Gun Maintenance, Gun Repair, Gun Customization, Shooting Equipment tips

Blackhawk! AR-15 Vertical Grip: For Stability, Tactical Lights & Low Heat

May 22, 2013 By Tom Leave a Comment

Adding The Blackhawk! Rail Mount Vertical Grip

Moving right along with the Blackhawk! custom AR-15 project…

This time, I’m going to try out a complimentary accessory to the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest I installed last episode. The thumb rest can operate on its own to help grip, control and consistent hand placement. It also works great with a vertical grip.

The Blackhawk! Rail Mount Vertical Grip will work on most any rifle with a standard rail up front. Of course, if you want the grip to be on the bottom of the forend, you must have a rail on the bottom.

But first, why does one need a vertical grip?

The grip is one layer removed from even the rail, so it’s not gonna heat up with lots of firing. Keeping freshly manicured hands away from that softness-robbing heat has got to be a benefit. Along with a daily soak on Palmolive.
Control. The vertical grip presents a modified weapon support method. It’s especially handy for short-stock configurations, like indoor use.
If you want to add a tactical light, it provides a great way to grip the rifle AND easily control a tail cap activated light. We’ll explore that in a future article.
You have to admit, it looks cool. That counts for something right?

Here the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Vertical Grip is installed with the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Shelf – they play well together.

Blackhawk! Rail Mount Vertical Grip: Installation and features

	The Blackhawk! Rail Mount Vertical Grip is modular in design, so you can customize the height of the grip. The standard vertical grip measures about 3 inches from the bottom of the rail. You can just fasten the included bottom cap to get a short post vertical grip configuration. This works great if you like to use the vertical grip as a partial hand support as shown in the photo later in this article. The kit also includes a grip extension that screws into the primary grip. This adds about 1 ⅝ inches so the total height of the vertical grip, with extension, is about 4 ⅝ inches. All of the parts are hollow and both the flat cap and extension grip piece include rubber gaskets to help seal the interior. This makes a handy place to safely store spare light batteries, small parts, cleaning supplies or maybe a few pieces of Bazooka Joe’s Bubble Gum. Your choice.
	Since it’s a rail mount grip, installation is a snap. The grip itself has one half of a rail clamp molded in and a separate clamp for the opposite side. Two included hex bolts are used to fasten the grip to your rail. This provides a little extra flexibility for out of spec rails – you’ll still be able to get a solid mount.
	The two included hex bolts are spaced to slide through grooves in the rail for forward / backward stability.
	The flat end cap has a rubber gasket to help keep moisture out of the storage area. Since there is not much surface on the flat one, there’s a large slot on the bottom to make it easier to remove. The extension piece also includes a gasket, but does not need a bottom slot and has a slightly rounded bottom.
	Here’s the standard 3″ vertical grip installed with a Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb rest installed above and just forward of the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Vertical Grip.
	The combination of the short vertical post and thumb rest works great. The thumb rest allows a little stable forward pressure and the vertical grip post allows a little backward pressure. The overall support-hand grip is rock solid. Of course, if you add the vertical grip extension, you have the additional option of using the vertical grip only with your support hand. In that configuration, you’re grasping the vertical grip more like a hammer.

One of the reasons I elected to install a vertical grip is that I’ll be trying out the Blackhawk! Offset Flashlight Rail Mount with a Blackhawk! Night-Ops Legacy L-6V tactical light. That one has a maximum output of 570 lumens, so maybe I’ll try it out at the 2013 Crimson Trace Midnight 3 Gun Invitational Match…

Buy the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Vertical Grip Here

Filed Under: Gun Accessories Reviews, Gun Maintenance & Customization, Reviews, Shooting Tips Tagged With: ar-15, AR-15 Customization, ar-15 rail, blackhawk, forend grip, Grip Extension, Grip Installation, modern sporting rifles, new products, Quad Rail, Rail Mount, rifles, tactical lights, Thumb Rest, vertical grip

How To Add GI Aperture Sights To Your Ruger 10/22 Rifle

May 20, 2013 By Tom Leave a Comment

So you wanna be a better RifleMan, RifleWoman or RifleKid?

The first steps might be to focus on the fundamentals like body position, trigger control, breathing control, natural point of aim and developing the ability to call your shot. A great way to work on these skills is to work with iron sights and shoot at targets just 25 yards away. Why? At short range, you can see your hits on target and gain instant feedback. And if you can shoot a really, really small groups at 25 yards, you can shoot effectively at 100, 200 or even 500 yards – assuming you can see the target.

You could launch thousands of rounds down range from your AR-15, M1A, AK-47 variant or bolt-action rifle. But with the current cost and availability issues for ammo, it might be easier and less expensive to take up high-performance lawn tractor racing.

Or you could do a quick upgrade to an inexpensive and broadly available .22 rifle to simulate a high-powered rifle. That’s what the Project Appleseed rifleman experts recommend. Use something simple, available and inexpensive, like a Ruger 10/22, equipped with GI Aperture sights to simulate a battle rifle configuration. Then you can improve your fundamental skills without breaking the bank. All of those skills you develop shooting a .22 rifle translate directly to shooting a larger caliber rifle – like an M1A, M2 Garand, M1 Carbine, AR-15, FAL or AK.

Following a tip from the Project Appleseed website, I elected to modify a .22LR rifle with the Tech Sights “GI” Aperture Sights for the Ruger 10/22. The Tech Sights kit includes an adjustable rear sight and front sight replacement that uses a standard AR type front sight post. So if you want to get really fancy, you can replace the sight post with an aftermarket one like the XS Sights High-Visibility Round-Top Front Sight Post.

Tech Sights GI Aperture for Ruger 10 22 2

The rear sight assembly mounts at the very back of the Ruger 10/22 receiver using the scope base mount holes already there.

The version I tested is the TRS200 model and as shown above features adjustable windage and elevation dials on the rear sight assembly with a single aperture. Tech Sights also offers a flip-up aperture version where the rear sight has a large aperture for close range shooting and a small aperture for longer range shooting.

