Boom stick questions. Point me in the right direction.

matthewmcl (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Lee :

Red dots are cool. I wish they worked for me.  I did buy a couple of scopes on that deal, though.

Astigmatism? 

I did a thing.

I was going to build one of these, Brownells' picatinny receiver is regularly available and frequently on sale, most of the rest of the hard parts are easy to come by, but I wasn't able to track down a reasonably priced bolt.  Midway has burned me twice, actually had a "deluxe" OE Ruger bolt in my shopping cart, only for it to be out of stock by the time I clicked to complete purchase.  Of course they're in stock again as I type this. 

Kentucky Gun Co. had the non takedown 22 Chargers in stock for about 4 hours a few weeks ago, at MSRP, with free shipping.  Tired of waiting on the parts to be in stock to assemble my own, which wouldn't be much if any cheaper, I just bought one ready made.

It took 10 days from order to arrival at my FFL, which I guess isn't that bad considering how overwhelmed all dealers are.  I've bought from KGCo a few times in the past, but didn't get a shipping notification this time, just a delivery notification.  I was starting to consider checking my order status, then bam, it's at the FFL.

It came with a UTG bipod, I'd heard some of the lower end models don't, I assumed mine wouldn't so I was pleasantly surprised.  The bipod isn't great, unless I'm doing something wrong, what you see pictured is the legs fully extended, there's maybe 3/4" of adjustment.  The sling mount to picatinny adapter it came with leaves a little to be desired as well, it took some finessing to get the little bolt to line up and thread into its hole.  The bipod obviously isn't tall enough to accommodate my GSG 110 round drum.

It will likely get a SB Tactical folding brace, unless Joe takes them away, in that case pretend I never said anything.  The SB Tactical chassis/stock is only $50 more than the good picatinny tail stock adapters, so I may snag one of those.

It'll get an optic, debating between a low power prism and a scout/pistol scope.  I've got an older 2.5x PA ACSS prism not doing anything, but it's got a fixed tall mount for an AR, and I think I want more eye relief than it offers.

I've got a nifty thing from Franklin Armory to stick in this and make use of the drum mag.

The beer cans are already running in fear of it.  Looks fun.

In reply to Lee :

That's cool!

Did the 500rd drum mag ever get made for the 10/22?

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Lee :

That's cool!

 

Did the 500rd drum mag ever get made for the 10/22?

I've never seen one, there's some forum chatter from 10+ years ago but nothing tangible.

I can't imagine it being very practical if it were real, it'd have to be pretty big.  That drum I've got is only 110 rounds and it's quite large.  GSG/ATI seem to be the best option for quantity/reliability at the moment.  Pro Mag has a 55 round drum for the 10/22, I don't have any experience with it.  The the Ruger BX-25 mags are great.

I love that there are 25 round mags with Bill Ruger's name on it. 

Lee said:

matthewmcl (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Lee :

Red dots are cool. I wish they worked for me.  I did buy a couple of scopes on that deal, though.

Astigmatism? 

My eyes seem to bleach that color very quickly.  In bright sunlight on a mostly light background, I run out of brightness and can no longer see the dot in under a minute.

Stampie (FS) said:

Also consider that you won't be shooting a lot of 308 rounds in one sitting.  I once put over 60 rounds in one day on my old Remington 700 and I felt it for days afterwards.

You need the right partner. My FAL will eat a couple hundred rounds of .308 and you'll barely feel it later. That said. I probably need to find somewhere I can shoot it. Most of ranges around me draw the line at .223 or 7.62x39. Meh... oh well. .22 is cheap, and I've got a few thousand rounds of it sitting here waiting to go.

barefootskater (Shaun) said:

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

Not necessarily. I have looked at a couple 1911s in .22 and the dream is a mk IV but they're twice the money. 

Picked up a Walther gov tribute in .22 a few years ago. I like it. it's fun. But should have gone with the GSG for the same money. Better parts swapability on it. 

If I was to piece together a semi-budget AR, what pieces from which suppliers would I look for to start with?

Mr. Lee said:

Stampie (FS) said:

Also consider that you won't be shooting a lot of 308 rounds in one sitting.  I once put over 60 rounds in one day on my old Remington 700 and I felt it for days afterwards.

You need the right partner. My FAL will eat a couple hundred rounds of .308 and you'll barely feel it later. That said. I probably need to find somewhere I can shoot it. Most of ranges around me draw the line at .223 or 7.62x39. Meh... oh well. .22 is cheap, and I've got a few thousand rounds of it sitting here waiting to go.

Last time I checked .308 was up to $1.00/round.  And one of my buddies bought some .308 Match Grade for $1.50/round.  Too rich for me.    Meanwhile I just snagged a box of 800 in .22 LR for $60 bucks.   

