Originally Posted By Alaska511:
Okay, yeah, I need an M16 lower

Originally Posted By Alaska511:
I am hooked!

Originally Posted By everready73:

What all did you shoot?  Did they let you take pics?

Originally Posted By HendersonDefense:

You couldn't be any further from the truth with your opinion but I will enlighten you about what we do and how we do it.

First, every single day that I am there (and I work six days a week at least 10-12 hours a day) I hear "oh my God.. I had no clue that's what it's really like" or "how did those guys do it during (insert WWII, Korea, Vietnam, OIF, OEF)" and the "wow.. I never wanted to touch a gun in my life but that's the most fun I think I've ever had". The customers DO walk away with an appreciation that THEY have because 90% of our guests don't own a weapon, let alone have ever seen a real, functioning example in person. Their only knowledge of a gun is from a movie where some actor holds two Uzi's or AK's and sprays across the scene killing every bad guy in sight. My staff are allowed to talk ZERO politics with guests and it always puts a smile on my face when I hear "I am from NYC/San Francisco and we just don't like guns but wow... that was SO different than what I thought it was going to be like... can I buy something like this where I live".

Now, add to the fact that over 90% (actually higher but I don't have the time to do the math) of my staff are either prior service or still in the Guard/Reserves and the respect and appreciation factor just doubled with our guests. Every single one of my RSO's is prior service or Guard/Reserves (as well as all our drivers and my managers) and a majority of them are OIF/OEF combat vets. You can hear their appreciation when they start asking "so ALL of you were in the military.. my gosh, thank you so much for your service (and I would bet 99 out of 100 people have never uttered those words in their life).

As for the making money comment... I don't employ 58 people just to give me something to do, of course it's to make money just like any other business model. It's called capitalism and that's what we do. I don't judge people for their occupations because as long as it's legal and you feel comfortable with it, all the power to you.

I deal with GI's everyday that have heavy baggage they brought home with them from Iraq and Afghanistan. Nobody ever says the "PTSD" word because the minute you do, you're a "faggot" or "pussy". Meanwhile, as the employer I see it through their eyes and hear it in their words. I feel that I have a VERY generous policy towards PTO and if things are bugging you, take it. It also means that if you need to change from RSO to driver or driver to armorer, then so be it. It's put us in a bind more than once but since I claim we provide a "military experience", I as the employer, am also working in a "military experience". Everyday isn't sunshine and roses but I wouldn't trade a single one of my staff because they each bring their own "military experience" to work with them and that is what's made us so successful. I could go on and on about my staff because I know each of them by their name and they continue to raise the bar on what I think model employees should be. Quite a few of my guys are still in their twenties and medically retired from injuries they sustained while overseas. It lays heavy on my heart how these young men are so physically and emotionally damaged (IED's, blast injuries, falls, etc) but we adjust OUR schedule around them, not like most standard businesses.

Lastly, there are places like the ones you described here in Vegas. I know for a fact they are in it for the money and it's just an equation of how many customers can they get through the door and how fast can they get them through. They have the "gun girl" RSO's with hot pants, fishnet stockings and low-cut tops and that's 100% fine with me. They are providing a service to customers and they providing jobs. My problem is when they endanger employees and customers with shitty safety practices. We try to avoid hiring staff from other ranges because nobody wants retreads from places with bad practices but occasionally there are some gems among them. I know exactly how many ranges can give two shits about employees and lead hazards, throwing away filters contaminated with lead right into the garbage, writing employees up and firing them for having high lead levels (so OSHA doesn't find out how bad things are) or the TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars we spend each month to ensure a safe environment for both my staff and guests. That may seem like a stretch to some of you but trust me, I would rather be spending that kind of money each month on something else but it what it is. It's the cost of doing business and keeping my staff safe.