The Tech Sights “GI” Aperture Sights kit for the Ruger 10/22 provides replacement sight for both the front and rear sights on the factory default rifle.

One feature to note about the Tech Sights GI Aperture Sights is that elevation is adjustable on both the front and rear sights. The front sight works just like an AR-15 front sight and you can easily raise and lower point of impact by pressing in the detent button and rotating the post. I chose to configure mine so that the rear sight sat low in the assembly when zeroed at 25 yards. The logic being that having the aperture as low as possible and inset into the sight base would provide better protection from knocks and dings.

How to install the Tech Sights GI Aperture sights on your Ruger 10/22

	Ready for an adventure? Try removing the front sight from a factory standard Ruger 10/22. It probably takes less force to dislodge Michael Moore from a CiCi’s pizza all you can eat buffet. It comes off moving from left to right as you’re holding the rifle normally. The challenge is that Ruger installs a little nub on the bottom of the factory sight, then jams it into the dovetail on the barrel. This is done for good reason – so the sight won’t ever move under lots and lots of shooting. The problem only occurs when you want to remove it to install a different front sight. You can do this by placing the barrel against a firm (but non-scratching!) surface and whacking the bottom of the sight with a hammer and punch. Be careful, as you’ll really need to smack it to break the sight loose. If you can use a hard piece of plastic to support the barrel, that won’t give as much as wood and you’ll have better luck at knocking the sight out. Just a fair warning, this can be an adventure. That sight is installed really, really tightly.
	A lower risk method of removing the front sight is to use a sight pusher. If you don’t have one, maybe you can beg, borrow or steal one from a friend. Of you can can get one of these general purpose Williams Gun Sight Front Sight Pushers from Brownells. This can be used for most any front sight where the dovetail is not cut directly into the round barrel. It removed the very stubborn Ruger 10/22 front sight easily.
	While we’re talking tools, if you don’t have a set of gunsmith screwdrivers, you might want to consider investing. Gunsmith screwdrivers have the blades ground flat and have bits sized for common gun applications. Why flat-ground you ask? You’re far less likely to butch up your screw heads using a properly fitted screwdriver. Trust me on this one. And a Brownells Magna-Tip screwdriver set like this one is not expensive.
	OK, let’s get busy installing the front sight. First, start the socket set screw into the front of the sight base as shown here. DO NOT tighten it yet! This screw will eventually expand the dovetail of the sight base to lock it in place. For now, you just want to get it started as it’s easier to get into place before you install the sight base in the barrel dovetail.
	Now, slide the new Tech Sights GI Aperture base into the dovetail from the right side – just the reverse of how you removed the factory Ruger sight.
	The kit includes two button head screws and washers that install on either side of the sight base to center and support it on in the dovetail slot.
	How you can tighten up the front set screw to lock the base firmly into position. If you’re sure it’s how you want it for a while, apply a little Blue Loctite to all three front sight screws.
	The rear sight is a snap to install as the Ruger 10/22 receiver includes holes for a scope base mount. These will have small screws in place, so just remove the two towards the rear of the receiver.
	The Tech Sights GI Aperture Rear Sight will fit over the two rear scope base holes. Just attach it to the receiver with the included screws. Again, you may want to use a little Blue Loctite if you plan on using this for a while.
	The TRS200 model rear sight includes a windage adjustment dial. Each hole indicates a 1/8″ left-right adjustment at 20 yards, or 5/8″ at 100 yards.
	The rear aperture is set with an adjustable elevation dial. Each click (visible by the white vertical lines, adjusts point of impact up or down by 1/8″ at 20 yards.
	The front post is also elevation adjustable. By pressing the detent button down and rotating the site post, you can adjust elevation by 1/8″ at 20 yards. Since both front and rear sights have elevation adjustments, you can configure the height of each according to your preference.
	Like its military big brothers, the Tech Sights (front and rear) are protected by wings. I also found that the side wings help reduce glare on the sight post.
	A side view of the rear sight installed.

This is a nifty little upgrade for a couple of reasons. First, I found the sight picture clear and fast to acquire. The brass bead on the Ruger 10/22 factory front sight is great and easy to see, but I’m not a big fan of the rear leaf sight. Those tend to feel slower for me, but that’s a personal preference issue. More importantly, the Tech Sight mounts about 8 inches further back from the factory rear leaf sight, so the overall sight radius is longer. While the 8″ longer sight radius does not make the rifle “more accurate,” it DOES make the rifle easier to shoot more accurately.

This is a great way to make yourself a fantastic practice rifle. And it’s plenty good for just fun plinking as well. Of course, to really prepare your Ruger 10/22 for rifleman practice, you’ll want to add a sling. We’ll cover that in a separate article.

Tech Sights, LLC Ruger 10/22 Gi-Style Aperture Sights
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Filed Under: Gun Maintenance & Customization, Shooting Tips Tagged With: 10/22, Aperture Sights, Appleseed, GI Sights, iron sights, M1a Rifle, Rear Sights, Replacement Sights, Ruger, Ruger 10 22, ruger 10/22, Ruger Sights, Sight, Sight Kit, Sight Pusher

How To Add Night Sights To The M1A or M14 Rifle, And Other Rifleman Jazz

May 16, 2013 By Tom 2 Comments

The Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat Sight (TCCS)

Recently I had a Springfield Armory M1A in for evaluation. Somehow, this military classic (civilian semi-automatic version of the M14) just insists that you use iron sights.

Why?

Got me. But I’ve waffled more on the scope / iron sights decision more than Eric Holder in his Fast and Furious testimony. Some weeks the scope mount goes on and others its back to iron sights. Right now, it’s iron sights, and I think I’m going to stick with those – at least until Honey Boo Boo gains another 5 pounds.

Actually I’ve got even more incentive to stick with irons for a while. Recently I picked up a Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat front sight for the M1A / M14.

Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat Sight for M1A and M14 Rifles

The Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat Sight (left) shown next to the standard Springfield Armory M1A front sight.

