Saturday, March 18, 2017

$400 sniper part 2


$400 SNIPER part 2

Okay, you understand that I despise the M-16.  It is meant to spew out large quantities of ammunition ( I mean, DUH, it’s an attempt at an assault rifle and that is what they do ) which is fine in an Oil Age, but the inherent weakness of the design is that it fouls easily.  More firing, more fouling, quicker jams in combat.   And since the Army itself has NEVER seen a wet dream they don’t want to hump up by waking up and jerking off, they use the wrong kind of ammunition in it so that you need a triple tap to drop a Skinny.  That said, and the above the reason I won’t buy one ( besides the whole semi-auto aspect ), they are in many ways a superior weapon.  They are amazingly accurate, something an AK or an Enfield can’t brag about ( both are meant for volley fire, anyway ).  They have close to zero recoil ( which helps immensely getting that accuracy it is capable of ).  Unlike the Enfield, the place is positively buried in a surplus of spare parts for them.  I don’t consider their weight an advantage as while nice to go hiking with, it doesn’t serve well as a secondary melee weapon ( buttstroking and bayoneting ).  But, germane to this article, getting back to positives, they are almost criminally under priced.

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Last weeks weekend newspaper ( before it was mandatory to save money-screw the trees, it cost money!-our local paper always had a weekend edition out on Saturday.  Never a Sunday paper.  Things were a bit more relaxed and lacked being newsworthy back when the gold sector wasn’t booming ) had an insert ad for a ranch store offering an AR-15 for $429!  Okay, granted, it isn’t exactly an even $400 as the title titillated you with.  With the fed background check of $25 and the $30 sales tax it is a $484 weapon.  But, $429 sounds so temptingly bargain worthy notable I couldn’t help a bit of hyperbole.  When I got out of the military in the eighties, in California used rifles were going for $500.  That’s a lot of inflation between then and now and the AR beat the Fed’s Humpery.  Back then it took a months wages to procure the firearm and now it takes barely over a third ( of course, the same claim can be made for the war surplus rifles, but it is still fascinating to me that something besides microchips and fracking oil are down in purchasing power ).

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Of course, you MUST keep in mind that beyond patents expiring or mass market demand or commoditization, one of the reasons the price has fallen is that quality has suffered.  Buying a $400 AR is a bit of a risk to your health in a long enough time period.  BUT!  You must factor in your risks ( plural ).  Do you risk running out of ammo because yours is twice the price of 223?  Do you risk not hitting diddly and being hit in return?  Do you risk not having a distance shooter and being stuck with a rimfire or shotgun?  Is the poor quality a better risk to shoulder, for you?  If you can accept the trade-off’s, a $400 sniper might just be what the doctor ordered.  Before you go running down to the store, wife’s Emergency Only credit card greedily clutched to your heaving chest adorned with erect nipples, you are NOT, and let me repeat this because you can’t hear me with the blood pouring through your ears, NOT!, buying a big and bad and mighty and righteous Rambo killing machine semi-automatic death dealer assault rifle.  You are buying a mid range sniping rifle.

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If you can’t grasp the tactical necessity of this, do NOT ( blah, blah, repeat…) NOT buy a cheap AR.  You will wildly spray rounds out of this less than one hundred percent quality carbine and a part will fail on you from over use.  If you are slowly sniping with this, however, the odds are very much against a crap part going bad.  And granted, this isn’t exactly a sniper rifle a professional would EVER agree to use.  But you ain’t no damn sniper skill wise.  You are, at best, with practice most survivalists won’t be getting, a marksmen.  The rifle is good enough for you.  You could buy a $900 unit with a heavy barrel, but unless that will go with your above average skill, it is a waste of money ( besides which, even high cost doesn‘t protect you against unscrupulous sellers, not in every case.  Your odds are certainly better but you still have zero guarantee ).  Better to buy more ammo and mags.  Which, speaking of, you won’t need as many as the average machinegunner.  Buy as many as you can as they are disposable items.  Granted, you’ll be keeping ONE in your rifle rather than dumping or tossing or bashing it on rocks as there is no need for Tactical Reloads.  Don’t go crazy, but don’t short yourself either.

