Today I went to my first gun show and got some new accessories. It was the San Diego Crossroads of the West Gun Show. I had a good time and saw some cool stuff.

Sad part is I won't have my gun until the 29th(stupid CA 10 day wait period).

Magpul ACS - Flat Dark Earth
Magpul MIAD - Flat Dark Earth
Magpul MOE Hand Guard Carbine Lenght- Flat Dark Earth
Magpul Pmag - Flat Dark Earth
100 Factory reloads
20 PMC Bronze
Bolt Flag
Gun bag

Two things I don't buy at gunshows are powder and reloaded ammunition. Most of the "kabooms" I've heard of over the years can be traced to mismarked powder or bad reloads purchased at gunshow. I even have problems buying factory ammo because of the nagging feeling that it may not truly be factory.

You will most likely never see the vendor again so you have no recourse if something goes boom.

The other accessories are nice. Too bad you have the waiting period.

It was from one of the big ammo dealers and at $28 for 100 I decided to try it. I have decided to leave the gun stock for my first trip to the range and then through the new parts on it

You went to a gun show and bought 1 Pmag and 120 rounds? I need to get a life! I've had my 15 OR for less than a month and have a dozen Pmags and my last trip to the local gun show I bought 500 rounds of PMC Bronze. Then again I have a little over 1200 rounds thru it too.

__________________
Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

I might have been a little conservative but i want to get the gun first and see where I go from there.

Nothing quite like a gun show to connect with a large group of pro shooting sports people. It just feels good

Hope this is not TOO dumb a question. What does a bolt flag do??

For me I will use it to depress the "Bullet Button" and during the ceasefires at the range you put it in the camber and the range officer knows that there is no built in it. It cost me $1.00

Does anyone have any expericace with the UTG TL-BP69S Bipod. I am very interested in getting one.

you can also put it in at home and know that there are no bullets in it, just in case there is any question.

__________________
Grover Oathkeeper

[QUOTE=Andrew911tt;136526357]Does anyone have any expericace with the UTG TL-BP69S Bipod. I am very interested in getting one.


I have one of those and it works fine. I have another where the legs are sping loaded that I prefer. This one you have to move the knob to rotate the legs in to position. With no tension on the legs they do seem a little wobbly when down, but I never notice it when in firing position. I think for the price it is a great starter. Play with it, shoot, then you can always get something else when you know what you like.

What brand/model is the other one that you have?

I looked at that bipod when I was choosing mine. I spent just a little bit more money and really love the one I got. As SW Gun Guy said, I also have one that the legs are spring loaded on and I really like it. Here is the one that I have plus you can mount it with a QD adaptor but the bipod comes with all the adaptors you might need:

__________________
Grover Oathkeeper

I got mine off of eBay from AXC products $29.95 with free shipping.

__________________
Grover Oathkeeper

In my experience you need a bipod to be as solid and stable as possible, any little wiggle can mean 2 inches at 100 yards. Thats just my opinion.

__________________
Grover Oathkeeper

http://www.amazon.com/NCStar-Precisi...654756&sr=8-28

I am having internet problems but this is the bipod I have and it is great.

__________________
Grover Oathkeeper

A couple things came in today from Cabelas
5 = MTM RS-50
1 = MTM R-100

I was suppose to order the MTM R-100-Mag instead of the R-100 so I called Cabelas and they are going to ship me the correct one no charge, plus I don't have to send the wrong one back. I will definitely order from them again.

I also got this from Amazon
Otis Tactical Cleaning System

I used to frequent gun shows on a regular basis and then I started selling at gun shows. You would see the same vendors at every show. FWIW, I never had any problems with gun show reloads.

Haven't been to a gun show in years.

Nice gear. I'm in Ca. Also crossroads will be in my area in June or July. I hope i can save up enough money by then first thing on my list is a scope, ammo, and a rail.

Andrew after you shoot up those reloads don't buy anymore, you may save a couple bucks but it is not worth it. When I bought an M1 carbine, the first box of ammo I got was reloads from a dealer that made all the TX shows. Third round I shot was over charged, blew the bottom out of the magazine, sprayed hot gas in my face, and slammed the bolt back so hard it stuck. Lots of smoke. Fortunately the carbine survived. I tried to find the brass shell to take back to prove what happened but it threw it too far to find. From that point forward, I only buy factory ammo or use reloads I've made myself.

To go along with WTex. If your reloads dont come from an established company with a good record you are risking a lot. I buy reloads from freedom munitions but they stand behind their reloads just like it was new ammo and I have noticed that a couple of other companies are getting really deep in the reload business like Black Hills and Buffalo Arms. These I would not be afraid of, but if you dont know where they came from quality control becomes an isssue. A lot of people will tell you that they buy reloads and never have a problem. I have bought reloads before for my 8x57. They shot good until you get the one that the case separates or splits or is all over the place. Just a word of Caution.

__________________
Grover Oathkeeper

Look what came yesterday



I am very excited to go out this weekend

At some ranges, when the firing line is cold they require you lock the bolt back. The flag holds the bolt back and keeps it so you don't need to worry about your finger if somehow the bolt flys foward.

Andrew, did you by chance see a price for Wolf/WPA at the MiWall booth?? I have another 2 courses coming up, and I am getting ammo for myself and my 2 sons. I need about 5-6,000 for the next month. Not willing to blow extra cash on brass ammo for training days.

I bought an ammo can of Miwall reloads (.223) about 10 years ago at a gun show. It blew up a brand new Ruger mini 14 along with a new scope and 20 round mag. Funny thing is the bottom 100 rounds in the ammo can was Russian wolf ammo.