As you can see, the front sight post is noticeably wider and not tapered like the standard M1A front sight post. This sight is intended for low visibility, close quarters use. Don’t take it to the National Matches! Here’s why…

Let’s consider the sight picture at 100 yards. My particular Springfield Armory M1A sight is just about .055 inches wide on the shooter side. It’s tapered and therefore narrower than that in the front. This helps create a really crisp and precise sight picture. Many other M1A’s use a National Match sight blade, which is .062 inches wide, so your particular mileage may vary a bit. Keep in mind that numbers will float around depending on exactly how far from the front sight post you place your shootin’ and aimin’ eye. In my case, it’s about 34 inches.

On the other hand, the Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat Sight has a post that measures just about .093 inches wide.

What does this mean if your shooting at a target 100 yards away? Let’s do some fancy math and find out…

$Gun math$

So, solving that equation, dividing by the number of times John Boehner visits a tanning booth and carrying the one gives us the following sight pictures:

My Standard M1A Front Sight post covers a 5.82 inch wide target at 100 yards. With this fancy new match, that means a standard military 20 inch wide target would exactly match the width of my front sight blade at 343 yards.

The Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat Sight post covers a 9.84 inch wide target at 100 yards. Not trusting my math, I eyeballed this at the range. Close enough. To make a similar military target ranging comparison, the Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat Sight would match the 20 inch target width at about 203 yards. That’s kinda handy for ranging a man-sized target at distances us older folks you can actually see with the naked eye.

So, for long targets, you’re going to lose some precision with the Smith Enterprise Tritium Combat Sight. But that’s by design. This sight is supposed to be easy to see in low light conditions. With it’s built-in Trijicon tritium vertical bar, you can’t miss it.

This front sight upgrade also makes a great backup scenario if your M1A or M14 is scoped. Many (maybe most?) M1A / M14 receiver mounts have a half-tunnel cutout that allows you to see the front and rear iron sights under the scope. Smith Enterprise makes an M1A / M14 mount configured this way.

Front Sight Installation

If you have a standard M1A with the factory muzzle break installed, installation is simple.

	The standard front sight is a reverse dovetail setup where the sight itself has the female dovetail cut. It’s held in place by a hex bolt. Just loosen and remove that.
	The front sight will slide right off. Perhaps a gentle nudge will be required to get it moving.
	Save that hex bolt. You’ll need it for the replacement front sight!
	The Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat Sight installs exactly the same as the standard sight. Don’t apply any Loctite – yet. First, you’ll want to bring your hex driver to the range with you for zeroing. If you zero for windage by drifting the front sight, then you can have your rear sight mechanically zeroed too. Just place the rear sight at it’s zero windage point, shoot, and adjust the front sight side to side as necessary. Once you’re happy, go ahead the tighten everything up.

Initially, I tried out the Tritium post version of the Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat Sight, but they also make one with a round tritium dot, also provided by Trijicon. I’ll be trying that one in a few weeks to see how it compares.

I really like shooting with this configuration. Given my aging eyes combined with iron sights, it’s not hurting my practical accuracy either.

Check out other My Gun Culture product reviews here!

You can find the Smith Enterprise Tritium Close Combat Sights at Brownells

Smith Enterprise M14 Tritium Close Combat Sight
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Filed Under: Gun Accessories Reviews, Gun Maintenance & Customization, Reviews, Shooting Tips Tagged With: Front Sight, Front Sight Post, Iron Sight, iron sights, M14, M14 Rifle, m1a, M1a Rifle, night sights, optics, Rear Sights, rifle sights, rifles, Sight, Sight Picture, sights, Smith Enterprise, Smith Enterprises, Springfield Armory, Springfield Armory M1a, trijicon, Tritium Sights, Using Iron Sights

Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest: Get A Grip On Your AR-15

May 16, 2013 By Tom 1 Comment

One of the neatest things I saw at SHOT Show 2013 costs less than $20. And no, it didn’t involve dark alleys behind Caesar’s Palace.

It has no electronics, lights or knobs and it doesn’t even explode.

It’s the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest for the AR-15. This nifty little piece of gear radically transforms your grip. Since it’s rail mounted, and the thumb rest is off-center, you can use this in several different locations depending on personal preference and other gear you have on your rifle.

Here’s the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest shown with the Blackhawk! Vertical Grip. They play well together.

Think of the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest as a shelf for your thumb. No, your thumb is not likely to get tired and need a shelf on which to rest. The value of this piece of gear is that it provides stability and consistency. While technically your thumb does rest on the shelf, the stability comes from the web of your hand, between your thumb and index finger, wrapping around the rear edge of the thumb rest. So right off the bat you have extra vertical stability without having to wrap your hand around the hand guard or rail.

Perhaps even more important is the consistency factor. As your support hand now has a fixed place to go, you achieve the same grip and location every time you mount the rifle. No muscle memory required and you’re never gripping the forend slightly in front of, or behind, the location where you last supported the rifle.

The thumb rest is a rail mounted piece of gear, so you have to upgrade those plastic hand guards if you have them. On the rifle shown here, I’ve already added the Blackhawk! AR-15 Carbine Quad Rail Forend, so it’s ready to go. The big advantage of the rail mount for this component is that you can place it wherever you want. Back close to the magazine well, or way out front like the 3 Gunners do.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest installs and the ways you can use it.

Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest Installation

The Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest is a two piece assembly with a main body that hooks over one side of the rail. A separate support piece mates to fasten to the other side of the rail. Just be sure to line up the bolt channels with the grooves in the rail.

Blackhawk Rail Mount Thumb Rest installation 1

The thumb rest comes with two hex bolts and two nuts that inset into the main body. Just run them through the support piece and into the inset nuts. Notice that the shelf can me mounted high or low relative to the rail horizontal center line. I’ll talk more about that in a minute. Tighten things up and you’re good to go. Once you use this for a while and get the placement you like, re-mount the bolts with a little Blue Loctite so it won’t come loose under recoil.

