u/CastleLurkenstein

Hey folks. Here is my situation.

TLDR: any reason to pay for an ACSS Gemini optic when I already have an ACSS Cyclops II optic?

I am a very happy owner of a Kuna, which currently sports a low mounted Holosun ARO Core model (just a dot, nothing fancy). Perfectly happy with it.

I also have several ARs, one of which I have tried and failed to get a Primary Arms SLX 1x and a SLX 3x magnifier to play nice with each other. No matter how much I mess with the diopters, they just won't do what I want, at least not the way I want.

So, my new plan is to remove the SLX 1x from the AR upper and put the ARO on there. I assume it'll play nice with the 3x magnifier, but we will see.

Meanwhile, I will have a spare SLX 1x optic. This one has the ACSS Cyclops II reticle, which is a BDC designed for 5.56 and maybe .308 rounds.

What I am trying to decide is whether it's worth it to get the SLX 1x with the ACSS Gemini reticle (designed for 9mm) or just repurpose the Cyclops reticle and ignore the BDC. I doubt I'd be shooting out beyond about 50m with this Kuna anyway, so the BDC may be kinda pointless.

What say you all?

So, I'm planning to Form 1 my Kuna. I'm really digging it in its factory configuration, but am also thinking about upgrades I want to make.

I plan to get the Nexus lower at some point, so I can put in an AR trigger. The Kuna's basic trigger is...fine, but I'd like a more crisp break and the option to play around with different triggers if I choose to.

I plan to put a suppressor on, likely a CAT MOB or AC36, though I'd consider other 9mm suppressors if folks have recommendations. I have several other CAT cans and generally like them a lot.

I might drop in a super-safety or FRT at some point. Still debating that, not sure what's involved for things like how it may impact the existing recoil system, or if I'll need to adjust that as well. That's a later-stage project, I think.

BUT, the first thing I really need to nail down is...stock options. I know folks have asked around a bunch before about "What's the best stock?" but I'm trying to narrow this a bit with some additional considerations. I'd like something that can fold to the left, or if it folds to the right, will not obstruct the ejection port, in case I wanted/had to fire it with the stock folded. The OEM stock seems like it'd be great, but fails on this count (at least, as far as I know, but correct me if I'm wrong). Adjustable LOP would be nice, too, but ideally with a fixed cheek rest. I'm not sure if the Nexus lower would impact a stock choice, but I'd like whatever stock to be usable with both the factory lower and the Nexus.

Anyone have suggestions here? Thanks in advance.

So, this weekend I had a chance to finally get out and shoot at distances beyond "pistol range". By which I mean I got to shoot at a whopping 100yds. Without digressing too much, I live in a dense, urban area, and there's basically nothing with more than 25yds within an hour to an hour and a half drive of me. The closest 100yd range is state-run gamelands and those are ~1hr 15min away. So that's where I went this weekend, to finally stretch my 16" factory barreled MARS-H (and a bunch of other rifles) out to a longer distance.

Now, this being my first time doing this and shooting from a proper bench, I know I am at least partially to blame for how poor my groups were. Initially, I tried using a Caldwell bag that's designed for ARs, but more for an A2 style stock. Worked great with my retro rifle, but less well with my MARS-H, which sports a Magpul PRS Gen 3 stock. I could not, for the life of me, find a good height between the rear bag, and either the front bag or my bipod. So, mostly, I just tried my best to control my breathing and my trigger pull.

I shot a bunch of different rounds. 155 Hornady FTX, AMAX, and ELD-Ms; 168 ELD-Ms; 168 Federal tipped matchkings; 150 and 168 Speer Gold Dots; and some M80 ball.

And the truly weirdest part? The M80 ball shot the best. Like, far and away the best. This...surprised me.

My theory is that a big part of this was technique-related. When I was shooting Igman 147 M80 ball, shooting felt right. It felt like my weight was really controlling the recoil, I was shooting with both eyes open using an NX6 2-12x FFP optic, and it just felt, I dunno, natural. The Saltech 147 M80 ball ammo performed similarly well, but not as well as the Igmans. The rest of the stuff was very much a mixed bag.

The ball ammo I shot towards the end of the day with the MARS-H (I kept shooting with other rifles). What I'm wondering is how weird it is that the ball ammo shot the best, and if this is something more common than I realized (i.e., LMTs "liking" ball ammo) vs. how much of this is a mix of user error and user-finally-somehow-getting results. But, like, it was weird. I wound up putting a quarter-sized hole in the target and target backer shooting 20 rounds of Igman 147, and nothing else came close to that. Was this a weird fluke? Does Igman make amazing ball ammo? Are the other gr. rounds from Hornady, Federal, and Speer just kind a "meh" out of some 16" LMT barrels, or would I be able to do waaaay better with the other higher-quality ammo as I start improving my skill?

