Magazines

These are the subject of quite a bit of controversy among any community of firearms enthusiasts. Polymer versus steel versus aluminum. Then you (sort of) have a factory versus aftermarket debate (at least in the handgun community). Below is a picture of three magazines that I own.

From Left to Right: Colt USGI, Lancer Hybrid, IMI Defense Polymer

The first of which is a Colt USGI magazine (generation I, black follower). This was actually the first "part" for an AR-15 that I ever purchased. I got it in 2011 at a gun show for five dollars. At the time, I still had it in my head that I was going to purchase an AR-15 as a fully assembled rifle, and had everything budgeted to purchase a twenty-five hundred dollar rifle. Certain unexpected unexpected expenses put a quick end to me delusions of grandeur.

The second magazine I acquired is a Lancer Hybrid magazine. This magazine has a polymer body and hardened steel feed-lips. The internal geometry is a consistent curve, apparently aiding in smoother function. Their current generation of magazines, called L5 Advanced Warfighter Magazine comes in five flavors: Translucent Smoke (pictured, loaded w/thirty rounds), Translucent Brown, Opaque Black, Opaque Olive Drab, Opaque Foliage Green, and Opaque Flat Dark Earth. If you do a quick internet search, you'll find raving reviews about Lancer's magazines. The current iterations go for about twenty dollars a piece.

If you look closely at the magazine in the middle, you can see

the bullets (yes, bullets; not the whole case is visible) as they

sit in the magazine.

The third magazine I got is the IMI Defense Polymer AR-15 magazine. I actually bought seven of these on clearance from Palmetto State Armory for about eight dollars a piece. The reviews I found online about these are somewhat mixed. An interesting feature that this magazine possesses is a catch on the right hand side for use in an AR-18, or an AR-180 (semi-automatic version).

I put the yellow electrician's tape around the bottom for two reasons. First, quick identification when I take them shooting. Second, I found that the tape provides better traction for bare hands than even the ribbing on the polymer magazines, which surprised me considerably.

Once my rifle is built, I'll let you know how they hold up.

I will make another post tomorrow about other parts I have.

Supplemental

At the time the images were taken, the IMI magazine has been fully loaded for three months. Ten rounds were left in it and the thirty were loaded into the Lancer Hybrid. They will be left there for thirty days while the others are used. Results will be posted as they become available.

Getting to Know You...

...and by "you," I actually mean me. Because let's face it, why would you be reading a blog post about yourself? Unless you wrote it and are looking back at it to see how [counter-intuitive] you were more than five minutes ago, or you have been the victim of identity theft and are trying to see what you said that wasn't really you.

Me a few years ago. I look pretty

much the same.

Anyway, as you could probably see somewhere on this page, my name is William Richardson. The purpose of this blog is to take you on a journey. A journey that does not follow any person, but a thing. A thing that I feel will be dear to me. This thing, is my first rifle.

Actually that's a lie. My first rifle is a Schmidt-Ruben 1911. Yes, you read that right. I own a 1911 rifle. Now before you freak out about me doing something terrible to one of John Moses Browning's masterpieces, let me tell you a thing or two about the SR 1911 (sorry Ruger for that. I don't mean to use the prefix for your AR there, it's just easier to type than "Schmidt-Rubin."). First, it is around one hundred years old. Second, it is a straight-pull rifle chambered in 7.5x55 Swiss. Third, these rifles, even though they were around for WWII, never saw any action (Switzerland being neutral and everything), so they're all in really good condition if you can find one. It was given to be by two of my best friends for one of my birthdays. I love it, but it's not very practical.

I choose to call this my first rifle because it is going to be the first one that I get with the intend of actually using regularly. This will be a "practical fighting rifle" that I intend on using for the purpose of home-defense.

Now, the thing that I think will be fun about this, is that this rifle does not actually exist yet. That's right, I am writing a journal about building a rifle. But that's been done already, right? Yeah, it has. But has there ever been one about the life of a rifle? I did a fifteen minute web search and didn't find one, so here's how this is going to work. I will post with a frequency of no less than once a month (in case it's a really slow month), and you get to read, and watch (pictures for sure, videos maybe later on), the conception, life and (I hope it takes a long time to get there) death, of my first rifle.

This blog will not outline building processes and tips, as there are literally thousands of sources on the internet on how to build an AR-15 (and about a quarter of them are worth the space they take up). I will, however, discuss my choices in parts, and the philosophy behind the eventual customization of my rifle, as it evolves and grows into the loyal friend I'll carry with me as long as I can.

I hope to both entertain, end enlighten you in my endeavors as a first-time AR builder.


Sincerely,

William Richardson

P.S. This blog will be family friendly, so any crass language that may be here will be [absolutely] edited like so, and encompassed [these] brackets, and any posts that may have "questionable" content will be marked with the words QUESTIONABLE CONTENT in the title. Such content will still be SFW (Safe For Work), and will be marked as questionable at my discretion, and may not mean the same to you as it does to me.