A New Year's Resolution Worth Keeping

A New Year's Resolution Worth Keeping

Coming into 2014, most people made a New Year’s Resolution to “better” themselves for the coming year.  Most of those resolutions are about fitness, clean eating, and healthier life styles. Having worked in the fitness industry for years, I know how many people ACTUALLY stick to those resolutions. Here’s a resolution that most people fail to think of, but should in the forefront of their “New Year/New Me” plans; self-defense.
One of the first things you learn as a woman is that to properly defend your fragile self, from a more able bodied male, you should stick your car keys in between your fingers and attempt to punch/slash at your assailant. This is a pretty flawed method, because it works on the premise that you either have the keys in position BEFORE an attack, or are able to accomplish this goal DURING the attack. Improvised methods of self-defense are great, but this is one that can lead to just as much pain and suffering placed on you, as your attacker.
The first thing you should do is get some type of training under your belt. There are plenty of people out there that are teaching proper techniques on how to defend yourself with guns, knives, pepper spray, and unarmed combatives. In this quick post, I’ll highlight a few items that can be found on my person on a daily basis. All of these items are available for purchase through the company’s websites, and each item I've been lucky enough to take some form of training with. The training aspect is something I can’t stress enough. While plenty of people defend themselves day in and day out without any formal training, I’d rather have some knowledge and practical idea of how to use each item rather than end up as a statistic.

(Phone included for 2 reasons: size comparison for all the other items and in the event of an assault or robbery, you want to be able to call 911 and offer the police and emergency medical services as much information as possible. Items listed clockwise from top right.)

Coye Knives Ridgeback

An amazing, fixed blade self-defense knife. Hand made in Oklahoma, this blade is meant to be carried along the belt line. It’s small enough to be discreet, but larger enough to get a full one handed grip, and is SUPER sharp.

 (www.coyeknives.com)

Spyderco Delica 

Smaller, folding knife. Spyderco makes one of my favorite folding knives for self-defense. They’re relatively inexpensive, rugged, and fit nicely in your pocket. They can be deployed easily, and training blades are readily available.

 (www.spyderco.com)

ASP Key Defender

Multipurpose, discreet, handheld defense. Works as a kubotan, impact device, or with the flip of the lock, can deliver 2 Million Scoville Heat Units of police grade pepper spray. Hangs conveniently on your key ring. (www.asp-usa.com)

CRKT Minimalist

Another, small fixed blade knife. Much smaller than the aforementioned Ridgeback, but also more discreet due to it’s size. Can be adapted to hang from a lanyard around your neck, or also ride on your belt line. Small, and sharp, great for hot weather carry. 

(www.crkt.com)

Smith & Wesson Tactical Pen

Light weight and discreet. This pen can be used as a striking implement or as a writing tool. Convenient pocket clip and comes in a variety of colors.

 (www.smith-wesson.com)

De-Cap-A-Turtle
Small, discreet, hand held device. Works as an impact device with a semi sharpened face for striking anf cutting. Also works to open beer bottles in a pinch.


All of the items listed above take time and practice, both to learn how to use, and to carry. When you’re carrying something on your body every day that you’re not used to, it takes a while before you “forget it’s there”. I fidgeted with these items for some time before finding the sweet spot. Now I can’t imagine going out of the house without at least one on my person. One of the items I didn't list is the firearm I carry. Firearms take a lot more getting used to, and require more confidence to carry. I will cover that in a later article though. If you stay true to one resolution this year, it should be to take self-defense seriously. We are responsible for our own safety, as well as the safety of our loved ones.

Shot Show from a green horn

Let's start with media day at the range. We took a bus out to the Boulder city pistol and rifle club range from the sands convention center. Upon arrival I didn't think the range was all the big....boy was I wrong! We kept driving down the dirt road and more and more tents kept popping up. Eventually we unloaded from the bus and walked. After we got our media passes we entered about 1/2 between both ends. We decided to start on the far end with TacCon and got to shoot their 3MR trigger (There will be more on that from me in a later post). As much as I wanted to go to every tent, we just couldn't. Between the amount of people waiting in line and the sheer number of companies, we knew we had to hit the ones you guys wanted to see. We have lots of video from what we got at the range which you can find on our YouTube channel. After hours of walking and shooting the latest and greatest, we were beat.

        Eric from the YouTube channel     IraqVeteran8888

                   Gunny sighting!