Mr_Asa said:

If I was to piece together a semi-budget AR, what pieces from which suppliers would I look for to start with?

I suspect you know this, but it's a terrible time to be getting into ARs, prices are nuts and availability, while not the worst I've ever seen, is pretty hit or miss.

Hit up Palmetto State Armory and you can get everything you need from them.
Basic carbine M4 style build kit for $499

Stripped "Stealth" lower for $109

You could have gotten all of that for ~$450 18 months ago.

Most all stripped lowers are $70+ even Andersons are going for around $100 a lot of places, they're "usually" <$40.

Palmetto State Armory, Primary Arms, Brownells, Midway USA, Kentucky Gun Company, Sportsmans Guide, Aero Precisions, AIM Surplus, Stag Arms, 22Mods4All, Spikes Tactical, JSE Surplus, Botach, Gunbroker, Optics Planet, and I'm sure there are half a dozen more, I've bought AR parts from them all.

In reply to Lee :

If they have ‘em in stock at 499, still ain’t a bad deal. Are folks still selling 80% lowers, or is that still allowed?

Perhaps a small piece of good news:

Remington back on line

03Panther said:

In reply to Lee :

If they have ‘em in stock at 499, still ain’t a bad deal. Are folks still selling 80% lowers, or is that still allowed?

Unless your state has enacted some asinine regulation, 80% lowers aren't a firearm and are under no federal regulation... yet.

Current nominee to direct the ATF and #46's ignorance of the 80% lowers may very well lead to something.  Joe tasked the Justice Department to come up with a plan in 30 days, for 80% lowers, during his press briefing last Thursday.  There's nothing he or the JD can do at the moment.  Joe may decide that an Executive Order banning them is the way to go, that's what his press breifing material said he'd do.  However, the 6th circuit has said that #45's EO to ban bump stocks wasn't legal and outside the purview of the ATF, as it doesn't meet their own definition of "machine gun," which was the rationale for banning.

Furthermore, the 6th circuit said, "It is not the role of the executive—particularly the unelected administrative state—to dictate" the terms of criminal law, the 6th Circuit maintained. "Granting the executive the right both to determine a criminal statute's meaning and to enforce that same criminal statute poses a severe risk to individual liberty."  Which I've been screaming for at least a decade.

So, I think based on recent events, Joe and the JD are going to lean on congress to, ya know legislate.  Would be nice if the legislatures were educated enough to actually make rationale decisions.  Wish in one hand...

I could really get off on a soap box, just some food for thought, if "unregistered" firearms are scary "ghosts," there's a whole hell of a lot of spooky ones that were made before serialization was mandated in 1964.

So to answer your question, yes, if you can find them, as of writing this, you can still buy and build all of the 80% stuff you want.  Unless your state has a law against it, there's nothing illegal about building your own firearm, assuming it's a fire arm that doesn't break any existing laws.

Since the still call a semi auto an "assault rifle" despite, by definition, not being one, who know whats next.

I guess I was actually asking if they can still be found, and what the current pricing as done.

You're more up to date than me, but we are on the same soapbox!

Mr_Asa said:

If I was to piece together a semi-budget AR, what pieces from which suppliers would I look for to start with?

The prices for parts have increased substantially from about 2 years ago.  Firearm demand is off the charts right now and has been for quite a while.  My AR build is on hold until prices drop, availability increases and I have spare money.

03Panther said:

In reply to Lee :

If they have ‘em in stock at 499, still ain’t a bad deal. Are folks still selling 80% lowers, or is that still allowed?

I did some brief looking around a week or two back and saw that 80%ers are either the same price or more than full lowers.  That was without jigs.

Which is... stupid.

Lee said:

Mr_Asa said:

If I was to piece together a semi-budget AR, what pieces from which suppliers would I look for to start with?

I suspect you know this, but it's a terrible time to be getting into ARs, prices are nuts and availability, while not the worst I've ever seen, is pretty hit or miss.

Hit up Palmetto State Armory and you can get everything you need from them.
Basic carbine M4 style build kit for $499

Stripped "Stealth" lower for $109

You could have gotten all of that for ~$450 18 months ago.

Most all stripped lowers are $70+ even Andersons are going for around $100 a lot of places, they're "usually" <$40.

Palmetto State Armory, Primary Arms, Brownells, Midway USA, Kentucky Gun Company, Sportsmans Guide, Aero Precisions, AIM Surplus, Stag Arms, 22Mods4All, Spikes Tactical, JSE Surplus, Botach, Gunbroker, Optics Planet, and I'm sure there are half a dozen more, I've bought AR parts from them all.

Oh I know.  I figure that now is at least the time to buy a lower or two.  Regardless of how much gun laws change in the near future, they won't get to the point where they start considering uppers guns.

