Why I'm here.

I grew up in a somewhat liberal, extremely pacifist household in the equally liberal Washington state. I had some good friends who introduced me to the errors of my upbringing. Guns (any weapons really) were a forbidden topic in my house, so when I was first introduced to shooting sports I fell in love- kind of a forbidden fruit thing I think. My mother still wonders where she went so wrong.
Because of my upbringing, and my poverty in college, I am not your average gun guy. Most “gun people” buy a gun and it stays in the family, passed on through generations when the owner goes to their heavenly reward. I, on the other hand, go through guns like they were work pants. I get bored, or I look too close, or I shoot them till I don’t like them anymore. Over the past five years I have bought, shot, and sold or traded More than 50 firearms. Along the way I have learned TONS, established opinions, and had a great time. Now some will ask, “Why” ? It all comes down to a deal I made with my incredibly beautiful, and patient wife. When we were first engaged we talked about lots of important things in great detail, and one of those was firearms. She knew I liked guns and enjoyed shooting (though at the time neither of us had any idea how big this would become). She was worried about having hundreds of guns strewn everywhere around the house. We set a four gun limit at any given time. Over the years that deal has been revisited and modified, but the rule made me sell a gun before I could get a new one. It also has led me to play with a ton of platforms and a ton of accessories. This review blog is based on the experience gathered along the way. I have also figured out how to self-fund my gun addiction. In our house “gun money” is a separate entity, though I have on occasion used it to spoil my wife. “Gun money” is money made from a gun sale that is used for buying another gun or ammo. (Gun money also magically accumulates when I let my wife pick our sons names). Guns have become a real investment to mee, they hold their value very well. I have made a lot of additional “gun money” along the way. My addiction started with a $550 initial investment and has grown to around $15,000 in guns, and around $8000 in ammo (though little of that is left) in the course of five years.

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The AR pistol (5.56)


I listed the AK 74 one an online auction site, and had an offer to trade for a ar15 pistol w/ 10 inch barrel and a bunch of work done to it, almost immediately. I thought about it and decided it could be fun, so I said yes and in a Wal-Mart parking lot we made the swap. It was a cool little gun, but had only the front sight, so I added the aimpoint pro I had in the gun safe and a magpul BAD lever (love those things) then I added a one inch rubber spacer and a foam buffer tube cover, to make it long enough to shoulder (though not all that comfortably) and a magpul afg grip to make its grip a bit longer. It came with a Midwest industries two piece quad rail (not impressive) and a Hogue over mold grip, but as fun as it was, I never really liked it much. I think the main reason is that I use what is called the “fireman’s” hold when shooting AR’s, and with a 7 inch rail it is not possible. Putting a 12 inch hand guard would have helped but it would have needed a new brake and a new gas block, to clear it. In general it was not a cost effective option.

THE GOOD:
The shortness of the whole setup was nice for many things
AR pistols are kind of cool.
THE BAD:
Shooting a AR pistol with just a cheek weld is just silly, you are much better off to spend your money on a real pistol, or an actual SBR, or a sig arm brace (but rumor has it they may be illegal soon)
I still don’t like how small the dot in an aimpoint pro is, but it is a great sight.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I love the ar15 action, Eugene stoner was a genius, that said this gun was only cool to look at, using it was annoying, I had a hard time holding it.


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