1911 or AR

[FiremanBob]

Another inexpensive but seemingly good value I've been researching that seems to get mostly positive reviews is the DB15. I'm not too big on their pistols but from everything I've seen they make a pretty good rifle.

Had a couple of DB15s in my hand last year. I wouldn't give money for one.

[Snakester]

I've shot it a few times....200 rds. Friday , 300 rds. Sunday and 300 rds. yesterday. It shot great , no issues at all. I've only shot 55gr. 223 ammo....some brass , some steel Tula. I do like the Ruger sights and think I will leave as is for a while. The only thing I will add for now is a sling , I'll make one as soon as I can. It shoots pretty much as my Bushmasters but , is a little heavier . I may go on a "HOG Hunt" in March and I think I will use the Ruger this time.

[Jon]

I appreciate everyone's input and advice.

I bought this today, from this site. We'll see how it goes I guess. Looks promising from the specs/reviews/videos I've seen.


https://www.cdnnsports.com/diamondback- ... 25460.html



Should have it by mid next week.

So, when can we shoot next Randy????

[MarcSpaz]

Looks like a nice score! Good luck and let us know how you like it once you have some ammo through it.

BTW... 1 in 9 barrels are well tuned for 55gr rounds. Also, the chrome lined barrels typically are 1.5 MOA performers, but you can run 20,000 - 30,000 rounds through them (if you don't overheat the barrel) before you start to see accuracy issues. For many of us, that is more than a lifetime.

[FiremanBob]

62gr will stabilize fine in 1:9 barrels also. But you need 1:8 for 72 and 77 used in long-distance match shooting.

[Jon]

So I went and bought a couple of accessories today along with some ammo. I had a gift card to Bass Pro and bought 200rds of Tula steel cased .223.

I've shot a little bit of Tula through my handguns and never had any problems, and I'm pretty sure the range session that Randy and I had where he let me try out his SKS and BM AR we were using Tula.

But now I'm reading a "few" accounts online of folks having issues with it in .223/5.56.

Any advice? Should I not be any more worried than I have been shooting Tula through my handguns? Should I shoot some brass first?


BTW the stuff I have is plain old steel cased, not the polymer coated stuff I've read some about. I got it because it was basically the same price as 9mm per 100rds, and, I haven't had any issues with Tula in my handguns.

[Jon]

EDIT: the stuff I have IS the polymer coated rounds, if that makes any difference.

[MarcSpaz]

Lucky gunner did a test and found the the steel case polymer coated 5.56 had 3 times more failed to feed and failed to eject than any other type out of the 40,000 rounds they fired.

That said, some guns are finicky and some will eat anything. Since its a range toy and not a battle rifle, I would be prone to run whatcha brung and see how it goes. If it works well, that's a win. If not, clean it really well and switch to lacquer coated steel or switch to brass.

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[Jon]

Picked her up today. Hope to get some ammo through it this weekend....

[MarcSpaz]

Congrats! Looking forward to a Range Report!

[Jon]

Thanks Mark.

What do you suggest for an optic? Right now I'm not interested in a magnified scope but some kind of red dot, and I'm leaning towards a reflex.

As you all know I'm new to this platform so suggestions are welcome.

[MarcSpaz]

I have had incredible results with my Vortex Venom with a 3 MOA red dot. The whole setup cost me about $325 and works better than my old EOTech that cost 4 times more.

It was engineered to be used on a slide of a semi-auto pistol, so it handles recoil of my .300 and 5.56 with ease.

I don't remember if you you tried my 300 blackout, but this is the red dot I was ringing the plates with at 100 yards.

Actual Red Dot
http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/ven ... -3-moa-dot

AR Specific Riser Mount
http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/red ... t-riser-qr

[Jon]

I appreciate the response Mark.

What are the differences in a $200+ reflex versus a $50-100 reflex? Materials, accuracy, reliability, other?

I can get a TruGlo at a LGS for $60-80, and other various brands online for $50-100. Given that the rifle itself was only $499 I wasn't trying to spend half or more the price of the gun on an optic, but I am interested on what the actual differences are in the wide price range of reflex optics.

[MarcSpaz]

I have actually run a few inexpensive red dots in the past. The draw backs were always the same...

The reflective surfaces that the dot was projected on are heavily tinted to make the dot so up better. That is typically because it's an LED making the dot, not a laser. That leads to very poor visibility in low light or good light at long distances. Glare is very bad.

Other problems were, after a trip or three to the range, they all stopped holding zero. The only gun that didn't break the inexpensive red dots was my mp5 in 22LR. I'm guessing it's because there was no recoil.

I spent more money trying to find an alternative than if I just bought the better quality red dot.

If you decide to try a less expensive solution, stay away from units with different selectable reticles. Those are the worst for holding zero.

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[cwfunrider]

These are on sale currently from Midway USA:

http://www.midwayusa.com/s?promotionid= ... _-20170209

I have the Newest Vortex offering on my latest build:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/426873 ... stem-matte

I really like the Sparc AR. It is small, takes standard AAA batteries with long battery life and auto "OFF".

[Jon]

After a fair amount of research the last couple of days, and finding one of these at a LGS for what they sell for online, I grabbed a Sitemark Wolverine CSR. I know the brand generally gets a bad rap but from the reviews I read/watched this seems like a fairly new "diamond in the rough" for them. I particularly like the acclaimed battery life (900 - million hrs) and the fact that it runs off of a easily attainable single AA batt. It's shock proof, water proof, fog proof, nitrogen purged and has a scratch resistant, anti-reflective lens coating.

Time will tell though I suppose. I have a range day tomorrow at a friends farm so I will report back on both rifle function as well as the optic.

[MarcSpaz]

Looks great! Of the entry level stuff, Sightmark is one of the best, if not the best entry level brands. The inexpensive red dot that was on my MP5 (the only one that didn't break) was a Sightmark Reflex sight. I also used their 5x magnifier with my EOTech for near 3 years, too.

[Jon]

Well that's comforting Mark.

Here's hoping all works out well tomorrow.

[Jon]

So I shot exactly 100rds through it this morning and am pretty pleased with how everything went. Started off with 20rds WWB 5.56, then 20rds AE .223 and then 60rds of Tula .223, all 55gr. On the first 10 rounds of Tula I had a failure to feed on the 7th round. Cleared it, shot the last three rounds and set that mag to the side. Continued on with the other two mags and had no more issues with the rest of the Tula. Considering what I've heard about the .223 Tula ammo I'm pretty happy with the way the gun ran.

The optic was way off out of the box, about 2ft high and a foot to the right at 25yds. That aside I experienced ZERO issues regarding anything during the session from the optic. I had it on the 4th brightness setting (out of 10) in bright sunlight and it showed up just fine. No issues with the dot not functioning, it held zero just fine, and stayed firmly planted on the gun.


All in all I'm very happy with the set up. I only spent two hours out there so I think some more work on my part and possibly some minor adjusting is needed. This was only my second time shooting an AR. I could've stayed out another couple of hours easy (still had 140rds) but my buddy had things to do.


Best plate of the day at 50yds...

[MarcSpaz]

Glad to hear! That's a great group for 100 rounds or less. My own personal experience... none of my AR's were consistent shooters for the first few hundred rounds. Just keep it cleaned and lubed and you should do well.