The rifle in question is your basic MARS-H, with an SSA-E trigger, PRS Gen 3 stock, Tubb AR-10 flatwire spring, and the aforementioned NX6 optic. Otherwise, just a basic 16" CL barrel.

Just wondering if the 4x Colt optic can be used with A2 style irons, or if it only works with A1 style irons.

Can anyone confirm one way or the other?

Hey folks! Got a question, and I'm hoping this is the right place to ask it.

I have a mix of .308 ammo. A bunch of M80 ball ammo (Saltech and Igman in 147gr and 150gr FMJ-BT), but also two versions of Speer Gold Dot Duty Rifle ammo in 150gr and 168gr.

I've always heard that a heavier bullet with a higher BC tends to perform better and can offer a flatter trajectory and greater range. I recently got a chronometer and have been clocking ammo out of my 16" MARS-H with the factory CL barrel, then plugging the data into an online ballistics calculator (Shooterscalculator.com, specifically). What I'm getting back from the program is...a little confusing, and I'm hoping you all can help me make sense of it.

Speer reports a G1 BC of .414 for the 150gr round, and .446 for the 168gr round. Out of my rifle, the 150gr averaged 2689 FPS, while the 168gr averaged 2451.5 FPS. This was based on 10 rounds a piece. The 168gr showed a slightly higher standard deviation (18.6 vs 13.2) and a higher extreme spread (58.7 vs 47.6). Speer says they don't have a G7 for the rounds.

According to Speer, reliable expansion occurs down to about 1000 ft lbs of energy, which puts the round at ~1733 FPS at 493yds/451m for the 150gr load, and at ~1637 FPS at 474yds/434m for the 168gr load. The difference in bullet drop at these ranges is about 5" more on the 168gr load.

All of this has me wondering...what's the point of the 168gr load? OR, is the ballistics calculator not really accurate? OR should I try and re-measure the 168gr ammo's muzzle velocity on the off chance that I just had a weird batch of slow ammo?

It seems like the 150gr outclasses the 168gr, but I can't help but think that part of the issue is that the Gold Dot bullets don't have a G7, and the G1 BC isn't accurate once you get out past about 100m.

Anyone have any insight here? At the end of the day it's not a huge issue for me, but I'm really curious as to what's going on and/or what the point of the 168gr is if the 150gr is just flat-out better. Makes me think that it isn't actually better, and there's a dimension or factor I'm not considering here.

Decided to get some data with my chronograph (Athlon Rangecraft Velocity Pro) this weekend. Prior to buying one, I'd been using whatever publicly reported data I could find, plus general rules of thumb (e.g., "You lose 20 FPS per inch of barrel length" or whatever) to guesstimate velocity for figuring out POI and whatnot. The chronograph removes all need for guesswork, but I figured I'd post this info for anyone who shoots these rounds out of a similar setup.

The rifle I was using was an LMT MARS-H, with the stock 16" CL barrel, and a CAT RDM AC762 mounted on the front to be kind to the other folks at the range (I was indoors), fired off a bag rest. All data is in FPS.

Saltech .308 (7.62x51) M80 147gr FMJ-BT
(10 rounds*)
Average: 2615.1
Standard Deviation: N/A
Extreme Spread: 53.1

*My friend's shots in the lane next to mine screwed up some readings so I got double the number of rounds fired, but I filtered out his shots and only kept the data from my own. This did screw up the Standard Deviation info, though, and I don't feel like trying to calculate it myself. Just means I'll need to collect more data.

Speer Gold Dot LE 168gr .308
(10 rounds)
Avg: 2451.5
SD: 18.6
ES: 58.7

Speer Gold Dot LE 150gr .308
(10 rounds)
Avg: 2689
SD: 13.2
ES: 47.6

Thought I'd post this because it was fun, but also in case anyone finds the data useful for their own referencing.

EDIT -- forgot to mention, this was indoors so I'm guesstimating about 75F for temperature, and elevation was around 115ft above sea level.

Took my brand spankin' new Kuna out for a spin yesterday, and decided to grab some data with my chronograph. This is with a 100% stock Kuna, with nothing but a Holosun ARO Core on top. The chronograph is an Athlon Rangecraft Velocity Pro, and I was shooting three different types of Federal 9mm ammo. All data is in FPS.

Federal Syntech 124gr Range
(10 rounds)
Average: 1228.5
Standard Deviation: 11.5
Extreme Spread: 40.4

Federal HST LE 124gr
(19 rounds -- one gave bad data)
Avg: 1255.5
SD: 11.1
ES: 37.7

Federal HST LE 147gr
(20 rounds)
Avg: 1058.7
SD: 7.2
ES: 24.9

Mostly I did this just for fun, but I figured maybe this'd be useful for someone.