           Shooting the new Glock 41

As for the main convention, all I could say is WOW. I had heard stories from friends and local companies about the pure size of the show. I wasn't necessarily skeptical but at the same time I didn't quite believe them when they said how massive it actually was. Walking into the front doors of the Sands convention center I was already in shock. The lobby itself was bigger than any convention I had been to back home. 

            1 of many lobby entrances

Once we made our way to the floor, well, let's just say my jaw stubbed my toe. The amount of guns and gear in that single (and utterly gargantuan) room was mind blowing. I didn't know which way to turn. Had I not known about the SHOTShow app I would have been in survival mode because I'd be lost in some part of the building. Even with that app and after I thought I knew where everything was; on our last day in the convention center we found a huge room I never even knew existed. I was like a kid in a candy store. After walking for miles on day one my whole lower body ached like no other. We skipped around on the first and second floor on that day. 

             Kat from Adams Arms

The remainder of our time at Shot show we prioritized and met up with as many companies as we could that we could potentially work with in the future; A lot of which I was unfamiliar with. Luckily Travis knew what was up and helped me out a ton. We talked to and interview SWORD international, Legion firearms, tuff products, AM-TAC, and Gallow Tech just to name a few that we talked with. By the end of everyday I was ready to just collapse. I never thought I would walk so much in such a short period of time. Overall I think we walked a good 30 miles during the entire trip. 

                 Colion Noir and Lane

    Tavis and I at the Tuff products booth

My favorite booths were all on the first floor and off in the side rooms on both floors. A majority of which were somewhat smaller companies that were genuine when you talked to them. We also got to meet many of our sponsors for our giveaways we have done. It was excellent to know the people who make the magic happen.

    Desert tech MDR (my favorite rifle  of the show) 

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow ups from Shot show. There is too much to cover in one review. 

-ShipLane 

    Glenn Fleming previously of Sons of     Guns. 

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Post SHOT Show 2014 Thoughts

When I was told that SHOT Show was huge and I would literally not see everything before it was over I really didn't believe it. I am now a believer that there is literally no way to see every single booth and have time to talk to all of them, but really there is no need to because not all of the booths are offering the firearms or gear that I typically review.

Media day was a crazy place to be, but at the same time it was awesome because I was able to get some time behind some newer firearm such as the Glock 41, Glock 42, S.W.O.R.D. Intl SBR AR-15, and ADCOR AR-15. Having time to talk with the representatives from each company and sometimes the owners helps to give a lot of background information that may not always be readily available. 

If I were to narrow it down to 2 things that I was impressed the most with it would have to be the Glock 42 and the S.W.O.R.D Intl SBR (also 16" setup).

The Glock 42 was something that I went in wanting to hate it because I thought it was the most ridiculous thing that Glock would bring out a single stack .380 while everyone else has been pumping out single stack 9mm's. Yet when I finally got my hands on it and felt how well it is made, how balanced it is, and how easy it is to fire and be on steel I was impressed. After talking with a few of the other guys and gals who were out there at Media day I am pretty sure we all came to the conclusion that Glock may have decided to release the .380 before the 9mm version because if they had gone in the reverse order of that no one would buy the .380 version. Either way it was a pleasant surprise and something I am looking forward to getting more range time with and doing further reviews with.

The S.W.O.R.D. Intl SBR and 16" AR-15's were both very interesting rifles to shoot. They are both piston systems, with S.W.O.R.D.'s compensator installed on them along with a few other great upgrades. The result was an extremely smooth shooting rifle that pretty well eliminated muzzle flip and walk. Getting on target and staying on target was a dream, every shot was a hit.

On the SHOT Show floor(s) I was completely overwhelmed from the beginning. The second I stepped into the Sands Expo Center I realized just how large the show was, it took over an hour to figure out where a majority of the companies were at and how to navigate the city that is SHOT Show.

Plenty of time was spent talking with some of the newer companies, gawking and drooling over many of the new rifles that are being released this year. Such as the Sig Sauer P556XI, Rock River Arms LAR-47, and the Gallow Technologies Weapons Storage system. There were literally so many cool things to see that I quickly felt overwhelmed and realized that there needed to be a system to the madness and writing down the companies I wanted/needed to see was the best bet.

                                                        (Rock River Arms LAR-47)

                                                              (SAR Arms 9mm SBR)

I talked with a lot of companies, some who I have been working with over the past year and others that I just met this past week during SHOT Show. Everyone that I talked to was genuine and a great contributor to the industry. There were many items that were interesting and that peaked my interest, and there were other things that I could not figure out why they were there.

