BrianK

Welcome to the forum from central Maine!

I went to optics on all of my firearms, rifles, handguns, and shotgun, that can take them. Many that couldn't take them were sold. I need to get a mess of 1911s milled for red dots. It's not that I can't use open sights, it's that my effective range has been voluntarily reduced. Aging isn't for sissies.

My 300BLK concept began as a bullpup shotgun as I live rurally also. What do I mean by that? I bought a Keltec KS7, that's their 12ga with one mag' tube. It's short, light, and handy. My idea was to use reduced recoil 1 3/4" slugs. That firearm is hit or miss with the shorties and was never designed for them. I have no idea if it was the shotgun or me, but I had a malfunction where the shell flipped end for end giving a major malfunction. I shelved the idea and built the 300BLK seen above. The KS7 is 100% reliable with shells 2" long and longer. I'll be working on building some 2" short shells (slugs and #4 buck) so that I can get increased mag' capacity in it's one tube. Right now they're on a back burner as I have far too many irons in the fire. Today it's set up very similarly to the 300BLK above. Same light/laser in a similar position (not seen here), but no can, instead a slug tube. The carry handle has been removed and a pic' rail added for the MRO. Same idea as with the 300BLK, tuck it under the arm and use the light/laser for close in final target confirmation and targeting. Today there is at least one pump bullpup made by S&W designed to handle short shells. Are there more today? IDK. But back when I bought the KS7 it was a wasteland. Correction: at that time there was another, whose name I can't remember, designed to fire short shells and I seem to remember that I couldn't handle normal length shells.

My go to "rifle" is an AR15 handgun chambered in 300BLK. For a long time it was the 5.56 I wish I'd had in the military, but of course 50 years ago the parts weren't available. If memory serves it weighs 5# 9oz sans can and w/o ammo. But as I age long traditional guns are just too long, so I got the bright idea to sell them (not all) and move to bullpups and handguns. Enter the 300BLK. OK, another reason too. A few years ago we had a cop killer running around in the "backyard". He was armed and so was I, with a long gun as I tried to do chores. That didn't work but my first bullpup worked better due to it's short length. That solidified my move to shorter firearms. (Yes, I am more than merely familiar with handguns.) It has a 10" barrel and the 85 grain copper bullet I use for HD is being pushed to 2300fps for 1k ft/lbs. Like the 5.56 it retired it wears a can all the time to absorb the blast. It does all that it needs to do for me and can reach out much further than can be justified. Here it is (bottom) compared to the length of the carbine it replaced. It's wearing a linear comp' in the picture to get the blast out from under the handguard, but with the can in place is just about 1/2" longer. What isn't seen in this old pic' is the light/laser that today is on the off side up near the muzzle. In use if I must use it indoors it'll get slung (also not in the pic') and tucked under my arm with the off hand up near the muzzle to prevent someone from grabbing it and getting the leverage. I see today that someone makes a 5 3/4# .308 AR. Of course it wasn't available years ago, but if it had been I'd have one in the safe.

Thanks for the heads up. Yes, I can picture that happening even without the test. That steel has to be soft for them to form it around the working end of the magazine. But I never, and I do mean never, drop my mags even in competition (anymore). Even though it's fractionally slower I now put the spent mag in a dump pouch, then grab the fresh one inches away. I've trained with the dump pouch because a mag' fed firearm is a slow single shot with mags that litter the countryside. Why train to fail? FWIW, others have suggested that they use their shirt as their dump pouch but I've never actually seen anyone practice that.

The gold standard for B&T firearms are B&T branded mags. Common sense, right? But they are just shy of $50 and all plastic. I've often wondered about that. I have 6 that have cracks in their bodies and the feed lips are taking a "set" where the case head rests. So far none of that has compromised their function but I would at the very least prefer a steel feed lip area, sorta like a Lancer magazine. Anyway, a few days ago I was on a search for mags and all 30 rnd B&T mags are sold out. But I ran across Rainier Arms and a listing for KCI mags for B&T. Looking at the pics they appeared to have reinforced feed lips so I ordered a bunch. It also helped that they are $15 less than the Swiss mags. They arrived today and yes, the feed lips are reinforced with steel. They look like a better built mag than the Swiss version, but looks account for nothing. I hope to test them tomorrow and if I have issues I'll post here. So no news will be good news. If they work I want to place another order ASAP. BTW, and this is an assumption, they aren't listed on the KCI website yet, so I assume the mags are very new. KCI doesn't do retail sales, but I had to check the manufacturers site anyway.

