A bunch of cheap, or a few nice?

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  • Goodcat

    From a place you cannot see…
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    151   0   0
    Jan 13, 2009
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    Quality. I’d rather have one HK, LMT or KAC with $2k+ glass over 100 other firearms as my collection.
     

    Creedmoor

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    Mar 10, 2022
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    Quality. I’d rather have one HK, LMT or KAC with $2k+ glass over 100 other firearms as my collection.
    Which HK?
    My son just had a new ACOG with the red Chevron Retical shipped to my home.
    I spent a few minutes with it today out to 300m, it will be interesting if it makes me change my thinking with having a simple 1,000 scope vers twice that depending on use.

    So simple a soldier can understand it.

    Screenshot_20221204-175416.png
     

    Goodcat

    From a place you cannot see…
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    Jan 13, 2009
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    Which HK?
    My son just had a new ACOG with the red Chevron Retical shipped to my home.
    I spent a few minutes with it today out to 300m, it will be interesting if it makes me change my thinking with having a simple 1,000 scope vers twice that depending on use.

    So simple a soldier can understand it.

    View attachment 240582
    MR556. I would also go HK or B&T for sub guns :)
     

    Basher

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    May 3, 2022
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    Lafayette
    The argument of AR vs AK that was touched on a few posts back is always fun. There’s a pretty enlightening video that was made 10-15 years ago now by Karl and Ian of Forgotten Weapons, with Russell Phagan tagging along if memory serves.

    Anyway, the AK crapped out much sooner than the AR. Turns out the looser tolerances allowed more dirt and mud to find their way into the FCG, jamming it up sooner than the AR did since its tighter tolerances kept the small pebbles and dirt clods out. I don’t think their non-scientific testing is all-inclusive, but it kind of leveled the reliability playing field, IMO.

    As for cleaning/lubricating, there’s an interesting episode of the Primary & Secondary podcast that goes over the subject. Lots of “door kickers” over in the Middle East apparently keep a small bottle of oil in their kit. They go out on raids with a very lightly oiled or even dry rifle, the idea being that less dirt will be attracted to the rifle in that state. If they only run a mag or two through the gun, it runs completely fine dry and wipes down very easily and quickly when they get back. If they get into real trouble, they break out the bottle and squirt a healthy amount into the action and get to work, then do a more thorough cleaning when they get back. It’s an interesting approach to things!
     

    TheGhostRider

    Watching from a distance…
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    12   0   0
    Jan 10, 2009
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    Fort Wayne
    AR or AK or (insert gun of choice here) all have one thing in common.
    They all need lube. I’ve seen guns choke on 1 way and 2 way ranges and the majority of them did so because of the lack of lube. Even a dirty gun can keep running if it’s wet.
    Thread Jack over…
    Back to the regularly scheduled debate of quantity vs quality.
     

    JEBland

    INGO's least subtle Alphabet agency taskforce spy
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    9   0   0
    Oct 24, 2020
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    Given that you're on INGO, I don't see why you have to choose, to be honest.

    There are constantly deals on new ARs, etc for purchasing. There are even sometimes rare deals in the classifieds.
    I bought a STD-15 upper complete upper with BCG and charging handle for $200 when Standard Manufacturing was clearing them [out]. Recently bought an entire STD-15 rifle for $500 (mine came with MFT mag & minimalist stock). Sent someone a deal on a HM Defense Defender-L rifle for $615 + shipping&transfer to pick up for his first AR. Both of which are much nicer and less expensive than my Stag Arms purchased during the 2020 panic (back when PSA was actually charging their MSRP on their lowers). I doubt you'll find an LMT or a KAC or LWRC for 50% list, but you can certainly get a strong reliable firearm for a song leveraging INGO knowledge.

    There are so many deals posted [that] it seems at least once a week I go "it's a great deal, but it's going to be someone else's deal." To reiterate, with some patience and a little flexibility, I don't know why it was to be one or the other if wanting something in the common cartridges.


    [edited]
     
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    VERT

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    23   0   0
    Jan 4, 2009
    9,801
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    Seymour
    Quality! Of course that is all about perspective, nice for me probably isn’t what nice is to someone else. I would rather have one nice rifle than 3 cheaper rifles. The cheap rifles always seem to show up, make one trip to the range for zeroing and then sit. It’s all about practicality for me.

    I also have limited room to store guns. My safe isn’t that big and neither is the area where it sits. Unless it is a gun being used it goes in the safe. It is my self imposed way of limiting the size of the herd. Just recently that herd had to be culled. My goal is now to acquire guns that will go with me when the wife and I downsize once the kids are gone. I am fine with only owning 1 AR.
     

    MindfulMan

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    6   0   0
    Feb 14, 2016
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    Indiana
    Given that you're on INGO, I don't see why you have to choose, to be honest.