As for the little girl in Arizona, the day that happened I had SO many of my RSO's come up to me and say, "damn Doc, you're right about those mini subguns". My staff had always asked for them (and the new RSO's as they came on board) but I always told them no little subguns unless we have a front strap for the wrist AND a suppressor. I must give credit to Tony D over at The Gun Store because he's the one that advised me specifically against the micro or mini Uzi's because of the rate of fire and transfer of weight with the heavy bolt causing the weapon to act like a teeter totter. I do have MAC's (.45, 9mm,.380) but again, they have huge and heavy Bower's suppressors to keep them down. Also, my staff has ALWAYS had the discretion to choose if a customer is suited for a particular weapon. If my RSO's don't feel comfortable with the customer and the weapons they chose, they are getting substituted with something can do and I usually refund the customer as well. It's worth the extra ammo so everybody is comfortable.

One last word about my staff. I hired a new driver two weeks ago. He initially turned in an application four weeks prior but let one of my managers know that he had used marijuana three weeks prior. My manager told him that we drug test and it wasn't a good idea to submit an application. He did come back in after waiting about three weeks and my manager spotted him submitting the application. He notified me and I told him lets review his application before just tossing it. Everything looked good; infantry E5 who was running and gunning and DD-214 matched up with application. I told my manager to go ahead and interview him on the spot. After all was said and done about his service, he called him out on smoking pot. He admitted that he's had issues adjusting since being home and he was hoping that it would help him relax but instead made him more depressed. He said he heard about a place where it' mostly GI's working together in a military-style environment and he was hoping he would fit in. I told my manager to hire him on the spot and start issuing him uniform, boots and get him out for a whiz quiz and background check ASAP. Two days later he walked up to me and asked if he could talk. I said of course as my staff know that I have an open-door policy for personal matters. He told me that he thinks this is the best thing that's ever happened. He said he's tried to get jobs at other places but when you go from 100 miles per hour to zero it hits you hard. When just a couple months ago when you were shooting people down range and you have your boys with you everyday life gets turned upside down when you can't talk about it with fellow employees who will think you're crazy and going to do something stupid. He looked at me with those same eyes I get from so many of the staff and said thank you for doing this. He said he needed to get back in uniform, he needed to talk to guys who are on his level and have been there, done that and can cope with words that come out of his mouth.

So, I am 100% at ease with myself, my business practices, my staff and the experiences that I feel our guests truly do appreciate here at Battlefield Vegas.

V/R
Ron

Originally Posted By AS556:

@HendersonDefense

Post Malone got to take pics

I demand arfcommers are allowed to take pics!!!

Originally Posted By Alaska511:

-Uzi
-MP5
-11.5" M16 w/ Comp M2 (my clear favorite)
-AK47 - Sucked!
-SAW

I am trying to get the pics uploaded to PB, I overwhelmed the mobile app LOL

Along with solidifying my desire for a FA lower for a toy, I have absolutely NO desire to own an AK.

As for the guys at BV, great crew!  They are on your hip, ready to put you down if you swing one of those MGs around!

Originally Posted By bluemax_1:

Just a suggestion, but a RDIAS is a better option.

The RDIAS is a simple design, and the block itself is the registered part, which means you can replace the pin and pivot (which don't wear much in the first place). You can also drop the RDIAS into a new lower if you want to.

With an NFA lower, if the lower is screwed, you're out the $XX,XXX.

Originally Posted By Hydra-shokz:
Made it out to BV today with my beautiful wife. She shot a M4, Tommy Gun, SAW, MP5 and a full-auto G17C. The SAW was her favorite. The staff was great! From the nice woman that checked us in, the RSO and even the guy that drove us bank to the hotel. Top notch crew! Great to see veterans with a good place to work. Highly recommend checking out BV if you're ever in Vegas. We got 20% off rentals by mentioning arfcom. Thanks BV!

https://i.ibb.co/3W4wgp2/megsaw.jpg

Originally Posted By HendersonDefense:
It's been forever since I've updated this post (and even been here on the forums).

