I've been shooting, fixing, and building these things a long time. I'm an "enthusiast" :icon17:

Sigs are all test fired, as are Glocks. I have a Glock 17 around here somewhere. It came with a little manila envelope in the case that contained two empty cartridges from the test firing.

As I mentioned, coming dirty from test firing at the factory is no big deal. A quality combat weapon will run fine dirty. I clean my pistols and rifles, but only every so often. Maybe every thousand rounds for pistols and every 2000-3000 rounds for rifles. A precision rifle...that I might clean more often, but in a combat weapon I'm more concerned about function than I am about precision and a Glock or Sig, or any quality AR15/M4 will run fine for thousands of rounds with only some quality lube and an occasional bore snake. AR's have a tendency to accumulate carbon around the bolt tail, so periodically I'll soak them in some CLP or maybe some kerosene and wipe them off, or maybe scrape them. That, and an occasional chamber brushing and any quality AR with an in-spec chamber works even if absolutely filthy as long as they're lubed.

Man, I clean mine meticulously even when I don't really need to. I know my Glock will run just fine dirty but I clean it after every time I shoot it, even if it's only 100 rounds or so. My guns that don't get shot... I clean them once every 1-3 months. :icon17:

I really like taking them apart and putting them together again. :icon17:

I have 2 glocks, and I remember seeing the envelope with the 2 shell casings, but I know with this Rock River I just bought, there were no casings.

Steve Im exactly the same way.. Nothing wrong with it.:tup:

I love to shoot at the range and I love to drive the Z. The Z always has to wait in the parking lot while I shoot, and gets jealous. So now I just drive down the road shooting signs, that way we can do it together.

:bowrofl::roflpuke2:

Anyone know of a good shop in MD that can put a 1911 back together? I took my Kimber 1911 almost completely apart to install some new parts...but never ended up ordering the parts and have since forgotten how I took it apart...it's been apart for months!

Thanks!

Kirkster could probably put it back together for you. :icon17:

So I've put together a Spike's Upper and Lower for $750, not including rear sight. Thinking about it.

Youtube it! Im sure someone's uploaded a video of doing it.:tup:

Do it! Do it! Do it!!:tup:

Put it on the credit card.. haha:roflpuke2:

I've never really shot a gun in my life, but like a lot of things, maybe I'd like to try it.
I have a very old Ruger (yes, it's a 22) that my wife inherited from her dad.
It hasn't been shot or cleaned in over 30 years.
My wife and I actually took it to the Fairfax County Police station in Sully who checked it AND DISCOVERED IT WAS LOADED :shakes head:

I live and work in Centreville and Fairfax.
Anybody know of a good place where I can get it cleaned and checked?
Anybody think it would be a good gun to learn with?

:bowrofl:

I'll give it a few days.

haha... whats surprising is the fact that you're getting this rifle for under $1000, thats the shocker right there. I'd say do it!!! hehe

Blue Ridge Arsenal in Chantilly should be able to help you. If the gun functions properly it should be a good little plinker. Accurate and .22lr is cheap.

I'd also read over the manual if you still have it (available online here: http://www.ruger.com/products/_manuals/markI.pdf) to familiarize yourself with the function and all of the safety aspects of course.

Thats an old gun right there, I think it'd be gun to get your fundamentals of marksmanship up to speed, but eventually I'd go with something more modern.

Sad thing is I haven't even bought one yet and I'm already like, "Man, it'd be cool to have a SPR too..." :facepalm:

:tup::roflpuke2:

Thats why that credit card is calling you out!

I'll qualify for an Amex Black card soon enough. ;) :icon18:

NICE!! :happydance: BALLER!! :tup:

Thanks Steve

Do it, Do it, you know you want to.

If it's a range gun, the SPR will be more accurate over long distance.

No point having a short carbine, unless you plan on doing urban combat, building/room clearance, or home defence LOL

And honestly an AR would not be my first choice for home defense.

