Showing posts with label ATF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ATF. Show all posts

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Easy Way To Write Your Representatives Against the M855 Ban

Sunday, February 15, 2015

More M855 Ban Stuff

Peter noted that the panic is on for affordable bulk 5.56 like M193 (PMC X Tac M193 at Lucky Gunner $390/1k). His point that you shoulda stocked up awhile back is valid but not particularly productive. I suppose there is some value as a reminder but if a person is reading either of our sites that is probably common knowledge. It is also easier to say as an older guy who has been at this for awhile. Younger people and folks with families or tight budgets may have been meaning to do it and either not had sufficient funds or just hadn't gotten to it yet.

As noted I bought a case of  M193 yesterday, thankfully before the morning price bump. I had planned to get some 5.56 this year anyway and it seemed like the obvious time to do it. Looking back I wanted to get 2 cases but right now that is looking uncertain. I am not in a place where I need to pay silly prices, aside from maybe a box here or there just to sight in an optic or whatever.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Valentines Day, 5.56 Ammo Run and Reader Question

Well today is Valentines Day. It was a pretty good on. We did normal stuff during most of the day. This evening I cooked up some Chicken Parmesan with noodles, salad, broccoli and french bread. In hindsight cooking an untried recipe that's pushing my skill level hard probably wasn't the smartest thing to do but it worked out well. Everyone enjoyed the meal.

Now that the kids are fed, bathed and in bed we're going to have a few drinks and watch a movie together. A nice quiet night.

On the downside the whole M855 thing has me pretty irritated.

My rifle likes M855 so I tried to get some from Lucky Gunner but they were sold out. Ended up with  a case of 55 grain 5.56 instead. Honestly I hate to incite a panic but there was plenty of M855 yesterday and probably this afternoon but now there is none to be had. A run seems to be on big time. I suspect more than a couple people had the same thought I did. (Note in 45 seconds by their live inventory LG sold 2 cases of 55gr 5.56). Well I wanted a case of training ammo for the next ban and it looks like I got one. Right now I am, at least once the newest purchase shows up, probably honestly at my happy number ratio in 5.56

Of course the panic is slipping into other bullet offerings in 5.56. Thankfully if you are not too picky about an exact offering there is plenty of 5.56 still available. I don't know what, if anything, is going to happen next but I'd say if you are short on whatever your SHTF goals are for 5.56, plan on buying more in the next year or shoot 5.56 regularly I'd buy enough to ride out at least a few rough months.

Looks like an end run of administrative actions, import regulations, etc all is being used instead of some sort of actual law which given the R's running the house and senate would be DOA. Aside from .22lr Firearmagedon is over and things have been good for awhile. I hope you didn't waste that time. Money is tight all over and there are bills to pay but I hope you have purchased, if not everything you want, at least everything you NEED.

To balance out my, buy all the 5.56 right now OMG tone earlier step back and take a look at your situation. If you are totally happy with your situation in that caliber then don't do anything crazy and spend a couple grand on ammo just because. What I am driving at is that if you own an AR/ Mini 14/ Sig 556 and are not happy with your ammo stash then you should look at doing something about that while it is still fairly affordable.

High Desert Livin asked

I recently traded a glock 26 plus 3 bills for for a colt magpul (total 850 out pocket). Now I have a psa complete lower that I'm not sure what to do with. I thought about dropping a bravo co. On top, but am unsure if a awesome upper on a so so lower makes any sense? 

My thoughts:  It really depends on what you are going for with the build, concept of use if you will. Since you mentioned BCM I presume the goal is not a budget build. As to the upper/ lower question let us go part by part through the lower.

-Lower receiver/ stripped. Any aluminum lower with normal specs is just fine. Unless we are talking about some BS Bob's Basement lower made from melted Busch can's they are all the same. Honestly as Chris noted 'the most important thing about a lower is the roll mark'. With a stripped lower folks mostly pay for a name to brag to their friends about. If you want to pay 4 bills for a Noveske instead of $45 for DPMS or Anderson Arms then by all means do so, it's your money, but don't trick yourself into thinking it's going to make the gun run any better.

