Job-related. I'm a whore to the money. It'd probably only be for a year or two. I'd keep my stuff in storage. I'm looking at the Mini-14 and the M1A, but I'd miss the AR's.
If they weren't so much $$$ I'd play with the thing before I moved, but ShoeLess doesn't have a dealer near me anyway.
I think that grenade pin would be a must. How well do those white plastic clip spoons work?
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Well, I am starting my arsenal working close and moving further out. First I got a pistol, now I'm adding a 5.56mm rifle. .308 or other comes next (gonna be awhile). The Mini-14 is good, all you need is a glass-bedding kit and it will shoot 2" @ 100 yards. Magazines can be expensive. Personally, I do trust the M1A, but not the Mini's so much. Parts are expensive, and there's really only one source. My father has a Mini-30 and it jams a fair amount. They just haven't been battle tested the way AR-15's have. I decided that spending the money on an AR was worth it.
If you already have an AR, all you'd need is the lower and you could switch parts over (even all the preban parts you want). Besides, when you move out of California, you could sell it and recoup a lot of what you paid for it. I doubt the price will come down that much.
The grenade pin isn't a must, but it sure is nice to not need a cartrige or tool to take down the weapon. If you can find someone to make one for you, I'd go that route. I didn't really like the quality of the pullring-takedown pin ShoeLess sent me. It's nothing really functionally wrong, and on the outside it's cosmetically fine. It's the inside where there are little pits on the shaft. The detent slot is fine and smooth though. It just pisses me off because this little part was $20. And for 1/3 the cost of a Bushmaster lower parts kit I expect better quality than that.
ShoeLess Ventures includes a stripper clip guide. It's alright, it's made to kind of loose tolerances. I am probably going to have a machinist (I know one) make me one to a bit tighter tolerances out of steel or aluminum, then I'll Alumahyde it. I'm going to try the standard USGI stripper clip guides first and see if I can get one to fit and if it works better.
At the moment I am cleaning the upper and all it's parts with 100% alcohol. After I am done I will be applying CLP to all surfaces with a black cloth and letting it soak in. Then I'll wipe excess CLP off the surfaces where it shouldn't be noticeably on. Also, a nice thing I noticed about this upper while I pulled the bolt apart.. it already has an extractor O-ring around the spring. Do most manufacturers do this on a stock upper?