An AR15, much more so than their distant bolt action cousins, are full of … stuff and, surprisingly, most of it is necessary. In fact, when you build an AR from scratch, you have to purchase all of it. Parts are available individually and in associated parts kit form, like […]

I couldn’t help but think that the Vanguard Series 2 Back Country was a bit of a Vanguard – Mark V Vulcan Mind Meld, drawing the product lines closer together. The Back Country utilizes the alloy steel Vanguard action and 24″ barrel, but the barrel is fluted and the barreled […]

Some folks emailed regarding torque compensation for the drive offset on the combo wrench. Actually, the placement of the drive slot on the wrench handle and the plane of the handle are irrelevant. The only requirement is that the torque wrench handle be rotated to a start position where the […]

Barrel selection for any firearm can be very subjective and application driven with lots of conflicting theory. As a personal firearm build, a JP Supermatch™ barrel was selected. It is made of Teflon finished 416 stainless steel and is: lead lapped, air-gauged and cryogenically treated for thermal stability. Prior experience […]

The handloading exercise with the 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser yielded good results and workable fall hunting season component combinations. However, there were also a couple of assumptions made that I wanted to prove out before moving on to the 260 Remington. “Joe, you’re rambling here. What does that mean?”  Gees, let […]

When we left off on Part 1, the Forward Assist and Ejection Port Cover had been installed and Batman and Robin has been tied to an atomic bomb by the Riddler. Since then, B&R haven’t faired so well, however, we were able to hang some other parts on the project […]

Based on performance, it may very well be impossible to have a permanent favorite firearm. No one knows what the future holds and no one knows what firearm will be encountered that hadn’t been seen before. If it were 1873, a state of the art breech loading Trapdoor Springfield would […]

With a some imagination, and a few hand tools and fixtures, it is very possible for a person with reasonable mechanical aptitude to build a quality AR type firearm. Patience, good information and a willingness to learn can substantially improve the chances for a successful project. Why bother with AR assembly […]

I don’t know why, but I almost always associate a firearm’s personality with songs. The Winchester Super X3’s appearance reminds me of LeAnn Rimes’s “Blue“. That said, it’s shooting personality is more like… Justin Moore’s “Backwoods”. The SX3’s satin oil finished, cut checkering and finessed matte black hardware suggests a […]

Remington’s AR-25 is similar to other quality AR-10 system; 308 Winchester based cartridges, very accurate without the need to tweak or finesse, but about 1.5 lbs less than the typical example. The cartridge types available for the R-25 cover a wide range of hunting applications, each providing a different level […]