Monday Gunday: Erin Shoots Her AR

Yesterday I took Francisco N. Stein to the range and fed him a bunch of ammo. My goals were:

1. Function check the rifle to make sure the upper played nicely with the lower;
2. Test the magazines for feed issues;
3. See if there were ammo types he liked or hated;
4. Zero my red/green dot and iron sights. 

I am pleased to report that everything went very well. 

What? I like Magpul. 

 All told, I fired 130 rounds of ammunition from Frank. Because I am a cheapskate, I bought 55gr .223 because it was the most affordable which meant more (literal) bang for my buck. 80 rounds were acquired from Lucky Gunner via a gift certificate I acquired last Christmas; the last 50 were bought from Walmart on the way to the range.

• 223 Rem - 55 gr FMJ Boat Tail - PMC - 20 Rounds
• 223 Rem - 55 gr - Wolf Gold FMJ - 20 Rounds
• 223 Rem - 55gr FMJ BT - Federal American Eagle - 20 Rounds
• 223 Rem - 55 gr SP - Prvi Partizan - 20 Rounds
• 223 Rem - 55 gr FMJ - Perfecta - 50 Rounds ($14.99 at Walmart)

Frank ate every single one of these without issue. I'm not sure of one of them is "more accurate" than the others, but the Perfecta were the ones I used last and they were the finishing zero on my optics. Considering that they were the best deal and most convenient to buy, I'm going to be using them from now one (unless I find something better). 

I also tested all five of my magazines:

• Magpul 40-round
• ProMag 30-round
• three aluminum STANAG magazines

All of them worked flawlessly at max capacity (yes, even the ProMag). While I am aware that this is not a conclusive test and that some may fail sooner than other, I'm still happy to see that none of them were immediate junk.

Here is the final target after I got the sights more or less zeroed at 25 yards. I'm going to have to beg forgiveness for some of the stray shots in the 8 and 9 rings; once I was satisfied I was chewing through the bullseye I went a bit happy with the remainder of my shots.

The next time I have more ammo I'm going to take Frank out to 50 yards and see how well he does there. I have a magnifier for the red/green dot that I'd like to test.

Erin FINALLY Assembles an AR

I am proud to announce that, after three years, my journey to assemble an AR-15 is finally complete. This is noteworthy, because it represents a triumph of patience and stinginess over commercialism. 

After being burned twice when trying to purchase a complete upper, I finally gave up and bought an SKS instead, because a gun I could actually shoot was more useful than half a gun I might be able to shoot one day. With that purchase, I completed all of the major gun "food groups"  (.22 pistol and rifle, shotgun, semi-auto pistol, bolt-action rifle and finally semi-auto rifle), which meant that getting an AR-15 went from "must get" to "it would be nice but I don't really need one."

And because I didn't need one, and because I'd had bad experiences with an upper, I set for myself an additional condition:  I wouldn't buy an AR upper unless it was 1) complete (because I didn't want the extra trouble of putting it together) and 2) cost $300 or less (the same price I paid for my SKS).

So essentially, I resigned myself to the fact that I would only get an AR upper if I got it secondhand, at a gun show, or both. And I was fine with this because it was a target of opportunity, not necessity.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when I stumbled upon a complete AR upper that not only cost less than $300, but also had free shipping courtesy of Palmetto State Armory:

PTAC 16" MID-LENGTH 5.56 NATO 1/7 UPPER WITH BCG AND CHARGING HANDLE 

• Barrel Length 16" 
• 5.56 Nato Chamber
• 1 in 7" twist 
• Mid-length Gas 
• Phosphate Finish
• .750" Gas Block Diameter 
• M4 Feedramps 
• Forged Upper 
• M-16 Profile Bolt Carrier
• Carpenter 158 Bolt
• Charging Handle

Upper is expected to group within the mil-spec.

I will be the first to admit that I know very little about the AR-15 platform. Twist rates and the like mean very little to me; I only knew that I wanted a 16" barrel, a 5.56 chamber, a chromed bore and for the whole thing to be under $300.

Well, I got three out of the four, and the chromed bore wasn't a dealbreaker for me, so I gathered up my "emergency gun money" cobbled together from gifts and savings and bought the sucker.

I am told that the middy length and 1:7 twist is really good, in which case I can only say that I stumbled onto a better deal than I deserve.

