Scorpio64

One thing to consider is this. The lighter it is, the more felt recoil she will experience. For an ultra-light, a pencil barrel is a must, go with a 16" target crowned or a 14.5 14.7 with a muzzle device.. It will heat up like crazy but it will be light. Carbine or middy gas system with light free floated carbon fiber handguard. Flattop upper, poly lower. no buttstock or a simple ultra light stock. lowpro gas block with picatinny top, magpul plastic BUIS. It will be light but it will also be squirrely.

Put the rabbit down Lenny.

I was warned about that. They will stop and ticket cars doing just a couple mph over the limit.

It is also worth noting that most generators have semiconductor components (AVR) and will not survive an EMP unless they are protected.

More precisely, It's like parking in the garage or lot of the apartment complex where one lives and walking through the common space of the property while making way to one's exclusive private space. I do not play a lawyer but a safe deposit box could be construed as a tiny highly secure apartment for your stuff. While I would not do this myself, nor recommend it, perhaps using storage of firearms in a self storage complex is a better model to compare the legality on. In principle, it is essentially the same as storing one's firearms in a bank.

Telecommunications is just one component of today's "smart phone" Even if comms go down, a smart phone with the right apps can be an invaluable asset. GPS may still work, even if gps goes down you still have maps. Angry birds to help combat boredom, ballistics app to help with those long shots, whether it be a deer or a DPRK grunt. Or just a simple alarm clock. Basically you have a small pocket size computer.

If most of your shooting experience is with a scoped rifle, that may be part of the problem. You are accustomed to putting your face to a scoped rifle to the point that it has become a natural habit. With a bead sight you need to get your line of sight right down the receiver. If you will be shooting slugs on a regular basis, I defer to my original suggestion. Get a cantilever rifled barrel, red dot and shoot the vastly superior sabot slugs. If you are just messing around to see what slugs can do, aim lower (aka holdover).

As it happens, I bought two blem uppers from PSA yesterday @ $40 ea. I don't care if they are blemished since I'm going to put some sort of coating on them anyway..

A bead sight is not great for slugs, and having a bead leads me to think the barrel is probably a smooth bore. That said. Have you tried aiming lower? I'd try aiming lower at 25yds and see what happens. then see what happens at 50 and 75yds with the bead dead on target. If you plan on shooting a lot of slugs you may want to look into a cantilevered rifled barrel (for sabots) and mount a red dot or some other optic on it. If you're only messing around to see what a slug can do, just aim lower.

I love PSA! I just ordered a blem stripped upper for $40. Also ordered another 150 rd box of 62gr green tips @ .40/rd and a NiB BCG.

Rifled all lead slugs will quickly foul the bore, jacketed or plated rifled slugs will quickly ruin the barrel and may be unsafe. Since it is not recommended to use rifled slugs in a rifled barrel, I cannot say it's a good idea.

Is there a problem with AIM doing business with NJ? I checked the website and it says they require a copy of the NJ FID and that's all. Nothing about not shipping to NJ.

It seems like a good deal. The price is fantastic but I have no knowledge of this manufacturer. New Alexandria PRO FAB A3 Flattop 7075-T6 Aluminum Forged Upper Receiver machined to military specifications. Features and an attractive black hard anodized finish with dry film lubrication, engraved T markings and M4 feed ramps. The perfect start to a great build. AIM Surplus http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=XPF12973012&name=ALEXANDRIA+PRO+FAB+A3+Forged+Upper+Receiver&groupid=587

I have no idea how it happened but, as some may already know, I got bit by the AR bug. I suspect it happened after I watched a YT video posted by one of the top gun guys. I think it was MAC. During the mad scramble of 2013 to buy an AR before they got banned (again) MAC recommended buying a lower (or two or three) and just sit on it. So I bought two lowers, just to have. Well, looking at two stripped lowers got to be kind of boring so I started the "research". The research turned into purchases and more research. I decided on a $1,000.00 price limit with the goal of building the most reliable accurate rifle possible. The following list is not written in stone but it is a fairly accurate representation of my objective. I suppose it could be classified as a SPR, a DMR or a MK12. LOWER Stripped Anderson PSA P-Tac MOE LBK, black Pearce 1911 grip adapter kit. Genuine surplus USGI 1911 grip panels (WW2 era) UPPER Barrel - Rainier Match .223 Wylde 18", SPR contour, bead blasted stainless steel, M4 ramps, 1:8, mid port, 11 degree target crown. Upper Rec - Rainier A4 forged upper rec. Upper Rec. - PSA blem. BCG - PSA (complete) NiB, FA profile, Carpenter 158 , HPT/MPI Forestock - DelTon 12" vented free float tube. Gas Block - Vltor low profile. Gas Tube - ??? Charging Handle - Plain vanilla $20ish for now. BUIS - PSA same plane front and rear flip sights. Optic - Nikon P-233 3x32 Scope Mount - Still researching but I want a solid QD mount. So far, only the lower is complete, I'm hoping to have the whole thing done by April. The fire control group that came with the PSA kit is very basic. I intentionally got the most basic because I want to know what a crap trigger feels like and see how much I can improve it by doing a trigger job myself. Depending on how I like the look of the 1911 grips, I may Cerakote the hand guard the same color. It's also possible I'll abandon the whole 1911 grip idea and do a custom camo job. Based on the prices of similarly configured rifles, I think I'll be saving somewhere between $500.00 and $750.00.