Ruger replaced the gun at no fault of their own. I was out the scope and mag. My father in law was the one who pulled the trigger when it went kaboom, if he hadn't been wearing glasses he probably would have lost an eye or two.

Miwall wouldn't stand behind their product at all. The woman who handled it at Miwall was named Evelyn I do believe. I wouldn't touch their reloads if they were free.

You might want to check out Ammunition Online at Factory Direct Prices | Freedom Munitions

There is a lot of info on this site about them

At freedom 233training ammo is $299 a thousand. thats a pretty good deal. I bought some and it is actually really good ammo.

__________________
Grover Oathkeeper

Look; $300 for reloads is a less than stellar deal.
Between myself and my 2 sons, we will run thru between 1800-2500 rounds in one full day course.
WPA/ Wolf, new, runs about $125 per 500, or 250 per 1k.

And, between the 3 rifles we are running, the tally is over 17,000 rounds in the last year. 95% was Wolf/WPA.
I did replace a DPMS extractor, at about 4,000. But as of now, the Sport has a whopping 8,000 thru it, and the extractor is GTG.
You can go to Quantico and get new in box XM193 for about $310-320. The $11 for the extractor was nothing compared to the savings in ammo cost.

And, for the MiWall reloads; I do use a lot of their 308, 9mm and 45 reloads. I did have 1 box of 9mm that was lousy stuff. Took back the box (250 rounds, approx. 80 missing) and they gave me a new box from another lot number. Maybe a wrong powder situation??? Anyway, the next box was good. And, all their other reloads have been good to go.

I know that you can buy wolf cheaper than Freedom and it is consistently good ammo, I buy the Freedom just so I have brass to reload. I dont go through near the bullets you do but would love to. I did read something today about DPMS having a list of ammo that they recommend not be run in their rifles, I have shot a lot of it and never had a problem. I did notice that on their new ammo Freedom generally isnt that much of a savings. But where I would have to order it anyway and reload my own. it works for me. So what kind of training courses do you go to that lets you burn so much lead? They must be fun.

__________________
Grover Oathkeeper

Just got a hold of one of the MiWall guys. The Wolf is running $115 per 500, with a break price of $220 for 1,000 rounds. If I shoot brass, I will buy the xm855 or 193 for about 320 per 1,000. But it's rare to run the brass stuff for me.
I do a lot of carbine training drills. One day would be advanced, whether it's teamwork, offhand shooting, CQB; I did a course on breaching/ securing about 2 weeks ago. That one was a lot of fun- as was the course where it was defense tactics with automobiles (Basically shooting into and out of cars, learning what works, and what does not)
Then, every 2-3 courses you do a basic rifle 101/202 type class. These repeatedly reteach you the little stuff you lose an edge with. Switching from strong hand to weak hand, reloading under duress, single fire practice- and the basics; safety control, trigger control, trigger release/ reset. You can do it 10 times, and every time, you will find a littel tweak you get better with.
Average course is about 800 rounds per person, per day. So, with my sons, that's a cool 2400 rounds a day. The courses vary wildly in cost; some are simple, and about $125 per day. Some run $400 and more. The vehicle course was pretty expensive; $650. But we wrecked 5 cars in 1 day. 5 running, otherwise street legal cars. It can't be cheap, even if you get a deal from pick a part. (There were 12 shooters, and 3 instructors.) Everyone shot thru car windows in both directions, with rifles and pistols. Everyone shot thru doors, trunks, tires got shot.....
We avoided the radiator and engine as best we could. FWIW, a 223 FMJ will not readily penetrate a car engine. But a 308 does penetrate the sheetmetal and finds its' way into the block at 25 yards.

I will look for a training course for you if I can find one out that way for a reasonable price. They are very valuable, and there are plenty that are not real bank breakers ($150ish a day) It's amazing how much better you do when you are not the supervisor, but rather concentrating on being the shooter. Well worth it to do a basic course once a year. It will take you back in time, to when you were really young, and in basic training....without all the pushups and getting up at 4:30 for a cold shower!!!

Those are nice cleaning kits.

So Cabelas sent the wrong ammo box again, I called CS again and they said they will send another one, but this time they will make sure it is the right one. They think that the website had the skus mixed up.

After our first day of shooting my wife and I put 400 rounds through my Sport, and had a blast. The gun had no problems what so ever and was very accurate out of the box.

After about 150 rounds I swapped out the stock and the front hand guard and loved it even more.

I ran Wolf, PMC, Remington, no name reloads, Ferderal XM193 and FreedomMuntions 55 Gran FMJ and V-max with no problems at all.

After we got back and I cleaned the gun I put the new grip on and this is how it looks now

Looks nice!!

Added a couple more things to my collection this week.

Plano 108360 Gun Guard AW Tactical Case 36"


and a bipod that oneyeopn recommended to me higher up in this thread
NcStar Precision Grade Bipod ABPGC


I mounted the bipod using the supplied hardware and I didn't really like it so I am going to get some of the Magpul picatinny rails and mount it to that so I can mount and unmount it easyer.

Left on my list
Nikon Prostaff 4-12x40 BDC
Burris AR-PEPR QD mount
Sling
and maybe a Bushnell TRS-25 on an offset mount

After I get all of this stuff I will hopefully stop speeding all of my money on this gun

I really like your setup, but I must warn you my friend. I am extremely happy with my rife it does everything I ask of it. But yesterday I made the mistake of breaking out the Brownells AR catalog and the Midway Catalog and started seeing parts that I want again.....I am fighting the EBR disease with all my might but dang it is pulling on me pretty hard...LMAO

__________________
Grover Oathkeeper