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.
Ever since the gun community went from the A2 style AR15s to the M4 Configurations, the AR15 became the most modified and accessorized firearm in existance. I sometimes have to stair at some of these AR15 designs to tell if it is even a 5.56 gun anymore. The AR15s these days are the old style Direct Impingement guns and also various style pistol driven guns. There are plenty of lower grade stock accessories that look cool and tactical, but they won’t hold up to bad weather and rough play. The old “you get what you paid for” is still true today.
I think many of us have seen wild variations in quality of the Kalashnikov firearms. Back in the early 1990s there were very inexpensive guns coming in from Eastern Europe. The quality of many of these guns were pretty darn good. As the years went by, the guns got worse and worse and I started to see my fair share of AK style weapons that did not live up to the AK47s reputation of reliability. There were a few importers that were assembling guns that looked bad, but they worked very well. Some rifle sights were misaligned but other than that, it was really all about the rifle stocks.
I strongly recommend starting new shooters out on some sort of 22LR bolt action rifle. It doesn’t matter if it is magazines fed or a single shot. Learning the basic shooting skills of aim, hold, sqeeze and learning how to hit the X at 100yds is important. If you are dealing with a young adult, one of the most fun things you can teach them on is a standard A2 AR15 and show them how to use the sighting system and the sighting system.
The traditional setup for an AR usually means only mounting optics on the top, like an A3 AR and nothing on the sides. I know there are some variations that still can use a flashlight, but they are not as common. I was at the range putting my new setup to the test and after about 50rds of shooting, that cold hard, somewhat sharp 4 rail setup started to feel rough on my hands. I’ve decided to pick up some Tango Down rail panels to help protect my hands and the rails until I settle on which kind of M4 Carbine setup I’m going to go with. Still shopping for the right flashlight.
Well, I found out the hard way or should I say the sore way. I picked a Midwest 4 rail handguard a few years ago and loved the thing. I didn’t have the need to use all of the rails right off the bat, but I figured I’d atleast put a flashlight on it at some point. Well, I’m not much of the tactical accessory type, but I figured I’d go tactical with the 4 rail forearm. Most of my ARs have the standard forearms and I’m use to holding the rifle in the traditional manner.