Since the thumb rest is offset relative to the center line of the rail, you can mount this in different ways. It goes without saying that the thumb rest is ambidextrous.

	Here the thumb rest is mounted with the shelf in the high position. It’s shown with a Blackhawk! Rail Mount Vertical Grip.
	The high shelf mounting option is great if you normally like your hand to wrap over the top of the rail. It will place your thumb almost level with the top rail so your thumb can slide onto the top of the hand guard.
	Or, you can flip the thumb rest upside down so the shelf is low relative to the rail center line.
	If you’re using a vertical grip, this will put more of your hand on the grip post as compared to using the post as a support for your fingers. Notice this location keeps your thumb low and aligned with the bore.
	The Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest works just as well without a vertical grip. I liked it in the high position this way.
	Here’s how it looks mounted in the high position with no vertical grip.

One last thing. If you like a vertical fore grip, you might be able to mount this on the opposite side of the rail. The idea would be to grasp the vertical grip with your thumb on the opposite side. The shelf could be placed in such a way to line you up with a rear-activated light mounted on the same side. The fore grip I’m using here didn’t sit quite right with that configuration, but depending on what you have, it might work for you.

Now that I’ve taken this to the range a few times, it’s become a welcome addition to the Blackhawk! custom AR I’m building. This piece will stay. And in case you’re wondering, after the photos were taken, I settled on the high mount option with a short vertical grip from Blackhawk!. We’ll talk about that more in the next article.

Filed Under: Gun Maintenance & Customization, Shooting Tips Tagged With: accessories, AR-15 Customization, Blackhawk Products, Gun Customization, Light Mount, Quad Rail, Rail Mount, reviews, Thumb Rest

Blackhawk’s AR-15 Offset Safety Selector: Don’t Be All Thumbs

May 9, 2013 By Tom 1 Comment

If you’re right-handed, operating the safety lever on an AR-15 is a pain in the butt.

If you’re left-handed (using a standard AR-15), operating the safety lever on an AR-15 is a pain in the butt.

If you’re either right or left-handed, operating the safety lever on an AR-15 is a pain in the butt.

If you’re right-handed, you really have to alter your grip to work the lever with your thumb. Or you can work it with your left hand. Or you can phone a friend. If you’re left-handed, things get really interesting. You can de-joint your thumb and reach around the back of the grip. Maybe.

Now that topic is settled, let’s look at potential solutions.

You could try a self-imposed “assault weapon” ban. Be sure to email Dianne “Vengeful Hissing Cockroach” Feinstein. It will make her day.
You could duct tape a spent .223 cartridge onto the selector to provide more leverage. And slather the whole mess with WD-40 to slick up the action. You can fix anything with duct tape and WD-40 right?
You could avoid the problem altogether and switch to a double-barrel shotgun. Hey, if it’s good enough for Uncle Joe…
Or, you could try the new Blackhawk! AR-15 Safety Selector.

The last options brings us to the next step in the custom Blackhawk! AR-15 project.

Blackhawk! AR-15 Offset Selector

Blackhawk’s AR-15 Offset Safety Selector is one of the nifty AR-15 accessories introduced at the 2013 SHOT Show and they are now shipping. It’s a drop-in part that only requires a screwdriver to install.

It works well for two reasons:

The lever is offset 45 degrees so the range of motion is altered in a more favorable way.
The whole lever is not as flat to the receiver as the standard safety lever, so it’s easier to manipulate.

Blackhawk! AR-15 Offset Safety Selector Installation

Installation is easy. Just follow these steps:

	The Blackhawk! AR-15 Offset Selector kit is pretty straightforward. It consists of the new selector lever and the package card with instructions on the back. If you finish this upgrade with parts left over, please step away from the margarita…
	Go ahead and remove the upper from the lower by pushing the front and rear receiver pins from left to right.
	OK, here is one of two steps where you get to use actual tools! You want to loosen, not remove, the hand grip.
	Here’s why you want to just loosen it. See that little spring peeking out between the grip and the receiver? You want to take some pressure off that as it is the detent spring for the selector lever. You know this is a serious gunsmithing project when we’re using words like “detent.”
	If you loosen the grip enough, you’ll be able to pull the existing selector lever out. See that little detent pin? That’s what was holding it in place. Of course you can remove the grip entirely, but then that spring tends to launch into low earth orbit, facilitating a call to Brownells to order a new one. This will slow down your installation considerably.
	Just lift the existing selector lever out from the left side of the receiver.
	This is the BEST PART! Remember when I said this was a drop-in upgrade? Here’s where you literally drop in the new Blackhawk! AR-15 Offset Selector lever.
	You may need to push the detent pin down a bit with a small screwdriver or your favorite pocket knife to seat the new selector lever.
	Here’s part two that requires intimate knowledge of tools. Tighten that hand grip back up. Not too much though as over-tightening could interfere with operation of the selector lever. Remember that the grip houses the detent spring. If you crush it, things may not work too well.
	Voila! Take a break. Tell your significant other that you just completed a delicate and complicated machining project.

How it works

While moving a standard safety lever from SAFE to FIRE is fairly easy for righties, requiring a downward sweep of the thumb, the Blackhawk! AR-15 Offset Safety Selector makes it a bit easier. To move to fire, the offset lever moves from about a 1:30 to a 4:30 position. Your thumb does not have to stretch to push the lever all the way to 6:00.

Moving back to safe is even better. The “taller” lever and offset allow you to use the top of your thumb to move the selector back to SAFE.

The benefits apply to lefties as well. Your index / trigger finger can easily sweep the selector to FIRE and you can use the top of your trigger finger to move it back to SAFE.

All in all, a nifty little upgrade.

Filed Under: Gun Maintenance & Customization, Shooting Tips Tagged With: accessories, ar-15, Ar-15 Selector, AR-15 upgrades, assault weapons, blackhawk, guns, gunsmithing, reviews, safety

How To Install The Blackhawk! Quad Rail On Your AR-15

May 3, 2013 By Tom 1 Comment

For Step 2 of the Blackhawk! AR-15 Upgrade Project, it’s time to get rid of that ugly round plastic standard hand guard. Not only is it as unattractive as Lindsay Lohan’s latest mug shot, you can’t hang things on it. Like a tactical light, back up sights or a vertical foregrip.

