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Let's see your AR setups...

Well thd good thing is that you have options, and time to decide what you prefer. Id look into some review videos on yt. Theres a lot products that knowledgeable guys will give performance reviews on such as mrgunsngear. His vids are pretty good and does a good job describing the products pros and cons, and many are budget friendly.
Thanks again. Will do
 
My totally tacticool AR, coated this for a company, they wanted a coating that went to 11. So this was my take on the tacticool meme with the AR that has a bunch of stuff attached. The company wussed out......I literally created such a crazy AR that they could not handle it. So I kept it and Brah it is sweet, it has everything including the kitchen sink. What color is it? All of them brah. By the way it is functional not just a show piece. May the Tiki Gods never rain thunder down upon you. Oh thats my partner in crime Negan, he is a Belgian Malinois and his hobbies include long walks on the beach, and F...ing S...T up And chewing on his humans.

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My totally tacticool AR, coated this for a company, they wanted a coating that went to 11. So this was my take on the tacticool meme with the AR that has a bunch of stuff attached. The company wussed out......I literally created such a crazy AR that they could not handle it. So I kept it and Brah it is sweet, it has everything including the kitchen sink. What color is it? All of them brah. By the way it is functional not just a show piece. May the Tiki Gods never rain thunder down upon you. Oh thats my partner in crime Negan, he is a Belgian Malinois and his hobbies include long walks on the beach, and F...ing S...T up And chewing on his humans.

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Nothing evil about it. 🤣🤣
 
My range/training beater - nothing special, just a BCM upper (16" ELW BHF w/15" KMR....this was in the era before the -A variant: I specifically went this way for weight considerations - I'm not that big up top, and I like to take training classes, so I wanted a gun that I didn't have to deadlift on every "Up" drill 😅 ) on a Battle Arms Development forged LW lower.

April of 2017 - Practically Tactical Partners' Shoothouse Weekend: my virgin shoot-house experience.

What a great way to bust one's cherry....It was awesome: the APD staff, AIs, and the Practically Tactical trio all took me and other beginners under their wings and provided us the guidance, support, and occasional humiliation needed to spur our learning. I had loads of fun, and the experience humbled me completely as the pressure of being in The House forced my marksmanship to fall off the very tight standards set by Chief Instructor Joe Weyer and his team during the weekend.

The saying that "....we default to the level of our mastery" was found true, and I was lacking.

Following 2 images courtesy of Practically Tactical -
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Griffin Armament M4SD Flash Comp w/Blast Shield (both first-generation, this was back in 2017, with the gun built mainly in 2015-16). Arisaka finger-stops, RailScales G10 scales and Karve, along with BCM panels. First-generation (again, remember the time-frame of the build) Vortex PST 1-4x on Larue SPR-E LT139, Magpul Pro BUIS. Radian CH. Battle Arms Development ambi safeties, magazine release, and enhanced take-down pins. Troy ambi mag release. Geissele SSA-E. BCM furniture. Inside is a BCM FDE-IB BCG, and at the time, the everyday light was an Arisaka 300-series (first picture) which got swapped out with a Malkoff Hound-Dog (Neutral/18650)/XM tail for the night-monster, both using Surefire's SR07 tape, with Ranger Bands and Larue's Indexing Clips for cordage control. Sling is a TAB Gear 2-point Carbine Sling, with a SKD-Tactical PIG Universal Sling Pad.

Well, all that fancy couldn't make up for the fact that I couldn't shoot..... :p

So I made a promise to Joe and his crew to retrurn later that year for more, as he ever so kindly patted me on the back with the encouragement of being the class's "Best Improved" during the debrief.

True to my word, I remediated by attending the Alliance Police Department's staffed "Basic Carbine" course that same summer -

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.....and got lucky by paying only $100 for a full 8-hour day with John "Chappy" Chapman!