Mr_Asa said:

Oh I know.  I figure that now is at least the time to buy a lower or two.  Regardless of how much gun laws change in the near future, they won't get to the point where they start considering uppers guns.

The AR is a peculiar thing.  A lot of other firearms the upper is the serialized part that's considered a "gun."  Even those firearms that have sterilized uppers are just kind of that way because that's where the manufacturer decided to put the serial number.

There's a retired ATF agent making waves as an "expert witness," in several federal firearms cases with regards to what a "gun" is by the letter of the law vs. the serialized part of the AR, i.e. the lower.  There was a DIY 80% lower farm in CA that got in hot water for manufacturing without a license a few years ago.  The ATF didn't consider the customer pushing the run button on the CNC machine, to be the customer manufacturing their own lower.  ATF got wind of the, "AR lower isn't a firearm by ATF's own definition," defense and dropped the case to avoid setting precedence.

Another case popped up in Ohio with a similar defense, and the Federal Judge agreed.  So who knows what's going to happen now?

Here's a CNN article about the OH case: https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/07/us/ex-atf-agent-ar-15/index.html

I'm notoriously long winded, sorry, my point is, I wouldn't be so sure in they won't start considering uppers guns.

The ATF is supposed to regulate: "That part of a firearm which provides housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock, and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel."
 

Obviously, the law, as it is written, doesn't account for AR type construction. 

jharry3 said:

Mr. Lee said:

Stampie (FS) said:

Also consider that you won't be shooting a lot of 308 rounds in one sitting.  I once put over 60 rounds in one day on my old Remington 700 and I felt it for days afterwards.

You need the right partner. My FAL will eat a couple hundred rounds of .308 and you'll barely feel it later. That said. I probably need to find somewhere I can shoot it. Most of ranges around me draw the line at .223 or 7.62x39. Meh... oh well. .22 is cheap, and I've got a few thousand rounds of it sitting here waiting to go.

Last time I checked .308 was up to $1.00/round.  And one of my buddies bought some .308 Match Grade for $1.50/round.  Too rich for me.    Meanwhile I just snagged a box of 800 in .22 LR for $60 bucks.   

Same here, it's been years since I've shot it for just that reason. It's too easy to just empty a mag and watch targets just blow up. I've got a few mags worth sitting next to it, but it only comes out for special occasions. Sadly my enfield is chambered in 7.62x51 as well and it barely gets used for the same reason. Same round, very different experiences between the two. I can shoot sub 2" groups at 100 yards with the enfield, the FAL I've never been able to pull that kind of group with

My buddy is torturing me into getting my 10/22 all pimped out for the 22 long range competitions that have become popular.  It's already a bedded setup with match barrel, match trigger, and custom stock.  It looks like I'll need to step up my scope game to play with the big boys as well as spend more time on the action fit to the stock.  With decent ammo and some tweaks it should shoot 1/2 MOA (0.5" groups at 100 yards).  

The guys in the comp show up with some really nutty Anschutz and Vudoo bolt guns so I'll be outgunned regardless with a semi-auto.  I can bear the thought of tearing into my 77/22 to turn it into a comp gun as it is the perfect bolt gun/size for my 11 year old son.  It would likely be a better candidate though.

In reply to 84FSP :

Ruger, Savage, and a few others have .22 versions of their "chassis" guns now.  I'm a big fan of both makes, my Savage 93R17 is the most accurate thing I own, so I'd lean that way.  B-22 Precision, Mark II BTV/BTVS, Mark II FVT, you'd probably have even more folks looking down their nose at you if you showed up to a competition with a Savage than a 10/22 though.

That Ruger American Rimfire LRT looks the business too.

I shot competitively as a high school kid.  I shot silhouettes with a very used Winchester 190 my dad won in an FFA competition when he was in high school, with a cheap Tasco 1-4x scope I bought at Kamart on it.  Duct tape on the Tasco's magnification adjustment ring to keep me from turning the magnification up past 1x.  I was literally the kid with the old gun with duct tape on it.  Somehow our team managed a 3rd place finish at state, against plenty of other kids that had high dollar bolt guns with fancy peep sites and cost more than my first car.  Even had their parents and coaches illegally spotting for them, should have been disqualified.  While most of my teammates used vintage well worn Marlin 60s or 10/22s.

Nothing wrong with the savage rifles - great accurate and affordable beasts.  10/22 will like it get a better scope setup than my face budge Bushnell Dusk Till Dawn series as they just don't have the turret or recticle attributes needs for match.  

Pics of my 2 ruger children.

In reply to 84FSP :

What trigger do you have in the 10/22, BX, Timmney, KIDD?  I've got an early BX before red was an option.  Is that an old Fajen stock?  Looks good!  What all do you have done to it?

Those All Weather 77s are sweet and accruing value daily.