Gunsmithing

There aren’t many events where you can get an idea for a build (or builds), find & purchase all of your parts to complete it, and get the specialized tools you need for the job, all in one day.

My affinity for scary black rifles began eons ago, back in 2003, as an honorary member of the Tarleton State High Power Rifle Team. From there, my interests morphed into local 3-gun competitions where I took my DCM rifle and changed out parts to make the gun more viable for match shooting—something of a Franken-gun, really, but it ran well, and it was a tack driver.

The latest in the aftermarket revolution comes from Magpul. No stranger to the firearm accessories scene, the high-tech polymer company recently released a version of their Hunter stock tailored for the Ruger American rifle.

It’s technically a Glock 19 but it only has a few Glock factory parts. The range performance is impressive!

Building an AK is a very fun and satisfying experience. It is often the only way to obtain an example of a particular model. I encountered a lot of interesting variants of Kalashnikov in my time overseas. I have really enjoyed cloning different models that I encountered.

Original production M1 receivers are getting expensive and hard to find. Commercial M1 receivers can sometimes be found, but they’re not exactly growing on trees either. And not every commercial M1 receiver has been made to spec. So what’s a builder to do? Enter the drill rifle.

The guys at Lee Armory know AKs. They run a manufacturing operation and have all the jigs, fittings and parts for building AK rifles. They also have a cadre of gunsmiths who know and love the Kalashnikov design in all of its variants. Most importantly, Lee Armory wants to to your specifications. I got to [...]

What if I wanted to camouflage my rifle?  Furthermore, what if I wanted to camouflage it for some winter/alpine/snow activities?  As it turns out, it is really pretty simple and easy to do.

For those of you who might be unaware, there is a program that sells surplus military rifles to civilians. This is the Civilian Marksmanship Program or CMP. They sell WWII era firearms primarily, most of which are M1 rifles at this point, though there are others as well.