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No sidearm on a war-belt this time - this was a pure basic-carbine class. Just a TQ, medkit (BFG MicroTKN), and dump-pouch.

The charging handle had changed to a Geissele SCH, and the bolt-catch became a Geissele Maritime.

The gentleman in the green checkered shirt was a much more advanced shooter than me, and he challenged my thinking that day by asking what I was doing with the additional two hand-stops (Arisaka finger-stops) I had on my handguard at the time. I responded that it was so that I could lock-in better for recoil management, to which he simply winked a "Really?" at me. I took him up on the challenge and removed those pieces for the duration of the class, and, yup, found out that I could save those ounces (and the sometimes awkward interface that they presented) and still run the gun faster, simply by bettering my technique. :)

That was really The Year of the Carbine for me, as I again proned-out behind the gun later that same summer, this time with the phenomenal Andrew Blubaugh of Apex Shooting and Tactics -

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And I even worked a few gun-ups, which paid off when I decided to shoot the day's opening Up/mechanical offset drills with my Atlas bipod still attached.....😁

I have a section of aluminum rail at the forward-most section, 6-o'clock of the handguard. This is actually a common setup on all of my ARs, as I really prefer to zero off of the bipod, due to my need for corrective eyewear.

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This class quickly accelerated, and sometime later that morning, we were shooting from underneath a junked vehicle at a reactive target on the other side - a 1" stake which simulated the shin-bone of a threat, which, when shot, would cause a IDPA cardboard to fall, at which point we'd engage center-mass.

You can see in the following picture that the additional handstops are gone, and the Karve has been replaced with an Anchor.

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I was able to get in a couple of other small carbine seminars for the remainder of 2017, but injury knocked me out of training for the 2018 year, and for 2019, that was followed with a job change which caused me to not be able to get out on the range nearly as much.

Still, I did manage to get in behind the gun again just before the close of 2019, with a class hosted by the excellent folks at Commence Firearms Training, also up here in northeast-Ohio.


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^ Oh, and yes, I did mention that my BCG in this gun is that blingy BCM IB-FDE. It looks black here because....er.....I pretty much never clean my range/training beaters? 😁 I promise that my defensive/EDC guns are much cleaner!

Shapes and numbers are always fun, but some contortion is even better!

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You can see that by this date, I'd moved on to the Modlite WML system. On-gun is the PLH (5K)/18350 setup on an Arisaka inline, with Surefire DS-SR07 tail. The night-monster is now an OKW/18650, also on an Arisaka mount, which I will swap-in as-needed.

I hope to get in more training in 2020!
I laugh at how more right handed people are over griping their hand guard for more control with the muzzle. Us left handed people with the right handed barrel twist started with an advantage. Seems like you would get tennis elbow with that.:unsure:o_O(y):eek::ROFLMAO:
 
Not sure if I want a red dot that looks like a scope or one that is a RMR type. I only get to shoot it 2 too 3 time a year work a lot.

Ginge's advice above will serve you well. Spend a bit more time researching before you start shopping, and I think you'll be happy with whatever you end up with.

In terms of the physical "body" of the modern RDS (be it of "holographic" type or the more typical reflected-LED/laser setup), don't stress too much about this. This is actually much more an aesthetic consideration (as well as one of weight), as proper technique for using unmagnified RDSs is to obtain "target focus."

Look at an appropriate target - say a light-switch - at across-room distances. With BOTH EYES OPEN, put out your thumb and cover the light switch with it while maintaining the focus of your eye on the light-switch (i.e. your target). Notice how you can see through your thumb?

This is what makes unmagnified RDSs so fast (and furthermore so appropriate for combative use, where the body's natural fight-or-flight response forces us to threat-focus), and also why it works well for folks with various eye issues, as you're literally -NOT- focused on the sight/reticle itself (this even holds true for shooters with significant astigmatism, for whom the dot will tend to appear with various artifacts/imperfections - although threat-focus will not fully eliminate the visual aberrations, it will significantly reduce it).

