Newbie in Centennial
I love forums. I am into offroading and Toyota's and they really helped me early on and now I help those just starting out. I'm a moderator on a Toyota Off road forum so I know how helpful AND political some threads can get. I do know to use the search engine, google etc to better frame a question if I don't know the answer.
I have learned a lot over the last few months going over all the forums and the searching everything I don't understand.
http://forums.officer.com/t81462/ this link was a great site and I then googled to find out what the twist and Parkerizing were and why they mattered
I was thinking of buying an AR-15, but couldn't really justify it. Then the tragedy happened and the fear of a ban went wild. People were buying up all the rifles and charging double, even triple what they sold for a few days earlier.
I researched various rifles. Many sites said if you don't buy a colt then your buying crap. Everything I read said Colt is a great gun and a standard, but I am familiar with forums enough to know some people are very loud with their opinions on the internet forums even when they may not have all the facts. So I researched some more comparing different rifles I saw to the Colt. I wanted a LE6920, but I wasn't going to spend $2500. I went back and forth from a Sig M400, to the Colt to the S&W M&P, to several others. I followed rifles on gunbroker and armslist and researched the ones that looked interesting. Lots of companies out there. I needed a good quality rifle, but that did not mean I need the best quality rifle. I then found a rifle I hadn't heard of called the Windham. I read the story and reviews of people who had actually bought one. It was amazing how many people who hadn't really seen one said they were crap and you should just buy a Colt. The Colt was in my daily search on Gunbroker and I saw some drop down around $2100. The Windham had a few sell at $1400, so I researched it some more and decided based on specs, the factory video, the reviews of others who owned one that it would meet my needs and was able to get one for $1400. Still too much compared to several weeks ago, but a good deal during this environment. I wanted to get one before they did something legally with respect to these rifles.
Some comments said the 1:7 twist on the Colt is what everyone should hold out for. What I read indicated the 1:9 twist would be fine for target shooting and home defense and I am guessing by what I read that I will never tell the difference with the ammo weight I will be using 55gr to 62gr (based on availability).
Lots of folks said that Colt is the only one built to MIL-Spec. Having been a Defense contractor for over 30 years, I am quite familiar with MIL-SPEC. The way they test a sample of their barrels (30%) is consistent with a lot of MIL-SPEC part standards. Frankly, much of the defense industry is trying to scale back MIL-SPEC due to cost. In many cases, it does not provide a more reliable product and in many cases it does. The Industry is trying to go to commercial where the MIL-SPEC does not provide value. So I know just saying its built to MIL-SPEC doesn't mean its the best. Depending on the item, some commercial practices can be better.
I haven't received my new rifle yet via my FFL, but plan on posting more when I do. I am signing up the family to the gun safety class taught at the CC Res gun club. My wife will then also be able to handle my XD 9mm.
I just registered and it said I should introduce myself.
Hello, my name is Ken and I am a new AR15 owner who will be looking for help as I educate myself and become more involved with this activity
Colorado AR-15 Shooters Club Discussion Forums
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