So I’m going to try out the Blackhawk! AR-15 Carbine Quad Rail Two Piece Forend. This accessory is also available in rifle length if your gun is longer than mine. No further comment on that topic.

Blackhawk! AR-15 Quad Rail Forend before

The DPMS Lite 16 A3 before – with the factory standard hand guard

The Blackhawk! AR-15 Quad Rail Forend is made of aluminum and features at least 3.17 boat loads of vent holes to help dissipate heat during prolonged or rapid fire. As you’ll see by the close-up photos below, the airflow is great and unrestricted.

The best part about this accessory? No tools required! Not even a hammer. Unless you stray really far from the simple instructions. Well, there is one small allen wrench, but that’s included in the box. The whole idea of the two piece quad rail is that it’s a drop in replacement for the standard two piece hand guards. No need to remove the sight block or hand guard cap – just install each half and bolt them together.

Let’s take a closer look at the installation process:

	The Blackhawk! Quad Rail Forend includes two aluminum rail halves that dovetail together, 4 hex screws for fastening them to each other securely, a hex wrench and a single page of installation instructions.
	The first step is to remove the existing hand guard. While the existing forend may appear to be a “tools required” removal, it’s not. Just pull down on the delta ring between the receiver and the forend. It may be tight, so apply a little muscle.
	When you pull the delta ring towards the receiver far enough, you’ll be able to remove each half of the existing hand guard as shown in the photo here.
	Piece of cake right? Now you’ve got an AR-15 that looks something like Skeletor. As tempting as it might be to use it like this, don’t. Not only will you bend the gas tube, you’ll burn the bejeepers out of your hand when the barrel heats up.
	While technically it does not matter which of the halves of the Blackhawk! Quad Rail go on the top and bottom, they are labeled accodingly. Blackhawk wisely labels both the top and bottom halves, but also each mounting groove. This makes it easy to remember exactly where you had a piece of gear mounted in the event you ever remove it. When you mounted that vertical fore grip in position B24 it fit just perfectly right? Now you can take it off for maintenance and make sure it will go back just where you liked it.
	The new hand guards install just like the old ones. Slide the top hand guard ledge under the existing hand guard cap as shown until it fits snugly.
	Just like before, pull that delta ring down towards the receiver until you can work in the ledge of the Blackhawk! Quad Rail.
	Repeat the process with the bottom half of the rail set. The two halves will dovetail together nicely.
	When you seat the bottom half of the quad rail under the delta ring, the whole assembly should feel pretty solid. Just the friction fit on ours was tight and secure.
	Now is the time to use the 4 included hex screws to fasten the two quad rail halves together. Do this using the included hex wrench.
	Blackhawk! includes a neat feature on this quad rail set. If you look at the exact center of this photo, you’ll see a hex screw that does not appear to do anything. This is a swivel attachment point. There are 4 on the front and 4 more on the back of the rail so you have plenty of potential sling points for your rifle. Where you attach the sling is entirely up to you.
	That’s it! Looks pretty sweet doesn’t it? No hammers and only about 5 minutes to install the whole thing.

The Blackhawk! Quad Rail Hand Guard is a really sweet upgrade. Just going from plastic to metal is a nice step. The feel is outstanding. While this is not a free floated hand guard solution (that would require tools) it’s really solid and improves the feel dramatically. The metal hand guards add a little heft to the rifle and of course you now have lot’s of attachment points for a sling and accessories.

The grip of this hand guard is aggressive – the texture is good and it makes for a non-slip surface. One of the other upgrades we will be adding in this series are rubber hand guard inserts. As they are trim to fit, I’ll do that towards the end when I’ve decided on the final rail accessory configuration.

Stay tuned!

The finished product!

Filed Under: Gun Maintenance & Customization, Shooting Tips Tagged With: Aluminum Rail, ar-15, AR-15 Accessories, AR-15 Customization, blackhawk, DPMS, Hand Guards, Quad Rail, rail, Rail Accessories

Cop a Feel with the Blackhawk AR-15 Ergonomic Grip

April 29, 2013 By Tom 1 Comment

One of the highlights of the 2013 SHOT Show was a tour of the Blackhawk! booth. Actually, it was more like three or four tours, with each covering a different segment of the very broad Blackhawk! product line. One day was holsters. Another day was rifle accessories. Then clothing and the new Blackhawk! watches. Those rate an 11 on the cool scale by the way. Anyway, thanks to the Blackhawk! staff for their infinite patience. They must have felt like Justin Bieber’s press secretary with the onslaught of questions.

Let’s get grippy with it and upgrade that hard plastic factory grip!

One of the 2013 products that really got my attention was a a $25.99 AR-15 accessory that completely changes the way you handle and shoot and AR-15 rifle. That was the Blackhawk! Rail Mount Thumb Rest. Nifty, nifty, nifty. A demonstration and trial of the thumb rest led to a discussion about all the Blackhawk! AR-15 accessories and what I could do to a basic AR-15 rifle.

One idea led to another and soon we decided to build a Blackhawk! custom AR-15. As I wrote about a few days ago, I’ve got a stock DPMS Lite 16 A3 AR-15 that is just screaming for a little TLC.

So I’m going to bling this rifle out with every piece of Blackhawk! AR-15 gear I can get my grubby mitts on. I’ll document the why’s and how-to’s along the way in hopes of sharing some do’s and dont’s about home accessorizing.

Step 1: Get a grip!

Standard AR-15 grips are OK I suppose. Most of them have a finger ridge to help place your middle finger along with some texturing molded into the plastic. Or should I say polymer? Meh.

There’s even a hole in the packaging so you can get a free test-feel before you buy.

Fortunately, Blackhawk! has added a new item in their 2013 catalog – the Blackhawk! Ergonomic Grip.

