Build Your Own AR-15 Rifle Parts & Components, Check List:
Check List: Tools & Rifle Parts to Build Your Own AR-15 Rifle
USA –-(Ammoland.com)- Recently AmmoLand News, Aero Precision and Brownells had gun writer Tom Mchale build out one of Aero’s DIY Custom Rifle Builder Kits. You can read the article series here at the following links.
This page is the supporting Tools List and Part List for that build. While we chose the Aero AR15 Builder Set, (not everyone likes arctic camo) you could pick any number of AR 15 rifle parts kits and use the below list of components and all the same gunsmith tools to complete your AR rifle build’s upper and lower receivers.
**Click on the product names below to purchase online.
Custom AR Upper & Receiver parts that are unique to this AR-15 rifle builder kit. :
Aero Precision M4E1 Enhanced Arctic Camo Builder Set with matching Magpul PMAG 30-round Magazine.
These essential gunsmith tools will make your AR rifle build a whole lot more fun and make many gunsmithing tasks much more precise and clean. All these tools will prove useful for years to come as you build out more cool rifles.
Not the winner, but definitely our favorite (Image: Bence Mate/ Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards)
Wildlife photographer Tibor Kércz would spend a few nights each year camped out in a tent near a tree, hoping to capture photos of little owls and their nestlings. But just before nightfall on one fateful evening, three of the birds flew out onto a short branch. They landed and tried stabilizing themselves… but the owlet on the end began to fall.
“So I started to shoot in the right moment,” he told Gizmodo in a Facebook message. That series of photos won him the 2017 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
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The awards are meant to highlight whimsical, “possibly unpretentious” photography of wild animals doing funny things, according to their website. Some of the silliest images from past contests have gone viral, and this year’s certainly have the potential to do the same. Ultimately, the founders’ main goal is conservation.
“Well… you are now obviously going to go to your office, home, pub, club, or wherever and talk about the dire need for us all to be conservationists in our own little way,” the competition’s founders write on their website. The contest is affiliated with the Born Free Foundation wildlife conservation charity. But Kércz likes how it gives humans the chance to see animals in a more relatable light.
“It is a great initiative and [gives us the] chance to show people how funny and lovable these cute creatures are, like we are,” he said.
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The contest received over 3,500 submissions, which were required to have been taken by the photographer, not of a pet or domesticated animal, and without being digitally manipulated. Also, term number 16 of the website’s Terms and Conditions is “16. You must think Bohemian Rhapsody one of the greatest pieces of popular music ever written, just kidding. No seriously….” So yeah.
Anyway, here are the pictures:
Overall winner: Tibor Kércz
Image: Tibor Kércz/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards
Image: Tibor Kércz/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards
Image: Tibor Kércz/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards
Image: Tibor Kércz/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards
Winner, “In The Air” Category: Jon Threlfall
Image: Jon Threlfall/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards
It’s a fart joke.
Winner, “Under the Sea” Category: Troy Mayne
Image: Troy Mayne/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards
Winner, “On Land” Category: Andrea Zampatti
Image: Andrea Zampatti/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards
While investigating alternatives to migrate to Google Cloud SQL, I encountered a lack of support for external masters. However, it’s possible to overcome this limitation by replicating into Google Cloud SQL using Tungsten replicator.
Cloud SQL is Google’s database-as-a-service solution, similar to RDS for Amazon Web Services. You can get a fully managed database in only a few clicks (or API calls). At the time of writing this, the only supported databases are MySQL and Postgres.
Cloud SQL alternatives
Google offers two different options for MySQL deployments.
1st generation instances:
Only MySQL versions 5.5 and 5.6 can provisioned
Max memory is limited to 16 Gb
Max of 250 Gb storage (up to 500 Gb with Silver or higher support package)
MyISAM and InnoDB
Asynchronous replication for read replicas
2nd generation instances:
Only MySQL versions 5.6 and 5.7 can be deployed
Maximum memory is limited to 205 Gb
Maximum of 10 Tb storage
InnoDB storage engine only
Semi-sync replication only
GTID replication only
No support for external master
There are some limitations that are common to both flavors:
no SUPER privilege
no triggers
no performance schema
no replication between 1st and 2nd generation instances is possible
From the above, it is quite obvious most production deployments would want to use 2nd gen instances.
The problem is there is no migration path that doesn’t involve stopping application activity to be able to take a dump of the data, due to the fact that external masters are not supported on 2nd gen instances.
