"Fudd's" First AR

grelmar

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
So, a while ago I posted a bit on finally getting convinced to buy an AR:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1259487-You-black-rifle-guys-are-all-EVIL!!!

A few people made comments about a "Fudd" getting a black rifle, which I kinda let roll off me. I'm not, and never was, a "Fudd" - I like all kinds of guns, not just the hunting ones, and think everyone should have the right to own whatever d@mn gun they want.

To me, a "Fudd" is someone who thinks there's no need for anyone to own anything other than a solid hunting rifle or shotgun.

My thing is, I just didn't like AR's. Very specifically, AR's.

Anyway, I can roll with it if people want to call me a Fudd. I'm sure ljones will be by shortly to give me a hard time for some reason or another.

But anyway, thought I'd post a pic of where I'm at with it so far. I'm by no means done with it, I look at it as kind of an evolving tinker toy.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

What it is:

A Windham Weaponry WW15 - (Aluminum lower).
Magpul MOE furniture
Magpul BUIS
King's Armory Gen3 Muzzle Brake/Flash Hider
Vortex QD optics mount
Vomz Pilad 1.2x-6x scope

And that's about it. So far.

My thought process on the whole thing:

Windham has a good rep for making good, solid, reliable, basic AR's. I figured that would be a good entry point without breaking the bank.

Magpul Furniture: Not super tactical ninja, but good reputation. I specifically wanted to get rid of all the black furniture for a very specific reason. In the summer, in the prairie sun, things that are black get hot if you set them down for more than 30 seconds in direct sunlight. Black furniture is just kinda dumb out here. I want it to be comfortable to hold.

BUIS: Basic peep sights. I suck, hard, at peep sights. I can shoot post-and-notch (tangent) iron sights very well. But peep sights defeat me. Always have. I'm going to struggle through and try and get better. Not expecting success here, but I've decided not to give up anyway.

King's Armory Gen3 Muzzle Brake/Flash Hider: Bought it to see if it would make a difference. AR's don't kick, really. I'm pretty used to full powered rifles. But the muzzle does flip a bit when shooting. I'm planning on using this for some club 3 gun shoots (aside from being a general range toy), and at my age, I'm fully aware that I'm not likely to build the skills to be super competitive. That doesn't mean I don't want to give myself every advantage I can, especially against the kids who have all that energy, enthusiasm, reflexes, and the lack of needing a 3 o'clock nap. I've had it out to the range, both before and after swapping the muzzle brake, and it very definitely makes a difference on muzzle flip. This is much steadier to hold on target when shooting.

Vortex QD mount: These things are retardedly over priced for what they are. Seriously, this is the one thing so far that really pissed me off with how much they cost. Unfortunately, it's the only half decent quality mount made that does what I want it to do. I do want to still practice with the peeps (see above) and not have to re-zero my scope all the time.

Vomz Pilad Scope: Yah, I know, putting a Russian made scope on an American made AR risks the vengeance of some gun god or another, but the choice wasn't made without a reason. This is the exact same scope I have on my hunting rifle, and I've been really happy with its twin. Very clear, very rugged, very simple and easy to use. 1.2x-6x is an excellent "practical" range of magnification. I leave the one on my hunting rifle set to 1.2x (bottomed out) in case I scare a deer out of its day bed and need to get off a quick snap shot. 6x is more than enough to get a well placed shout out to a couple hundred yards in practical field shooting. This all works well for typical 3 gun shooting as well. Leave it dialed down for the quick, close in shots, dial it out for the 100meter targets.

I do have a couple of Vortex pieces of glass. A Vortex Sparc, which is an Ok Red Dot, I guess. And a Vortex Crossfire 3x-9x... Which is... Junk. In the $300ish price range, these Vomz scopes are simply far better scopes than the Vortex scopes, or anything else I've tried. Is it a $1K Leupold? No. But dollars for value, this is a solid scope at the price point, and I know and trust the one I have on my hunting rifle, so why risk something else?

