All posts tagged Butler Creek

Combat guns and plinking guns and just having fun

I remember all of those times I spent arguing with people on gunboards about which gun was better and which guns were pieces of junk.   I started out collecting many of the Soviet era military style rifles, namely the SKS rifles.   There are some fun accessories from Tapco that can make even an old relic like an SKS into a more modern looking rifle, but even if it’s not an AK, you can always customize the firearm to your liking.   I wouldn’t expect to use an SKS for house to house clearing, but if you got it for $200 and want to improve the fit to your liking, go right ahead.

One problem I have found with many of the semi-autos I owned was that the length of pull on the guns was very short.  This was not something I go too worked up about with the plinking firearms I owned, but for a primary weapon, the rifle stocks you use on them should fit you like a glove.   Customizing a firearm to fit you is an important step in learning how to effectively use a firearm.   I have learned that the hard way with various rifle scopes that ended up putting a ring around my eye because the stock was so short, I forgot to adjust my bean and got a good thunk.  There is nothing wrong with changing the butt pad on any gun you own to fit you.  Just be aware that when you are wearing a heavy coat or winter clothing that LOP might need to be shorter, so don’t modify your stocks too much, and think about an adjusteable stock for just that purpose.

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Buying guns for novice and youngsters

I have had several regrets in selling off firearms that I wish I would have held on to.  One of  my biggest regrets was selling a Russian Saiga rifle off because I couldn’t get anything but 5rd magazines for it, and then I found out that it was possible to legally alter the firearms so that it could take 30rd magazines.   It was a very small gunsmithing alteration that would have been done in a few minutes.  You just had to know that it could be done.

 

Another regret I had was selling off a Ruger 10/22 rifle because the gun wasn’t very accurate compared to my Marline bolt action rifles,  but after taking several kids to the range, I found out that the children under 8yrs old had trouble with the length of the rifle stocks and something as small as the Ruger 10/22 would have worked since it had such a short LOP.   If a gun isn’t junk, you may want to think about why you should hang on to it, because you may wish you did.

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The Mini 14 in it’s secondary format

The Mini 14 seems to have a love hate relationship with gun owners.   There are a lot of gun owners that were mad at Bill Ruger for his lack of a spine during the Clinton years and his support of the Assault Weapon ban, and many people were irked by the fact the Mini 14 was not sold with 20rd or 30rd magazines which were supplied to Law Enforcement and AC556 owners.   The Mini 14 is one of those guns that everyone wishes would hold up to the same reputation of combat worthiness that the M1 Garand and M14 or M1A had, but it couldn’t.   There were design flaws that kept the Mini 14 from ever being anything more than for a few quick shots.

The Mini 14 with all of it’s shortcomings is still an extremely reliable firearm under most conditions.   It does not hold up to the amount of fire that an M16 can tolerate, but although it is very good as a truck gun or varmint gun, it can be used for home defense because the .223 is actually a very good close range caliber if using the correct kind of defensive ammunition.   Butler Creek rifle stocks have given another angle to the Mini 14, and if you using fragmenting ammunition, the Mini  14 is as destructive as any AR15 rifle is.   This urban Carbine is light and easy to store in your gun safe.  Heck, I’ve actually had more room in my gun safe for more firearms since I swapped a few standard Mini 14 stocks in for these folding stocks.

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Having fun but having the right stuff

I would have to say that the vast majority of those that have anything more than a flashlight and optic on the M4 are probable putting something on our guns that we really don’t need, but just enjoy having on.   There’s nothing wrong with having an LWRCI upper with a quad rail or a MidWest quad rail if you think you can put it to use, but when we actually have to carry the Carbine for any real length of time, we’ll wish we could strip a few extra pounds of weight off the gun.  Many of our Staff have been attending competition shoots lately that have been really well run.   These events are everything from battle scenarios or even Zombie shoots.