By visually "blowing through" the sight body, considerations such as how big the aperture is and where the switchgear/adjustment/battery compartment lies all become non-issues (or at least significantly less important issues).

Threat-focus is only one part of proper techniques for the RDS (no matter what it is mounted on, from handguns to long-guns) that is not often relayed to those who are beginners at using them. The other biggie that is often overlooked is that while the vast majority of modern RDSs are billed as "parallax-free," this is -NOT- truly the case: the truth is that this advantage of the modern RDS is dependent on your accuracy template, as explained by John Spears:


When you get that sight and you start setting-in behind it to get it zeroed, remember that you will want to exercise your fundamentals as best you can, in order to achieve the best zero that you can. Be sure that you properly cheek the rifle and that you sight through the optical center of the sight, as well as make sure that your eyepro is not causing any optical distortion.
 
A couple more -

My Daniel Defense M4V5 Lightweight got a bit of a feature here: https://www.thearmorylife.com/forum/threads/extended-cap-magazines-do-you.270/#post-4237 , and here's a better picture of it:

DDV5LW.jpg


I bought it in 2012, so it's still got that monstrous pic rail. Thicc-gals also deserve love, right? ;)

The B5 Bravo stock balances it well on the other end (I also have a DI LMT MRPCQB16 from about the same era, which is my backup gun for class, and it has the LMT SOPMOD stock on it; I tried to switch to that stock at first, but it shifted the balance of the gun just too much rearward), and it's tied together with a Sierra Tac sling.

The usual BCM Mod3 grip, and the FCG is a Geissele G2S w/Battle Arms Development ambi safety. Radian Raptor CH.

My usual preferred Troy ambi mag release offset on the other side by a Battle Arms Development button. The POF enhanced bolt-catch has been replaced with the Geissele Maritime, as on my other guns.

BUISs are fixed factory DD from that era, and the optic is an Aimpoint T1 sitting on a Larue LT660, protected by a TangoDown cover.

Old (again, from that time) interlocking 2-piece Magpul XTM panels and a Magpul stubby gets the job done up front for the support hand, and positions my usual SR07 tape to control the M600U (on an again old Gear Sector offset Scout mount), with wire management again by Larue Index Clips.

I took probably four training classes with this gun between 2012 and 2016, when I really decided to step-up my skills on the AR. Accruing probably right around 4K rounds and earning my complete trust during that time-frame, I decided to give her a thorough cleaning, LTI, and retired her as dedicated HD gun.

A few more to come. I think I should have led with these other ones and saved my action shots for last, as it just gets more boring from here, since the only real background I ever use is my daughter's piano bench! 😁 :p
 
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A couple more -

My Daniel Defense M4V5 Lightweight got a bit of a feature here: https://www.thearmorylife.com/forum/threads/extended-cap-magazines-do-you.270/#post-4237 , and here's a better picture of it:

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I bought it in 2012, so it's still got that monstrous pic rail. Thicc-gals also deserve love, right? ;)

The B5 Bravo stock balances it well on the other end (I also have a DI LMT MRPCQB16 from about the same era, which is my backup gun for class, and it has the LMT SOPMOD stock on it; I tried to switch to that stock at first, but it shifted the balance of the gun just too much rearward), and it's tied together with a Sierra Tac sling.

The usual BCM Mod3 grip, and the FCG is a Geissele SSA w/Battle Arms Development ambi safety.

My usual preferred Troy ambi mag release offset on the other side by a Battle Arms Development button sits forward of that, while the POF enhanced bolt-catch has been replaced with the Geissele Maritime, as on my other guns.

BUISs are fixed factory DD from that era, and the optic is an Aimpoint T1 sitting on a Larue LT660, protected by a TangoDown cover.