Thanks all, especially High Exposure. The chart really helped put my question into perspective. Although I've seen just about every iteration of barrel length and hand guard, this is the first image where I've seen them all side by side. Well, I guess it's settled then. I'm going with a 12" tube. I know longer may be better for open sights but I do not think that will be a problem. Longer shots will be handled with a fixed low magnification scope. My original plan was to mount a front flip sight on a gas block with top and bottom rails but was advised against it since I'm free floating the barrel. I was going to get a tube that left the block exposed but when I changed from that plan to the new "cover the gas block" plan I just couldn't find an acceptable answer to the length issue until now. Thanks again. Now that this matter is cleared up I think I'll post a complete list of what I've spec'd out for this build. See if anyone spots a problem with the configuration.

Yes on the BUIS. I will probably be using Palmetto's front and rear flip set. One other thing that should be considered, and I'll have to look this up myself, is clearance. I'm going with a medium contour Ranier or ICE barrel.

The barrel for my AR build will be 18", have a mid length gas port and a low profile gas block . I would like to use a FF tube just long enough to cover the gas block and attach an end cap if possible. It is my understanding that the gas port on either a 16" or 18" barrel is located 9" from the chamber. If I get a mid length FF tube, will it cover the gas block? If not, will a specter length tube do the job or just go with rifle length and be done with it.

The caliber you go with really depends on what the gun is for. HD?, Hunting? Plinking? My personal opinion is that 6.8SPC will become an important caliber in the not too distant future. I intend to build my next AR in 6.8.

Will your car survive an EMP? I have a 1979 Mercedes 240D. With no modifications it will run on almost any diesel type fuel and with a minor modification it can run on filtered used fry oil. Every car and truck built after 1985 has some type of solid state electronics in it, newer cars have computers in them more powerful than your first personal computer. In the event of an EMP less than 10% of all vehicles will still work. Of course, you can always park your car in a Faraday cage

In my opinion, Windham is a very good value. Well, it's not actually my opinion, it's the opinions of all the people that bought a Windham and gave it a great review. When I was considering buying instead of building I was going to go with Windham based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback from owners. The Ruger AR is very nice too but a little out of the price range you specified. Not as customizable either. But still, a very nice rifle indeed.

So, lemme see if I got this right. The external dimensions of a 223 case and 5.56 NATO case are identical. The NATO chamber offers more wiggle room than the 223 chamber and can withstand higher pressures. For the 223 competition shooter, the slightly longer Wylde chamber allows 223 rounds to be tipped with heavier (and longer) bullets. For the typical 5.56 NATO chamber shooter; the Wylde chamber is shorter, which improves accuracy since the bullet does not have to jump as far into the rifling. The reduced headspace does not (in theory) affect reliability(cause jams) in a semi auto. It's also my understanding that barrels chambered as Wylde are made from the same materials that 5.56 barrels are made from and are just as strong. Is that about right?

So, wouldn't you know it. As soon as I make a decision about what barrel to get, everyone is suddenly out of stock and has no idea when they will have more. I'm looking to build an 18" medium contour mid ported SPR type setup. No inventory + no projected date of availability = project has come to a screeching halt. Trying to get back on track, I'm now considering a barrel chambered in Wyld. I plan on shooting mostly 5.56 NATO 62gr (green tips). Is there any reason I should not go with a Wyld chamber?

Bates Tactical Sport 5", $75 - $100 - Maybe not the very best boot in the world but certainly a very good value in my opinion. They are light and comfortable on my EEE foot. I work two jobs, landscaping in the day and building maint at night. Considering the extreme double duty these boots are subject to every day they have held up pretty well. The ball of the sole is substantially worn after just one year but they are still serviceable. If you will only be wearing the boots on occasion, you can anticipate three or more years of tread life. There was no "break in" period with these boots, they were comfortable right out of the box. They are water proof enough for my purposes, foot will not get soaked in the rain or walking through puddles.

Have a look at the Google Maps sat image of the plaza. There is a trippy surprise in it.

They need to get a web sight up. They sort of have one but it's just a logo and an e-mail addy Howell is a bit of a haul for me, I'm interested but I'd want to know more about the shop. Sounds like a good place though.