So how do we migrate our database to Google Cloud SQL while keeping downtime as low as possible?
The solution
The answer is to use Tungsten Replicator, so that replication is completely external to the database.
Note that since we only need the replicator, the FOSS version available on Github is enough for our purposes. There is no need to buy Tungsten commercial version, which includes the cluster functionality and official support.
We will need to install two different Tungsten processes: One will attach to the source database to read transactions from the binary logs, while the second will apply those transactions to the Cloud SQL instance.
This is what it looks like:
Preparing the environment
The first thing you will need is a place to install the replicator. I suggest to provision a dedicated instance (instance-1 in the diagram) in the same zone as your Cloud SQL instance.
At minimum you would want an n1-standard-1 size, as Tungsten does consume its fair share of memory.
Tungsten needs some packages (do check out the complete requirements list here) so let’s go ahead and install them:
apt-get install ruby default-jre
Now we need a database user for Tungsten on the source and target databases:
GRANT ALL ON *.* TO tungsten@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret';
It is usually a good idea to have a dedicated OS user as well:
useradd -m -d /opt/continuent tungsten
Get the replicator package from GitHub and extract the contents as tungsten OS user:
wget http://ift.tt/2krtebg
tar zxf tungsten-replicator-5.2.1.tar.gz
Tungsten installation
Prepare the Tungsten config files on instance-1 as follows. instance-1 is the server where Tungsten will run from, and instance-2 is the server that has the source database.
Process that will read from MySQL vi /etc/tungsten/tungsten-mysqlreader.ini
Note the use of privileged-slave=false and the various validation checks that need to be skipped for the applier process. That allows us to get past the SUPER requirement and the other Cloud SQL limitations.
Since we are running both extractor and applier processes on the same instance, we need to manually specify the ports on the second process so that there are no conflicts.
Now we are ready to install the replicators, by running the following as tungsten OS user:
cd tungsten-replicator-5.2.1/tools
tpm install
Replicating into Google Cloud SQL using Tungsten
At this point you would start the reader process using trepctl online command to start capturing events from the source instance, and use something like mysqldump to dump & load your dataset into a Google Cloud SQL instance. Make sure you have the binlog coordinates of that dump available.
Once the Cloud SQL instance is properly seeded, we would start the applier process from the appropriate position e.g.
/opt/continuent/writetocloudsql/tungsten/tungsten-replicator/bin/trepctl online -from-event 'mysql-bin.000011:0000000000002552;0'
I’ve discovered there is a bug with Tungsten 5.2, where high values of server-id parameter prevent replicator from working. CloudSQL sets very high server-ids by default, and this cannot be modified by a user.
I have already reported this to Continuent so hopefully they will come up with a way to fix this soon.
In the meantime the only way to get past this is to open a ticket with Google support, and have them modify the server-id on Cloud SQL instance for you.
Conclusion
Cloud SQL is a very interesting platform for those wanting a fully managed database solution.
Until 2nd gen instances have the ability to replicate from an external master, replicating into Google Cloud SQL using Tungsten after the initial load is one valid alternative. By doing so, you can keep data in sync until you are ready to do the cutover to the new platform.
There’s going to come a time where every shooter has to change out the barrel of their AR-15 or AR-10. For some, it’s because they’ve squeezed off a few too many 6.5 Creedmoor rounds at the range, while others are just looking for an upgrade to keep their accuracy razor-sharp.
Typical AR-15
Whatever your reason for changing the barrel to your AR, understand one thing: your barrel isn’t something that you want to cut corners on.
If this is your first time replacing the barrel to your AR, or if you’ve finally decided to build an AR from the ground-up, make sure to check out the barrel section to our AR-15 guide before you get started. It has all the information you need to level you up from noob status. Take a look at it even if you’re building an AR-10, as some of the general information regarding barrels is the same between platforms.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the best manufacturers for AR barrels.
Faxon Firearms
Established in 2012, Faxon Firearms is a new up-and-comer in the industry. But don’t mistake their newcomer status as inexperience. Faxon barrels have been a fan favorite over the past few years because of their accuracy, durability, and lightweight design.
You can find Faxon’s barrels chambered for a number of different cartridges commonly used with the AR-15, but the most common ones you’ll encounter are the:
.223 Wylde
5.56 NATO / .223 Remington
.308 Win (for the AR-10)
They also make 9mm barrels for your pistol-caliber carbines as well.
Faxon makes a number of different lengths, so finding the right barrel to fit your unique specifications shouldn’t be a problem. Let’s take a look at one of their more popular barrels.