Last  year in Pennsylvania we attended a Carbine shoot where the the attendees has to sign in at 8am and once they left the club house, they couldn’t drop off any gear and had to lug it all with them for the day.   All of the competitors were carrying M4 or AR15 variants and a few had AK rifles.    Ammunition loads were approximately 400rds of rifle and 100rds of handgun ammo.    I enjoy these events because we get too see some real hard use of tactical gear and tactical accessories.   We tend to not see things fail at these shoots because the competitors are in the higher class as far as skill and the types of firearms they use.   If you ever want to see what kind of optics work and which firearms and when things jam, go to a competition shoot at your gun club and sit back and watch.

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NAA Guardian, pocket gun options

Many of my shooting buddies have been CCW for 1-2 decades longer than I have.    I have watched the evolution of weapons they have carried over the years and they have all ended up carrying guns and calibers that I would never have wanted to carry before.   In my opinion it was always about how much damage the bullet could do, followed by reliability, and finally durability.   I was always turned off by some of the pocket semi-autos that I cam across because the recoil tended to be pretty nasty.   I am not afraid of shooting 50 BMG rifles, but I don’t like shooting too much recoil in a handgun.   I know an individual that actually has developed nerve damage from shooting too many heavy handguns and if it hurts after I shoot it, I don’t want to carry it as a CCW gun.

My first adventure into CCW was with a friend that had 20yrs more experience than I did.   He showed me he had evolved to the NAA guardian .380 pistol and that in his opinion, it was the only gun he could carry at work with any level of comfort.  My only issue with some pocket guns is that they are so small that I can’t feel them, and I like to know I can feel the gun on me at all times.   The real issue I have noticed with NAA Guardians is that you have to really pay attention to the round counts you have put through your gun and how many you put through your NAA Guardian gun magazines and rotate out the springs before you have any issues.   The NAA Guardian is strictly a CCW gun and will handle some of the hotter loads for the .380 compared to some of the Kel-Tec counterparts.   I was fortunate enough to test out some of the Rohrbaugh R9 pistols next to the NAA Guardian and the only thing the R9 had over the NAA Guardian was the trigger pull.

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Bans on gun stocks and accessories

I feel sorry for some of the people that are gun owners and are presently stepping into the word of AR15, AK or Mini 14 ownership for the first time and live in anti-gun States.  I have had some really bizarre conversations with friends in California and New Jersey that had to take AR15 or FAL gun magazines and have blocks welded into them so they couldn’t take more than 10rds.  To some people these sounds like a good thing, but the real problem is  you are taking something that is functional at a certain operating system and potentially messing the whole thing up.  Magazine capacity restrictions are like putting smaller gas tanks on cars to keep people from speeding.   The other problems that many in New Jersey or California and other States run into are gun accessories like flash hiders or folding stocks, these are all usually banned.

I find the whole issue about bans on gun accessories like bayonets and folding stocks to basically be about people trying to put band aids on your kids body parts where there is no bleeding expecting to stop another person from beating him or her up.    Nobody wants to talk about how most gun crime is from the drug trade which basically is a self inflicted problem due to our Federal Government getting involved.    Gun accessories like, bayonets, flash hiders, folding stocks,  collapsing rifle stocks have no bearing on reducing crime and putting people who are a threat to society in jail for long periods of time would have more impact on reducing crime than making law abiding citizens block 20rd magazines so they can only hold 10.

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gun grips and bare hands

As we progress into the tactical accessories market, the more we realize that when we make  one change to a firearm there is a good chance we may have to make another.   For example, there are a lot of rifle scope and rifle stocks  out there, but one may feel too short in the summer when we are wearing a t-shirt, and the other may feel too long if we are wearing a heavy coat.   I still laugh when I hear people say that the AK was built for short people, when the reality was that it was designed for people wearing winter clothing, and that’s why the stocks are so short.

The M4 carbine stock is designed for people that are wearing body armor and may not fit into your shoulder very well if you are not wearing any.   These are minor things to think about, but just as we think about the type of holster we are wearing, we should think about what kind rifle stocks, and how we are going to be shouldering and using a Carbine or Rifle.   Anyone that has gone on any extensive hunting trip will gladly get rid of an extra 2-3 lbs of weight if they can which is why so many prefer a Mini 14 for hunting over a 5rd AR15 type of rifle.