So without further ado, meet Frank:

Whoops, sorry. That's my dog investigating the rifle.

Top:  WAT DIS? IS FUD? IS TOY? IS TO PEE ON?

Right: DIS BORING. TAKE PIKCHURZ OF MEEEEE!


Ladies and gentlemen, my dog Heath. He's part Shepherd, part Labrador, and part Pug (no, we don't know how either), and he's very curious and needy and blonde.

All right, here's Frank, short for Frankenstein as well as Francisco Stein -- he's a Florida rifle, after all, so he's part Hispanic and part Jewish.

Spike's Tactical lower, PTAC upper.

And now begins the fun of accessorizing him and finding out what brand and grain weight works best!

Having come off ComBloc ammo (You have one choice of bullet, comrade) and 9mm (115gr for practice, 124gr for self-defense), the sheer variety of choice available to me is rather staggering.

Fortunately for me, I have a Lucky Gunner gift card burning a hole in my pocket, so that takes care of the first hundred or so rounds. I'm leaning towards 55gr .223 in various brands for my first block of testing.

Wish me luck, and don't be afraid to leave suggestions in the comments below!

Don't Do Business With RGuns.Net

As promised...

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THE PUBLIC BEATING HAS NOT GONE OUT OF STYLE.

This is the second one of these that I've had to write. It's a bit embarrassing to me, because this is twice now I've been taken fool by a vendor, and I'm letting everyone know just what a fool I've been.

But say what you will about my faults -- and there are many, to be sure -- I cannot be accused of not owning  up to my mistakes. When I screw up, I admit it. And I screwed up by not thoroughly researching this company.


I first encountered RGuns while searching for AR uppers back in December. This was just after Sandy Hook, when the crusade against dem ebil black gunz was in full swing, and my mother had said to me "I think we should finish building your rifle before they become impossible to get," and then offered to pay for it.

Now, I was of two minds about this. On the one hand, I didn't think that an AR ban would ever go through, and since there was a run on AR patterns anyway, finding an upper in a reasonable price range was becoming a unicorn hunt. I figured that eventually the hysteria would die down, and the units that had been built during the demand would flood the market and prices would stabilize.

On the other hand, I had someone offering to bankroll half a gun. This happens approximately never.

So yes, I got a bit greedy and decided "What the hell, let's see if I can find something within the price range I've been given."

It took me several weeks, but eventually I found an AR upper that had everything I was looking for*, and was only slightly more than I had been allocated. So I dipped into my own savings to make up the difference.

I would like to state, for the record, the following facts:

• The item I ordered was listed as being in stock. 
• Per the RGuns webpage, there was a delay in processing the orders, but they clearly state, and I quote: 3. RGUNS does not charge a credit card used for an order until it is ready to be shipped.  If your card has not been charged, we have not shipped your order.
• I did indeed look online to see if the company was reputable or not. Maybe I did not dig as deeply as I should have; I will not argue that. However, I feel (perhaps wrongly, perhaps not) that I performed my due diligence. The website was recommended to me by a gunnie friend (name withheld to prevent embarrassment), and a casual Googleing did not indicate "HOLY SHIT DO NOT BUY FROM THESE ASSHOLES."  Yes, there was the usual bitching on Arfcom that the owner was rude and the service was slow, but nothing indicated to me that they would violate their terms of service by charging me for something and not delivering. 

So, on January 6, I placed my order, received the confirmation email, and tried my best to be patient.

Time passed. Days turned into weeks, weeks to months, and winter became spring. The package never arrived, but then mom's card hadn't been charged either, so no harm, no foul.

In mid-March, mom showed me her Visa statement, and it indicated that as of 03/13/2013, she had been charged the requisite amount. Hooray! I was thrilled! Maybe I would get an AR upper as a late birthday present!

March ended; no AR upper. Okay, that was two weeks, maybe they were behind in getting the stuff off the loading dock or whatever. 

Mid-April; still no upper. After 4 weeks, I had begun to wonder. Mom sent them an email with a copy of the confirmation, asking if we could get an approximate ETA on the upper, and they didn't bother to reply. I called them on the telephone, and get a message that is so curt that it is just this side of being rude, basically saying "If you placed an order in December, chill the fuck out, it will get to you eventually. DO NOT MICROMANAGE YOUR ORDER." That last line is a quote, by the way. Their telephone number is 847-428-3569, call it and hear for yourself.