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A war surplus rifle is $300.  They are beat to crap.  I swear by mine ( when the Queen commissioned the Lee-Enfield no.4, the apex of bolt action battle rifle design was achieved ), but if you want better quality at better value and without the ammo or spare parts challenge, you want a modern gun.  A single shot 223 ( break open singles have the most butt simple robust system, and should be seriously considered for post-apoc use ) is $250.  Another hundred bucks gives you the option of a mag full of cartridges.  But ONLY one hundred bucks over the bolt and you’ll have the most abundant quasi-military rifle of modern times ( the AK is a TRUE military assault rifle, but far from as popular here in the States.  Unless the Chi-Coms attack, this will always be so.  Logistics matter ).  It certainly bears thinking about.  As I said, it’s not for me.  I want a thirty cal for my open wind swept terrain ( even if I limit myself to 200-300 yards given my middlin skills, the wind rarely wants to stop here and has some bearing almost all the time ).  I want a bayonet.  And I want reliability in the field ( only the Enfield and AK earned this title from combat.  The Mauser, Mossin-Nagant, and M-16 have NOT.  You think one firefight and then back to base for cleaning is a shining endorsement?  Tell me what the guys who can choose their weapon while on extended patrol carry ).  But as always, Your Mileage May Vary and an AR at barely over $400 might be the cat’s meow for you.

END 

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20 comments:

  1. Doing LRRP missions, I got to choose also. I damn straight didn't want that POS M16A1. I chose the M14, because of durability and brush cutting .308 round.
    Like you , ain't no way in hell I'll ever own an AR ,but I do have a Mini 14. Because it reminds me of the old Army days and as an urban assault weapon , it'll do. Yet cuz it's piston fired ,ya don't hafta worry bout cleaning it constantly either. Eventually I'd like to get a long heavy barreled bolt gun chambered in 5.56 for reaching out say 600. Used to do that easily with a M16A1 so with a even longer barrel should make a decent medium range sniper.
    Have to use up all those couple thousand green tips my friends have given me over the years.
    You just can't beat the per round price I guess for them poodle shooters.My buddy only pays around 25¢....

    But really, I prefer my Marlin 30/30's for the Bush here in Florida.

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    1. The ammo price is nice, and if I did have to choose a 223, it probably would be an AR rather than a Mini. I've heard too many issues about it and its not as accurate and it is way overpriced. I'd rather have an AK than a Mini if I had to go for an assault rifle and wanted a non-jamming carbine.

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    2. I had a Mini-14 back before the government confiscated them.

      I used Norinco rounds in it and they would blow brass back into the bolt causing it to seize up.

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    3. With the newer heavier barrels, the accuracy isn't too bad actually. Good enough IMO. The firing pin issues are from idiots bump firing and getting the gun too hot or using steel ammo. Yes they are pricey, but quality ain't cheap lol.

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    4. Norinco, the firearm that is used to kill Yankee Imperialist running dogs and their Ozzie friends. And, well, I don't know why I'm surprised that a Mini costs $800 when a SALE on a 10/22 is $225. I just think if you spend the $800, why not have a better design even if not better quality. I always felt the Mini was just a whiney plee to buy American from a not so sterling reputed company. Not saying it is a terrible gun, just a distant third or forth of fifth in semi battle guns.

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    5. Lol , I bought it because it had never been fired and it came with two thousand rounds and eight steel mags. All for $700 !!
      At that price , I could not refuse ha ha.
      Plus , since then another friend gave me 2K more green tips...For watching his house last summer..

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    6. Okay ,so a $200 gun after ammo costs. I would have done the same I imagine. And you can always sell separately and double your money.

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  2. Another way to think of the low end AR is that it is an *active* down payment on a better gun. I say active cause it works right now.

    Everything is already on the web. Get the cheap gun, use it, and spend some time online learning everything you can about it. Take it apart, discover how the various parts work and work together. Then start upgrading the parts one at a time.

    A new charging handle here, and better trigger rig there, etc. The single most expensive part on an AR and maybe the most important, is the barrel. A good quality barrel STARTS at $200 and goes up immensely from there. But you have to learn, first, what makes a good barrel, and therefore, what makes a bad barrel.

    Deal only with reputable dealers and by hanging out in various blogs, keeping your face cave shut and your ear holes open, er eyes, read what other people more knowledgeable than you are saying.

