I ordered some AR15 parts from True North Arms a couple of weeks ago, they were closed last week for Shot Show down in Las Vegas anyway I forgot all about it and today I was greeted with a fun little package. 😀

The big thing I wanted was an ambidextrous safety for my Daniel Defense MK18 rifle.  Not sure why for a mid to high range rifle, DD doesn’t already include one but in any case I really missed it last year when I did a class completely shooting support hand.  Anyway that’s been solved now and in addition to the new safety, I also got a upper & lower vice block set so I can work more easily on my ARs in the future.  🙂

So today in Toronto it’s very cold (-20c brr) and while Maggie is working on some stuff and Brandon is playing upstairs I took a picture of my AR family. 😉

My ever trusty Norinco CQ-A, the Daniel Defense MK18 and an Aero Precision CQBR, all chambered in 5.56×45.  I don’t shoot the Norinco much anymore, the DD MK18 is my primary long arm but I’ll be running the Aero Precision CQBR quite a bit, it’s custom built and I want to ensure all the bugs have been worked out.  I’ve already put ~400 rounds through it and will be using it in a few classes this year for sure.

I’m itching to go to the range but the forecast kind of sucks and the weather looks to be very cold for the next few weeks…

Thursday I agreed to purchase a Norinco 10.5″ AR15 upper for $300 which was a good price and I like the form factor because it’s nice and small.  Anyway this morning I went to pick it up and immediately knew it was not a Norc.  The barrel is stamped High Standard and the upper has a square on the right side which indicates it was forged by Brass Forging though I’m not sure who finished it.  The finish on everything is much better than on my actual Norinco 14.5″ AR15 so I’m pretty stoked that I got an American made 10.5″ AR15 complete upper for the price I did, probably saved easy $200 on this thing!

It didn’t come with a charging handle or BCG but I have extra handles and slapped my spare Daniel Defense BCG into it.  I also took all the “CQBR” stuff off the 10.5″ PSA 7.62×39 upper and slapped it on this thing, seems more appropriate lol.  Too bad I didn’t have it yesterday, I guess I’ll just have to go to the range again and give this thing a thorough work out. 😀

So I took today off and went to Silverdale to have some fun.  As I get out of my car to look for a RO to see if I can use the competition range I realize that I didn’t wear or bring my boots, darn it!  Sigh it’s ok, I went to the action range and had a good time with my pistols.

It’s been a while since I’ve taken taken a target home but I was pretty happy with the above.  That was a 20 shot grouping from 10 meters with the HK SFP9 and while it might not be a big deal for others, it’s good for me and nice that I’m improving.

Laura and her father went to Silverdale too but they were shooting at the longer distance ranges with their rifles so other than talking briefly we didn’t shoot much together.  Another member at the action range with me let me shoot his Ruger 44 magnum revolver and that thing is a beast!  The grip was a bit too large for my hands, it had polished wood so I didn’t handle the recoil well but man, you want to talk about power try hitting a plate with that thing, crazy.

Left the range around 12, got home around 2, picked up Brandon then went out to eat dinner when Maggie came home.  A nice day, too bad it’s over already but at least I still have two days to look forward to.

So on Friday I turned 38 years old and man time really flies when you’re older.  I feel fortunate to be where I am in life and am very content with everything, Maggie says I’m too easy to be content but I don’t see that as a problem. 😉  We didn’t really do anything other than go out to eat on Friday, Saturday I went to the last rifle class of the year hosted by WGT Consulting and it was great.

As I parked the car and gathered my gear, I decided to shoot the class with my support hand (left handed).  I’m a decent shot right handed and wanted the added challenge and boy was it hard!  Not everything with my Daniel Defense MK18 is ambidextrous and I quickly learnt that I really need to install ambi controls as that’d really help out next time.

It was a skills builder course we we practiced a lot of the less sexy yet important drills like mag changes, how to deal with stoppages and basic marksmanship proficiency which is exactly what I needed shooting as a lefty.  I’m no where near as good shooting support as with my strong side but it opened my eyes at how difficult things can be and I now know what I need to change to get better.  It’s fun to do what’s hard rather than always doing what I already know.

I was pretty fortunate too since there was no rain (a bit of misting at times but nothing heavy) during the class, the forecast said there’d be 30-40mm of rain Saturday and it came as I was driving home.  That frankly was pretty scary, the rain came down hard and it was also foggy out so to be safe I drove behind a tractor trailer for much of way back.  I just couldn’t see and would prefer to take longer getting home than die lol.

After ~500 rounds the MK18 was pretty darn dirty but thanks to the nickle boron coating on my STAG BCG everything came off pretty easily.  In the last picture it shows the two speed loaders that the family got for me, I really love it and while the revolver is a super impractical weapon this makes reloading it a bit faster.

Today we didn’t do too much other than go to my mom’s place to celebrate my birthday and it was fun.  Hehe little Georgia was a bit sick but she’s so damn cute and I love baby talk.  Other than chilling we didn’t do much and that’s exactly what I love doing, while I’m sore from the class it was a pretty great weekend overall. 🙂

I’m not very handy but I absolutely love walking around Princess Auto, it’s such a cool store with so many neat things.  Anyway today I picked up a 44″ long tool box and frankly it’s perfect for my guns. Like a Pelican case but 1/3 the price, frankly I couldn’t go wrong and am pretty darn happy right now.

I got to get the sticker off the box but man it’s perfect isn’t it!  Even after I put the trigger locks on the guns, they’ll fit with no problems, mmm I can’t wait for Sunday as I’m going to the range and will bring the Daniel Defense MK18, HK SFP9 & Glock 17 in this thing.

Mario and I went to Silverdale today to try out some new toys, myself it was the first time I got to shoot the Glock 19, S&W 686 revolver & Beretta M92FS while Mario played mainly with his S&W M&P Sport 2 AR15 rifle. The Gen 4 Glock 19 trigger is much better than with my Gen 4 Glock 17 though it’s pretty darn heavy.  I think I’ll lighten the trigger a couple of lbs to make it easier to shoot. Still I was doing pretty well and happy with how I did with that thing.  The Beretta while comfortable as heck to shoot, I shot poorly.  All me, I just need to get use to the platform.

The star of the show though was definitely the S&W 686 6″ revolver, man with factory American Eagle 357 magnum loads that thing has quite a bit of punch!  It has noticeably more recoil than 9mm or 45 and the trigger on the thing is amazing.  In single action, it’s a hair trigger and a bit light for my tastes, shooting double action is possible too though just long.

It was a ton of fun and I absolutely love the thing, definitely my prettiest gun.  For a budget rifle, the S&W M&P Sport 2 is a heck of a value and with its 16″ barrel quite easy to shoot.  He’s going to keep the gun stockish for now till he figures out what he is going to do and man it’s such a steal at $650.  A good day all around, I was talking to a friend about my range trip and he asked if it was appropriate considering what happened in the US…

Sigh different countries, different gun cultures and while it’s certainly a tragedy what happened I don’t know if there’s anything I really can say about it.  I’ve already said many times in the past that I do not like the system that they have down in the US and would not like for it to come to Canada.

In any case we had a great time and I can’t wait to go back!

Hehe so today I came home and was super excited to see the mail lady because a new toy was awaiting me. 😀

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a 6″ S&W 686-6 revolver in 357 magnum and it’s freaking sweet. I chose the 6″ model because it gets the most power out of the 357 magnum cartridge and well it’s a cool looking gun.  I have no experience with revolvers but playing with this one at home, the trigger my god in single stage is feather light & crisp (so I better be careful) and even the double stage pull is very smooth. Probably going to the range next Friday and I can’t wait to test it out.