The Pencil Barrel
Faxon’s Pencil Barrels are a line of lightweight barrels that come in a number of different sizes. The most popular of the group tends to be the 16” mid-length barrel, which has a .625” low-profile gas block and weighs a total of 1.2lbs.
One of the best things about Pencil Barrels is that they’re affordable and average between $150 and $170 depending on the length. They’re made with the standard 4150 steel used on all mil-spec barrels, but you have the option of choosing a match-grade 416R stainless steel barrel instead, as long as you’re okay with the sticker price doubling.
Regardless of which barrel material you decide to go with, your Faxon Pencil Barrel will come with a QPQ nitride finishing that keeps it protected from corrosion and common wear-and-tear.
The great thing about Faxon barrels is that you get an affordable price tag and a high-quality barrel. For this reason, it’s important to make the distinction between being a bargain and being cheap – because the Pencil Barrel is anything but cheap.
You’ll find that this barrel can withstand heavy use without wearing own and sacrificing accuracy. If you’re someone who likes to put their AR-15 to work consistently, you won’t be disappointed. And if you’re still not sold, take a look at our comprehensive review of the 14.5” Pencil Barrel and decide for yourself.
Ballistic Advantage
Ballistic Advantage is a well-known company that specializes in match-grade barrels and replacement barrels for your AR-15 build.
What’s cool about BA barrels is that the company doesn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to barrel design. Most barrels belong to one of the following series: Modern, Performance, or Premium. Each series is designed to fulfill a specific need for the shooter, while also giving them the chance to stick to their price range or only pay for features that they actually need. They also come in a number of different lengths, starting at pistol and going all the way up to a 20” rifle length.
Assorted Barrels by Ballistic Advantage
One of the chief gripes that people had about Ballistic Advantage was that they didn’t make barrels for the increasingly popular 6.5 Grendel round. Fortunately, they’ve recently remedied that and now support Grendel and .22 Nosler rounds, along with all of the usual AR-15 suspects –including the 9x19mm pistol-caliber carbine.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the best AR barrels Ballistic Advantage has to offer.
Modern Series
The Modern Series is Ballistic Advantage’s baseline barrel series. They’re going to run you anywhere between $140 and $185 depending on the barrel length. And for AR-15 pistols, a Modern Series barrel will set you back about $115.
Ballistic Advantage 16” Modern Series Unthreaded Barrel for the 5.56
Despite being the company’s cheapest option, the Modern Series is perfect for the basic shooter who’s looking for longevity and decent accuracy, but doesn’t need to worry about the demands of competitive shooting.
The barrels are made from 4150 Chrome Molybdenum Vanadium and are given a protective QPQ finish. They also give the barrel extension and barrel separately, in order to prevent the extensions from loosening over time due to heat.
Performance Series
The Performance Series are a little more expensive, ranging between $200 and $250 depending on the length of the barrel. With Performance Series barrels, you get the same quality that comes with the Modern series, along with a nickel boron-coated extension. The benefit of this is that you get further protection against corrosion, rust, and wear caused from abrasive agents.
Ballistic Advantage 16” AR-15 Performance Series barrel for the 5.45 Russian
Unlike the Modern Series, the end of every performance barrels has a recessed 11-degree target crown. Not only does this give the barrel an atheistic boost, it also helps to protect the crown from damage that could affect the bullet’s spin.
Premium Series
Ballistic Advantage’s premium series barrels aren’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but they are constructed with a superior craftsmanship that sets then a notch above your average barrel manufacturer. You can expect a Premium Series barrel to run you anywhere between $300 to $400, depending on the length and its specifications.
Ballistic Advantage 18” AR-10 Premium Series barrel for the 6.5 Creedmoor
You can find the Premium Series barrels available for the .223 Wylde, .300 BLK, .308 Win, and 6.5 Creedmoor for your AR-15 and AR-10 builds. Like the Performance Series, every premium barrel has the same 11-degree target crown. But what sets this series apart is the barrel material, 416R Stainless Steel, which was chosen specifically to maximize precision and accuracy.
With the Premium Series, you have the option between choosing a fluted or non-fluted design. And most barrels come threaded, although there are a few unthreaded variants in each of the three series.
Christensen Arms
Christensen Arms was founded by aerospace engineer, Roland Christensen who envisioned a new way to build superior firearms. The company has a two-decade long reputation of developing some of the finest rifle parts and fully-assembled gun builds around.
