Why Your AR15 Isn’t Accurate

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A lot of people have decided to rush and buy their first AR15. Despite spending thousands on “High End AR’s” many are finding that they are getting 2-5+ MOA results and needing to clean or lube their guns often. This comes down to a dozen factors but most often its that mass produced off the shelfs rifles do not get the propper fitting with parts that they deserve.

AR-15s can be obscenely accurate. The design lends itself to consistency, making it an anomaly in the semiautomatic rifle world.

Perhaps the primary reason is that unlike other semiauto rifles, the standard gas-impingement AR-15 doesn’t have a bunch of moving piston parts hanging off its barrel – meaning it can effectively be free-floated.

However, a lot of AR-15 rifles and carbines aren’t all that accurate – certainly not as accurate as their owners hoped. Several things can be done about that.

  • Choosing the right parts (Barrel, BCG, Upper, Lower, Handguard, Trigger)
  • Getting the right fit in each part (A lot of shops now and days do not properly fit their rifles from the factory. This leads to small imperfections that make parts fit improperly and are not corrected.)
  • Choosing the right ammo/caliber. (AR15’s are multicaliber platforms. Maybe the standard .223/5.56 arent the best caliber for you. If you’re looking for a more powerful and accurate round you might want to look at 6.5 Grendel)

I would really like you to focus on the 2nd bullet point. This is so often overlooked by new consumers that major manufacturers could be doing it so wrong and not explain properly. When your mass producing rifles, the result is cutting down costs, but often also cutting down quality. Without manually fitting parts properly you end up with a reliable but innaccurate firearm. Take 2011’s or 1911’s for example. Most high end manufacturers who make these guns for comptetion do not mass produce these types of guns because they have to be to tighly fit together to make them accurate and reliable firearms. There’s a big debate among the two larger 2011/1911 manufacturers where one is growing traction and the other has moved to mass production. SOme argue that that production style has made their product less desirable and lacks in accuracy and quality while the company who is just now gaining traction is becoming the replacement and taking a good portion of the largers companies clients. We wont name anyone here for the sake of staying out of that debate.

TLDR version, sometimes buying local means you get a better product than bigger brands.

Coronavirus & Gun Sales

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Many gun buyers seem worried that the exponential spread of covid-19 will lead to a season of hard-to-find essentials — of illness-related disruptions in the grocery supply chain — with angry have-nots out to steal from the haves. Perhaps, more likely, Americans will weather the crisis peacefully. In any event, many appear to think it is better to be safe than sorry.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System said it responded to inquiries on 2.8 million prospective gun-buyers last month — the third-highest monthly total since the system was created in 1998, and up from 2 million in February last year. With crowds nearly wiping out firearm and ammo inventories at some stores since President Trump’s March 13 declaration of a national coronavirus emergency, this month’s gun-buyer total could be even larger.

According to data from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, handgun purchase permits in the first two weeks of of March totaled 487. That’s a 53% increase from a similar time span in January, data show

As for February, the National Instant Background Check System saw over 2.8 million checks done, over a 30% increase compared to the same month last year. Within North Carolina, February saw over 52,000 checks — a 6% increase from last year.

The guns meant for competitions, hunting and collectors are not in demand, Hyatt said. It’s the rifles, shotguns and handguns that are flying off the shelves.

Line out the door to purchase firearms during Covid-19

Invest in guns? Why Custom Guns Sell Better…

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We’ve all tried to explain to our wives at some point that guns will make more money then they cost. Well here is some data for you to show her now to prove a point.

Is there a trend for depreciation, or appreciation, of firearms? Generally speaking, firearms will lose some of their value over time. However, when they reach antique status, the price will climb again. While the value of a gun may depreciate over time, it doesn’t lose as much value as goods in other industries. Gun (as well as ammo and accessory) prices will fluctuate based on a number of factors, including the current political climate and inflation.

With the midterm elections around the corner, I have no doubt that gun values will remain steady (perhaps even dip) or climb, depending on the outcomes. Firearms tend to appreciate in value under democrat regimes, and depreciate or remain constant under republican regimes. For instance, under the Obama administration, gun sales skyrocketed and have been in stead decline under Trump. The same holds true for the Clinton and Bush regimes. Both of these claims are reflected in this detailed report on gun sales statistics check out the University of Cincinnati.

Inflation can be loosely tied to the political climate as well. However, it is less about political affiliation, and more about economic stability. Regardless of whether the current president is a democrat, republican, or independent, gun prices typically track along the same lines as inflation. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, there is not comprehensive data on used firearm sales. If there is, I don’t think it breaks down firearm sales by make and model. I seriously doubt that data would account for any firearm accessories data associated with the sale. Furthermore, there is such a great degree of variance between sales for an abundance of reasons. I’ve listed some below:

However, for the sake of this article, I will use one of my own handgun for perspective. I will be talking about the purchase of my Sig Sauer P250 compact chambered in 9mm. This weapon was purchased from a gun show through an authorized vendor (i.e. not private sale), was new from the factory, and included an extra magazine. My pistol also has the glow in the dark (tritium) night sights, which can raise the value. I negotiated my price, so there is variance in pricing from that alone. However, all said and done the price was $422.00.

Bear in mind that this pistol is not old enough to be considered an antique. I’ve looked around the internet to find comparable prices, and they generally hover around the $300-$400 range used (approximately 71%-94%), which is slightly higher than I expected. Because my weapon was purchased new from the factory, I will be doing an apples to apples comparison of prices. Currently a new gun similar to the one I purchased appears to be going for around $649.00. Upon further investigation, this firearm is no longer available from the manufacturer, which could be the reason for a price spike. I’ll discuss gun appreciation in a later section.