Blackhawk! has a history of partnering with best of breed companies to bring products to market and expand distribution. The Knoxx / Blackhawk! deal is a great example. In that case, the partnership went Full Monty and now Knoxx is a part of the Blackhawk! organization. We’re not sure of the future of Blackhawk! and Ergo Grips, but even if the deal is a private label branding, it’s still a good thing. It’s good because Blackhawk! brings massive distribution to the table and a well-known brand. Even my local Wal-Mart carries a pretty broad selection of Blackhawk! products. Whether or not you care to shop at Wally World, it’s great exposure for the shooting sports and will only help to promote that fact that black rifles are common, everyday tools.

So, back to Step 1. Replacing the pistol grip on an AR-15 is ridiculously simple and usually requires just a flat bead screwdriver and a large hammer. I’m just kidding about the hammer. If you need that, please re-read the instructions carefully! Some factory grips are mounted with a hex screw, but even still, it’s easy.

Here’s how you do it:

	The DPMS Lite 16 factory grip is installed with a simple flat head screw. Remove this screw and the grip will come right off. But before you do, read the next step.
	Remember when I said replacing the pistol grip was insanely easy? Well, I lied, but just a little bit. There is really only one thing you have to be careful of. The selector spring is installed halfway in the grip and halfway in the lower receiver. This is the spring that makes the No pew / Pew lever click into place. The chances of that little spring launching across the room when you remove the factory grip are about the same as Joe Biden renewing his membership at Hair Club for Men. Make sure not to lose the spring!
	The Blackhawk! Ergonomic Grip will slide right on. Just be sure to replace the selector spring as shown as you put it on.
	You’ll need to remove the rubber cap to screw the grip onto the lower receiver. Interestingly enough, there is a note inside the Blackhawk! Ergonomic Grip that says not to store anything in there as it may fall out! That made me laugh just a little. There is no reason you can’t store something in there, just be aware that the base cap mounts with pressure and friction and could come off with heavy activity. I’m probably going to rig up some way to keep it in place so I can store a couple of spare parts and some Orange Tic Tacs in there.
	Here’s a nice touch. As you can see, the No Pew / Pew switch can still move freely due to a cutout in the grip.
	When you finish installing the screw, be sure to put the base cap in place. Just because it has a cool logo. One other thing to note, don’t overtighten the grip to the receiver. As the grip houses the selector spring, it’s possible to interfere with selector switch operation. Be sure to function test the rifle when you finish. And be sure to test fire it at the range before engaging in any life-saving activity.
	All done! Nice huh?
	I measured the factory grip circumference and found it to be just about 4 1/4 inches. The new Blackhawk! Ergonomic Grip measured exactly 4 1/2 inches.
	My hands are men’s large size. Here’s a visual on how my hand fits on the new grip. The grip is rubberized all around and has a pebbly texture. It’s somewhat similar to rubberized skateboard tape. All in all, it’s a great improvement over the hard plastic factory grip.

For Step 2, I’m going to get really crazy and replace that round plastic hand guard with a Blackhawk! AR-15 Carbine Quad Rail Two-Piece Forend.
Stay tuned!

Filed Under: Gun Maintenance & Customization, Shooting Tips Tagged With: ar-15, AR-15 Customization, blackhawk, DPMS, Ergo Grips, Ergonomic Grip, M16 Rifle, Pistol Grip

How (Not) to Install an AR-15 Flat Top Gas Block and Front Sight Base

April 26, 2013 By Tom 3 Comments

Well, mostly this is an article about how to install an AR-15 flat-top front sight base and gas block. But we will share a few tips about how not to, learned the hard way, to save you aggravation should you choose to get adventurous with your own AR-15 rifle.

Here’s a pretty basic AR-15 rifle. This one happens to be a DPMS Lite 16 A3 AR-15. As you can see, it has the standard front sight base and gas block installed. While this piece looks to be permanently affixed to the rifle, it’s not. It’s just stuck on there, albeit really tightly, with a couple of pins.

Here’s a DPMS Lite 16 A3 AR-15. We’re going to replace the integral front sight base / gas block with a flat top version. So we can do a bunch of cool customizations to this rifle.

There’s nothing wrong with keeping the standard AR-15 front sight base, especially if you use no or low-power optics on your rifle. With a very low-power scope or red dot sight, you won’t really see the front sight (too much) and it makes a nice backup should your optic fail.

However, there are a number of good reasons you may want to consider removing the standard AR-15 sight block and replacing it with a flat top gas block.

Top 5 reasons to remove that ungainly AR-15 fixed front sight:

While charging enemy positions, the wind resistance of the fixed AR-15 front sight slows you down.
While it appears to double as a handy, integral bottle opener, you’ve come to your senses and determined that’s a really bad idea.
Hardly any of Stickman’s rifles have one.
You can use those cool AR-15 flip-up backup sights. Magpul, the company who just told Colorado politicians to enthusiastically pound sand, makes them. Support the resistance!
If you use a scope, you can still kind of see the front sight getting in the way. It get’s really annoying with a higher-powered optic.

Whatever your reason, you can do this from the comfort of your home!

AR-15 JP Adjustable Gas Block System Installation

The JP Enterprise Adjustable Gas System

We have a number of reasons for embarking on this Dremel-free (hopefully) home-gunsmithing journey. You see, this rifle is going to be the starting point for a project we’re doing with the folks at Blackhawk!. As we wrote about earlier, Blackhawk! is making some really swell accessories for AR-15 style rifles, and putting a flat top gas block will give us a little more flexibility. Stay tuned!

After consulting the folks at Brownells.com, we decided to install the JP Enterprise Adjustable Gas System. We like the way it mounts with 3 solid hex screws and that it offers a quick-detach rail at standard height. This will allow us to mount a Blackhawk! backup sight system later. We also like the adjustable gas flow feature which allows you to tweak the amount of gas flowing back to the action. Adjust it so enough gas flows to ensure reliable operation with your favorite .223 or 5.56mm ammunition, but not so much that your rifle gets battered to bits over time.