-Lower Parts Kit. This is all the little springs and pins that make the gun work as well as the hammer and trigger. I would be more cautious here than with the actual lower itself. Wouldn't go lower than decent sporting brands like DPMS/ Stag/ CMMG/ Bushmaster. That being said it would be an uphill battle to convince me a Daniels Defense LPK (if they sell one) is vastly supperior to say a DPMS LPK.

Personally I have seen very few rifles get deadlined with lower receiver issues. The way the AR works there just isn't that much stress down there.  Sure a spring can wear out over time but that is part of life, not an inherent failure of the weapon.

Presuming mechanically sound parts the only exception to my 'an LPK is an LPK' is the trigger. If you are serious about accuracy, and capable of holding up your end, a good trigger matters a lot. There are a lot of ways this one can go from just getting a good match trigger from say Colt to a drop in upgrade like a Geissele trigger. If I was going to put any extra cash into a lower it would be into the trigger.

-Receiver Extension/ buffer tube. These are all basically the same. They come in mil spec and commercial but otherwise I think they are a common entity.

-Buffer and buffer spring. These matter but any decent one will do. DPMS/ CMMG/ etc are just fine. Actually where people get into trouble here is when they want to upgrade and get fancy messing with spring tension and buffer weight. I'm not a professional firearms builder or a mechanical engineer so I just buy mil spec buffers and buffer springs.

-Stock. These are easily replacable so get whatever one you like. They all work fine.

That lays out my thoughts on each individual part of the lower. As to your situation if you want a BCM upper I'd say get one. If you don't like the trigger in the lower you have then upgrade it. That's really the only part in the lower that is going to affect shootability. If you are somehow unhappy with the PSA internals for a hundred bucks or so you could upgrade the LPK to Rock River or Stag if you really want. The point is that letting a roll mark on the side of a common part built to standard specifications dictate the way you go with the rifle doesn't make too much sense to me.

There are a lot of smoking deals on uppers right now. A buddy mentioned seeing a complete COLT upper in Cheaper Than Dirt's newsletter for 5 and change. Since it would have a bolt, charging handle and hand guards, which a current BCM would not,  that is a darn good deal.

Anyway I wanted to

ATF Seeks to Ban M855 5.56 Ammo

So the ATF is looking to declare most common misurp 5.56 ammunition.

This is bad. Write your representatives and the ATF. Get the word out and do everything you can to stop this madness.

Edited to include:  I believe the email address to send your comments to is

A letter that specifically states the sporting purpose you use, or could use, M855 for might just help. I saw this form letter online.

"Hello, as my email address implies, my name is (name). Please refrain from banning M855 greentip, I use it as an inexpensive ammunition to hunt for hogs in the summertime and it is more effective at passing through thick hog skin than lesser soft point, hollow point, or regular fmj ammunition designs. Banning this ammunition expressly puts me in danger since other ammunition are less effective at dispatching hogs and have a tendency to charge at hunters. The nature of it being "armor piercing" is a false claim as it cannot penetrate plate armor level III and up, which were specifically designed for rifle rounds. 5.56 was designed to be and primarily used as a rifle round.

Thanks you for your time and consideration

Note  please edit it a little so that it doesn't sound like its coming from the same person.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

ATF 'Arm Brace' Gate

 Edited to include additional picture:

 Link to the ATF Open Letter on the Redesign of the Sig Arm brace here. I especially liked the "every time we said this is OK we were wrong so ignore those" part.

 This whole thing is so silly. Zero mentions that it is utterly baffling. How you can 'redesign' a piece of a weapon by holding it differently is baffling to me. Is my Glock 19 suddenly something else if I hold it upside down in my weak hand? What if I use a Sig Brace to attach the pistol to my leg for super tactical under the vehicle tactical shooting at tactical threats? What if I brace it against my hip or groin? What in the shit does any of that actually mean?