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The Mini 14’s real purpose and being realistic

I have been and always will be a Mini 14 enthusiast, I guess I won too many merit badges in gun forum arguments with the AR15 blowhards, and I’ve done plenty of 500yd shooting with my guns to know that they are still viable defensive and target shooting  guns even though there is an obvious limit to how many rounds can be accurately fired.   The M4 is an excellent firearm, but eleminating a few pounds of weight during a trek is going to matter.  I was never a fan of making an AR15 or M4 Carbine too light because in my opinion, the gun needs to handle a firefight and not melt on me and I don’t think this will happen with a Coyote sighting.   Still though, I’ve seen what a Mini 14 with 20rd and 30rd magazines is capable of doing and although it’s not a combat gun but it’s a very good SHTF weapon.

I see all kind of tactical stocks showing  up from Tapco and other companies and I’m not on that level of converting a Mini 14 into, but I still prefer the folding stock standard carbine for self defensive and the Mini 14 Ranch rifle with a 3-9×40 scope.  I’ve had Sightron and Leupolds on mine and have thousands of rounds through them and still get MOA with three shot bursts.  Another issue that I find common amongst many of the tactical shooters is sighting in and shooting off of tables, it’s not that much of a headache if you have a good rest, but it becomes easier if you have gun magazines that is 5rd or 10rds.   The standard Mini 14 magazines are extremely reliable and if you are using it as a traditional ranch gun, this is one of the most balanced semi-autos in existance.

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Rotate your ammo and rotate your mags

There are various stages of CCW experience, those that have made the mistakes, those that have witnessed the mistakes and those that are doomed to see both.  Although a gun owner may be observing all of the firearm safetey rules there are still many things to keep in consideration when CCW a firearm.   Even though a gun hasn’t been fired, if it is being carried it will fill up lint or the gun can become dry.  I have carried guns through out the summer months and found out that I’ve rusted out screws or pitted firearms.  Clean your CCW guns for reliability sake, but also for protection.

It is extremely important for you to rotate your carry ammo.  Many reloaders know the importance of having the proper bullet crimp to prevent bullet setback, but this is something that is inevitable going to occur if you keep closing the slide on the same bullet.  Even if you are not shooting up your ammo, rotate the ammo in your gun magazines to make sure you are not slamming the same first round.  Defensive ammo can be expensive and I realize that you aren’t going to want to shoot it all up after a couple times of cleaning  your ammo.  If you rotate just an 8rd magazine full of defensive ammo, you should be able to dissassemble and clean the gun safetly about 24 times with the same magazine.

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Ruge 10/22 possible the most fun semi-auto

I’m sure there are plenty of guys out there, or ladies that have a lot of military experience and got to shoot some neat stuff.   Comparing the Ruger 10/22 to being  in fire control on an AC130 Spectre gun ship is comparing apples to oranges.  I will say that I have shot a lot of semi-auto military style weapons and although I have fun shooting them, bringing a wife or friend that lacks the experience or has a fear of recoil can limit the types of firearms you are using.   The first Ruger 10/22 I owned had a pretty long break in period.  I had a lot of issues getting it to reliable cycle, but I had  a lot of  friends that gave me advice on how to tweak these firearms and having a reliable break in period was normal.
A friend suggested that I just fire a lot of ammo through it and eventually it will break in.   Anothe friend said to use some hot ammo like 22lr stingers and it will speed up the process.   I tried both of these, but after about 500rds, I still was annoyed at how many jams I had, I thought it was the gun magazines, but we’ll soon find out.   My other friend suggested I take the gun appart and try to polish it with nylon pads, very similar to what you use to clean dishes.   I took  his advice and spent about 15 minutes polishing the gun, I used a little CLP inside and took it out for another range trip.    I tried shooting some cheap Remington 22LR ammo and the gun functioned almost 100% of the time.   I was probable getting a failure to fire less than every 300rds which for a 22LR rifle, that is not that bad.

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