Anyway, that's about it for now. Critique at will.
 
Welcome to the cool side of the schoolyard

What was it about ARs that you didnt like specifically?

My 18incher AR is actually my most accurate firearm. If you like accurate shooting with a black semi you should check trini's challenge on this section of the forum.
 
Nice acquisition! To me a Fudd is someone who simply doesn't respect anyone else's view of the sport, and sees nothing wrong with banning the stuff he doesn't use.
 
Hey grelmar never heard of a Fudd here on the East coast.The first AR I owned was back in 94 when you could a buy a Colt and a 30 mag and was not registered and could hunt with it.I am older and still have an AR (Windham Weaponry) never fails to Fire.Also like that WW15 model you have.Good Luck and do not listen to those Fudd callers there brave over the Internet.
 
If you own an ar15 you can't be a fudd lol. If you only own a wood stock bolt action and want all semis banned that makes you a fudd. Also I believe voting ndp or liberal should now be a symptom of fuddlyness. Nice rifle !
 
If you bought one, you can't be a fudd because you were willing to try. If you end up not liking it and selling it, you're just a guy who doesn't like ARs.

Good looking rifle, hope it shoots well and gives you plenty of enjoyment :)
 
Wyndhams are good solid platforms to start on! Once you decide you like the AR platform (and you will!!), maybe change out the trigger for a Geisselle or Timney. I found the stock WW trigger a bit heavy.
Once you pick up an AR obsession, it becomes an AR addiction.
Mister Donut speaks the truth!
 
Welcome to the cool side of the schoolyard

What was it about ARs that you didnt like specifically?

My 18incher AR is actually my most accurate firearm. If you like accurate shooting with a black semi you should check trini's challenge on this section of the forum.

A couple of things, really, and it's tied in with the age old debate about AR's as a military platform, and with the times I grew up in.

Specifically, I was born in '71, so grew up in the 70's and 80's. For a lot of people of my generation, the M-16 (AR platform) was the rifle of the losing side of Vietnam. Underpowered, unreliable, plastic crap.

Now, whether or not any of that is actually true is pretty much beside the point. That's the image that's been firmly planted in my mind for a long time. Real men shoot real guns that fire real, man sized cartridges.

A big part of why I'm playing with the AR is to get past the image, and find out for myself whether any of that is true.

The biggest knock against AR's, for me, is the cartridge. .223/5.56 just isn't much of a cartridge. For "farm use" I'm dubious about even using it on coyotes - nothing bigger than a badger or beaver (legal to shoot beaver without a permit on private land out here - they really do a number on irrigation canals). It has dubious killing power on larger animals. I'll take a deer with x39 with confidence (based on experience).

I'm going to get a non-r .223 rifle (not sure if bolt or semi auto), and set it up for winter coyotes and large varmints/longer range gopher shooting in the spring. I want to put some field use in with the cartridge and get a better sense of what it can accomplish.
 
A couple of things, really, and it's tied in with the age old debate about AR's as a military platform, and with the times I grew up in.

Specifically, I was born in '71, so grew up in the 70's and 80's. For a lot of people of my generation, the M-16 (AR platform) was the rifle of the losing side of Vietnam. Underpowered, unreliable, plastic crap.

Now, whether or not any of that is actually true is pretty much beside the point. That's the image that's been firmly planted in my mind for a long time. Real men shoot real guns that fire real, man sized cartridges.

A big part of why I'm playing with the AR is to get past the image, and find out for myself whether any of that is true.

The biggest knock against AR's, for me, is the cartridge. .223/5.56 just isn't much of a cartridge. For "farm use" I'm dubious about even using it on coyotes - nothing bigger than a badger or beaver (legal to shoot beaver without a permit on private land out here - they really do a number on irrigation canals). It has dubious killing power on larger animals. I'll take a deer with x39 with confidence (based on experience).