Ready for some basic gunsmithing? Let’s go!

	Here’s our existing front sight base and gas block. It kinda looks permanent, but only because some parkerizing goop has been sloshed over the seams. It’ll come off with a little love and tenderness!
	First, remove the upper receiver from the lower. This will make things a lot easier.
	In order to remove the front sight base, you’ll need to remove the flash hider or muzzle brake on your rifle. This will be much easier if you have a vise. Since we don’t have a dedicated barrel vise, we’re doing some budget improvisation and using an old kevlar vest as padding between our AR-15 barrel and those toothy vise jaws. What? It works…
	On our DPMS rifle, the flash hider was plenty tight, but not ridiculously so. A proper fitting wrench, a little elbow grease and some caution allowed us to take it right off.
	Be sure not to lose the washer. And pay attention to its orientation as this will go back on after the new gas block is installed.
	Now the threaded end of your barrel is exposed. What a great time to brush the crud off!
	The next step is to punch out the two lower pins that hold the sight base to the barrel. This picture shows our highly-sophisticated system for supporting the barrel and sight base while allowing the pins to get knocked out the bottom.
	Better yet, get this AR-15 bench block from Brownells.com. It’s specifically designed to support the front sight and has cutout holes for pin removal. You’re far less likely to ding up your rifle trying to pound out stubborn pins. It’s well worth the money, especially if you’re going to use it more than once. We got impatient waiting for ours and used the budget method, with the expected results…
	If you have brass punches, use them. You’ll be far less likely to ding up your existing sight base and your barrel. While brass leaves marks, it can be scrubbed off. Also, use a punch pin that is as close as possible to the diameter of the pin, without being larger. Using too small of a pin will “mush out” the pin and make it harder to remove. These pins are going to be pretty tight, so you’ll have to support the barrel well and smack the crud out of it. One of ours was so stubborn, we had to drill it out. Hopefully you won’t have to resort to that!
	Now remove the upper pin that holds the gas tube in place. This one will come out pretty easily. Be careful not to bend the gas tube. Try not to notice the brass marks where we fought that second pin with very little elegance.
	Now the gas tube will pull out of the front sight base. And you have yet another great spring cleaning opportunity. Clean the interior and holes of the gas tube, but remember to leave it bone dry when finished.
	Here’s another one of those right tool for the job opportunities. You’ll need to whack the front sight base towards the muzzle a couple of times to break it loose. A plastic hammer like this one from Brownells will do the job.
	Once broken loose, the front sight assembly will slide forward and off the barrel. Here’s where you’ll get to see how much attention to detail was placed on your rifle’s manufacture. This barrel was not parkerized under the sight as you can see the bare steel.
	Yet another cleaning opportunity. If your rifle has been used, there will be some gas crud around the gas port. Clean it off and dry.
	Now we’re cookin’ with propane! Insert the gas regulator screw into the gas block just enough to hold it in place. Next, insert the gas tube, making sure to insert the right end.
	Be sure that the hole in the gas tube aligns properly with the gas block port before the next step.
	Slide the whole assembly into place, being careful not to bend the gas tube.
	You’ll see the holes where the gas tube enters the receiver. Line everything up.
	Once you’re confident that everything is in place, you can insert and tight the three hex screws that hold the gas block to the barrel. Now you can reinstall your flash hider or muzzle brake.
	That’s it for the installation portion of this upgrade. Just replace your hand guards and reattach the upper and lower receivers. The next step has to be done at the range, so be sure to read on!

Adjusting the JP Enterprise Gas Block

Earlier we mentioned that you can tweak the gas flow using this particular JP Enterprises gas block. The process is a lot easier than it sounds.

Bring your normal .223 and/or 5.56mm ammo to the range.
Be SURE to bring the included hex wrench that fits the gas adjustment screw!
Turn the gas adjustment screw (the silver one) all the way in to completely close off the gas port.
Now back it out a couple of turns.
Load and fire one shot.
If the bolt of your rifle stays open, you’re likely done. If it does not, then you’re not getting enough gas. That sounds kind of wrong doesn’t it?
If your bolt is not locking open on the last shot, keep opening the gas screw until the bolt locks back consistently on the last shot.
When you get it set, you may want to use a little LocTite to keep it from moving around. Be sure to use low or medium strength so you can break the screw loose later if you need to!
Just remember, if you change ammunition, you may need to readjust.

Next up, the Blackhawk! AR-15 upgrade project. Each article, we’ll document one part of the upgrade process.

Stay tuned!

You can find this at Brownells

J P Enterprises Ar-15/M16 Adjustable Gas Block
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Filed Under: Gun Maintenance & Customization, Shooting Tips Tagged With: 15 Flat, ar-15, AR-15 Customization, blackhawk, brownells, Front Sight, Front Sight Block, Gas Block, Gun Customization, JP Enterprises, optics, Sight Block

A Custom Ruger 10/22 for Project Valour-IT

August 14, 2012 By Tom Leave a Comment

We’ve just completed an epic building project. Successfully. Without bleeding. Or parts left over.

This Custom Ruger 10/22 is a phantasmagorical plinker

Over the past couple of months, we’ve been working with the great folks at Ruger and Brownells to customize a stock Ruger 10/22 Carbine. It’s now a fancy race rifle. A glamorous gun. A fantastic firearm. A phantasmagorical plinker. You get the idea.

Ruger graciously donated the rifle, and the always generous Brownells team donated the parts, and more importantly, the expertise for the project.

Our role was simply to be average and build this custom Ruger 10/22. Being average, mechanically uninclined and generally untalented was not at all hard for us, as most gunsmithing projects around here end badly – usually with a large ziploc of parts being delivered to a genuine gunsmith. But one of the primary ideas behind the project was to see how much can be done to customize a Ruger 10/22 without special tools or knowledge. The other main objective was to document the process so our readers could see exactly how to customize their own Ruger 10/22′s.