Old (again, from that time) interlocking 2-piece Magpul XTM panels and a Magpul stubby gets the job done up front for the support hand, and positions my usual SR07 tape to control the M600U (on an again old Gear Sector offset Scout mount), with wire management again by Larue Index Clips.

I took probably four training classes with this gun between 2012 and 2016, when I really decided to step-up my skills on the AR. Accruing probably right around 4K rounds and earning my complete trust during that time-frame, I decided to give her a thorough cleaning, LTI, and retired her as dedicated HD gun.

A few more to come. I think I should have led with these other ones and saved my action shots for last, as it just gets more boring from here, since the only real background I ever use is my daughter's piano bench! 😁 :p
Nice! 🥰
I have a DD as well, though a V1. She shoots great!
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Its a pretty basic setup, but an effective one. 🤘
 
And another, This Saint is my new truck gun
fist picture is the day I picked up the Saint and asked what I should do to it.
I topped her off with an Aimpoint pro, I love the Aimpoints I am up to 6 of them now. In fact I may start a thread on my current saint build which also topped off with a Pro, dam fine red dot.
On this build I did a nice spring swap on the trigger that made it nice and sweet, added the surefire muzzle break and suppressor, then a nice coating. Now that I think about it, it was more of a finishing than build. The base rifle was more than enough of a fantastic pistol. The newest Saint is just a plain basic Saint pistol so that will get a major overhaul.


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This was my daughter a couple of years ago, at age 12, with her S&W M&P 15-22 Sport:

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[ I know, her stance is jacked-up, but her body was in such rapid flux at that time that I decided to wait-out her development before making any real adjustment. At that time - and to an extent even now - it's really just fun and games, and getting down the idea of sight-package and trigger-control. ]

It's the variant with the lighter MLok forend instead of the quad-1913, purchased about maybe in 2015? Even at the time this picture was taken, it was a bit too heavy for her to hold indefinitely, and she'd monopod the gun on the mag, on the bench top, for longer, more precise shots.

Sight is a PA MD-ADS on a Radical/PA lower-1/3 riser. Stock is an MOE, which is her preference, as is the standard A2 grip. She's engaging one TacStrike quarter-scale at the ~25 yard line, and I set up a far one at the 65, which is the extent of this bay. This setup makes the quarter-scales a breeze at either distance, and she was hot-dogging it, too, going for the 4"x4" "head" on the far steel.

She's almost 12 in the picture, and was just shy of 5'2" - her mom is that height, so hey, that's what I've got to work with, right?
:lol:
About 110 lbs soaking wet. As with most girls that age, she was all gangly arms and legs. Her fingertip-to-fingertip span is actually wider than mine, though, and I wear a men's "large" glove (she's using her SKD PIG FDT Charlies, size XS ironically, here, along with some generic exercise sleeves...she's not fond of burns from spent cases
:p
- the Boggs are for the muddy range).

She had the usual "girl power" at that point in her life, with a weight-to-strength ratio that I only wish I possessed - she can climb rock-walls like no-one's business. But still, she lacked absolute muscle strength, so that gun did get heavy. It's just a hair under 6 lbs. with a magazine, the optic, the BUISs, and the sling in-place.

Even with the reliability of her 15-22 (I never clean the gun, and the $12 Voluqartsen extractor plus a self-tweak to the ejector allows the gun to chew through 600-round range sessions with barely a hickup), she still gets annoyed by "rimfire reliability," and we built/assembled, together, a "semi-lightweight" full-caliber AR for her later that summer. It's again nothing special or exotic, but we were able to keep it at just a hair over 6 lbs with optic, light, and a 30-round magazine that's filled to just 10. More on that one in a bit.

Fast-forward to just two week's ago, I took her out to the range for her 14th birthday, and she's driving that 15-22 like a boss. She's been really involved in rowing for the last few years, and she's added quite a bit of lean muscle to her frame, and can how easily handle the gun for extended periods, free-styling head-shots to the far steel with no issues. Stance has changed, of-course, given the expected breast development and torso/arm-ratio changes, and it's made things different/better. We'll still need to revisit this in the days to come, but even with her full-caliber AR, recoil control is reasonable for her size and skill-level. :)

More, soon.
 