I'm going to get a non-r .223 rifle (not sure if bolt or semi auto), and set it up for winter coyotes and large varmints/longer range gopher shooting in the spring. I want to put some field use in with the cartridge and get a better sense of what it can accomplish.

You can get an AR in other calibres than 5.56, namely 300blk and many others.
 
A couple of things, really, and it's tied in with the age old debate about AR's as a military platform, and with the times I grew up in.

Specifically, I was born in '71, so grew up in the 70's and 80's. For a lot of people of my generation, the M-16 (AR platform) was the rifle of the losing side of Vietnam. Underpowered, unreliable, plastic crap.

Now, whether or not any of that is actually true is pretty much beside the point. That's the image that's been firmly planted in my mind for a long time. Real men shoot real guns that fire real, man sized cartridges.

A big part of why I'm playing with the AR is to get past the image, and find out for myself whether any of that is true.

The biggest knock against AR's, for me, is the cartridge. .223/5.56 just isn't much of a cartridge. For "farm use" I'm dubious about even using it on coyotes - nothing bigger than a badger or beaver (legal to shoot beaver without a permit on private land out here - they really do a number on irrigation canals). It has dubious killing power on larger animals. I'll take a deer with x39 with confidence (based on experience).

I'm going to get a non-r .223 rifle (not sure if bolt or semi auto), and set it up for winter coyotes and large varmints/longer range gopher shooting in the spring. I want to put some field use in with the cartridge and get a better sense of what it can accomplish.

Seeing that the AR is restricted to range use anyways, the hitting power of the round is moot unless, like you said, you are contemplating the same round for another NR rifle. ARs are for 3 gun, tac rifle games. Making a lot of noise and doing it all day with no pain. Nothing beats the smell of 10-15 rds fired off and a nice warm barrel after!
 
While I enjoy the AR platform I own one and use one at work. There is something to be said about 308/7.62 and it's history of success apposed to shorter slightly tarnished history of 5.56/.223. So then there's always the option of setting your self up with a AR in 7.62 ( I'm tempted right now to do just that)
 
While I enjoy the AR platform I own one and use one at work. There is something to be said about 308/7.62 and it's history of success apposed to shorter slightly tarnished history of 5.56/.223. So then there's always the option of setting your self up with a AR in 7.62 ( I'm tempted right now to do just that)

Dpms g2.
All the great ar15 ergos with 308 boom boom. Only one of it's kind, all the other 308 ar's are larger framed and distinctly not as well balanced or ergonomic as the 308 dpms g2 ar's or the ar15.
 
A couple of things, really, and it's tied in with the age old debate about AR's as a military platform, and with the times I grew up in.

Specifically, I was born in '71, so grew up in the 70's and 80's. For a lot of people of my generation, the M-16 (AR platform) was the rifle of the losing side of Vietnam. Underpowered, unreliable, plastic crap.

Now, whether or not any of that is actually true is pretty much beside the point. That's the image that's been firmly planted in my mind for a long time. Real men shoot real guns that fire real, man sized cartridges.

A big part of why I'm playing with the AR is to get past the image, and find out for myself whether any of that is true.

The biggest knock against AR's, for me, is the cartridge. .223/5.56 just isn't much of a cartridge. For "farm use" I'm dubious about even using it on coyotes - nothing bigger than a badger or beaver (legal to shoot beaver without a permit on private land out here - they really do a number on irrigation canals). It has dubious killing power on larger animals. I'll take a deer with x39 with confidence (based on experience).

I'm going to get a non-r .223 rifle (not sure if bolt or semi auto), and set it up for winter coyotes and large varmints/longer range gopher shooting in the spring. I want to put some field use in with the cartridge and get a better sense of what it can accomplish.


Lol, .223 is more than enough for coyotes, or deer. Christ, I had to stop using VMAX for my .223 reloads cause it was blowing the living hell out of coyotes and the hides were no good after.
 
Back
Top Bottom