Hi folks. Just ordered a new Kuna which, I am informed, was delivered at my local FFL today. I expect I will be picking it up this weekend or next week. With that in mind, I was wondering a few things.

1. Does the gun need a clean before shooting the first time, or is it basically good to go? I've done both with different guns before, but found that with the Echelons, they benefitted from a cleaning to remove some grease (whereas my RXM the manual said to just shoot, if memory serves).
2. I'm planning to shoot it for a bit in its stock configuration, but figured I'd ask about recommended modifications. I'm probably not going to invest a ton in the lower...yet. That's more because I am thinking I may get the Nexus lower to take advantage of some AR parts. If I were to change stuff out with the lower, I gather lightening the safety spring and/or changing the safety levers themselves is a pretty popular and low-cost matter. I was also almost certainly going to swap out the rear pic rail with an aluminum one. Other than that, any preferred/recommended upgrades? How are the extended handguards out there? Are they good? Overpriced? Worth it?

Hi folks. Just ordered a new Kuna which, I am informed, was delivered at my local FFL today. I expect I will be picking it up this weekend or next week. With that in mind, I was wondering a few things.

1. Does the gun need a clean before shooting the first time, or is it basically good to go? I've done both with different guns before, but found that with the Echelons, they benefitted from a cleaning to remove some grease (whereas my RXM the manual said to just shoot, if memory serves).

2. I'm planning to shoot it for a bit in its stock configuration, but figured I'd ask about recommended modifications. I'm probably not going to invest a ton in the lower...yet. That's more because I am thinking I may get the Nexus lower to take advantage of some AR parts. If I were to change stuff out with the lower, I gather lightening the safety spring and/or changing the safety levers themselves is a pretty popular and low-cost matter. I was also almost certainly going to swap out the rear pic rail with an aluminum one. Other than that, any preferred/recommended upgrades? How are the extended handguards out there? Are they good? Overpriced? Worth it?

So, I have a MARS-H. It's stock except for the trigger, which I replaced with an SSA-E. I like it (LOVE the trigger on it). I shoot it less often than my other rifles, but that's mostly because I'm stuck indoors on 25 yard ranges. I probably will do a bit of longer-range shooting this summer, and into the fall, but that requires driving ~75-90 min outside of town each way to get to the nearest ranges that stretch aaaaallllll the way out to 100 yards.

Originally, the rifle was set up to be a "do it all" rifle, until I just decided "Yeah, this rifle really can't do it all." So, I decided to steer it more towards a DMR build. For now, I'm keeping the LMT SOPMOD stock on it, but am switching optics from a Primary Arms PLXc 1-8x mounted in an ADM Delta-30, to a Nightforce NX6 2-12x42 F1 FC-MRx. I figured if I was going to really use it as a DMR, I needed a bit more reach and a bit less...I dunno if this is the right word, but "compression" in the upper end. (Tight eye box, not quite as clear as I'd like, etc. with the PLXc at 8x.)

Anyway, the rifle is already a hog, especially if I mount a suppressor. Fully loaded, it's pushing 14lbs when suppressed, and I'm adding an optic that is not quite 8oz heavier to this system. This leaves me wondering if I shouldn't seriously consider switching mounts to something lighter, which in turn has led me to the Scalarworks LEAP 08. The LEAP should shave off not quite 5oz from the setup (the ADM Delta-30 is like 9.6oz, and the LEAP is just over 5oz). This would mean a net addition of only 3oz to the system.

I guess what I'm wondering here is...am I overthinking all of this and should just get another ADM Delta, and figure what's another 8oz on an already heavy rifle (pushing 14lbs with a suppressor on it currently).

Is it worth it to try to keep weight addition to a minimum?

Hi folks. I'm new to the retro rifle world, but find myself with a couple spare lowers, and decided to do a sort of fun, quasi-retro rifle build as one of them.

I want to be clear from the outset: this is not meant to be a clone rifle. Rather, it's meant to sort of approximate my idealized memories as a kid in the 80s, and I am referring to it as my "G.I. Joe" build, with a few modern features.

Without going too deep into the parts, the main thing I'm trying to figure out is the actual quality difference between repro A1 handguards (because even though this'll be a frankenbuild, I gotta have the triangle handguard for it) and vintage ones, which are harder to find in good shape these days. I'm in a similar place re: the stock. I lean towards an A1 stock but replacing the butt plate with an A2 buttplate...or maybe just get an A2 stock, but either way, the debate is "repro or vintage?"

