I joined this forum back on 11/05/2010. Today marks a whole year of what has become quite an experience. A year ago today, I knew very little about the AR 15 platform and the 450 Bushmaster. I did have a basic knowledge of firearms and maybe a bit better than most, but the AR platform was not a system that I had familiarized myself with mainly because up to 2009, I thought it would be a rifle that would be super expensive and I also perceived that the government pretty much had made them unavailable to private citizens, so why bother? I did have a couple of decades of experience reloading but until I got on this forum, I had no idea how much more that I was about to learn. I knew next to nothing about building a lower half, or doing a trigger job. I would have never considered building an AR upper. It is amazing what one can learn in a year. As of today, I have built two lowers from the ground up. One Stag Arms lower now resides under my 450 Bushmaster. Once I completed that project, I started looking for another upper to put on my other naked lower that was still sitting in the safe. I had no idea which direction or what caliber, I just wanted something special. After a lot of reading and looking through catalogs, nothing jumped out at me. I would see a upper receiver and hand guard that I liked but the caliber wasn’t interesting or the ammunition was outrageously high and/or hard to find. There is definitely a lot of flavors to choose from. But nothing clicked. The 308 sounded great in the AR platform. But the parts were generally higher in price, even though, ammo is very affordable and about as available as a bag of Doritos. Okay, so that may still be an option, but then I remembered, I wanted something “special”. I started reading about some of the 6.5 and 6.8 discussions and something clicked. (Sort of like Ted Nugent snapping Bill Maher’s neck.. WHAT?! Hey! I can dream too, can’t I?) I gotta hand to Hoot, and Wildcatter, BD and others who influenced my decision to go with the 6.5 Grendel. Thanks guys. This caliber, though not a powerhouse, has so much to offer me. But the complete uppers that I was looking at in the 6.5 Grendel were either too expensive, too ugly, or both, at least through my eyes. And I wanted something special. I finally convinced myself that to get what I was looking for, I was going to have to build it from the ground up. So I did. My 6.5 Grendel is almost finished now. And it is turning out to be a very handsome rifle. And it is going to be one of a kind. From the stock, to the brake, to the trigger group, to the custom bolt carrier group, it’s all customized, built with parts that I chose and that I assembled. Now that is what I call a special rifle. And now I can say that I have built my first upper receiver from the ground up. Wow! Where did I learn all this? Who has inspired me to get creative, and spend God knows how much $$$$ on this black rifle love affair? YOU GUYS! It’s a good thing I ain’t married. A wife would have killed us all.
Another random yet Ironic thought.....
I sometimes snicker to myself when I think of all the parts that came to me in the mail box. I even purchased the 2 Stag Arms stripped lowers while eating an Egg Mac Muffin at McDonalds while my FFL guy called to do the background check. He was sitting across table from me. All those 10,000 laws and I have abided by all of them and it has been a blast! Oh, and one more throbbing middle finger to the anti-gunners…. I use my tax refunds to buy GUNS! SO THERE! Sorry guys, I just love rubbing their noses in it. But I digressed.
It is hard to believe this all started back in February 2010, when I bought my first ever AR 15 Bushmaster at Cabelas. And now, almost two years later, I finally have built my first custom rifle ever.
Thanks for all the support and advice guys. That’s what makes this forum shine.
-Texas Sheepdawg