Overall I was completely overwhelmed from day 1 and did not get nearly as much done as I had hoped to, however once I got my bearings and gained some speed I was able to meet many companies that will be working with us throughout this year.

Just to name a few of the companies:
S.W.O.R.D. International
Offhand Gear
SAR Arms
ODIN Works
Primary Weapons Systems
and quite a few more.

I am really looking forward to bringing as much new information to everyone, and introducing many new items.

Make sure to stay tuned in the upcoming weeks as new items start to roll in and new initial thoughts posts go up.

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Also make sure to follow @shiplane and @spartan_tc on Instagram for pictures and info of new gear we have coming in.

15" Midwest Gen-2 SS Free Float Hand Guard

When I started searching around and looking for that "perfect" hand guard to put on my first ground up build I had a few things in mind. First I knew that I was going to be putting a 14.5" barrel onto the build, and I knew that I would want to cover as much of that barrel as I possibly could with the hand guard. There were plenty of companies out there with 15" hand guards, and quite a few caught my eye, but not nearly as much as the Midwest Industries Gen-2 SS Series Free Float Hand Guard. When I first saw it I was immediately drawn to the fact that it is very sleek and simple, there isn't all the mess that you get with the typical railed hand guards. I knew as soon as I saw this one it was what I wanted to put on the build.

Now finding it was actually a lot easier at the time, we hadn't come into this crazy period of everything being sold out with unknown times of when we will ever see them again. It just so happened that a friend of mine who has his own business, came across one that a supplier had and he let me know what his price on it was and if I wanted it I could get it. Needless to say I quickly jumped on the opportunity and had him pick it up. When I met with him to pick up the hand guard I was surprised at how light weight it actually was, weighing in at 10.9 ounces it is very light for such a long hand guard.

Once I finally had all of the parts to build the upper I did a quick browse around the forums, google, and youtube to see if anyone had any issues with putting this on their builds. Quickly I found out that this was a very simple and straight forward design to install (much easier than most free floats out there), I needed to use supplied barrel nut and get the holes lined up for the gas tube, then simply just slide the hand guard into place and tighten the two set screws, it was as simple as that and I loved it.

Functionality:

This is a great hand guard, as I have said before it is a super simple design and if you want to keep you rifle on the light side this is a great way to do it. Even though there are not rails on the sides or bottom of the hand guard there are pre drilled holes where you can put "floating" rail sections on (3 with screws are included in the original box). Having the ability to move and remove the rail sections is really convenient, because it gives you the ability to add accessories to your rifle, without the excess weight that you would have with a full rail system.

With the hand guard being as slim as it is, I have found it very easy to wrap my hand around and get thumb over bore positioning without feeling uncomfortable.

Looks:

What can I say, I really like the way that it looks, I think it is very sleek looking. It has a very small profile when installed, actually slim enough that I have been asked if the Rainier barrel is a bull barrel because the hand guard doesn't have all of the typical bulk. 

Finish:

As with every other part that I have used from Midwest Industries the finish on the hand guard is top notch. When I took it out of the packaging I looked it over really well to see if there were any imperfections in the material or finish and I was unable to find any. Any edges that could have possibly been sharp have been smoothed out.

Overall I am completely happy with this hand guard, it truly fit the bill of what I was looking for, and the more that I use the rifle with it installed the more I like it. As I said earlier everything I have bought from Midwest Industries has been awesome quality and the attention to detail that they give their products is evident. 

I will fully recommend the Midwest Gen-2 SS Free Float Hand Guard series to anyone who is looking for a nice lightweight hand guard, but it still wanting the ability to add rails for accessories. 

RGuns Nickel Boron BCG

I must admit that the idea of the Nickel Boron coating on a BCG is pretty cool to me, I had seen many people posting about them on different forums and Youtube videos. Needless to say I was intrigued and wanted to get one for the Spartan build, but when I started looking around for parts the market had already become sparse with parts. I had searched through all of my reliable websites looking for a good deal on a BCG, but I kept coming up empty handed, that was until one day I happened to check Aim Surplus and there was a RGuns Nickel Boron BCG and the price was well within my budget.  Without doing any research I quickly ordered it before they ran out of them (apparently I bought one of the last few because the next day they were sold out and haven't had any since), I was quite happy with the price I was able to get it at. That was until I began to research the RGuns BCG, during my research I had found out that the extractor springs that come in them are extremely weak and almost always needed to be replaced, and apparently some other people have run into issues with the coating peeling off within a few hundred rounds. Of course with all reviews they need to be taken with "a grain of salt" because some people are naturally complainers, and some people really just complain about stuff because they want to. With that said I still ordered an extractor spring replacement kit from BCM, just in case the spring that came stock in the BCG was actually weak.

