A few days ago, I visited a friend to help him do a mid-winter check on his beehives, and ended up doing some target practice. That’s my ideas of a good day!
This fall, he told me he was thinking of building an AR10. I told him I had built several ARs, and to let me know if he needed any help. Apparently, he did not, because he has since built the AR10, an AR15, and an AR15 pistol in .300 Blackout. A great selection or guns for someone new to the AR platform. Of course, his .300 had a suppressor and we shot subsonic ammo, but one or two rounds out of every magazine had a supersonic crack. They must be loaded very close to the line or perhaps it has something to do with our altitude.
“Did you buy the upper and lower receiver, or did you buy the lower parts kit?” I asked.
“I got the little box with all the colored bags in it,” he said. I instantly knew what he meant. Yep, that’s the lower parts kit where you have to fit every pin and spring just right.
That’s the kind of AR build I think everyone should do. It helps you understand how the gun and its many parts function, which means you can more easily diagnose and fix any problem. It’s also a good idea to build your own upper, from the barrel up, because you may one day need to replace the gas tube that has eroded away. Having installed one, you will know what to do.
Battle Sight Zero
While we were having fun with guns, I pulled my rifle out of the contractor’s box on the back of my truck. It looked good and functioned fine. The Holosun 510 optic lit right up. That was good news, considering I had the gun locked away in there for months, through all kinds of weather, and up and down plenty of bumpy roads.
When we unzipped the case, I was reminded how good a job I did packing it up. First, the receiver and the optic were wrapped in two layers of bubble-wrap with large-bubbles. This is in addition to being in a padded weapons case. Second, there was a sheet of paper on the butt stock that said, “Zeroed at 40 yards. Will shoot within approximately three inches from point of aim from zero to 300 yards. Hold one foot high for 400 yards and four feet high for 500 yards.”
I don’t know what I was expecting to shoot at those ranges, but I thought that was damn nice of me to leave myself a note.
The 10/22 I occasionally keep in my truck has a similar note. it says, “Zeroed at 100 yards. Shoots 2-inches high at 50 yards.” My scoped .308 has a note taped to the buttstock with how many clicks to dial up out to 600 yards. If you have multiple guns, consider a range card like this to ensure a greater chance of being on target with your first shot.
The SHUSH Act
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Congressman Michael Cloud (TX-27) have introduced the Silencers Helping Us Save Hearing (SHUSH) Act, a bill to eliminate the excessive regulation of firearm suppressors. If passed by both houses and signed into law by the president, suppressors would no longer require a Form 4 or a $200 tax stamp. They would also not be subject to a lengthy waiting period.
I think this is great, although if it passes, I’d like to see some way to get refunded for the $600 I have paid for tax stamps.
Should the bill pass, expect every single suppressor on the market to sell out in two weeks. I know I would buy one with a Nielsen device for a 9mm and/or a .45. I can foresee a time in the future when going to the range without a suppressor is considered rude. Or where indoor ranges have one room for suppressed weapons and one for people without suppressors.
This act, or one similar to it, has been introduced in Congress before but went nowhere. It should stand a better chance now that the Republicans control both houses. Maybe they can pass this and concealed carry reciprocity at the same time and we can really celebrate. Don’t just cross your fingers, contact your congress critter and ask them to vote for the SHUSH act and for concealed carry reciprocity.
The Trump Slump
Gun dealers are already seeing what became known during his first presidency as “The Trump Slump.” Gun sales slow when people are not worried about liberals passing anti-gun laws. I read that sales in December were down 6 percent from the year prior.
This makes me think you should be able to get some good buys this summer. Look for some bargains in used guns, too. Meanwhile, I’m trying to stick to my one-new-gun-a-year policy.
It’s already a pretty good time to buy ammo, with some decent pricing, especially for common rounds. When I was scoping out the ammo aisle at a store the other day, I was shocked to see a 20-round box of .338 Lapua goes for $120 to $160. Yikes! Glad I stuck with .308. Not only do I not foresee a scenario in which I need to shoot someone 1,200 or 1,500 yards away, at that price, I couldn’t afford to practice.
Egg Prices
While ammo prices may be dropping, or at least holding steady, egg prices continue to soar. The average price is $6.51 per dozen as of February 3, meaning egg prices rose about 50 cents per week over the last two weeks.
Bloomberg reports egg prices reached $11.99 for a dozen cage-free eggs at Whole Foods in New York City. This is why 1) I left New York City more than 30 years ago, and 2) why I raise my own chickens. I’m still selling our fresh eggs from free-range chickens for just $5 a dozen.
And by the way, free ranging in the middle of winter doesn’t do the chickens much good. There are no bugs for the chickens to eat and they’ve already chewed up anything green. The freshest food they get fed is our kitchen scraps, which include everything from the seeds and stringy flesh inside an acorn squash to the end of carrots and banana peels.
Buy chicks today and you will get fresh eggs by May or June. And remember, if you use an average of four eggs per day, you need six to eight chickens.
