Sighting in Your AR-15

One of the questions that is floating around is how to sight in the AR-15.  The AR is an unbelievable platform that works well for Law Enforcement, Military, and Civilian competition.  The AR is accurate, low recoiling, and completely customizable making it the best choice for many shooters.

D.R. Middlebrooks of Tactical Shooting Academy is famous for saying the AR is good for anything from 3 yards to 300 yards.  Considering your options for setting up your gun, one must determine the correct point of impact.

A few years ago Richard Fairburn wrote a great article on the difference sighting in at 25 yards and 1.2″ below aim at 25 yards.  It doesn’t seem like much, but it makes a 9″ difference at 200 yards.  I realize that most of you don’t get out to 200 yards that often, but sighting at 25 yards makes you shoot 9″ high at 200 yards, while sighting in 1.2″ below at 25 yards will lead to a drop of only .7″ at 200 yards.  Seems to make sense doesn’t it.

Check out the Fairburn’s entire article here.

 

Are You Ready?

With the start of the new year, this is a question that we should all be asking.  Are You Ready?  It is really easy to think that we are ready for lies ahead and accept the complacency that seems to be so rampant in other people’s lives.  If 2010 is going to be different for you it will be because you took the time to get ready for what you really wanted to accomplish.

Are You Ready?  What steps do you need to take to ensure the safety of your family members?  There is no time like the present to schedule some training.  The most common mistake in our business is that buying a gun somehow makes you safe.  You must know how to deploy that tool if you ever need it.  Spend the money.

Are You Ready?  Have you started reloading yet to get ready for the competition season?  Winter is a reloader’s dream.  There isn’t any reason for you to be outside.  Stay where it is warm and load the year’s ammo.  Start your dry fire practice now so you when the shooting season starts you will be ready.

Are You Ready?  Waiting until September to get your hunting gear together is a mistake.  The stores never have what you want, and shops like ours are slammed.  Use the offseason.  The time you have with that gear at the range will be priceless.

If you are waiting for it all to come to you this year, prepare to be disappointed.  Prepare and plan to do well and have a great 2010.

 

What to do with that junk gun?

Many of our readers find at least one gun in their collection that either isn’t worth $.02 or doesn’t work anymore.  When you find yourself in this situation you have several options;

1. Have a FFL dealer log the gun in and destroy it.  This is accomplished by cutting the frame to make it in operable.  This isn’t much fun, but it gets it off your records, and prevents anyone who shouldn’t have the gun from getting it.
2. Use it to practice something.  You’ve always wanted to see if you could refinish a stock, so why not try on something that won’t lose any value if you mess it up.
3. Call Numrich.  Sometimes they will take guns in for parts.  Don’t expect to get much, but it is better than nothing.
4. Save it for your kids inheritance.  Nothing says I love you like a worthless gun.  This is something my grandfather did for me.  I laugh because it reminds me of him constantly.  He never believed in maintenance.  So I have a semi-auto I am sure he paid less than $100 for during his lifetime, but I still keep it to remind me of him.

If all else fails, disable the gun and hang it above the fireplace.  I am sure the Mrs. in your life will approve as much as mine would.

 

Trijicon Uses Bible Verses on Scopes

NY Daily News Photo

Trijicon has been a household name for many of you for a long time.  I have used their stuff for years, and until this week I was unaware they added a Bible Verse inscription to their scopes.  It has generated a lot of heat.  One commentator called it proselytizing.  I certainly think they are within their rights to do so, because they are a private company.  I guess more than anything this story cracks me up because it really doesn’t seem like it should be news.  They are great scopes, and you don’t have to buy from them if you don’t like their views.  There are plenty of companies I choose not to buy from because of their views, political and moral.

Here is the NY Daily News story and a picture they ran with it. By the way, John 8:12 says, “. . . I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” NIV

 

SP101 Bobbed Hammer

We recently did an SP101 package where we bobbed the hammer and converted it to Double Action Only.  There are a couple of reasons to do this:

1. Pocket carry is much easier because the draw motion is simplified.
2. No worry about the Single Action Mode.  The Double Action Trigger Job we do makes it really easy.  Besides, you aren’t going to have time to manually cock the gun.

We also chamfered the cylinder for easy reloading.  Add the XS Big dot sight and you have a great gun.  Check out the pictures below.