When I received the BCG from Aim Surplus I was happy to see that the coating was smooth as could be (I even handed it to my wife and she asked if there was any oil on it because it felt slick), there were no major flaws to be found in it and everything looked to be within spec (to the naked eye). Needless to say I was impressed with the product received and was excited to get out to the range with it and run a few hundred rounds down range with it. But sadly it had to sit with all of the other parts waiting for the Spartan lower to come in from 2 Vets Arms.

I couldn't wait until the Spartan lower was in my hands to take my completed upper out to the range and put some rounds through it. Luckily I have a coworker who likes firearms nearly as much as I do, and I had just completed a build for him. So we headed out to the range to test out his build and make sure that everything was functioning properly for the build, and of course allow me the opportunity to make sure that everything on my upper build was working also. Once I had the adjustable gas block zeroed in I had hoped that everything was good to go, however I was having an FTE issue. I quickly figured out that it was the ejector spring, it was too weak to actually eject the brass and I didn't take the replacement spring with me to the range.

When I got home I pulled the old ejector spring out and saw that it was about a coil and a half shorter than the new one, and I knew that was exactly what the issue had been at the range. Getting the new spring in required a lot more force than was required to get the old one out so I knew that once this one was in everything would be good to go.

Once I had my build all completed I went back out to the range within a couple days and fired off around 120 rounds just to make sure that everything was functioning perfectly. I no longer had any failure to ejects and the brass/steel was being tossed in a nice pile a couple feet to my right. The BCM replacement spring was just the ticket to get this BCG working just like it should.

So far I have run around 350 rounds down range using this BCG and I have not run into any other hiccups after replacing the ejector spring. I just recently pulled it apart to give it a good cleaning so I could have some pictures to show what it looks like after that many rounds, and it cleaned up rather nice. There is some staining in the Nickel Boron coating but it is still slick to the touch despite the staining. I am confident that this BCG will give me thousands of rounds reliably out at the range, and I am glad that it is easy to clean up, even though I am sure that I could have easily run a thousand rounds through it without and issues.

(This picture was taken after cleaning it recently you can see some of the staining)

                              (These pictures were all taken prior to cleaning with 350 rounds fired)

The Spartan Build is Complete!

At the beginning of the year2 Vets Arms workshop and pick up the Spartan lowers I had preordered from them.  Yes, it was a long day of driving, but I feel that it was well worth making the 3+ hour trip to meet Dean and Amber face to face.  I am so glad that I found out about 2 Vets Arms when AR15News.com put up a picture of one of the builds that had been done for a customer.  It is really cool that they are from Oklahoma (my current home) and are both Veterans.  As I said in my Lock-N-Load Java review, I feel that it is important to support as many Veteran Owned Companies as we possibly can; they have offered their lives to this country - helping to grow their businesses is the least that we can do.
I had the opportunity to visit the

When we got down to the workshop, I was surprised to see just how small a business they actually are right now, but also immediately impressed by the number of rifles that they pump out despite their size.  If there is one thing I have learned lately, it is that the detail and care put forth by small companies that really makes for awesome quality products.  Dean and I talked shop while I was filling out the 4473.  It was great to talk with someone else who is just as excited as I am to show off and talk about guns.  After talking for a bit it was time for us to head out.  (I had taken my wife and 2 year old along for the drive, they both did amazing :) )  On the way out the door, Dean and Amber hooked us up with the a couple of t-shirts and stickers (which I appreciate more than most people would probably understand).

To say that I was excited to build one of the lowers when I got home would be an understatement.  I was literally grabbing tools and parts as I was unlocking the door to the house.  I had been waiting to get my hands on the lowers, and now that I had them in my possession I wanted to get one complete so I could scratch that lower building itch I had.  Everything went together smoothly and I could not be happier with the end result for the Spartan Build.

 Everything came together to make a fine firearm that I know will give me years of great range time.

Rainier Raptor Charging Handle

With the many different AR's that I have owned over the past 2 years there has always been a piece of the builds that seemed to be lacking to me, I know that the mil-spec charging handle has worked just fine since the creation of the AR-15 but for me it was one of the pieces I felt the least comfortable with. It was hard to pull the charging handle with gloves on, or if a scope was mounted to the AR's that I had, so this was something that I always wanted to go a different route with.  So with the Spartan build being my "dream" build I decided it was time to get a charging handle that was designed with the most versatility, in steps the Rainier Arms Raptor Charging Handle.

