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Get
your AR15 to a gunsmith, and from a
gunsmith.
People
question, and rightly so, what the difference is in
a catalog-item upper assembled by one gunsmith
using "good" parts and one that's custom built by
another gunsmith using "good" parts, and the only
answer I have is that the custom one comes through
with your name on it. If Gary Eliseo, Anna Kinney,
or Mike Bykowski, for instances, wanted to stop
doing custom work and start slapping together
uppers for the bigger market, they could. And
they'd probably be good uppers. But these folks
doesn't do that, and the reason why is that they
look out for each customer individually: what do
you want me to do? They'll do up your upper
(lower too if you want) and test fire it, set the
front sight, and, in short, do what they need to do
to make sure you don't send it back. Having dealt
with enough supposed good housesmiths, also known
as contractors, I can tell you it's not about
ability but motivation. Again, when your name tag
hangs on the upper all through the assembly
process, bet that the gunsmith does a better, more
careful job.
I'm
writing this after a rash (over a year or so it's
been significant) of letters, calls, and e-mails
complaining about the functional quality of certain
ready-to-go upper units. (There are also a few
instances of absconded good ideas for great parts
being reproduced by some who honestly don't know
what they're doing.) Complaints range from poor
accuracy to poor function, and frequently both
together. Solutions presented to me by the maker as
relayed by the dissatisfied customers were
frequently laughable, at worst. To tell a shooter
he just can't use VV N135 and have the rifle
function is absurd, for instance. At best, the
solutions were a royal pain in the buttplate just
because they had to be done. Funny since it's
usually in the interest of time that people go with
something off the shelf. Time, and money, gets et
up in a hurry with returns, and even more with
re-dos at another address.
Many
of the gunsmiths I know have been keeping fairly
busy fixing some of the ready mades and I know
they've seen in them some affronts to AR15
construction straight from the "How Not To Do It
101" rifle building class (things even I know and I
sho hain't no gunnysmiff). Bent gas tubes, poorly
cut chambers, wiggly barrel extensions, loose
sights, poorly tightented handguards, and on and
on.
Money
shouldn't be the issue either: it usually costs no
more, and maybe even less, to go with a custom done
unit from a good gunsmith.
Folks,
there are no giants in our industry, but there are,
on a relative scale, some who are too big to
classed as "custom." Please support the individuals
in our sport who provide us with the sort of custom
work and quality service we need. Sooner or later
you'll figure it out, so you may as well start
now!
This
"whole thing" is starting to remind me of the
Springfield Armory® routine too many people
went through when we all shot the M1A™: get
the factory "match" rifle at a price premium
assuming it was better (and also because it was
readily available), tire quickly of poor parts and
construction quality, poor reliability, and poor
accuracy, and then spend what you should have in
the first place getting it fixed by a real gunsmith
(plus, of course, swallowing the extra price
premium you paid up front to Springfield). Same
old, same old: don't spend the same dollar twice.
That M1A™ ended up costing a thousand more
than it should have. Don't do it with
AR15s.
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I
get many questions on where to go and what to get.
Several specifics can always be involved (e-mail
with questions), but I'd rather just go with one
"big" answer that covers most of it --
I
will recommend gunsmiths but will not warrant their
work (in spirit I will, but certainly not in kind)
for any single customer because any single customer
may be clue-deficient. I will say to get a gunsmith
who can tell you (right) what you need if you don't
know. There are a few I know who can. These are
people who need to be left alone in their decisions
on what's best for you: don't argue with them if
they say use x-brand upper when you're the proud
owner of a new y-series. Other than that, they'll
fix your gun up how you like it. One mo gig: Buddy
Charlie used to say that the thing he loved about
America is that you're free to do as you want, even
if you look like a moron doing it. Heed.
It's
an easy thing to copy something and sell it for
less. Every industry has it. Let someone originate
it, let them do the research and development, let
them mortgage out the port to produce it first, and
then let someone else buy one, copy it, and send it
out wholesale. For my money, I try to stick with
the folks who built it first. My belief, and it's
substantiated, is that they are the ones who will
still do it the best, and they will also make
changes as needed to make it better. The fellow who
copied it probably doesn't have that ability,
because he didn't have the ability to do it himself
in the first place.
When
you make the "right" choice it's not just saying to
make the choice that gives you the best product at
the best value. No. The "right" choice is a little
bigger impact than that and it's nothing to do with
suiting your personal needs. It's to do with
helping people who continue to originate things we
come to depend on to help us shoot better --
helping keep them in business so they can continue
to innovate and supply us with better
things.
Think
about it: What can a copy-cat do for a new idea if
it's not someone else's!
Support
the people who help us the most, not just the ones
who save us the most money.
So
where do I fit in to all this? Just so I don't
appear to be hypocritical, I'll tell you: one is as
a purchaser of products and a shooter, and another
is as a purveyor of information as a professional.
Don't confuse the two, although that's nigh on
impossible unless you actually know me or know what
I use for myself. Ask me and I'll tell you (as long
as you PROMISE not to post my e-mail responses
anywhere: I'll say it straight and that may hurt
some feelings). I get a little unintentionally (but
fully aware) "caught" in the interim between
detailing a new product and recommending
it.
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