SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND

[Diamondback]

Looks like a nice little Bugout Bag Buddy! I'll have to start a thread for my GAU-5 ASDW sometime... pistol version of the 12.5" M4 in every USAF ejection-seat survival kit, though until we get WA's shiny new mag ban bent over a judge's bench and taken to poundtown like a pedo in genpop I'm having to borrow mags from my girlfriend's rifle for it.

[Big Frank]

Say Hello To My Even Littler Friend. I just put the T-Rex stock on this morning. The threaded part of the stock is short, and the socket it screws into is deep, so I tried screwing it in without the castle nut on it. It screwed all the way in and when it bottomed out, the stock was almost right side up. So I put a bunch of 242 blue Loctite on the threads, screwed it in until it was snug, and kept going until it was right side up. I have no idea what it's torqued to, because I just twisted the butt around until it wouldn't go any farther, and it was facing the right way. I put the length limiting set screw in the next to last hole, so when I pull the stock out it will stop there, and the trigger pull is 13 3/4", the same as my other AR with an A2 fixed stock on it. It's only 11 3/4" collapsed, and under 5 3/4" from the trigger face to the end of the buffer tube. If any little people need a rifle with a L.O.P. less than 6", it would be possible to make one.

I ordered a Rifle size STAP Stock Plate LWS/PB from Midwest Industries. It's 4 3/4" tall, and the T-Rex is only 4". If it fits on the end of the Telescoping Adaptor for Tailhook Mod 1 and T-Rex Stock Shoulder Plate, I'll drill and tap 2 screw holes and stick it on there. I LIKE BIG BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE. If it doesn't fit, I'll send it back and keep the gun it as is. There's an indexing pin about 3/4" long that fits in the groove on the bottom of the stock tube, just above the cross-screw, to keep the butt plate from rotating. It seems like a simple but effective solution.

Now I'm going to Homeboy Depot to pick up a can of Rust-Oleum Flat Black BBQ Spray Paint, to paint over the threads on the old buffer tube. Then I'll be ready to put that and the M4 carbine stock on the other rifle in place of the A2 stock. It might look funny when I put the 20" upper on, but that's what the Canadian military did. They put a collapsible stock on a full-size rifle to make it compatible with thick body armor, and short arms , instead of staying with the A2 stock. I just got a new castle nut Monday when I got the stock and my new knife. Three packages from 3 different places in the mail all at once. And since I didn't use a castle nut on this gun, I have an extra one. One has deep staking notches, right down to the inside edge, and the other one only has shallow dimples. The old one I'm throwing away because I bunged up one wrench slot with a spanner, has notches halfway in between these two. It's still serviceable, but doesn't look that good and it's only a $5 part.

https://deadfootarms.com/products/dead-foot-arms-shoulder-plate.html

https://midwestindustriesinc.com/stap-stock-plate/

https://deadfootarms.com/products/telescoping-adaptor-tailhook-mod-1

P.S. I just double-checked the OAL of my rifle with the stock folded, and it's 26 3/8". That's just about as short as you can get without a tax stamp for an SBR, and is actually shorter than some pistol ARs with braces. And it's 3/8" shorter than a Daniel defense MK18 SBR with a 10.3" barrel. I can put my regular 16" upper on and it will be same length + the flash hider, unless I take it off and put a thread protector I made from an old flash hider on. Then it would still be shorter than the MK18.

[Big Frank]

If you want a REALLY short weapon, you can put a Dead Foot Arms folding stock on a FoldAR and make it into a Double-FoldAR. This one with a 9" barrel has an overall folded length of just 10 3/4″! In 5.56mm or .300 BLK. It makes the 20" long Q Honey Badger look Big.

https://foldar.com/

[Diamondback]

I'll start a thread later, but here's a pistol ASDW for comparison. QRB breaks it in half at the front of the upper receiver.

[Big Frank]

Nice. I've seen QD uppers like that with interchangeable barrels too. Does the pistol grip feel pretty solid when deployed?

[Sponsor]

[Diamondback]

The ones I have do, though I know people who've gotten POS'es. Biggest challenge for me is that as a southpaw the fold button presses out into the palm of my hand in less than pleasant ways.

Not intolerable but enough to be obnoxious - I still have 'em on two AR's and a Ruger Charger though.

[Big Frank]

They can't be too bad if you keep buying them.