I'm going to start this by giving high marks to Turkish guns. Maybe not all, but of the 2 manufacturers I've fondled lately, Canik and Sarsilmaz, aka SAR, they are very good quality for the $ and flat out, just very good handguns, period. I stopped by the LGS today and got to discussing Turkish guns and those 2 brands were mentioned yet again. They had a mess of SAR guns and a new shipment that had just arrived. But this post isn't about SAR guns. Then Canik was mentioned because I owned one (TP9 SA) and sold it, not because of quality issues, but because it didn't fit me correctly. That was years ago. The gent I was discussing this with, walked me over to a display case and handed me a Canik Rival. A very nice handgun that fit me and I do believe it came with different backstraps for different hands. But he reached in again and pulled out the made for competition SFX Rival. It had a large backstrap installed so it didn't fit me (easily fixed) but the gun is set up right from the factory set up for competition. The first thing I address on pretty much all firearms is the trigger and I make sure I have the required cash to fix them right away. This gun has a trigger that not even my jaded trigger finger couldn't find fault with, and the reset is just relax the finger and it's reset, or so it seemed. In the case is everything needed to set the handgun up for competition, or it's already been installed at the factory. It even comes with a comp' legal holster, all you need to do is supply the gun belt. It has a reasonable price and at the LGS wore a $699 price tag, but to get a handgun of similar quality elsewhere you'd need to go to the custom market. Yeah, it's that good. If I was looking for a handgun for competition, or knew someone who was, I'd either buy it or steer them to this handgun. On the way home I was thinking about how I could acquire one for myself. Then after my lust died a little bit I remembered that I really have enough handguns that I no longer use for competition (I no longer shoot a handgun division), and in fact had a brand new PPQ sitting in the safe that has only had enough rounds put through it to sight it in and check out functioning. I have plans for it, maybe a SBR using B&T parts. WOW, is that Canik nice! If ever there was a perfect 9mm for competition to be found right out of the box (not custom for much more $) that's the one! Here's a link to it (below). I'll let you find other reviews on your own. But I can't imagine anyone not being impressed by it. It's been a few hours since I fondled it, and lust for one is still being contemplated by me and I have no use for one. https://www.canikusa.com/rival

I've been doing the same thing as older age sets in. The really long guns just don't handle as well for me anymore so I've been selling them off to a brother, the ones he wants anyway. The others, so far just a Rem 870 that I had since the '70s, went on consignment. Amazingly, it took weeks for it to sell. I guess folks don't like machined steel anymore. In an act of penitence (and because I'm a gun guy) I have been filling the space freed up in the safe with bullpups, pistols, and SBRs. Firearms that I can handle better than the conventionally stocked long guns. Anyway, the wife requested that she not be saddled with having to sell things she knows nothing about. She's SOL there, yeah, these things breed, but haven't done so in a year or 2 since I still have all bases covered (at this time).

A "few" mags on order for my GHM9 SBR. These were $15 less than the B&T version from Switzerland that are out of stock everywhere. Fingers crossed that they work as well as the real deal. Can't have too many mags 'cause as every gun banner knows, "Once they're empty that's it! They're no good.". (Or idiotic thoughts by a jackass to that effect.) https://www.rainierarms.com/kci-usa-b-t-mp9-tp9-apc9-ghm9-magazine-30rd/ They were ordered last night and shipped today.

10.3" barrel, H2 buffer and standard power flat wire carbine buffer spring. Don't do as I first did and just grab any spring from the parts box. It was a rifle spring with too many turns and it didn't work. What I have works with supers and subsonic, but I load for the firearm. I have purchased some commercial subs (S&B) and they didn't work. Re: the long spring, I clipped off the excess turns and amazingly it worked fine. Go figure.

I like that!

The Volquartsen barrel is starting to just cause me amusement every time I check on the status of the order. What else can I do but smile and chuckle? Yeah, I know I can cancel it, but that's not going to happen. I hope to have it by next spring. That darn Putin and his supply chain issues!! One would think someone in this country would be able to fix them. Good thing hitler and hirohito didn't have the same control of our country 80 years ago! (Of course I jest. I know that it's biteme getting us accustomed to a much lower standard of living. That of just getting by.) Volquartsen Firearms Lightweight Threaded Rifle Barrel and Forend Ruger 22 Charger Takedown, 22 LR, 1/2x28 TPI, Carbon Fiber, VFCTDLW-FE x 1 SKU: 2PG-RTB-TRBAF22-VFCTDLW-FE Expected to be shipped on 10/20/2022

Nice looking build! I'm still not in the family, not really. I have no idea what I'd use an AR10 for, but I lusted after one decades ago. I have one remaining .308 Win bolt gun left in the safe (I'm on a firearm reduction diet), but built a 300BLK AR that I figure will do everything that I need a .30 to do.

