I threw myself on his mercy. I told him I knew nothing about AR platform weapons except they were black and bullets came out of the pointy end. I also told him that I was writing a story that involves AR pattern rifles and I didn't want to piss off my readers by saying things that were stupid.
He agreed to the Sisyphean task of trying to make me smarter.
His trust in me was boundless. He let me shoot his daughter's rifle.
He patiently walked me through the purpose of the various doo-dads that festoon the weapon.
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| Releases bolt so it can strip round from magazine and go into battery. |
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| Apologies for orientation of picture. This is the safety. This is in noisy mode. |
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| Magazine release. |
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| Rear pin in middle of photo. By-golly-I-know-for-a-fact-it-is-in-battery assist at top. |
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| Dust cover upper-left and front pin near center of frame. |
Not wanting to mess around with Providentia's daughter's sight settings, the remaining shots were fired using Kentucky windage.
The shots were probably fired about two seconds apart so it mimicked what I might do while hunting.
For readers who do even less shooting than I do, 2.5" groups at fifty yards or 5" groups at 100 yards from honest "field positions" at real hunting-cadences will kill truckloads of game. No, it will not snipe deer a quarter-mile away, but it will be sufficient for 80% or more of the game animals you will see in eastern forests, brushlands or highway cloverleafs.
Total rounds fired in the 80 minutes of coaching: 13
That may not sound like many but I learned something with every shot and there were still a few rounds left in the box for Providentia to take home.
For having never fired an AR, that's not bad! And you learned things, so it's ALL good!
ReplyDeleteThat is a precision piece of equipment. Providentia's daughter shoots high-power.
DeleteI am not proud. I am not ashamed. It is what it is. Call it the school of realistic expectations: 59 year old eyes shooting iron sights with a rifle that costs twice as much as my truck.
It is legal to build an AR lower from an 80% completed piece of metal. There is no record of the piece of metal being " registered" or sold to an individual, unless it is bought via credit card or over the internet.
ReplyDeleteIt's easier with a milling machine, but many thousands of then have been made with drill presses, routers, Dremels and files.
It's not Rocket Surgery.
The lower can be married to all the other parts of an AR to make a perfectly functional, accurate gun that has no name associated with it in any database. Legally.
It is legal to build an AR-15 Pistol, with a 7" or 10" barrel.
You can do that on an 80% lower.
You can add an arm brace that looks a lot like a stock, and it will still be a pistol.
Warnings:
1) LOUD!!!
2) You cannot add a vertical foregrip, or a standard AR15 rifle stock or it becomes a short barreled rifle and subject to BATFEIEIO tax stamp.
Lotsa fun can be had and you can create a nice little tool for urban follies or range fun.
It wasn't *that* Sisyphean - my back didn't even hurt afterwards!
ReplyDeleteI was glad to help Zev out!