I left a message with our order number etc and asked them to call back. Did they? Of course not. 

At this point, it had been 6 weeks. Mom had gotten her second Visa statement, and didn't like the notion of paying for what is had effectively become Schroedinger's Upper. I was starting to get a bad feeling, so I did some more Google-ing, and lo and behold!  Since the end of January, lots of complaints have been levied against RGuns. They even have an F rating with the Better Business Bureau, with 28 complaints (out of 30) in the last 12 months!

Mom asks me what we should do. "Call Visa and tell them you want to begin chargeback proceedings," said I, because the 60 day limit for disputes was fast approaching. 

"Don't you want Visa to see if they can get your upper to you?" she asked. 

"NO," I thundered, fist upraised with lighting striking dramatically in the background. "They have taken our money and ignored our legitimate queries. For this they must be punished! Begin the chargeback forthwith, such that they not only lose our business but also must suffer the chargeback fee from their merchant bank! AND LET THIS BE A LESSON UNTIL ALL WHO WRONG ME THUS! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH!

Because, you see, I understand that fecal matter occurreth. I understand that shipping is slow, and demand is high, and maybe they were swamped with orders. If they had just taken five minutes out of their busy schedule and replied with a simple "Hey, I'm sorry, we are running behind, but you are totally going to get your upper by X date," then it would have been fine. But they ignored us, and if you read those reviews I linked you will find multiple instances of people ordering things that don't show up for 6 months or more, and when they call to complain the owner cancels their order and charges them a $100 cancellation fee.  I have no idea how RGuns stays in business, and frankly, it doesn't deserve to.

We began the chargeback process on Monday. As of today, the charge has been cancelled, and mom has received credit for what she already paid. So we aren't out anything, thank God, except for whatever little trust I may have held in online vendors.

Now that I've been burned twice, I'm closing the book on "Erin Builds an AR." People would rather steal my money than legitimately sell me a product, so I'm done shopping. Maybe in several years, when/if the market bottoms out, I'll be able to buy an upper at a gun show or from someone I personally know -- but unless I can pick it up and take it home right then, to hell with it. I'm done with spending my money on promises that turn out to be lies.

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM RGUNS.NET

*For the curious, what I ordered was: 16 Inch Upper with Fluted Barrel, M4 Handguards, QuadRail Gas Block and Vortex Flash Suppressor.

Monday Gunday Quickie

Apparently I'm just not meant to own an AR-15, because every time I try to order parts, I end up with someone taking my money and then refusing to send me my merchandise.

The last time this happened, it was from someone I knew over Facebook. This time, it was from an internet vendor with an actual physical address and everything. Both times, they've tried to scam me and refused to communicate when I asked, quite reasonably, "Hey, where's that stuff I paid for?"

To everyone who thinks I am paranoid for not showing my face on the internet:  this is one of many, many reasons why I feel that, honestly, I'm not paranoid enough. I'm obviously far too trusting when it comes to believing people will actually send me what I pay for.

And this is the main reason why I bought an SKS: because I suspected I'd never get my AR built, and I wanted something to fill the "semiautomatic rifle" slot in my firearm inventory. At least this way, I have one from each of the major food groups.

I will go into greater detail, including the name of the vendor, as soon as the credit card company assures me that the chargeback is complete. Oh, believe me, I am going to vent my spleen and name names, and hopefully no one within the sound of my voice will buy from this company ever again.

Monday Gunday: On a related topic...

Since my previous attempt to fill out my stripped AR lower failed, is there anyone out there who would be willing to give me a similar (albeit non-flaky) deal?

Cut me a discount for a lower parts kit, stock, buffer tube etc, and in exchange I will tell everyone on my blog how awesome you are.

(Yes, I know it's begging and pandering, but turning pretty words into gold is about the only profitable skill I have, so I'm going to make use of it any chance I get.)

Don't do business with Simple Survival

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THE PUBLIC BEATING 

HAS NOT GONE OUT OF STYLE.

I do not relish having to write this post, but I feel it is necessary to warn people NOT to do business with Simple Survival (simplesurvival.info, not to be confused with simplesurvival.net, which sells camping gear and nor AR-15 accessories), their front man Nicholas O'Bryan, or their employer, The Tarra Designs Group.

