I started to write about an AWESOME dream I had...with a bunch of bloggers who are also my friends...but the second I started typing, I lost all the details.
Dammit. It was pretty kickass, too...with lots of tasty weaponry, all of which happened to come from NFO's arsenal. Ah well.
Showing posts with label i has a stupid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label i has a stupid. Show all posts
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Our ARs finally work!
Or: Why I can't recommend Del-Ton to anyone.
To recap -
I ordered two AR15 uppers from Del-Ton on 1/31/09. This date is important, so keep it in mind.
Between February and the end of November, I made the following posts about it:
Sigh, backorders
Great googly moogly!
Yet another Del-Ton delay
Good news, better news, and bad news
Good news, everyone!
Chris's upper showed up in September, and mine showed up the first week of December of that year. I neglected to post about the upper showing up due to my grandfather's passing, but it did show up that first week in December. By the time mine showed up I was just thrilled to see anything. So: Ordered everything at the end of January, and the second upper showed up almost a YEAR later. In that time, I received absolutely no information from Del-Ton - I had to waste my time and call THEM to get the same answer over and over and over. I don't care how busy a company is, a form email does NOT take much time to write and send out to customers. Thanks to the beauty of technology, said email could have been drafted while someone dropped the kids off at the pool. Anyway, moving on...
We did not get any opportunity to test either upper until 7/4/10, and on that range trip both rifles had consistent issues. I posted about the problems we had here. We did not get another chance to really test anything until last month, when Chris's friend helped him diagnose the problem. After swapping bolts, uppers, lowers, and magazines they were able to determine there was an issue with the gas system in both uppers. Please note, I was quite angry...I expected better of Del-Ton. I suppose I should have used the lack of communication from them as a sign regarding their build quality.
By now, it's well past any warranty would be in effect, so this weekend we took the uppers to Dan over at Gun Connection. Dan was able to diagnose and repair both uppers while we waited. What he found, though, was a bit distressing...both because Del-Ton sent defective parts and because neither Chris nor I knew what we were doing with these rifles. I spent much of Saturday fuming at Del-Ton's shoddy build quality and my own stupidity, and I have since learned my lesson.
So, the problems: On Chris's upper, the gas block was so screwed up there's no way he'd actually get anything to cycle properly. If you take a close look at the photo, you'll see where the hole inside it was poorly drilled...it almost looks like the person who worked on the part used a small explosive to get that hole in there.
That's pretty freaking bad. It also wasn't on properly, as we could jiggle it without loosening anything. No wonder there was an issue with the gas system!
Dan replaced the gas block with one from Daniel Defense and put everything back together. On my upper, the gas tube was off by about 15 degrees and it was clogged (user error - it wasn't properly cleaned before we took it out the first time). He reseated everything and did a particularly thorough cleaning for me. A little over a hundred dollars in parts and labor later and we left with two functioning rifles, though we were charged with testing both over the weekend to make sure everything worked.
Yesterday, during a break in the nasty weather, we took them out...and they worked beautifully. Chris had some difficulty with his optic, but that's user error and will be rectified once he reacquaints himself with the instructions. I, on the other hand, landed almost every shot where I wanted it once I figured out how to use my scope. Overall, I'm glad this ordeal is over, and I'm especially glad we now have two functioning rifles that are quite a bit of fun to shoot.
To sum up:
boo Del-Ton
yay Gun Connection
thoroughly educate yourself about a firearm if it's known to be finicky
thoroughly educate yourself on a retailer before spending a significant amount of money.
The final result of two mags through my rifle (while also learning the particulars of my optics - the low shots were the first few i took, and i aimed for each box at least once to see how well i could do):
...Yeah. I'm happy now.
To recap -
I ordered two AR15 uppers from Del-Ton on 1/31/09. This date is important, so keep it in mind.
Between February and the end of November, I made the following posts about it:
Sigh, backorders
Great googly moogly!
Yet another Del-Ton delay
Good news, better news, and bad news
Good news, everyone!
Chris's upper showed up in September, and mine showed up the first week of December of that year. I neglected to post about the upper showing up due to my grandfather's passing, but it did show up that first week in December. By the time mine showed up I was just thrilled to see anything. So: Ordered everything at the end of January, and the second upper showed up almost a YEAR later. In that time, I received absolutely no information from Del-Ton - I had to waste my time and call THEM to get the same answer over and over and over. I don't care how busy a company is, a form email does NOT take much time to write and send out to customers. Thanks to the beauty of technology, said email could have been drafted while someone dropped the kids off at the pool. Anyway, moving on...
We did not get any opportunity to test either upper until 7/4/10, and on that range trip both rifles had consistent issues. I posted about the problems we had here. We did not get another chance to really test anything until last month, when Chris's friend helped him diagnose the problem. After swapping bolts, uppers, lowers, and magazines they were able to determine there was an issue with the gas system in both uppers. Please note, I was quite angry...I expected better of Del-Ton. I suppose I should have used the lack of communication from them as a sign regarding their build quality.
By now, it's well past any warranty would be in effect, so this weekend we took the uppers to Dan over at Gun Connection. Dan was able to diagnose and repair both uppers while we waited. What he found, though, was a bit distressing...both because Del-Ton sent defective parts and because neither Chris nor I knew what we were doing with these rifles. I spent much of Saturday fuming at Del-Ton's shoddy build quality and my own stupidity, and I have since learned my lesson.
So, the problems: On Chris's upper, the gas block was so screwed up there's no way he'd actually get anything to cycle properly. If you take a close look at the photo, you'll see where the hole inside it was poorly drilled...it almost looks like the person who worked on the part used a small explosive to get that hole in there.
