to maintain and the machining and quality is so good.  Many of the gas piston driven AR15’s out there are kind of pricey but in the long run they should cut your gun cleaning time by 75%.   Although that whole argument about gun reliability doesn’t real  hold any water anymore because AR15 reliability has more to do with the type of gun magazines you use than how much cleaning you do.

Several firearms instructors I have spoken to have told me that they’ve seen more firearms damaged by over cleaning than guns ruined by not being cleaned.   It’s seems that many AR15 upper receivers for sale at Rogue Elite can be found on Youtube with some type of malfunction drill where dirt and water tests were done and the guns passed.   All firearm machining has improved in the last decade and the differences between the manufacturers has more to do with the mission or preferences than about durability and reliability.

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There is a difference between lightweight tactical pants

Not all lightweight clothing is as lightweight as you think.  When it comes to tactical clothing that we sell the most of, the Woolrich Elite 100% cotton ripstop shirts and pants are the biggest sellers to those serving in Iraq.  The need for clothing that protects you from the sun, but does breath and give you some level of comfort is important.   When you consider that needing to drink 5 or 6 gallons of water a day to keep hydrated in those climates that wearing clothing that cuts that down to 2-3 gallons just by wearing different clothing really means something for any group of soldiers.  If your unit can eliminate 1 gallon of water consumption per soldier that’s a big deal.

Many people seem to not realize that we have as many contractors over in Iraq protecting Government officials and Oil rigs ect that there has been a huge demand for things other  than BDU’s.   Lightweight tactical pants like the Woolrich Elite 44447 pants are as tactical as you can get, but 100% cotton rip stop is the lightest weight that you can have.   Some of the 65/35 polyester pants from Tru-Spec and 5.11 seem to fend off stains and water better but they do not feel as lightweight weight.   Also, the pocket designs aren’t as Carbine friendly.

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Spring is just around the corner and

It may not be too early to think about what you will want to be wearing this Spring.  After selling a ton of the Woolrich Elite Chino pants this year we were hoping to see a pair of shorts that looked like that but that didn’t happen.   It looks like Woolrich is putting out more CCW shirts and some outer wear.  I laughed when I read several reviews about this years SHOT SHOW and how everyone was tired of seeing all of the overloaded tactical clothing market.  One question I’ve been wondering is where is everyone making this stuff these days?

Tru-Spec lightweight pants aren’t as lightweight as the Woolrich Elite 44441 pants and I’d have to say look kind of more casual but they still are tactical looking.  With the overloaded tactical pants market we’re still seeing more and more names popping up.   I’ve been seeing funky sizing issues with some of the Vertx pants and from a vendor standpoint, that’s something we’re going to stay away from for awhile.  If you can’t get your sizing right the first time

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It’s not always about the quality of the metal on a gun

It’s not always about the quality of the metal on a gun because these days many firearms are made of material other than metal.  If we are talking strictly about AR15 rifle, much of what keeps a firearm running is how the parts were put together and operator maintenance.   I have yet to see an AR15 go down because it was not clean, most of them went down from bad magazines, screws that were not staked on properly, stocks that were not tightened all the way and extractor springs that should have been replaced thousands of rounds earlier.

Guns go down more to lack of maintenance and monitoring of anything that can be tightened or screwed down.  Not all AR15 upper receivers are the same quality and there has been some major improvements in machining.   Spikes Tactical Mid length uppers are probable the best bang for the buck and they have now become our number one complete upper receiver.  There are so many variations with AR15 uppers now and many of the differences are really personal tastes.   Just like Legos, sometimes it’s really just about what you want to build.

 

 

 

 

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To each his own combat optics

I have my preferences and I tend to be very traditional when it comes to rifle scopes.   I want thin black lines and I don’t like it when a reticle obscures the target.   Nothing would bother me more than to have a combat optic that covered a target 300yds out that was firing back  at me.  There are a lot of short sighted operators in the weekend warrior crowd that just don’t cut it when they show up at competition shoots.   I see so many people that just lack the proper setup or basic knowledge to engage targets at 300yds +.   Hold overs are real easy when you know what your ammo is doing and you can see your target.

I realize that having an illuminated high visibility reticle means fast target engagements in close quarters fighting, but so does knowing your opic.   The Trijicon TA01NSN is my favorite, not just because of the backup iron sights, but because the reticle is a very traditional skinny line targeting system, I like it.   Those lines are are setup for 62gr SCBT and are very good for giving you 400-600yd shots.   Not all combat shooting is about precision, precision shooting can me slow shooting and that can mean taking on return fire because you aren’t pinning  your target down.

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What people want for concealment

Is a vest jacket or shirt that can cover a gun and not make  you look like you’re working under cover.   I’ve been to several gun shops in the area that attempted to stock CCW shirts from various “tactical clothing” companies but the sizing was off or the shirt patters just flat out sucked.   I won’t name names because we let the customer decide on what they want, but when it comes to Concealed Carry, Woolrich Elite CCW shirts are the only ones that cut it for me.   I like the idea of being able to pocket carry and keep my knife, flashlight and spare magazine in my shirt pockets and still have my hand pockets free for a gun or car keys.

We’ve been through so much turmoil over the years that we’ve pretty much found out what the trends were in tactical clothing, but it really is shocking about how many companies don’t make decent CCW shirts.   Woolrich Elite CCW shirts look like they basically took shirts from their main clothing line, make the pockets more CCW friendly and they were done.  Well, what’s wrong with that?  Absolutely nothing.   I don’t know how many times people have walked in here and didn’t know Woolrich had a tactical line, but the sales on the CCW shirts puts them in #1.

 

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Don’t go crazy but you might want to changer your stuff to MOE

I personally like to keep things simple, the simpler things are with guns and weapons the easier it is to fix.   I’ve found the necessity to having loctite on everything that can be screwed in and I have already had atleast 3 scope ring failures while on the firing range.   I have a few rifles that I have seriously considered taking a welding torch too because they are so harsh on optics and mounts that I just don’t expect them to hold up under long firing sessions.   Some of the gun mounts and accessories that were around a decade ago have probable been put out of business by now.   The whole after market magazines industry has been cleaned up and I have already seen the results at gun shows.

Finding a good Carbine that holds up to what you want it to be only takes a little time, but customizing your guns and knowing how to adapt to those customizations takes range time.   We get people walking in here want to hold magpul accessories  in their hands but it’s not the same as using them on a firing line.   We have several blue rifles in the store with rails on them because it’s really important to the operator to know how the grips feel in certain positions and how their body is going to need to adjust to them.   Positioning your grips, especially the foregrips is something you need to figure out for yourself and know how to adapt even if it feels odd at first.

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