I was first introduced to Nick by none other than Oleg Volk (who no doubt regrets this, for reasons of his own that I hope he will list in the comments) back when I was trying to get a carry pistol. Nick said that he had an online store that supplied weapons, ammunition and firearm accessories to local police, and that if I were to buy my Glock from him, he would give me a good price for it if I mentioned his store in my blog. 

I said that sounded like a great idea, but I hadn't yet decided upon which kind of pistol to get. 

No problem, he replied, I have some blue guns here that I can send you so you can decide which of them fit your hand and your carry method. 

Great, I said, and sent him my mailing address. That was March 1, 2012, and I never heard back from him for months after that. This should have been my first indication that he was a flake. 

Fast forward to the summer. Nick had surfaced on July 2, chatting me as if everything was normal, trying to sell me things like ammo for my Glock or Mosin. I turned him down because I was able to get them in bulk for less. This "courtship," if you will, lasted the better part of two months, and towards the end of August I had bought my stripped AR lower and, flush with some writing money, was looking to buy a Lower Parts Kit. 

Again, he quoted me a very low price -- $126 for an LPK, 6-position stock, buffer tube & spring, 2 magazines, and a set of pin punches.  Again, I should have known better due to the combination of his previous flakiness and the price being too good to be true, but I decided to risk it on the off-chance that maybe he just had some bad luck during the spring. 

He wanted a check or a money order or a credit card over the phone. I didn't like that idea, due to my insecurity and desire for OPSEC.  When he later told me he had a PayPal account, I was thrilled and used that (and oh, am I glad that I did.)

On September 7, I sent him $126.00 via PayPal with the understanding that he had ordered the buffer spring and was waiting for it to arrive. The following is what happened, told in screenshots so you don't think I'm exaggerating:

Please note how, once he has my money, he is nothing but excuses: 

• "Waiting for the spring to come in."
• "They sent the wrong spring."
• "Will be running to Fed Ex tomorrow."
• "I was going to go, but had a headache, will definitely go this weekend."

Also note how I ask for a tracking number and never get it:

So that was September. By October I am starting to get bitchy, because he's had my hard-earned money for almost a month and all I have gotten is excuses. 

Note how he promises me "extra stuff" in the hope of keeping me quiet. At any rate, I have been given the semi-hard date of "Wed or Thur" for the arrival. Does my purchase arrive?

Nope. Still no tracking #, either.

This is me finally getting nasty. It is the Tuesday after I was promised the materials would arrive. I finally tell him to refund my money or provide proof that they're in the mail.

And this picture is proof that he saw my demand. 

Care to guess what happened?

Not a damn thing, that's what happened. So the next day, I filed a dispute with PayPal. The way disputes work is that I open a complaint where I say "I paid money and haven't gotten my stuff back" and PayPal sends an email to the seller asking them, "Hey, do you want to tell us your side of the story?"  I was encouraged to wait a set number of days to give Nick a chance to reply. 

Did he?  Nope. So on Monday, October 15, I escalated it to a claim, which involves PayPal doing some research and basically acting as a mediator for the dispute. 

Again, Nick never replied to this (even though his Facebook page is full of activity, so I know he hasn't been in a coma or anything like that.) 

On the 25th, PayPal ruled in my favor and refunded 100% of my money. This ruling is why I am in a generally good mood and not throwing down tons of invective -- which is what I might have had to do if I had gone with a personal check or a money order or credit card. 

Believe me, I was ready to contact the Post Office and the FBI for interstate mail fraud. I'm happy that I didn't need to, because any time you have to involve the government in your business it is never good for anyone. 

I honestly don't know if Nick is a fraud, or just lazy. You would think that even fraudsters would attempt some kind of explanation as to why they should be allowed to keep your money. I'm inclined to go with "Lazy, incompetent, and has no business running a business."

Yes, it's embarrassing for me to admit that I screwed up. But that's the way fraudsters continue to make their living: they rely on the shame of their victims to keep them quiet. 

And if there's one thing I lack, it's shame. 

So, in short:  Do not do business with Nicholas O'Bryan, his online store Simple Survival, or anyone associated with the Tarra Designs Group. They will take your money, promise you that your purchases are in the mail, and then promise you anything in order to shut you up. 