That's pretty freaking bad. It also wasn't on properly, as we could jiggle it without loosening anything. No wonder there was an issue with the gas system!
Dan replaced the gas block with one from Daniel Defense and put everything back together. On my upper, the gas tube was off by about 15 degrees and it was clogged (user error - it wasn't properly cleaned before we took it out the first time). He reseated everything and did a particularly thorough cleaning for me. A little over a hundred dollars in parts and labor later and we left with two functioning rifles, though we were charged with testing both over the weekend to make sure everything worked.
Yesterday, during a break in the nasty weather, we took them out...and they worked beautifully. Chris had some difficulty with his optic, but that's user error and will be rectified once he reacquaints himself with the instructions. I, on the other hand, landed almost every shot where I wanted it once I figured out how to use my scope. Overall, I'm glad this ordeal is over, and I'm especially glad we now have two functioning rifles that are quite a bit of fun to shoot.
To sum up:
boo Del-Ton
yay Gun Connection
thoroughly educate yourself about a firearm if it's known to be finicky
thoroughly educate yourself on a retailer before spending a significant amount of money.
The final result of two mags through my rifle (while also learning the particulars of my optics - the low shots were the first few i took, and i aimed for each box at least once to see how well i could do):
...Yeah. I'm happy now.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Another Freestate visit...I'm getting a lot of practice lately...
Yesterday I met up with an old friend, who I finally met in person for the first time. Thanks to the powers of the internet J and I have known each other for quite a few years and finally got our schedules coordinated enough to meet up for a shooty evening.
I brought the Bersa and the Rock Island, he brought a PX4 Storm in .40, a Buckmark (with a suppressor), and two SIGs (with a suppressor on one of them). Neither of us are newbs, so this wasn't like my normal range visit.
First, I'd like to make a confession: I made my first Really Dumb Mistake at the range. Somehow I forgot to put on my shooting glasses before walking into the range, and J had to remind me. Apparently my mind was elsewhere. Thankfully, my stupid mistake was corrected without incident and we continued on our evening of killing paper.
Anyway, my impressions:
1 - The Buckmark. I like this a hell of a lot better with the can OFF the front, though it was neat as hell to shoot a .22 with literally no recoil and almost no sound. The backpressure from the suppressor was distracting, however, so I took it off after the first magazine. Overall, it's a nice little .22, and that might end up on the short list.
2 - The Beretta. I asked J to bring this since I'm in the market for a PX4 Storm in 9mm. I wanted a feel for the real thing, rather than the testers they had set up at the NRA convention. My overall impression is good, but I can see why people truly hate this gun in .40 - my trigger finger went numb after two magazines. Apparently this is a common complaint of the .40 PX4. Controls are where they need to be, the slide release isn't too much of a pain in the ass, and the rotating barrel definitely helps with recoil. This was the first .40 I've had the opportunity to shoot, and while I don't see myself buying a .40, I don't really understand why people hate it. It's alright. Definitely liked the pistol, though.
3 - The SIGs. At least one of them was in .45, and this was the suppressed gun. Again, I have no love for the suppressor. I'm told they're more pleasant to shoot outdoors, and maybe he'll give me an opportunity to test this at a later date. Right now, though, do not like.
He seemed to like the Bersa despite his big bearpaw hands, and I think he's got 1911 envy. :D Thanks, J, for hoofing it all the way up to my range. Next time I'll head down your direction.
I brought the Bersa and the Rock Island, he brought a PX4 Storm in .40, a Buckmark (with a suppressor), and two SIGs (with a suppressor on one of them). Neither of us are newbs, so this wasn't like my normal range visit.
First, I'd like to make a confession: I made my first Really Dumb Mistake at the range. Somehow I forgot to put on my shooting glasses before walking into the range, and J had to remind me. Apparently my mind was elsewhere. Thankfully, my stupid mistake was corrected without incident and we continued on our evening of killing paper.
Anyway, my impressions:
1 - The Buckmark. I like this a hell of a lot better with the can OFF the front, though it was neat as hell to shoot a .22 with literally no recoil and almost no sound. The backpressure from the suppressor was distracting, however, so I took it off after the first magazine. Overall, it's a nice little .22, and that might end up on the short list.
2 - The Beretta. I asked J to bring this since I'm in the market for a PX4 Storm in 9mm. I wanted a feel for the real thing, rather than the testers they had set up at the NRA convention. My overall impression is good, but I can see why people truly hate this gun in .40 - my trigger finger went numb after two magazines. Apparently this is a common complaint of the .40 PX4. Controls are where they need to be, the slide release isn't too much of a pain in the ass, and the rotating barrel definitely helps with recoil. This was the first .40 I've had the opportunity to shoot, and while I don't see myself buying a .40, I don't really understand why people hate it. It's alright. Definitely liked the pistol, though.
3 - The SIGs. At least one of them was in .45, and this was the suppressed gun. Again, I have no love for the suppressor. I'm told they're more pleasant to shoot outdoors, and maybe he'll give me an opportunity to test this at a later date. Right now, though, do not like.
He seemed to like the Bersa despite his big bearpaw hands, and I think he's got 1911 envy. :D Thanks, J, for hoofing it all the way up to my range. Next time I'll head down your direction.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Unbelievable
So Jay over at MArooned beat me to the punch, but I have to say if this happened in any other city, like this one with high crime rates that rifle would have been long gone and not reported by a passer by to another officer to correct the situation. Here that would be just another statistic. An "assault rifle" in the hands of criminals according to anti 2A people. I understand that cops are people too and they make mistakes like everyone else, but I can't imagine a situation other than a running gunfight that would make you forget your weapon like that. Especially when you're supposed to be a trained professional. It makes you wonder what else this officer forgets to do.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)