I gather a lot of the repro handguards and stocks are kind of lackluster, especially the stocks. I was originally thinking of getting Luth-AR versions for each, and calling it a day, but I've heard the stocks are just "ok."

I wouldn't mind getting some nicer vintage furniture to really complete the vibe, but at the same time, I gather that (A) several sources with lower prices are...unreliable in terms of quality and reliably awful in terms of service, and (B) the better quality stuff gets pricey fast these days. Inasmuch as this is kind of just a fun build/range toy for me is the quality difference between the repro stuff and the original really that noticeable? I've never had the opportunity to handle either, so I have no basis for comparison.

If I was to end up buying vintage, are there recommended outlets (and places to stay away from)? I gather Sarco has some of the stuff I'd be interested in, and Retro Rifles does (although their website says they're not taking orders due to a move?), as well as some other surplus outlets like Apex and Numrich, although I gather Numrich is a real crapshoot.

Can you fine folks offer some insight here?

Looking around for suggestions here. I've looked at Vedder, Tenicor, Tulster, PHLster, maybe Desantis, and...I dunno, probably others that escape me now. There's a crazy number of options out there. I've never carried before, but would like something I can use in hot, humid weather.

Most days, I'm at an office, seated, wearing a tucked in dress shirt, so tuckable options would be better, although I also do enough otherwise where I'd be wearing a t-shirt in warmer weather.

For now, the Shield Plus would be my "hot weather" carry, and I have an Echelon 4.0c for cooler weather carry. No light, either, but I do have an optic mounted (Romeo-X Enclosed Compact).

Picked up the 4.0c COA recently and am liking it. I've been looking around at options for a holster, but, for now at least, am leaning against AIWB, and more towards strong side or kidney (3-5 o'clock, basically).

Even limiting myself, there are a dizzying array of holsters, ranging from what seems like around $55-125 or so. Most of the day, I'm seated in an office with a tucked in dress shirt, so a tuckable holster would be a good choice.

I've thought about Vedder, Tenicor, maybe Desantis? Oh, and Tulster and maybe PHLster, but dunno whether their models are more intended for AIWB or IWB/strong-side.

I welcome your suggestions.

I should note that I have no light on this, so anything that requires a light for retention would be out. My 4.5F with a threaded barrel is the one I have a light mounted on.

So...I just bought myself a Warhawk Green Mk2 Blem lower. Which will (for the time being) occupy space in the drawer alongside two other black Mk2 lowers. Been wanting one for a bit, and although I'm still pondering how to build things out, I figured "what the hell" and went for it. If I change my mind, I can just sell it.

ANYWAY, what I'm wondering is if anyone has any comparisons between LMT's ODG look and Griffin's Warhawk Green anodizing. It's not a huge deal if the anodizing doesn't match, but I've thought about maybe picking up a Specwar upper in ODG and pairing it with the Griffin lower.

Bought a Shield Plus a couple of weeks ago, and picked it up from my FFL just this past week. Took it out to the range for the first time, and once I got my optic (Sig Romeo-X enclosed) dialed in (with some help from a friendly RSO), I started shooting with it.

First thing I notice is that my shots are almost uniformly landing high. I'm pretty good at 3 yards, ok at 7, and then by 10 I'm hitting a couple inches high.

This is the first subcompact I've shot, and the first S&W I've owned. I've mostly shot Springfields, starting with an SA-35, then moving to an Echelon 4.5F with a threaded barrel, and picking up an Echelon 4.0c along with the Shield Plus. I don't have the same problem with the Echelon, but it is a bit heavier and almost a full inch longer, plus with the same ergonomics (if not the weight) as my full-size.

I'm trying to figure out what is leading to me hitting high, and right now, my guess is that the subcompact platform of the Shield Plus is revealing bad habits/form that I've "gotten away with" using the full-size, and which the compact 4.0c (with very similar ergos) can still mostly mask. But at only 3.1", there's no hiding with the Shield Plus.

I do want to be clear that I love the feel of the Shield Plus, and I shoot it better than I expected to, when switching to a much shorter, lighter gun. It truly feels fantastic in the hand, and much nicer than the subcompact Glock that a friend of mine has (I don't mind Glock grips, but this just felt better). I am also still hitting in the "A-zone", I'm just noticeably higher than POA, and much higher than expected POI.

My guess is that either I need to grip higher, or (more likely) that my grip is "off" in a way that leaves me pushing with the palm of my dominant hand to offset recoil unconsciously (which, in turn, only exacerbates it).

Anyone else experienced something like this when getting into subcompacts? Were there any techniques that helped you train this out? (Yes, dryfire is already on the menu. I'm currently reading through Baseline Dryfire by Stoeger, and have a couple other books of his, and I have a Mantis X that I use for dryfire practice.)