Honestly I don't really care much about this but it is painful to watch. This is more baffling than if they were just banned. The darn things are being regularly used as butt stocks to essential make a paperless short barreled rifle. It was at best a very grey area but they were legal. Heck the ATF said in mutiple letters the brace is still legal even if you shoulder it. Why was shouldering an AR pistol with a Sig Brace deemed legal a few months ago now it is not? I simply do not understand how this mess could have happened.

Tblog's hope that the industry pushes back is one I have also. Even if the Sig brace, and I expect similar setups like the Thordsen tactical thingie, is dead in the water we need a better system for making these decisions, evenly and clearly disseminating them and sticking with them. Maybe with the movement of AR's and as of late AR pistols into the mainstream with big companies involved better outcomes might be reached.

The drama should be fun to watch anyway.

Friday, January 16, 2015

From Around The Web

Mike Pannone: Making an M4 run like a Gazelle

Hoss USMC went and set himself up an Operational Cache. Good stuff. I did this awhile back and it is a comforting thing to have done.Hoss also stashed the same chest rig I did. Like that thing a lot and might end up getting another one down the road.

Hoss stashed some pretty nice gear and was able to put away a Glock, which I couldn't at the time. Hopefully when I'm in my cache area next I'll be able to stash one there. Do not get discouraged and fail to cache because you do not have a surplus of cool new gear, put away the stuff you do have. Take a couple guns that are collecting dust and put em away. Get some ammo for them and ancillary stuff. Throw in some way to carry ammo and whatever spare field gear you've got and put it someplace outside of your home/ 'retreat'. Just do it.

In sad news for the gun community:
New ATF fiat declaration ruling on the Sig Arm Brace. Apparently that the second order effect of this 'brace' being a decent stock and many people using it as such has caught the eye of the ATF. Shoulder at your own risk.

In positive news for the gun community Magpul announced some new products:
AK accessories/ furniture
60rd AR drums that should be reasonably priced ($100ish) and actually work and best of all
Magpul Glock Mags!!! MSRP is just under $16 so street price SHOULD be in the $13ish range, which is what half of factory Glock mags cost. When they come out I'll definitely buy some.

From our friends at Lucky Gunner
250 rounds of Seller and Bellot #4 Buck for $119
Tula 9mm for $205/1k
Federal 5.56 XM193 $173/500

Friday, December 5, 2014

81st Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition

Details here. Terrible law, all it brought was larger government and organized crime. We can also blame prohibition for the darn ATF. At least FDR did something right in ending it. I wonder if a hundred years from now people will look at the war on drugs the same way.

So celebrate and have some drinks already.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Reader Questions: Getting into the AR-15 Game

Hey I am in the market for a rifle chambered in 556 preferrably semi-auto. I have been rocking the an AK variant for several years but would like to increase my range performance and enter a new tier of weapon performance. Ive been scouring armslist in Washington and there seems to be quite a bit of options out there. Would you recommend purchasing new or looking for quality used? Any info or tips will help! I am new to the AR game.

Ryan here. As I see it we can break this down to 2 different questions.
1) Buying new vs used.
2) My thoughts on different types of AR-15's currently on the market. This will be broken down further to general configuration and make/ manufacturer. I will answer them in order.

New Guns- There are pro's and con's to buying guns new. The biggest advantage is that you can get exactly what you want. That is followed by the gun being new with which means there are fewer potential issues and manufacturer support for ones that do pop up. Lastly if you are a person who cares about getting a gun without any scratches, dings, wear marks, etc this is the best option.

The con's of buying new are the ATF form 4473 which some have called defacto registration through record keeping happens. Depending on where you stand with private party firearms that may not be an issue or could be a deal maker. Also you are going to pay retail price and tax.