My girfriend just got that invite from Amex last week ;)

Agreed. Nothing wrong with cleaning a weapon. There's no downside. They can't be over-cleaned.

Mac, any thoughts on Palmetto State Armory's stuff?

Unfortunately in NOVA all we have are indoor ranges, maximum 50 yards, so an SPR wouldn't see much real use unless I went a ways south to get to an outdoor range. That's why I would do something like that second.

You're right about that, I guess its the military in me.:tiphat:

Dont you have some sorta ridiculous annual fee with this card?

You need to charge something like $250k a year, and pay it all off in the same year, to qualify. :icon17:

Doesn't Clark bros have an outdoor range?

Yeah, but that's still a haul (and you have to use their ammo, which is pricey).

Dude, and you want THAT card?:wtf2:

Haaaaaaa No Thanks!:gtfo2:

It would mean that I make enough money to charge and pay off $250k/yr, so YES!!! :roflpuke2:

They never complain if you buy a box of their ammo, then shoot it and your own....and it's really not that far out depending on where you are.

Dude, if you're making & spending 250K a year, than :worship:

I'll check them out one of these days. I really need to take the Mauser somewhere that I can shoot at least 100yds anyways.

I buy virtually all my ammo from them. Reliable, fast shipping, good customer service. They have a good reputation. If you're looking to buy a stripped lower, they are a reasonable choice.

If you're going to assemble the lower, I would price out the parts individually and compare them to this complete lower. I would order that lower with the MOE trigger guard, the MOE grip and the CTR stock, and I would also add the Noveske QD endplate so you have something to attach your QD sling swivel to. The blemishes on those BCM cosmetic blems are notoriously minor.

Or, I would order a cosmetic blem lower from BCM without stock body and add a CTR stock. That setup would be a better deal.

The advantage to buying an assembled lower is that you wouldn't need to buy any of the special tools that facilitate such a project. To assemble a lower, you'd need/want a set of roll pin punches, a set of regular punches, an AR castle nut wrench, and a mag well vise block. Other really useful tools would be a bolt-release roll pin punch (avoids marring the receiver) and a pivot spring insertion tool (getting that pivot spring/detent/pin in there can be a bitch...I've launched many detent springs across the room over the years).

Bottom line, first you need to decide and price out assembly of a stripped lower vs buying an assembled lower. If you decide on assembling it yourself, the options for stripped lowers are dizzying. And, it's kind of a minefield. I would have little concern about a stripped lower from Palmetto State Armory. On the other end, I would avoid, like the plague, buying a stripped lower from some guy at a table at a gun show.

Mac, you're a badass..:tiphat:

Thanks, Mac.

PSA also looks to have some good deals on nicely spec'd complete uppers as well.

IMHO, the upper is a different kettle of fish than the lower. The upper is where all the action is and to have reliable function the quality of the individual components and how they interrelate is more critical. The concept of "tolerance stacking" really applies here. An upper receiver that's only a couple of thousandths off might not be a big deal, but if your BCG is also a couple of thousands off, and the bolt is a little off, and your chamber is minimally out of spec, and your gas port is slightly off, and your feed ramps are a little mis-cut, and the barrel extension indexing pin is off, and your front sight is canted, now you have a potential reliability problem. I've seen all of these things in various combinations and over the years I've found that sticking to the known higher-quality mfgrs minimizes those troublesome issues.

You'll often see opinions posted on places like Arfcom that "with Colt, or Noveske, you're just paying extra for the name". I've found that what you're actually paying for is a higher level of quality control. They throw away a higher percentage of components that don't meet their more rigid specs, so the chances of tolerance stacking are minimized.

While I wouldn't be very concerned about buying a lower from PSA, I don't think they'd be my first choice for an upper. I would have zero concerns about buying a complete upper from BCM, or Colt, or Noveske, or DD, or about building an upper from components from those mfgrs (which is what I've been doing lately with the SBR's I've been building, or rifles I help friends build).