All posts tagged Daniel Defense

The answer to what you want is to go to a store and hold it in your hands

I use to organize lots of gun club events and the best thing about it was being able to try out things that my friends would show up with.  We would even put out requests before hand and ask people to bring a certain firearm out if someone owned it.   It was very cool to have some of my requests fulfilled when I got to shoot a 5.45×39 AK next to a 7.62×39 one.   I did some long range testing with it and anyone with an honest mind will tell you that it makes sense that the Russians switched over to the 5.45×39 caliber.  Shopping for gun accessories online can be a pain and sometimes it’s always best to go back to the manufacturer and ask them.

We’ve had to sell off some of our high end upper receivers whenever we found out that a new version of this was coming out.  Sometimes a slight spring or finish occurs on the AR15 complete upper receivers and its all of a sudden an old version.   Just look at what Glock did with all of the Generations of Glock firearms and the infamous recalls.  I am never one to be the first to buy a firearm because ever since the XD45 came out, I saw guys send them back to the factory for improvements.   That never happened to me with my Sig Sauer pistols so it’s sometimes best to know you are venturing into unknown territory if you try something new.   Ask questions and try things out or put on your Lewis and Clark.

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So many choices and so much good stuff!

Instead of getting a new AR15 upper receiver with a longer or shorter barrel, instead of buying a better quality bolt carrier group or doing some minor tweaking, just change the furniture.    Magpul industries is King of the AR15 accessorizing and the new MOE products really do give you something new to adjust to.   We have a blue rifle that we attach accessories to and let our customer hold them in their hands and try them out.   All gun grips should be customized by the shooter because just like footwear, our feet as well as our  hands come in different sizes, so why would we issue the same size rifle stocks or attachments to a Carbine.

A good operator knows that this is true and each of us has to be able to adjust our accessories to the job that we intend to do with our Carbine.  We have sold a lot of CMMG and Spikes Tactical uppers as well as many of the higher end AR15 uppers like LWRC and Noveske.   There isn’t really much of a difference between these guns as far as reliability, but there gas piston guns are much lower maintenance.  This year Spikes Tactical uppers have been so hard to acquire that many have actually chosen to save up their money and pick up piston driven uppers.  We’ve sold more LWRC M6 uppers this year than ever before.   Stay tuned for the new M6A5 coming out later this summer.

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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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Keeping spare parts around

This weekend I got a rare chance to actually get out and practice some urban combat tacticals and had the most fun I’ve had in awhile.   A few months ago I did some practical handgun defensive shooting training, but I kind of lost the feel of recoil and that’s not something i like to feel when I’m on the range.   I have in the past pushed myself to practice shooting defensively from a cold mindset.   What do I mean?  Nobody warms up to a self defense situation, sometimes you are thrown into it.

Once you have your safe gun handling skills down, there’s nothing wrong with pushing yourself.   I recently got a reminder about checking things on a firearm before training though.  I carry lots of spare parts for my AR15 bolt, but I didn’t have a stock tool or spare detent pin and springs.  I watched a few gun dvds, specifially the AR15 Armorer’s course with Dean Caputo.  One good thing about having something like this is being able to identify the parts that go in certain areas and what they are used for.

 

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Now this is going to get interesting

I have walked many a gun show floor and walked by the booths that had all of the assemble and disassemble books.   Those are useful, but at many times very hard to read.   Little arrows and pictures can still make it hard to comprehend.   Along comes the VHS and DVD world and AGI has done a good job on this.   I’m also a very big fan of Clint Smith and his DVD collection although pretty expensive really turns out to be worth the money spent.   For the most part they are well produced, but a few spotty parts should have been re-shot.

Panteao Productions has there shit together.  I just saw a glimpse of the next in line, Travis Haley, who recently left Magpul, and started Haley Strategic Partners, is working with Panteao Productions to release “Adaptive Carbine” his first production since leaving Magpul.  Travis is kinda the rockstar of the gun DVDs.  The production on the Magpul Dynamics DVD series are outstanding.  I’ve only been able to watch the Make Ready Series a few times, but I haven’t been let down.  If I pick all of the best firearm instructors I know,  I’m betting there all on the schedule with Panteao Productions.

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Firearm training and DVD instructional video just broader

I have a great many gun dvd’s in my collection and they are mostly of value, but I did have a few that I lent to a friend for comical reasons, but unfortunately they got lost and there’s no way in hell I’ll spend the money for another batch of them.    Now that DVD editing has gotten better and easier to do, more firearms trainers are taking to the camera eye.   There are several people that I would love to train with, but like many people I can’t take 3 days off from my day job.  I subscribed to the Outdoor Channel over a year ago, but sadly most of the shows I watch are producing so few shows that I’ve already seen the same ones 4 or 5 times and I’m itching for something a little more complicated.

We just got word that Travis Haley just got done shooting “Adaptive Carbine” training course and will be out in a few months.    Considering the names that I am seeing on the Make Ready gun dvds,  I’m sure that Fernando Coelho knows the people to get in front of the camera and how to sell a DVD.   I think all of these DVD’s are a great thing because the production is so well done and gun owners will have easy access to important tactics and safe gun handling skills.   I think there are too many people out there that own AR15 rifles that don’t know the proper ways to maintain or handle them.

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