Used Guns- Of course there are pro's and con's here also. For the sake of simplicity I am going to talk about used gun sales from private party's not via a shop. The biggest pro in my opinion is the lack of paperwork. A private party gun or two might be real handy some day. The second is that is the best place to find deals. This works best for the seller's also. Instead of selling a gun to a shop for $300 which they will immediately put on the shelf for $400 we can split the difference at $340 and both win. 

It is worth noting here that most gun owners do not shoot much so their weapons have very low round counts. They get a gun, test fire it with a couple mags then put it into the closet/ safe. It stays there till they decide on something else or run into money trouble. So you're more likely to face a few scratches and nicks from handling than actual wear on the parts that matter.

The biggest downside of used guns is the difficulty to find what you want. Instead of a local shop having it or ordering it you need to find an individual who owns one that wants to sell it. If you are looking for a Glock 17 or a Remington 870 that's not a big deal but if you want a Wizzbanger 900 X2L3 in Multicam or a limited edition 2 tone Sig .357 with night sights and short run factory grips it can be a big problem. 

The next biggest downside is guns hold their value really well. Part of it is that some folks pay a premium for non papered guns which drives up the marker. I definitely saw this phenomena in Arizona. In any case expect to pay more like 85-95% of the new price for a like new gun while other items tend to be in the 60-75% range. Of course guns do occasionally pop up cheaper when somebody needs cash fast but those cannot be defended on. 

The last downside is that the gun could have issues or be stolen/ linked to a crime. Some people cobble together and clean messed up guns then sell them used to unload the problem onto another person. [Don't be that guy, there is a special place in hell for these scumbags.] Also some guns were stolen previously or whatever. Even if you buy from a good person the guy who had that gun 10 years ago may have made a shady deal or whatever. A guy I know had a pistol taken by the cops because it was stolen a long time ago. Both of these happen rarely but they do happen.

To roll up this question. If you are not patient or want a really specific gun new is probably the way to go. On the other hand if a paperless gun matters to you that is the way to go. Occasionally a person who has cash handy can get some real deals in used guns.

As to different configurations as well as makes/ models of AR-15's. For a general use type rifle I favor a 14.5inch barrel of standard weight on a flat top AR with an adjustable butt stock. I favor chrome lined barrels and everything as mil spec as possible. As to rails I'd only bother with them if you plan to mount enough stuff to justify it. [Honestly in substantive ways I don't see myself varying from this much unless I build a pistol. You could go with a 20" barrel and a fixed stock to make it a SDM type gun but honestly for that role I'd probably get a .308.] 

To manufacturers. I'll break this down in 2 ways. We will talk guns by approximate price range and then I'll talk what of this is based on personal experiences and what is a general consensus of others. Please note that my discussion of manufacturers is not all encompassing. Part of the limitation is that I'm trying to stick as much as possible to stuff I know and part is due to time/ length limitations. Not saying those manufacturers are good or bad but there is only so much time in the day. Please don't get all butt hurt if I do not mention your favorite brand; let's stick to the big picture here.

First we will talk about what I would consider on the more expensive side. Probably closer to "a good job and some spare cash" than "assistant night manager with a young family barely getting by" territory. In this range you get professional grade guns. I hesitate to say an exact price but we are probably talking $1,100ish on the bottom end up to around 2k. The difference will be brand as well as specific features/ variants, obviously a gun with a $250 rail will cost more than an otherwise identical one with $40 hand guards.

Manufacturers in this price range include Colt, Knight Armament, Daniels Defense, LMT and Bravo Company. I have personal experience with Colt's at work and own a Bravo Company rifle that I love. John Mosby is running an LMT. Knight stuff I have anecdotal experiences with at work. DD is just a great company.

These are just great guns that can be used really hard. One can reasonably expect a genuine go to war gun right out of the box. The downside is that nothing is free. To some degree a customer is paying for better design, materials and workmanship which is worthwhile. Also to some degree they are paying for a name as well as the cool guy's they pay for endorsements. If you can afford the tab one of these rifles will suit you well. On the other hand if this sort of rifle is our of your reach do not despair as there are other options.