If anyone has had similar experiences, either with Nick O'Bryan/Simple Survival or another company, please leave a comment. Thank you.


EDIT:  As of 3:48 today, I got a message from Nick:  "gee thanks..."

No apology, no explanation, just trying to guilt trip me. Won't work, buddy.


Edit 2:  Oleg Volk describes a similar problem he had with Nick O'Bryan in the comments below.

Monday Gunday: Erin Assembles an AR (part 2)

Having bought the stripped lower, and recently flush with some cash from a writing assignment, I decided the first thing I absolutely needed was a pistol grip for my lower so that I could hold it like a proper gun.

Because pew pew pew, dammit.

I didn't know much of anything about AR-15 grips (other than the fact that there are a lot of them) so I did some research. I quickly realized I wanted two things:

1. A grip that wasn't black
2. A nifty storage compartment in the handle

And of course, the unspoken zeroth requirements of   "It must fit my hand" and "Cannot cost an arm and a leg."

This led me to the Magpul MIAD. It has three backstraps, two finger plates, comes in a variety of colors, has a bunch of storage core options, and was under $30 at Amazon.

Not mine. This picture is from the web. 

I bought the trigger guard at the same time, just because I could.

This one is mine. Sorry about the glare. 

This is known as "flat dark earth," and the picture makes it look a lot more khaki than it really it. In reality it looks more like "sick baby poop" aka chartreuse.


It also comes with the default storage core capable of holding three .223 rounds:

I have only the one because I picked it up at the range. 

So that's cool. Now I have something to hold on to when I pick it up.

Finally, I think I'm going to name this rifle Frank, because

1. I'm assembling it Frankenstein style, with a mishmash of pieces, and
2. Francisco is a Spanish name and Stein is Jewish; therefore, Florida.

 Pew pew pew.

Monday Gunday: Technically a firearm

Sorry for the absence. I'm going to blame the weather for my headaches.

Last Thursday, however, I was out because I took a trip to Orlando to pick up the AR lower receiver that I bought from Spike's Tactical for a song ($65.00, including tax). 

Now begins the (potentially) fun part of saving up for, buying, and then installing the various pieces of kit needed to turn this firearm into an actual, usable rifle. Fortunately for me, WizardPC over at Guns, Cars & Tech is going through the same process, so I'm going to pillage his linkdump for useful instructions and shopping lists.

Note 1:  I cannot tell you how disappointed I was that a post titled My Little AR Build had no references to ponies anywhere. 

Note 2: Yes, building an AR is a complicated process full of choices and lots of shopping. As McThag says, "You can't spell Barbie without an AR." Given how the AR platform allows a shooter to swap calibers and accessories with the switch of an upper, there's a lot of truth to this comparison. 

What may amuse some of you non-gunnies out there is that I didn't mis-speak earlier: according to the BATF, this piece is the actual firearm; everything else, including the barrel, is an accessory that doesn't need a background check. Yes, if I took this chunk of powder-coated type III hard coat anodized aluminum and beat someone with it, I could be charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

I shall now pause to allow you to laugh.

Here's a close-up of the Florida design on the receiver. I haven't yet decided upon a name for this one yet -- I imagine that will evolve as I assemble the rifle -- but it should be something which suggests a local flavor.

The dot indicates the location of the manufacturer: Apopka, Florida. 

The only thing I've done to it so far is to remove some the of roughness of the coating. When I first got the receiver, it was a VERY deep black and had a texture that gave me the same shivers as when I hear nails on a chalkboard.* I knew that wouldn't be acceptable for anything I would need to touch regularly, so I took a bronze brush and gave the surfaces a good going-over. This smoothed over a lot of the pores and gave the surface a thin coating of bronze, when I then scrubbed off (mostly) with a stiff nylon brush. What little was left behind gave the piece a slightly weathered look. It's not very visible in the pictures, but the difference is between "everything is exactly the same shade of deep black" and "due to variations in surface topography, some places are lighter than others and now it has a sense of relief and shading."

Also, I can hold it without getting the heebie-jeebies, which is an important feature in a rifle.


*Actually, it felt exactly like uncoated ceramic. Touching that and hearing nails on a chalkboard give me the exact same shivers.