 

Installation of XS Sights for Ruger SP101

James just asked an interesting question in the comments section of the website concerning the installation of XS sights on an SP101.  It is actually a little more involved than the Glock sites, so let me quote the steps from XS’s installation brochure:

1. Place gun in padded vise.
2. Drive out the front sight pin(s).
3. Remove the old sight and insert the new Express Sight into the slot.  Some fitting may be required.
4. Hold the sight in the slot (red threadlocker may be used to hold the sight in place) and drill the hole(s) for the retaining pin.  Drill half way through from each side.  Drilling through from both sides will give a straighter hole for installing the retaining pin.
5. Apply red threadlocker to the pin, then drift the retaining pin into place to secure the sight.

I have asked XS what size drill to use on these sights, and they would not recommend one, claiming that Ruger changes the diameter of the pin from time to time.  I have not found any variation in my experience, but that may be true.  I have used a 1/16 drill bit before, but a word of caution: be very careful because the drill will have a tendency to walk on you, enlarging the hole.  This isn’t the end of the world, but it makes the hole not look so great.  Get some red threadlocker from your hardware store because it doesn’t come with it, like on the Glock sights.

Other than these precautions, we love them.  The XS Sight Systems seem to work great.  I wish they had better customer service, and I wish their website was better.  Other than that, I don’t have any complaints with the sights themselves.  They are solid and easy to use.

 

Who needs a Pistol Lanyard

One of the things that comes up from time to time is the usefulness of lanyards for pistols.  Some of the 1911’s offered today by custom makers are offering the lanyard loop again on the mainspring housing.  This leads us to ask, “Is this practical or simply tacticool?”

This is a tricky one, because there is no hard and fast rule to help you decide.  If you want a lanyard loop on your gun, so you can say you have one, it is probably not a good idea.  If you want a lanyard loop to hang your lucky charm on it, again, not a good idea.  If you want people to think you were part of the MEUSOC, not cool.

However, there are several people who can benefit from them.  Obviously active duty military and Law Enforcement could benefit from the weapon retention.  Hunters who are carrying a sidearm for backup.  We recently completed a lanyard loop install for a Glock Pistol that didn’t have one.  The customer is a kayaker who wants to make sure the fish don’t get to enjoy his pistol.

In certain situations lanyards can be a lifesaver or a matter of protecting your investment.  Other times, they simply make you a wannabe.  You have to decide.

 

5.11 Professional Polo

We have just received the 5.11 Professional Polo for review.  It will be included in our Tactical Polo review along with items from Blackhawk! and Woolrich Elite.  At first glance the 5.11 shirt looks really nice, and feels great too. We still haven’t heard anything from Eotac yet.  Perhaps they will send something this week.  We were hoping to have all four companies represented, but we will move forward if something doesn’t shake out soon.

More information to come soon.

 

SOB Carry

SOB can mean something that isn’t polite to say, but in the world of CCW it means Small OF Back.  I recently carried an SP101 this way.  It is one of the best ways to conceal no matter what your attire is for the day.

SOB carry can be done with an expensive holster from Galco or other makers, but you just as easily carry with a very inexpensive Inside the Waist Band holster from Unlce Mikes.  These neoprene type holsters can be found all over the place in the $10-$15 range.  They offer a great platform for this type of carry.

One thing to remember; when you buy for SOB using and IWB holster, make sure you buy it for the opposite of your dominate hand.  A right-handed person needs a left-handed IWB holster for SOB carry.  This puts the butt of pistol pointing to the right, allowing for a very easy draw.

It takes a little getting use to, especially when sitting, but it is actually quite comfortable and very concealable.  The only disadvantage that I see to this type of carry is the small loss of draw speed when compared to strong side hip carry.  However, with a little practice you can become very quick and make up some of that time.

 

Changes for 2010

MCC is trying to get into the new decade with a few changes.  Since our inception 4 years ago, we have accepted payment by check or money order.  This was done to simply things for us, and because when we started we didn’t even have a website since 100% of our business came from the local area where we were located.

Today that has almost completely changed.  We now have 90% of our business coming from competitive shooters, persons concerned with personal defense and general shooters from around the country.  In an effort to simply things for you we have added the beginnings of an online store.  You can now pay for the MCC Glock Extended Mag Release online as well as the XS Big Dot SP101 sights so many of you have been asking for.

By the end of the week we hope to have a dedicated page for an online store at the top of the site.  Please be patient as we get started on this process of modernization and let us know if you experience any problems.

As always thanks so much for reading and participating in this community of shooters.  We appreciate all of our great customers.