The second category of rifles I am going to talk about are closer to the "assistant night manager with a young family barely getting by" territory. This isn't ARF so I won't bash folks who can not or simply will not spend a mortgage payment or two on a rifle. The manufacturers in this category include Bushmaster, Olympic Arms, DPMS which I have varying degrees of personal experience with. Depending on exactly where the lines are drawn basic models from Stag Arms and in Smith and Wesson M&P series could fall in here also. While exact prices are fuzzy I'd say $600-900ish is about the right range.

As a general rule these are fine rifles, perfectly suitable for all needs average or even not so average Joe has. Fit and finish are less than the fancy brands but that is OK. To be blunt these companies do produce more lemon's than the professional grade manufacturers. However for every lemon there are a bunch of guns that work just fine. On this one the upside and downside are pretty obvious. You get a gun that is affordable but may potentially have some issues.

Personally I think we should consider option #3 which is to order the parts you want (complete upper, BCG, etc all) and put it onto a lower receiver purchased via private party. This way you circumvent the difficulty of finding specific stuff via private party basically get whatever rifle you want without the 4473 hassle. If this option doesn't appeal to you....

I recommend that you buy a gently used professional grade AR-15 from a private party. 

As always reader input to this discussion is welcome.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

RE: When They Come For Your Guns


Here are my thoughts on the video:











Friday, January 11, 2013

Commander Zero on ATFE Form 4473






Thursday, September 13, 2012

Putting on my Nostradamos Cap

On Economics/ Politics:










On War:


On Gun Control:



On Crime and Disorder:








Gun Control:


Crime and Disorder:




Sunday, January 2, 2011

Pic Post- Cleaning Out My Desktop

 I saved my favorite for last. These guys have appeared a couple times here and are ever present in some forums.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Want To Own A Town?

Washington town up for sale on Ebay. You could be the chief of police and have all your friends be deputies. LEO privileges as well as Class III and NFA weapons without all the strings would be fun.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Quote of the Day and Discussion

"Always Think Forfeture"
-The ATF

I do not have an issue with forfeiture as a broad concept. Money and possessions acquired as the fruit of criminal enterprises by convicted criminals should be put to the general good. I do have a real issue with agencies being able to keep the money they seize. Agencies profiting (or whatever you want to call it) from seizing money and goods creates an inherent self interest that is very definitely a bad thing.

Also I have a real issue with assets being seized when a conviction for a serious crime is not present. Lots of time people who are guilty as sin are not convicted for whatever reason, however in our system that means they are INNOCENT. We hear a story now and then about a guy who just deals in cash having a big wad taken from him and not being able to get it back. Admittedly those stories come from a fairly specific audience with views against this sort of thing. I am sure for every truly innocent guy whose money gets stolen there are a dozen crack dealers but that is not the point.

It seems like the well intentioned idea of asset forfeiture has been corrupted by a combination of bad laws and the self interest of various agencies who can seize funds.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Nobody Even Knows

Hermit wrote a great post the other day. I wasn't quite sure what I thought about it for a couple days. Still not sure. The thing that concerns me is that no single person truly understands our federal code in its entirety. I've heard it said that if put together it would look about like a nice hefty set of encyclopedias. No human being can understand that let alone be able to accurately quote it.

I think our law (at all levels) should be simple enough that a normal non mouth breathing person can understand them. Maybe business law, import export and some other stuff might be difficult to streamline but there is no reason our criminal code should be so darn complicated.

Of course ignorance of the law should not be an excuse because we all know some asshole in a trailer somewhere genuinely believes it is fine to drive his El Camino 90 miles an hour while drinking a tall boy and beating his wife. Then again things are just way too complicated right now. Expecting people to live under a set of laws they do not understand is not realistic.

