Aug 21 2005
My AR15…
My AR15 was a last hurrah before parenthood. The gathering and assembly of parts running concurrent with Lisa’s pregnancy. It was an emotionally exhausting time as I worried about Lisa and the baby, worried about money and worried about the future of all three of us. The AR15 project served as an excellent distraction, likely preventing me from developing an ulcer, it kept me busy (perhaps a shade too busy) gathering advice and reading everything I could find about the rifle and it’s history.
I never wanted a “space gun” (that is an uber-tricked out AR15), I wanted a more conventional rifle. The rifle you see pictured here is exactly what I pictured in my minds eye when I thought “AR15″ (Uh, except for the absence of a flash hider…thats the sole remaining detail). The rifle is uncomplicated, an Olympic Arms (forged) lower, Colt bolt, carrier and a 5.56mm 1/7 barrel. The origins of the upper are a matter of some debate. This site states that the DK markings on my upper indicate it is Diemaco / Kaiser (a colt contract piece), but other sources on the net refute this, and frankly I’ve given up caring. It works, the rest is just detail.
I sent the rifle off to have the barrel installed, the bolt headspaced and the rifle test fired (I’m always a little apprehensive about this part of the process), and as it turned out the rifle was completely assembled a full month before the arrival of Jillian.
I am happy with the (almost) finished product, the rifle is accurate and entertaining to shoot. And despite it’s fairly low-tech appearance, it keeps a place on honour in my gun cabinet.
What’s with the CADPAT background? I thought you were a Brit DPM wearing guy?
Nice pistol, er, rifle. I thought it must be a pistol since it’s “restricted” and all…I still want one however…
Good job putting it together Mon, looks just like ours!
So is it true? …the journey being more important than the destination? How much do you know about the piece thus far? *GRIN*
BTW, how do I get on that Carbine contest? Just took my “Trapper” and “Papoose” out this past Thursday. The Paposse is a tack-driver and so the “Trapper” seems to be out to 260m (backstop).
Out there, the rounds seemed to only drop about 3 inches. The Papoose on the other hand, droped about a foot and a half out at the backstop. I guess that’s not bad considering the piece is rated as a “survival/take-down” firearm.”
Aside from that…how are the worries about the future?
Greg: Nah, My Brit DPM pants wore out, and I replaced them with civvy knock-off CadPat ones, same reasons…comfy and I need the pockets.
Patrick: If you want to learn a firearm inside and out build one from parts, the mishaps are highly educational. Just get it checked by a gunsmith before the obligatory range test. It was VERY educational, I learned alot about the rifle and the various makers of AR components.
The carbine match? Just go to the website and download the match targets, print them up then take them to the range and shoot them. Email in your score along with an image of the target (scanned copy or a digital picture should do) and you’re officially taking part in the postal match.
Who knows, you may even win!
No worries about the future, beyond the normal day to day worries anyway.
-GRIN-
Just as I suspected, no images of the muzzle.
How was I to know you didn’t have a break on the AR?
Ah, but you can see there’s no flash suppressor in the original AR15 build project write-up.
Nya nya!