Nerd Brag

I’ve had the pleasure to meet a lot of very good people in the shooting community. I won’t name names, but I’ve written about them in this blog before.

Today I was participating with the guys at Gear Patriot in a conversation on Twitter, visiting my post on the Twitter Accounts Every Shooter Shoud Follow. I thought of a couple of people who should be on there, even though they are not normally thought of as being in the shooting community – David Feherty, pro golfer and host of the talk show Feherty on the Golf Channel; and Alton Brown, recovering chemistry major and host of Good Eats. Both of them are avid shooters, and tweet about their shooting regularly.

Shortly, I received this reply on Twitter.

Made my day, to say the least.

Welcome New Blogs

I want to welcome UrbanArmed, RebeccaGuns, and Guns For Everyone to the blog roll, under “Blogs I Read.”*

Go give them a read . . . .

* There’s no link here because I want you to go to the Blog listing and see if there are some others you’re missing. . . .

Project Vera

Last summer, I posted a wish list of guns I planned to buy next. A lot of interesting things have transpired in the meantime, and I use the word “interesting” in the full sense of the old Arab curse, “May you live in interesting times.”

The first gun on my list was an AR-15, and I’m happy to report the kickoff of what I am calling Project Vera.

The first step, and really the one that kicked it all off, was getting a great deal on a stripped aluminum lower made by Northern Frontier Armory, from Mike at Dog Leg Arms. Once I had this, I read a bunch, and tweeted some, and came up with a plan to build a home defense gun with the following general specs:

  • Flat top upper, maybe a Sporting version without forward assist.
  • 16 inch barrel, 1:7 twist. Chrome lined.
  • Red dot optic with co-witnessed iron backups – either 1x or 1-4x.
  • Multi position stock.
  • Single stage military trigger.
  • Weapon light, possibly with a laser.

Later, as finances allow, I plan to get a shorter barrel and a suppressor, since this will likely be used indoors in a defense situation.

I did some research on trigger groups, and looked at some on the interwebz. On Saturday I happened to be at Lakeside Guns in Acworth, Georgia, and saw a DPMS lower parts kit, for just a little more than what I’ve seen. I had no problem spending it, since I not only saved shipping cost, but I got it right now, and I supported a great local business.

Of course, the best part of all is that the lower receiver, the part with the serial number, is the only part of the gun that I have to buy through an FFL. The rest I can buy from Lakeside Guns, or over the Interwebz, or gun shows, or wherever I want. And, not coincidentally, it’s the only part that’s subject to the Ad Valorum tax. This means, if nothing else, I’ll save a little over buying a complete gun then making the mods I want.

Up next: assembly of the lower. Pray for me.