    In a year, a little bit at a time, you can have a (gasp!) assault weapon that can reach out and touch someone at 800yds or better all day long. Start light but plan heavy.

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    1. Or, it will do until you upgrade but if you can't upgrade, it will still do.

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  3. Just saying : every type of weapon requires its own training and creats its own set of habits.

    Semi-auto rifles with magazines are very "niche" weapons. If you have time and money to spend on this type of weapon, more power to you.

    I favor a different approach, in that you train for one type of weaponry and thus become good at all its aspects. Bolt-action rifles train you to avoid the fights you would perhaps not avoid with a semi-auto rifle.

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    1. Well spoken. If from nothing else, we could tell you aren't American from your common sense approach, rather than Hollywood bred dogma, regarding semi's.

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  4. I actually did see an AR for $399 in my local farm supply catalog last week. We don't have any extra fee for a background check where I live, just sales tax. I seriously considered it but I'm holding out for a 308. HK91 clone or an M14 if I can find one that's affordable.

    -Novice

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    1. the folks at the Gun Test magazine say the PTR-91 is the best of the HK clones. I'd do that WAY before considering a 14.

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  5. Right. Some of them inexpensive AR's have polymer lowers and I find that bothersome. The new Spikes lower I just got was right at $99 with tax and shipping, + $25 transfer fee from my local dealer. I ordered it from Tombstone Tactical in AZ and it's not polymer.

    Learned something new.
    The AR lower is considered the *gun* part of the thing because that's where the serial number is located. (I always thought that was strange because the upper is where all the business gets done, the actual firing of the ammunition, not the lower.)

    I had never bought a gun online so I didn't know exactly how the registration stuff worked. Turns out the registration must happen at the point of sale, in my case Tombstone Tactical in AZ, not the point of filling out the 4473 cause there is no information about the gun itself on the 4473. The only info on the 4473 pertains to me, the person. Tombstone has all my contact info, but they didn't do the transfer, so if any info connecting me to the gun is on paper or pixels it must be with Tombstone.

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    1. Most folks seem to feel the lower polymer has little bearing on quality-I don't have any opinion due to ignorance. I will say, if I wanted to do an 80% gun, I'd get the pour kits rather than drill an aluminum one as it seems you can't screw it up as bad. You do, you pour another. With the drill, if it screw it up, that's it, money wasted.

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    2. Negative. You didn't fill it out, but if it was a legal transfer on a 4473, there is a place for it and it would have been filled out by the dealer...

      See pages 2 &3(parts B and specifically D) on this sample 4473.

      https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/4473-part-1-firearms-transaction-record-over-counter-atf-form-53009/download

      As far as "registration", also a negative as the dealers themselves keep the 4473s(for at least 20 years but can destroy them at 20 years and a day). If the dealer closes up shop(retires or goes out of business) they must ship all the <20 year old 4473s to the ATF. Once at the ATF they get scanned on to a version of microfilm and the originals get shredded for sake of space. Officially, "registration" is not permissible and the microfilm is supposedly purged beyond the 20 year mark also.

      http://www.informationweek.com/applications/atfs-gun-tracing-system-is-a-dud/d/d-id/1109062

      K.

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  6. Having had a modicum of experience with the Steyr here in Aus, and since then 12 years of experience hunting with a bolt gun, I can confidently say I much prefer the bolt action. It isn't much slower than a semi-auto and is a lot safer to boot.
    When it comes to hunting with a centrefire, I've never had either a need or an opportunity for a fast follow up shot - things run right away, and I'd expect humans to do the same. I do well enough - I can feed myself, despite not having ever tried to shoot a moving target. What's the point? Why not wait til dinner is nice and close and a sure shot? There are plenty more dinners out there.
    And having said that, I do the majority of my hunting with a .22LR - sufficient for everything up to bulls with good shot placement. I see very few occasions I would really need a centrefire given my circumstances.

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    1. I don't normally focus on hunting ( dinner, anyway ). Combat is the major need here, as we've overpopulated a smidge much.

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  7. I purchased a PTR -91SC a few years back, I love it, downside is that it is much heavier then you standard semi auto, but very durable and I have had zero failures with mixed ammo. .308 may cost more but it is also more versatile and readily available.

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