A Texan's view on all things tactical

FIgured I would do a quick review of my first AR build. I call it a at KAR-15 since my first name starts with K. I stole a lot of this from a forum post I made last year on the GRRN Forums. If you don’t know what GRRN is please click here and check it out. I’m a big fan of several of the podcasts over there.

Buttstock – MOE Stock
Never have been a fan of the original collapsible stock. I liked the MOE because it is harder to snag anything on the stock release with the triangle design. I also liked the value of the stock compared to some of the other replacements. Overall I really like it, locked up well and felt great. It did have a very slight side to side wobble but not enough to effect anything.

Pistol Grip – MOE Grip
Same as above, I really hate the A2 style grip, the finger groove doesn’t fit my hand at all and actually rubs a blister on my finger. I also like the storage options for the grip. I tried one before I bought it and the size was just right so I had no need to get the MIAD since I wouldn’t be adjusting it anyway. Lately I’m thinking it might not be as good as I first though. I’m looking into getting a Ergo grip or one from Tango Down. The MOE is the right size but it is just too slick, I could just but a piece of bicycle inner tube over it but what fun would that be?

Trigger Guard – Magpul
Liked the rounded edges on the side better. Plus it fills that annoying little gap that is normally behind the trigger guard. When I was building this I knew I was heading to Alaska and figured (correctly) that I would be shooting with gloves on occasionally. If the plastic version was available when I built this I would have picked that up instead but nothing wrong with the metal one.

Optical Sight – Eotech 512 w/Larue mount
Let me start off by saying that some people have had reliability issues with this sight. This is not a gun for serious social purposes, my life is not riding on the reliability of the sight. Having said that I prefer the circle and dot reticule as opposed to just the dot that other companies like Aimpoint use. So far I have had zero issues with it but I only shot 200 rounds through the gun while I was visiting. I also like the Larue mount because it raises the sight up slightly allowing for a lower 1/3rd co-witness of the iron sights. I also like the fact that I can just take it off and have a zero that is fairly repeatable.

Handguard – VTAC by JP Enterprises
I knew I wanted some rails for mounting stuff but I also knew I really would only be mounting a vertical fore grip and a light. This handguard is a free float design that you can attach small rail sections all along the guard. It is also slightly lighter than a fully railed handguard. It also has the added benefit of being smooth with no unused rail sections to tear up your hands. I love this on my gun, I can set it up just how I need it. I did have to wait 9 months while it was back ordered though but I’m glad I waited. If I had it to do over again I would have went ahead and got the rifle length handguard. I still might go ahead and order it, it would be really easy to attach at this point.

Vertical fore grip – Larue FUG
Wanted a vfg to use as more of a handstop. I was looking for a shorty grip and went with the Larue one for a few reasons, one it was adjustable by switching the end caps, two, I’m from Texas and love supporting Texas companies, and three I just plain like Larue products and have never had a problem with any of them or there service. Any of the major brands of these would probably work just fine though and most of them are a little cheaper. I still love my FUG but am really interested in th Magpul AFG. I already use the FUG as more as a handstop and think the AFG would just work slightly better.

Light – Surefire X300
This was kind of a fluke, I lready had a Surefire G2 in a VTAC mount ready to go when I stumbled across an insane deal on the X300. I went ahead and mounted it instead of the G2 since it was lighter and more compact. No issues with it, it is easy to activate with my support hand from my normal firing stance. Since I got up to Alaska the X300 rides on my every day carry Glock 19 pretty much all the time but I still keep the small peice of rail on my AR so I can always slide it right back on.

Magazines – Pmags and L5’s
All I own are Pmags and Lancer L5’s. I’ll admit I only have the L5’s for the CDI factor even though they have proved themselves to be very reliable . So much has been written about the Pmags that I don’t really have anything to add, they just work.

Upcoming Plans –
I’m still waiting for the top rail of the handguard so I can mount some BUIS, I plan on picking up a pair of the MBUS sights from Magul. Other than that I have no other plans to change anything, if I find a really good deal on an Aimpoint I might switch it out but just not sure. I’m also toying with the idea of a magnifier for the Eotech but who knows at this point. What I really need to focus on is buying ammo and practicing more (don’t we all).

Keep up the good fight
-Rob