Thanks. So then maybe I did remember it correctly. When I got to thinking about it I had the same reaction as Sketch did.

Not all 300BLK ammo runs in all guns. I read "adjustable BCG" in their text, but it's more an adjustable gas port I think is what they meant*. Or maybe I remember it wrong. I don't have an adjustable port in mine because I make my ammo to work in my gun w/o adjustment, just using standard parts. I wanted to keep mine simple. FWIW, I've tried one commercial subsonic load that wouldn't reliably function in my AR. Would it work with an adjustable gas port? IDK. The same brand supersonic ammo works fine, but supersonic is easy. *Maybe they meant adjustable buffer? They exist.

I already have a 300BLK whose buffer folds, but the double fold version of the linked to handgun is what really interests me. Yes, in 300BLK, that's why it was posted in this section and I crapped on the same gun in .223. I needed to communicate that better. Mine is dependent on a 14" foreend (by design) so it's a bit long. I wanted a 10" barrel and the can adds another 4". So the double fold 300BLK is very attractive to me. Would I ever need it? I highly doubt it. I doubt that I'll ever need to use the folding buffer on my existing 300BLK. But it's there if I need it. What I don't have is an adjustable BCG in my 300BLK. That would be new for me and something I didn't want in my build. Why doesn't mine have an adjustable BCG? My concern is that when it's needed most it would somehow fall out of adjustment and not work. I like the KISS principle. That attitude comes from knowing nothing about them. I just see it as something to go wrong at the worst possible moment.

Why is this here in 300BLK? Because I don't want to take flash pics with a .223. https://www.foldar.com/ I have no attachment of any sort to this company. I just find the handgun very attractive, just not when chambered in .223.

That's nice performance! I'm surprised from such short limbs, but I don't stay up on it. Yeah, nice XBow!

Nice X Bow! Well, you know, but I need to state it again, with an Excaliber one never shoots at the same place twice! Yes, it happens until one learns to deliberately open up the group. Just curious, what's the shaft weight and speed?

Yeah it does. But I waited 4 years for a DT MDR and another year before I put a stop to a 300BLK conversion for it; best thing I ever did was get a refund for the conversion. So I contacted the retailer who has my barrel order. I figured that there had to be more that got lost in the bureaucracy. There was. They expect more in house on 9/15. Why couldn't they just say that!!??? 4 days difference? Really? That makes it no ETA? I expect it to change again though. We'll see. A lot needs to happen to make a carbon fiber barrel and it's like a supplier dance. With supply chain issues due to soft serve joe anything can happen. As I told them in a reply, everyone is in the same boat, even Volquartsen has them out of stock. But at that point (9/15) I'm in no hurry. I was hoping to have it for the last Steel Challenge match of the season but that's likely not going to happen. It needs to be sighted in and tested for reliability with my ammo and that takes time. I should definitely have it on line for next year though. This year if everything falls into place; what are the chances? I'll also have a new sight budgeted to hopefully keep the existing sight on the Ruger Charger Takedown (I need to mark the sight location on the frame for a return to zero since it can't exist on the frame with the new barrel) and put a new sight on the new barrel. Or vice versa. I might save the $ for a new sight and put a crap sight on the old barrel if it's ever needed. It all depends on the new barrel and if I see it ever coming off. But I like redundancy so that needs to be factored in. Also to be factored in, if the OEM barrel needs to be used, I hate crappy anything that I didn't like for first string. I want to slap on what I used and found to work nicely (and it has for years now). Lots to mull over and decide on. But really, 4 days difference makes it no ETA? Glad I contacted them for better info'. But it doesn't make for faster delivery.

Barrel update (again). I just got an email telling me that the barrel has no ETA at this time.

Very interested in updates. I have Walker ear buds now but they block gunshot noise and talking, but the biggest issue is that they only last approx 4 hours then die. That's the pits! The ProEars state 10 hours. That's more like it. Don't know if I need the latest and greatest like you folks got. I'm thinking the $70 unit will do everything I want.

Well that sux about those sites. I figured it was too easy. Like finding all sorts of Trail Boss on hinkey sites.

Is this what you're looking for? https://armalitearms.com/product/armalite-308-203-detachable-rear-sight-handle-ea5050/ Or this? https://www.zzarmory.com/productid1210/ I have no idea what happens if you try to put one in your cart.

The Volquartsen barrel at the time I ordered on May 16th was said to ship in 3-6 weeks. Then I was informed that it would be shipped on 8/1/22. I just checked and now it'll be shipped on 9/11/22.