The first thing that I noticed when I received my Raptor was that it is a very sturdy charging handle, rigid enough to take years of abuse and keep on going. It also has a very nice anodized finish, if there are any defects in it I cannot see them with my naked eye. Overall my first impressions were that this was one of the better purchases I have made for the build, little did I know how much I would enjoy using this charging handle when I finally finished the build and got out to the range.

With it's large ambidextrous latch release I can easily charge my AR now, I have tried using every finger on both hands and the latch releases every time, and thanks to the width of the latch releases it is very easy to pull back with one or two fingers. It operates with extreme ease and locks back in place with a very sturdy click, and once in place it does not rattle or move until you release it and charge the rifle again.

I noticed with gloves on and the magnifier that I had installed that it was still very easy to get a positive grip on the Raptor, even when I could not get my fingers to fit in between because of the gloves I am still able to "blade" the latch with my palm and charge the rifle. So far the Raptor has proven to work in every situation I think I can possibly end up in, and I am sure that there are many more that it will be willing to stand up to.

So far I have run around 300 rounds through the Spartan AR, and the Raptor has been nothing but willing to work every single time I have needed to use it, it is showing very little wear so far and I believe it will be a good long while before it starts to really show any major use. If you have felt like your mil-spec charging handle is lacking something I highly recommend checking into the Rainier Arms Raptor, I am extremely happy that I did.

556 Tactical Stryker Compensator

Where do I start on this awesome compensator that I installed onto the Spartan Build?

I decided to get the Stryker Comp from 556 Tactical during their Black Friday sale, mainly based on a video that they had posted up showing just how well it kept the muzzle from rising during quick shots. Every other AR I have had always had the standard birdcage at the end, however there have been a few AR's I have shot that had compensators installed on them and it was something that I really wanted to have on my "dream" build.

I really liked the Stryker Comp the second I opened the box, the quality and finish of the compensator is above any expectations I could have had. It looks super mean and honestly I am pretty sure it would make a great up close and personal weapon when you run out of ammo. The overall design is very impressive with the wavy compensator ports and the crown like front, it gives the impression that it means business.

As far as how well the Stryker Comp performs, I have been very impressed by how well it handles single shots, double taps, and "rapid" fire. I have not once felt like the muzzle was rising during my time spent out at the range, actually during fast firing I felt it pushing the muzzle down which was a totally new feeling for me but something I have come to really like about it. The other very impressive thing is that when you are firing with this comp installed and you happen to be under a metal cover at the range, everyone knows you are there and that is not just because of the loud boom, it also resonates in your sinuses.

In closing I feel for the $49.95 this is a great compensator, and by far one of my favorites that I have had the opportunity to shoot with. 556 Tactical shipped extremely fast and I had the compensator within just a few days of the order.

The Spartan Build- Lower

The base of the Spartan build begins with the 2 Vets Arms Spartan Lower, the awesome idea for these came about just a couple months ago when they had announced they were going to make these special editition lowers.

The proceeds were going to a very worthy cause so I pre-ordered 3 of them.

While waiting for the release of the lowers I started making a list of the parts that I have liked from the other AR's that I have owned in the past, I also started watching the usual sites for sales and awesome deals. With Black Friday approaching I knew that Palmetto State Armory would be having some great sales, so I kept a very close eye on the parts that I was looking for.

There are a few things that I have never cared for about the complete rifles you see in most gun stores.

First is the mil-spec collapsible stock, it's hard for me to find a good cheek weld with it, and I have never found it to be very comfortable when shouldering. The great thing is there are so many companies out there to choose from. For this build I went with the B5 Systems SOPMOD, it is extremely comfortable and well built.

Second is the trigger that comes in most stock AR-15's, they have always felt gritty and like they have a mile long trigger pull. After having the Geissele SD-E trigger in one of my old builds I will never be able to go back to a stock trigger. I found a smoking deal through PSA for a Geissele SSA-E trigger and the only difference between this and the SD-E is its not a flat face trigger. The reason I really like the Geissele triggers is that the pull is super predictable and the break is crisp and clean.

(This trigger has now been changed to the ALG ACT for our upcoming comparison reviews. [11/14/2013])

As far as the lower parts kit goes I went with the enhanced PSA kit, it comes with the Magpul MOE pistol grip, and the MOE trigger guard.