After using the Palmetto State Armory 11.5" uppers for the last 2-3 years exclusively, we are now going to be using them for outdoor use and from this point unless the customer picks an actual 11.5" retro model. There is ZERO issues with the shorty uppers other than that barrel length being to violent on the rest of the platform. FCG pin holes constantly "egg" out, we constantly destroy the full-auto disconnectors and I believe that's why we break so many bolts. One more item of discussion is how often the FCG pins break on the shorty uppers in comparison to 14.5"-20" barrels. The longer barrels don't suffer from broken pins. We have two incidents on the range over the years with broken firing pins so we are now slowing switching over to KNS pins. Both incidents resulted in "run away" guns because of the broken pins.

Also, we had five of our "integrally suppressed" uppers from Keystone Arms returned to our retail store. Unfortunately, the threaded area where the endcap would fasten to the suppressor was destroyed on all of them when returned by the ATF. I wasn't aware of what happened during that whole situation but I guess it was over a 12 months ago and now that we have these uppers that are no longer suppressors (and missing all the suppressor internals), I started to at least try to recoup some of our money by putting the parts to us. The first thing I noticed were the Lantac nickel boron carriers looked REALLY nice. I've never spent money on the various upgraded carriers BUT I really think these will help in reducing our maintenance time. We put one on the line last Thursday and took it off the weapon off the line today and the carrier just wiped clean. The staff were scraping, picking and scrubbing for 15+ minutes.. just wiped it clean.

V/R
Ron

Originally Posted By 1iviper:
thanks for the update , it's always appreciated

Originally Posted By HendersonDefense:
It's been forever since I've updated this post (and even been here on the forums).

After using the Palmetto State Armory 11.5" uppers for the last 2-3 years exclusively, we are now going to be using them for outdoor use and from this point unless the customer picks an actual 11.5" retro model to shoot. There are ZERO issues with the shorty uppers other than that barrel length being to violent on the rest of the platform. FCG pin holes constantly "egg" out, we constantly destroy the full-auto disconnectors and I believe that's why we break so many bolts. One more item of discussion is how often the FCG pins break on the shorty uppers in comparison to 14.5"-20" barrels. The longer barrels don't suffer from broken pins. We have two incidents on the range over the years with broken firing pins so we are now slowing switching over to KNS pins. Both incidents resulted in "run away" guns because of the broken pins.

Also, we had five of our "integrally suppressed" uppers from Keystone Arms returned to our retail store. Unfortunately, the threaded area where the endcap would fasten to the suppressor was destroyed on all of them when returned by the ATF. I wasn't aware of what happened during that whole situation but I guess it was over a 12 months ago and now that we have these uppers that are no longer suppressors (and missing all the suppressor internals), I started to at least try to recoup some of our money by putting the parts to use. The first thing I noticed were the Lantac nickel boron carriers looked REALLY nice. I've never spent money on the various upgraded carriers BUT I really think these will help in reducing our maintenance time. We put one on the line last Thursday and took it off the weapon off the line today and the carrier just wiped clean. The staff were scraping, picking and scrubbing for 15+ minutes.. just wiped it clean.

V/R
Ron

Originally Posted By HendersonDefense:
It's been forever since I've updated this post (and even been here on the forums).

After using the Palmetto State Armory 11.5" uppers for the last 2-3 years exclusively, we are now going to be using them for outdoor use and from this point unless the customer picks an actual 11.5" retro model to shoot. There are ZERO issues with the shorty uppers other than that barrel length being to violent on the rest of the platform. FCG pin holes constantly "egg" out, we constantly destroy the full-auto disconnectors and I believe that's why we break so many bolts. One more item of discussion is how often the FCG pins break on the shorty uppers in comparison to 14.5"-20" barrels. The longer barrels don't suffer from broken pins. We have two incidents on the range over the years with broken firing pins so we are now slowing switching over to KNS pins. Both incidents resulted in "run away" guns because of the broken pins.