That The DDM4V5LW of my in post #71 (https://www.thearmorylife.com/forum/threads/lets-see-your-ar-setups.258/page-4#post-4251) benchmarked at just a hair over 8 lbs 1 ounce, with no magazine/ammo, with a few pieces of additional gear that I since got rid of (a couple of redundant handstops which I'd removed, for reasons I'd detailed in the previous post about my BCM/BAD range/training beater, at about an ounce each their removal - plus the lighter weight sling above, which replaced an Ares Armor Husky Amentum that contributed to the weigh-in above - should drop the gun to just under 8 lbs.).

Weight was and remains the enemy for her, and when my daughter started wanting to shoot "the big AR" (full caliber, instead of her 15-22 ), we quickly realized that she - then 10 y.o. - couldn't shoot the DD unsupported. So I stripped the light and my LPVO off of my range/training beater (https://www.thearmorylife.com/forum/threads/lets-see-your-ar-setups.258/page-2#post-3579), and instantly, with the gun down to the 6.5-lb range, she was able to play.

So when it came time for her gun, we decided on a "semi-lightweight" setup, so that the gun would be durable/reliable enough for her to use as a true range/training beater, while seeking to compromise a bit on weight. Starting with a complete 14.5-inch barrel BCM ELW-F/13-inch KMR-A upper, the innards of which is a full-weight BCM BCG, we set out to build a lower, together. [ My reasoning for buying the upper as a complete was that she was then not yet able to complete the more strength/physicality-intensive upper build. ]

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She's been a huge fan of the Resident Evil series - the movies - even as a young child, so at the time, I put away some Umbrella Corporation Weapons Research Group (UCWRG) parts for her, for the day that she wanted to build-out a "real" AR.

The UCWRG forged HUUCR lower hosts a MilSpec LPK w/Larue MBT-2S trigger and the usual Battle Arms Development ambi safety compliment a Magpul K2+ grip (my daughter's preference) along with with a KAK Shockwave brace kit, which is again her choice: it's awful in my shoulder pocket, but she loves how it sits in hers (using their spring and buffer, so again, it's nothing special). Much of the furniture is in "Urban Grey" - her choice - and it uses a Vickers sling of the same color. A girl's gotta coordinate, you know. ;)

Again, my usual Geissele Maritime bolt catch and Troy ambi mag release mates to a Battle Arms Development button, along with the usual Battle Arms enhanced take-down pins. The usual Radian CH is found aft of the BCG (saved for her future build are a matching UCWRG upper and UCWRG-Radian CH).

It's 6 lbs 4 ounces, as-measured with an MRO/Scalarworks mount, RailScale Karve, the Arisaka 300-series light (take-off from my range-beater, after I went with a Modlite setup) w/battery and the usual SR07 tape (both of which are not yet on-gun in this pic), VG6 Epsilon/CAGE (of tremendous importance to her, because she really did not like how blasty/concussive the AR is - it's the reason why I have a blast-cap on my AR, so I can shoot beside her), and that little section of pic rail on the front. Also not pictured but included in the weight figure are a set of RailScale G10 panels for heat control. A couple of RWB and cordage-managing Larue Index Clips were also added, and weighed, too.

The little runt runs this thing a little like a miniature John Wick (it's amazing how just two years change things, she's now up to a medium-size PIG FDT Charlie, and a full 30-round magazine added to the gun is no longer much of an issue, aside from extended periods), and she loves it because she had a hand putting it together, and knows the gun from inside-out. :)
 
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My 1st AR build was my 3rd pistol. Ordered everything online and built it sitting on my livingroom floor. Has approx 1,000 rounds through it.

9" BCM barrel 300BLK
 

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