Posted on 06/18/2016 6:28:03 AM PDT by Drew68
After reading that Academy Sports was pulling their AR style rifles off the shelves, I headed to my neighborhood Gander Mountain here in Jacksonville, Florida to see if they had wussed out as well.
If Gander Mountain is pulling their AR rifles off the shelves, it is only because they are putting them in boxes and sending them out the door with customers.
I approached the hunting department around 7:00 pm. I hadn't planned on buying anything, though I hadn't dismissed the idea either. I was just there to look around.
AR-styles have always interested me. I am familiar with the weapon from the military. I earned my rifle qualification on an M4. Although an "AK Guy", I've found the AR to be easy to handle and fun to shoot.
Anyhow, I wasn't the only person occupying the three sales clerks' time at Gander Mountain. They were quite busy. There were a lot of men, some women, young, old, white, black all amongst the crowd at the Gander Mountain firearms department last night.
A half dozen of us were gathered specifically around the rapidly diminishing AR section of the firearm shelves. The salesman, who had grown well-rehearsed at what he was about to say grouped us together so he could deliver his sales speech at the same time.
He then proceeded to sell us on the virtues of the Armalite Eagle-15, an AR flattop with MilSpec construction and a .223 Wylde barrel.
They were selling them for $599. They currently had four left, even after doubling their orders following recent events. A quick internet search showed this price to be a bit high. The catch was, Gander had them here and right now while the lower-priced dealers were out of stock.
Normally, I'd think about it, go home, do a whole bunch of research on "what's the best base-model AR" and then return to the store to buy something three times higher than I had planned on spending.
But this time was different. Something stinks in the air right now. I'm feeling it. I think we all are.
It is the time to buy, not think about buying. I was the first man in the group to raise my hand and say, "start the paperwork." Within an hour, all four Armalites were gone as well as some S&W's, Sigs and other variants.
The rifle came with one 30rd magazine, no sling, no rear sight. Some overpriced ammo and accessories set me back about a grand total.
Not a bad Father's Day weekend at the gun store at all.
It’s held dead center at 100 yards out for the last six months. It’s a cheap, Chinese knockoff, but is surprisingly sufficient for my use. At 45 bucks, I was very pleased with it. I sighted the laser for indoor range use at up to 20 yards and that holds center as well. Give it a try, I think you’ll be equally happy.
Us boys and our toys, well, tools really but they are fun.
Seems the Adams kit is fading, lots of reports of poorly fiting bolt carriers, etc.
So, no issues with carrier tilt? If it uses their carrier, would think they engineered that out. With an upcoming build, may look into converting to this if I do not lose the thing in a boating accident like all the others.
Originally I bought mine because I like black guns and to piss off my liberal family members. But it is a heck of a lot of fun to shoot.
I have three. Building a fourth for my 12 year old Daughter now.
Next build will be an AR in .308 trim. I’m done with the .223/5.56 as a caliber choice.
Built one and then lost it in that lake. Went on a campaign after it was built to reduce weight as much as possible within $$ reason. Got it down just over 8 pounds without ammo or scope.
If the new DPMS Gen2 .308 parts are available, well under 8 pounds should be easy to do. With an adjustable gas block, you can tune to recoil to a very mellow push.
After a day of shooting, not having that gummy nasty bolt and carrier to scrub is sure nice. But the last AR I built was a gas impingement, since they are so reliable within the first two hundred rounds out of them. Great home defense tools.
ping
Thanks for the post.
Just FYI. I was at the gun store yesterday to buy a trigger group for my new AR lower. I asked if their sale of stripped AR lowers has been good. (This is Calif. where they may make AR style arms illegal at any moment.) He said that 10 days ago they had 200 lowers in stock, now they have 6. He said some people are buying them 10 at a time. In the 10 days I had to wait to pick mine up the price went from $89.00 to $139.00. The guy at the store said that people don’t care what they are paying for them now. AND the 80%ers are selling even faster although they are more expensive.
People are getting ready.
Well, the shooter knew a good weapon to chose (like mine) and it was very effective (unfortunately). Was telling my wife that the shots I heard via the internet sounded like 7.62x39mm. The other (in pocket) is for more subtle approaches should that ever be necessary. Would rather move out of country if it gets THAT bad. It does, however, validate my choice for a simple, consistently functioning weapon in case of need.
Nice gun! I am a south paw as well. I just deal with it (and pray I don’t get hit in the eye).
I just picked up a Barrett REC 7 Gen 2 DI .. 5.56. It appears to be a nice one but the packaging was presented in a cheap cardboard box. You guys can do better than that..
MFO
Yea. I’ve fired a right handed AR before and the gas/smoke made my eyes tear up after only 3 or 4 rounds. I couldn’t use the scope since it was a holographic red dot and I simply couldn’t see the dot. that plus flying cartridges made me nervous.
It should be here in another week or 2.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.