[Diamondback]

It's really a Niche Applications piece - the ASDW is as close as practical to a USAF Issue in Title I form other than the OD grip, my first AR got one as a gimmick because it folded out of the way so I could lower it on a retractable front bipod/rear monopod for benchrest, and the Charger is another "specialty build" conceived as "a James Bond movie in a briefcase" since my gal's always wanted to be a Bond Girl. (Don't see her getting cast at 50, but at least with some help from a rangemaster buddy we can knock together some stages and let her "live it" on the range.)

For their niche application the upsides outweigh the downsides, but they're not something I use on general-purpose builds. (Which there will be no more of until WA's Scary Gun Ban gets spanked at SCOTUS...) Admittedly a right-hander might find it less irritating.

[Big Frank]

I got a blue plunger spring in the mail from Dead Foot Arms and put it in. And I replaced the pivot pin detent spring that was in 2 pieces. Then I used a bunch of blue Loctite on the buffer tube since nothing is staked anywhere. I put the Night Fision front sight back on the other rifle but haven't switched rear apertures yet. I put a Strike Industries Extended Pivot & Takedown Pin Set on that rifle, and the M4 carbine stock with the rifle length David Tubb Flatwire buffer spring. It fits both Carbine and Standard length stocks, and feels good when I work the bolt back and forth. Instead of a regular endplate I put a Magpul QD Ambidextrous Sling Attachment Point (ASAP-QD) on. Now I have 3 places to attach the rear sling.

I put a Nickel Boron Cam Pin in one of my BCGs, I think it was the 16", and put a KNS Perma Firing Pin Retaining Pin in the 12.7" gun. I have 2 of another brand of solid pin in the 16" and 20" uppers, and need to get 1 more for the Can Cannon. Then it's no more cotter pins for me. Just solid pins like Eugene Stoner designed for the AR-15. I forgot that the can cannon doesn't have its own charging handle, so I need to get one of those too, instead of having to take 1 out of the other 3 uppers. I also put a Kaw Valley Precision One Piece AR-15 Bolt Gas Ring in the shorty, and have one piece rings in everything except the Can Cannon now, so I'll order another 1 of those too. I bought an Armaspec B1 Extended Mag Release I'm going to swap out the Magpul extended mag release so they both match. I still have a little bit of work to do on both before I tackle the 20" barrel and flattop upper.

https://www.davidtubb.com/ar15-bufferspring

[Big Frank]

I have photoes - a left photoe and a right photoe. I put the Strike Industries enhanced bolt catches on both guns this morning. I chose these over the extended bolt catches. They both have extra wide bolt catch lever surfaces, and I didn't want the oversized bolt release lever on them too. I switched apertures on the sights so the large aperture is with the tritium front sight on the 16" barrel. That was easier thanks to my sight adjustment tool so I didn't have to turn the windage wheels one click at a time with a bullet tip or other tool. I took the Magpul extended mag release off and put the other Armaspec B1 Extended Mag Release on. I have 2 places to put the rear sling swivel on the 16" gun, not 3 like I was thinking. The CAR-15 stock on my MechTech CCU has left and right QD sockets, but the M4 stock only has one where the rear sling swivel used to be. The other place is the Magpul end plate that they tell you doesn't need to be staked, and say is really hard steel and hard to stake. but I staked it in 2 places when I put it on. The Dead Foot Arms folder has a QD socket at the rear, just below the buffer tube where you might expect one to be. I don't know if I'm going to use one of my single-point bungee slings on it, or a 2-ponit sling. I'll probably try the single point and see how it hangs. I'll be putting extra power ejector and extractor springs in the bolts on the 16" and 20" uppers, and maybe in the 12.7" and can cannon at some point in the future. Other than that, I thought I was done with them, but I remembered I have a couple magwell skins from GunSkins to put on. I have a Punisher skull and Molon Labe. They also sent me a limited edition Behind Bars mag skin with Hillary on it. If it was on a PMAG the bars would line up with the ribs on the mag. I don't have any PMAGs and tried giving it away once. I could put it on a SureFeed E2s, G.I. mag, or one my new DuraMags.

https://www.strikeindustries.com/si-ar-ebc.html

https://www.strikeindustries.com/si-ar-xbc.html

https://www.gunskins.com/collections/ar-15-m4-rifle/products/magwell-skin



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0hG3akqqNQ