    There are constantly deals on new ARs, etc for purchasing. There are even sometimes rare deals in the classifieds.
    I bought a STD-15 upper complete upper with BCG and charging handle for $200 when Standard Manufacturing was clearing them [out]. Recently bought an entire STD-15 rifle for $500 (mine came with MFT mag & minimalist stock). Sent someone a deal on a HM Defense Defender-L rifle for $615 + shipping&transfer to pick up for his first AR. Both of which are much nicer and less expensive than my Stag Arms purchased during the 2020 panic (back when PSA was actually charging their MSRP on their lowers). I doubt you'll find an LMT or a KAC or LWRC for 50% list, but you can certainly get a strong reliable firearm for a song leveraging INGO knowledge.

    There are so many deals posted [that] it seems at least once a week I go "it's a great deal, but it's going to be someone else's deal." To reiterate, with some patience and a little flexibility, I don't know why it was to be one or the other if wanting something in the common cartridges.


    [edited]

    ^^^^
    This ! ....build a collection of nice rifles, and utility rifles.
     
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    TrueSeanamus

    Sharpshooter
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    2   0   0
    Mar 8, 2021
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    Indiana
    I’m happy to go with a quantity of quality. You don’t have to be in a race. The cheapest/“worst” gun I have bought was an 80 dollar mosin when I was in highschool. My high school graduation gift to myself was a “mind numbingly” expensive 840$ SGL21. Now I have kit build AK’s and FB’s worth twice that much. Also keep your eye out for deals. This last year I’ve seen crazy discounts on optics like eotechs. Especially on places like PSA who’s sends out insanely low prices on stuff regularly, not just on holidays.

    I’ve always been of the opinion to buy once cry once. Even if it is slow, you can still build a great collection that will last generations.
     

    Ingomike

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    6   0   0
    May 26, 2018
    28,176
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    North Central
    I started out with multiple budget guns.. ars& hand guns.. I've started to realize the utility of fewer/higher quality over many/lower quality.

    I would rather have my bcm set up exactly how I want it, knowing I can trust it when shtf. I still have my budgets, but I don't touch them anymore. They just don't bring nearly the same satisfaction on any level except when bragging about how many guns I have... which I don't...
    Glad you still have the budgets, one thing many assume is they will never lose their personal gun, and that just does not seem practical to me in a lawless SHTF moment. I suspect that there may be frequent surrendering of weapons both from and to you.

    Backup guns are more important IMHO in the context of this part of the forum.
     

    gassprint1

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    4   0   0
    Dec 15, 2015
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    NWI
    I did my research on the ar stuff years back. A low budget gun will last just as long as 1 that costs 4 times its cost. It's been proven a few times. Milled lowers all start out from the same cast lower which 10 years ago or maybe 15ish came from 2 foundries, so unless a company has a magic cnc mill, no difference with the exception of those lowers milled from a solid block of aluminum.
    I'm still not so sure about barrel selection except for the 1/9 twist are supposed to be better i think.
     

    bwillits

    Plinker
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    0   0   0
    Mar 7, 2022
    82
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    Fishers, IN
    I did my research on the ar stuff years back. A low budget gun will last just as long as 1 that costs 4 times its cost. It's been proven a few times. Milled lowers all start out from the same cast lower which 10 years ago or maybe 15ish came from 2 foundries, so unless a company has a magic cnc mill, no difference with the exception of those lowers milled from a solid block of aluminum.
    I'm still not so sure about barrel selection except for the 1/9 twist are supposed to be better i think.
    Although there are a small number of forges that lowers come from, the difference between companies like PSA, BCA, Anderson and others like KAC, LMT, VLTOR, and Hodge can be quite large.

    Ideally, all lowers are milled to the same specs. The difference in brands come down to QC. Although the less expensive brands are 100% capable of putting out in spec parts and do so every day, their lower level of QC can allow a higher number of out of spec parts to be released. The “higher end” brands tend to have better QC which helps prevent as many out of spec parts to be leaving. With that said, an in spec lower from Anderson and an in spec lower from Hodge are identical and will last the same amount of time. And yes, even the higher end companies can release out of spec parts (happened to me a few times with LMT) but it just happens less frequently than some of the more budget friendly.

    If you start nerding out on some of the stuff like SOTAR and start guaging every piece it can be shocking that even though the gun goes *bang* doesn’t mean it’s necessarily in spec and therefore it can have a higher likelihood of failure down the road. Perfectly fine for a range toy but if we are talking about a duty/work gun, I prefer to stack the odds in my favor by buying something that has a higher likelihood of being in spec (unless I have tons of time to have stuff gauged and swap with manufacturer if out of spec).
     

    1nderbeard

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    38   0   0
    Apr 3, 2017
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    Hendricks County
    SHTF guns should be in the most commonly available calibers when scavenging is how one replenishes ammo. Any others are just for fun or on the occasion of finding that odd ammo.
    I get that. I went with 762x39 as my caliber of choice. To be honest I'm not counting on the lone wolf battlefield pickup survival mode. I've got 3 kids under 10. I'm not going to be moving around getting in firefights a lot.
     

    cg21

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    May 5, 2012
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    I get that. I went with 762x39 as my caliber of choice. To be honest I'm not counting on the lone wolf battlefield pickup survival mode. I've got 3 kids under 10. I'm not going to be moving around getting in firefights a lot.
    Backup you mean :lmfao: :dunno:
     

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