Also, we had five of our "integrally suppressed" uppers from Keystone Arms returned to our retail store. Unfortunately, the threaded area where the endcap would fasten to the suppressor was destroyed on all of them when returned by the ATF. I wasn't aware of what happened during that whole situation but I guess it was over a 12 months ago and now that we have these uppers that are no longer suppressors (and missing all the suppressor internals), I started to at least try to recoup some of our money by putting the parts to use. The first thing I noticed were the Lantac nickel boron carriers looked REALLY nice. I've never spent money on the various upgraded carriers BUT I really think these will help in reducing our maintenance time. We put one on the line last Thursday and took it off the weapon off the line today and the carrier just wiped clean. The staff were scraping, picking and scrubbing for 15+ minutes.. just wiped it clean.

V/R
Ron

Originally Posted By SecretSquirell:

Wait....what did I miss here?

Originally Posted By HendersonDefense:

I don't know the whole back story but all of our Keystone Armory integrally suppressed M4's were picked up by ATF over 12 months ago. The agent that picked them up stated that they were two tax items and not one as they were sold to us. They were new in box when we sent they were collected and received scratched, destroyed uppers with no internals and the threading for the end cap destroyed on each upper. None of them came back with the locking lugs that secure the supperssor/shroud to the upper receiver so I guess we will have to make some new ones if we ever want use them again.

As for the returning of our property, the ATF agent is a gun guy and was really sorry for what we received. He knew exactly what we sent and he knows they didn't leave in the condition that we received them. He stated that we were lucky because there were quite few customers that didn't receive anything back. My wife did have her concerns when we sent them so she didn't provide them with the lower group and did not Form 3 them because she knew they would have to return them. The ATF agent told her that was a good thing with a wink.

V/R
Ron

Originally Posted By Tigwelder1971:

Pretty sure there is MORE than enough data here to make that call.

Originally Posted By HendersonDefense:

I don't know the whole back story but all of our Keystone Armory integrally suppressed M4's were picked up by ATF over 12 months ago. The agent that picked them up stated that they were two tax items and not one as they were sold to us. They were new in box when we sent they were collected and received scratched, destroyed uppers with no internals and the threading for the end cap destroyed on each upper. None of them came back with the locking lugs that secure the supperssor/shroud to the upper receiver so I guess we will have to make some new ones if we ever want use them again.

As for the returning of our property, the ATF agent is a gun guy and was really sorry for what we received. He knew exactly what we sent and he knows they didn't leave in the condition that we received them. He stated that we were lucky because there were quite few customers that didn't receive anything back. My wife did have her concerns when we sent them so she didn't provide them with the lower group and did not Form 3 them because she knew they would have to return them. The ATF agent told her that was a good thing with a wink.

V/R
Ron

Originally Posted By M4A1Carbine:

From page 1:

Originally Posted By HendersonDefense:
......and one more now that it has been disassembled.

V/R
Ron

https://i.imgur.com/xELN3ad.jpg

Originally Posted By chango78:
An AH date code 416 would be a 2007 build so considering 14 years of full auto use between a PD and Battlefield Vegas... guessing it's a 10.5" barrel with no gas port too?

Yeah, no surprise it broke. Wonder how high the round count on that upper receiver was?

Anyway, that's not a hard part to get (and is interchangeable with the MR556) so I bet the thing is back on the line already?

Originally Posted By Berit:
German steel.

Originally Posted By myhatinthering:

you are assuming a heavy use life

Originally Posted By chango78:

I am... but PD use is a fair bet since a shorty HK416 is probably gonna go to to an SWAT/ entry team with a heavier training regimen.

Originally Posted By myhatinthering:

No way, pd use is light at best and dont overestimate swat training, you'd be surprised how much or how little is live fire.  Joke at best imho, coming from family of blue with swat brother ironically.  Agree on bfvegas and rest however