Custom Ruger 10/22 with original parts included

If you win this auction, you get the factory original parts too

Fortunately, we picked the right platform – the Ruger 10/22 – and the right partners – the Brownells Gun Tech Team. This combination of an easy to customize rifle platform, and always ready advice and expertise made a positive end result inevitable. Even for us.

You see, a quality outcome for the project was a critical objective, because as much as we wanted to keep this rifle, it was destined for greater things. Last week, we sent it off to Ruger for final cleanup and photography. Now it’s listed for auction on Gunbroker.com.

The best part? 100% of the proceeds are being donated to Project Valour-IT. In case you’re not familiar, Project Valour-IT is a group within the fantastic Soldiers Angels organization that aims to provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries.

This is a great cause and we’re glad to help them out.

Now you too can help Project Valour-IT and obtain a fantastic rifle in the process. Ruger will ship the customized rifle to the winners FFL for delivery along with all of the original parts and a signed letter of authenticity.

You can read all about the Ruger 10/22 customization process and the parts used.

More importantly, head on over to Gunbroker.com and place your bid!

Filed Under: Gun Maintenance & Customization, Shooting Tips, Soup It Up For Soldiers Tagged With: brownells, Project Valour-IT, Ruger, ruger 10/22, soldiers angels, soup it up for soldiers

Soup It Up For Soldiers Step 5: Optics – Add The Right Riflescope

July 31, 2012 By Tom 2 Comments

After much crying, whining, gnashing of teeth, a few injuries, but no lost parts, we’ve reached the finish line with Step 5 of the Ruger 10/22 Soup it up for Soldiers Custom Ruger 10/22 build.

Ruger Custom 10/22 Project Step 5: Add A Sweet Riflescope

Nikon ProStaff Rimfire 4x32 scope on Ruger 10/22

The Nikon ProStaff Rimfire scope makes a perfect complement to the custom Ruger 1022

The generous folks at Brownells have donated a sweet optic for our project Ruger 10/22 – a Nikon ProStaff Rimfire 4×32 Riflescope. They also sent a set of Burris Signature ZEE rings so we could mount the Nikon on the rail included with the stock Ruger 10/22

The Nikon ProStaff is a 4x fixed power scope – perfect for plinking and small game hunting. It’s nitrogen filled so it won’t fog in humid or rainy conditions. We know this for a fact as the rifle was zeroed in South Cackalackee’s 90/90/90 weather conditions. To the uninitiated, that’s 90 degrees, 90 percent humidity, and 90 times as hot as should be legal.

We really like the windage and elevation adjustment design on this scope. Under the protective turret caps are hand operated knobs that provide 1/4” adjustment per click at 50 yards. Nice and simple and no tools are required to zero the scope. We zeroed the scope at 50 yards as this scope is designed to be parallax free at that distance.

At the range we found the scope to be bright and clear. The reticle is the Nikoplex Duplex design. This is a fancy description that means the crosshairs are fine in the center with heavy posts closer to the circumference. This design naturally directs your eye to the center of the scope.

The Burris Signature ZEE rings are medium height and matte black finished. These rings include self centering synthetic inserts. This accomplishes two things. First, as you mount and tighten the scope, the inserts automatically adjust to align the scope with the rings. The scope bases are concave on the interior which allows the inserts to move freely as the scope is placed in the rings. Second, the inserts help to protect the scope from dings and bending.

Let’s get started!

	The Nikon ProStaff Rimfire scope comes with elastic mounted lens covers, instruction book, and Torx wrench.
	Remove the top half of the rings completely using the included Torx wrench. The Burris Signature ZEE scope rings will slide over the end of the rail. Just remove the bolt and slide each bottom ring over the rail. Now re-insert the bolt so that it is set in one of the rail slots. Tighten it up.
	Drop half of one of the included synthetic inserts into the base of each ring. Note that the inserts are designed to fit together in a specific way. You’ll see a small cutout notch on one side of the insert. Line that up for top and bottom halves of the insert.
	Rest the scope in place and install the top inserts, followed by the top half of the rings. Do not tighten anything at this point. Now pick up the (unloaded) rifle and mount it to your shoulder in a normal shooting position. Slide the scope back and forth until you have clear visibility through the scope with no shadowing around the edges. When it’s perfectly positioned, tighten the top halves of the rings. Not too much! Time saving tip: be sure that the crosshairs are perfectly aligned vertically before tightening.
	Now it’s off to the range to zero this bad boy. Using your preferred .22 ammo, set up on some sandbags and remove the windage and elevation adjustment covers. You can easily adjust both using the exposed knobs. We recommend setting the zero at a distance of 50 yards as that distance is parallax free with this particular scope. Once you’re happy with the zero, raise each knob vertically. This will disengage the cap from the adjustments so you can rotate the knob to read zero. Push the cap back down and you’re done. You’ll see a zero line for each adjustment just underneath the knob at the back.
	We tried a variety of .22 ammo in the rifle and had the best overall success with CCI Mini Mag. .22 ammo is notoriously finicky with semi-autos, so try a few types to see what your gun likes. We’ve not had good success with the Winchester white box bulk packs in a number of semi-auto rifles and pistols. The other brands we tried all worked completely reliably in this gun.
	Being total idiots, we dashed off to the range to zero this scope without our sandbags. Using a shooting bag as an impromptu rest, we were still able to get some fantastic groups with this rifle. The photo here shows 4 shots in one large hole at 50 yards. The 5th was a result of a poor rest combined with aging eyes and a spastic trigger finger. This group was shot with Eley Practice ammo. The CCI Mini Mag load performed just as well. Measured center to center, the four shot group measured .443 inches. Nice!

Now that we’re finished, we’re packing up this rifle and sending it to Ruger to be photographed and placed for auction on Ruger’s GunBroker.com page. Of course, all original parts from the Ruger 10/22 Carbine will be included in the auction.

Remember, all proceeds from the auction go directly to Project Valour-IT of Soldiers Angels! So bid generously! We’ll post a notification and link to the auction as soon as it goes live.

You can review the complete Soup it up for Soldiers series with detailed commentary on each step here.