This is one lower that I am looking anxiously forward to putting together and getting the Spartan Upper mounted to.

The Spartan Build- Upper

Out of the multiple AR's that I have owned over the past few years every single one has had an upper that had already been assembled before I ordered it. But with all of the searching that I was doing looking for the "right" upper to go on my build I finally decided that I just wasn't finding the upper that screamed "put me on the spartan build!". Now I consider myself to be competent enough to assemble parts to rifles, but I had always been a bit hesitant to build my own upper, mainly because I just had not done it before. So this has been a whole new experience for me, thankfully I have quite a few friends out there who have built their own uppers and they were more than willing to help me out with the list of parts that I would need to do my build.

Upper Receiver- I picked up a Wilson Combat Upper receiver to be the base of my build. One of the biggest reasons was because of the name that Wilson has created for itself in the firearms industry.

Charging Handle- Because I have never really cared for the Mil-Spec Charging Handle I decided that I wanted to find something that was ambidextrous and would make it easier for me to grab even when I am wearing gloves. In stepped the Rainer Arms Raptor, this charging handle is exactly what I have always been looking for when it came to an extended and ambi latch, with a gloved hand or a single finger I can easily get enough contact with the Raptor to be able to unlatch the handle and begin the charging of the rifle.

Bolt Carrier Group- I have been a bit fascinated with the concept of the Nickel Boron coating on the Bolt Carrier Groups so when I ran across this deal, I didn't have to think long to toss it into my shopping cart and proceed right on over to checkout. So far I am very impressed by the quality of this BCG from RGuns.

Hand Guard- For this I had to think about all of the things that I have not liked about the other hand guards that have been on the other uppers that I have owned. I wanted something that was lighter weight, but still have the ability to have "mobile" sections of rail to add accessories if and when they may be needed. When I ran across the Midwest Industries 15-inch Gen2 SS-Series One Piece Free Float Hand Guard it fit the bill of what I had been looking for.

Barrel- With the barrel being by far one of the most important parts of the upper build I felt that I didn't need to skimp on it and just grab whatever was available. Knowing the reputation Rainer Arms has I decided that I wanted to look into getting one of their barrels. The Rainier Arms Select 5.56MM Barrel in matte stainless was exactly what I was looking for in a barrel, with the polygonal rifiling, 416r stainless steel, mid length gas system, and a 90 day satisfaction guarantee I decided that this was the barrel for me. I went with the 14.5" barrel so when I added on my muzzle device it would be right at 16".

Muzzle Device- Every other upper that I have had has always had the traditional Bird Cage on them, so this time I decided that I really wanted something that would help keep muzzle rise down while at the same time look gnarly. After reading reviews on several different types I ran across the 556 Tactical Stryker Comp which fit the bill for both the control of muzzle rise, and overall looking gnarly.

Gas Block- Most any low profile gas block will work for every application, but I wanted to have the adjustability that the Kies Adjustable Gas Block offered up, and with as highly as this gas block comes from the reviews I have read I am expecting to see great results from it.

There were the other "small" pieces that are needed to finish a build for the upper, the dust cover, forward assist, gas tube, and the parts needed to install them. These parts can be found on Brownells, or any other company that sells parts for AR's.

Now being that I am using a 14.5" Barrel on this build I had to permanently attach the muzzle device to the barrel to make it legal length. Pinning the comp to the barrel was the method that was used for mine.

I must admit that building the upper from pieces is quite satisfying, and really leaves you with a sense of accomplishment. I have a whole new outlook on building AR's and I am looking forward to building the 2 uppers for the other Spartan lowers that I have. Here is a picture of the upper all assembled and ready to go. There are multiple accessories on it in this picture but I will get into those and the reason I picked them in a later post.

The Spartan Build

A few months ago 2 Vets Arms brought up the idea of releasing a limited edition AR lower where the proceeds would be donated to Descendants of Sparta to assist with the prevention of active military and veteran suicide.

Of course the idea received lots of support and they moved ahead with their plans to release it for pre order. When 2VA announced that the lowers were up for purchase I quickly jumped on to their site and ordered 3 of them, 2 of which are for myself and the other will be set aside until my son is old enough to build his own.

After placing the order I began thinking about all of the different things I have liked and disliked about the AR builds I have had, and started researching the different parts that are available trying to figure out what I wanted to use for what I have now dubbed "The Spartan Build".

Over the next couple posts I will list all of the different parts that I am using in this build, along with pictures of the build as it progresses.