We are probably all criminals right now.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

This Could Get Very Interesting

The wonderful folks at the ATF were nice enough to write letters to people in Montana and Tennessee. I am sure the residents of these states will appreciate their consideration.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Shipping Guns Home

So I am going to move far far and away in the near future. The firearms I have here are going to go back home. Without giving very specific info on either end (if you read a lot you probably know both ends:) it would be hard to be in the continental US and be farther from home than I am now. In any case I need to ship some guns home. To be specific I have 1 rifle, 2 shotguns and 4 pistols to send home. I have heard it is legal to just ship a firearm to yourself but am not so sure about that. To make it clear I am not transferring any firearms just getting them back home.

Also I have a decent amount of ammo (2 cases of pistol ammo, several hundred rounds of shotgun ammo and 800rds of '06 ammo) to get home.

Any advice on the cheapest and simplest way to legally do either would be greatly appreciated. I am not concerned with getting anything home fast parse as long as it gets there eventually. It is just going to join the arsenal in the bunker.

If nothing else it is comforting to know that Ma has a fucking arsenal and enough ammo to fight a small war at her immediate disposal. Also if Pa needs it he can cruise over there and as he put it "Pick up a rifle with banana clips" that can easily be accommodated as there are plenty of guns and they get along well. On a side note I am going to leave a Glock 9mm and a pistol grip pump shotgun with Pa (also he lives between a retired Marine and a retired Cop:). If it seems that more then that are needed he can drive to Ma's and pick up an AR. We went to the range and he shot one not too long ago. If nothing else he is a smart enough guy to load and shoot the darn thing. Where they live nothing like that is going to happen all of a sudden so he will have a bit of time to react to things.

Don't really have anything more to say.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Words To Avoid

This was inspired by a loose dialog involving myself, Hermit and the man formerly known as Kaiservontexan. I think there are some words it is just better to avoid. Maybe I am not standing up for my rights (a well regulated militia...) or anything like that but looking at it pragmatically life is too short for such drama.

I suggest that the word militia should be mothballed. You do not want to get anywhere near a militia. Short of swigging on a fifth of whiskey while driving back and forth in front of the police station I can't see a quicker way to complicate your life. At least the DUI and assorted other tickets are a pretty easy albeit expensive fix. As Hermit said "there's an old joke that when a militia meets, of the ten people in the room, three are undercover FBI, two are undercover BATF, three more are paid informants,one is the organizer and one is some guy who wandered in looking for directions".

Let me choose my words very carefully. I can think of at least one person in particular who would probably be living peacefully in a cabin on a mountain if he had shown some good sense and stayed away from these sorts of organizations. They will bring you nothing but trouble. Also conspiracy is a pretty open ended word which I seek to stay far away from. I am not sure exactly where the line between a hypothetical conversation between "friends" over beer #7 stops and conspiracy starts but I don't want to find out.

Don't join, form, or discuss a militia. Maybe you have some shooting friends or whatever and that is great. Maybe you all have the mutual interests of firearms, tactical training and libertarianism but just leave it at that. If you and a few close friends think it might be a good idea to get together in a time of crisis that is wonderful but leave it at that.

The other word is compound. I think if you have a compound the ATF immediately starts a siege. You don't need a compound (though a rural home with a walled inner courtyard might be nice) and you really don't need to talk about a compound with anyone, especially people from that militia I told you not to hang around.

Maybe it is stupid that some words and associations will complicate your life when they shouldn't. I try not to look at how (pretty much all) things should be but instead at how they are. If calling an orange an orange gets you punched in the face but calling it an apple means you get to walk home and eat the orange just laugh it off as one of the worlds little eccentricities.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Gun Law List by Steve

TOR says: This looks like a great foundation for understanding federal gun laws. If something isn't completely clear cut it is probably worth contacting the ATF (gasp, did that just come out of my mouth?) to be sure. I know things can get awful confusing; especially when it comes to imported weapons and required amounts of US made parts.

As always YMMV when it comes to the accuracy of this book. The author of the book will not go to federal (pound you in the ass) prison if he is mistaken, you will. Two points to whoever gets the movie reference.
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