Christensen is also the first company to develop the carbon fiber barrel, which tend to trump other barrels in pretty much every way except price.
And boy do they cost more – approximately double the price tag of your finest steel barrel, to be exact. Still, your carbon fiber barrel delivers better accuracy, durability, and barrel life than other barrels on the market, all while being significantly lighter in weight.
Let’s look at a couple carbon fiber barrels for your AR build.
The benefits of this barrel are pretty straightforward. Its carbon fiber design means that you get better accuracy and durability than you would with a 4150 or 4140 steel barrel, and the match-grade 416R stainless steel barrel lining ensures that precision and accuracy is delivered with every shot.
The barrel comes with a threaded muzzle, gives a twist ratio of 1:10”, and weighs under two pounds.
AR-15 Carbon Fiber Barrel with 2” Gas Seat
It’s pretty much the same as the AR-10 variant. However, unlike the AR-10, you have more options to choose from when purchasing this carbon fiber barrel.
.204 Ruger – length of 16” or 20”; twist rate of 1:10” or 1:12”
.223 Wylde – length of 11.5”, 14.5”, 16”, or 18”; twist rate of 1:7”, 1:8”, or 1:9”
5.56 NATO – length of 16”; twist rate of 1:8”
6.5 Grendel – length of 24”; twist rate of 1:8”
If you’re looking for a good, lightweight barrel that can carry you through competitive shooting and hunting, Christensen’s carbon fiber AR-15 barrel is a pretty solid choice.
Odin Works
Odin Works is another good company that specializes in making parts for your AR-15 and AR-10 builds.
When it comes to barrels, Odin specializes in high-quality 416R Stainless Steel barrels which have been designed with the sole purpose of providing maximum accuracy. They offer a number of different barrels ranging between $300 and $450 in varying lengths.
In fact, Odin Works is so confident that their barrels are a peg above the rest that they guarantee sub-MOA shooting at 100 yards away.
Here are some of their more popular barrels:
6.5mm Creedmoor 22” Rifle Barrel
This stainless steel AR-10 barrel is pricier and therefore not ideal for the budget hobbits. But if you are looking to splurge on a match-grade barrel that promises superior accuracy, but you don’t want to drop the extra 150 bucks on a carbon fiber barrel, then look no further.
The barrel comes with a gas tube which has been extended by 2” in order to deliver smoother shooting with high pressure cartridges.
Because the 6.5 Creedmoor barrel is fairly long and has an XL gas tube, you can expect it to be a little heavier than others (about 3 ½ pounds), but it’s definitely a must-have for anyone who values accuracy over anything else.
Other features of the barrel include: 1:8” twist rate and 5/8-24 threading.
6.5 Grendel 18” Barrel
The 6.5 Grendel is becoming one of the more popular cartridges for the AR-15, and for good reason. It’s accurate, powerful, and not nearly as harsh on the barrel as some of the other heavy hitters out there. With that in mind, it’s never a bad idea to maximize your accuracy with a high-quality 6.5 Grendel barrel like the one from Odin Works.
Like all of Odin Works’ barrels, the 18” Grendel barrel is made from a superior 416R stainless steel in order to guarantee accuracy and precision with every shot. It weighs just under 2 ½ pounds and comes with an intermediate gas tube.
Have Fun Upgrading Your AR
That should do it for my list of favorite AR barrel manufacturers. If you’re shooting with someone else that you swear by, feel free to let us know what you’re working with.
And if you’re new to the AR modding and would like to learn more about upgrading your rifle, take a look at our list of favorite AR-15 upgrades.
After weeks of rumors, the deal is done — Disney will buy up large chunks of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox media empire for $52 billion. The list of what it won’t take is shorter: the Fox News cable channel, broadcast networks and Fox Sports, which are expected to spin off as their own business. The Disney conglomerate adds the Fox movie and TV studios (including big-name franchises like X-Men, Avatar,Alien and The Simpsons), majority control of Hulu, FX cable networks and $13.7 billion in debt. On top of that, Fox is attempting to acquire the parts of UK’s Sky that it doesn’t already own, and if that’s successful then Disney will get it too.
While possible implications for the Marvel Cinematic Universe will come to any comic book movie fan’s mind first — yes, Deadpool and the Fantastic Four are included — this purchase is all about Disney’s place in a changing TV landscape. As cord-cutting has increased and subscribers have shifted away from mainstays like ESPN, Disney is bulking up and preparing to launch its own streaming service in 2019 — which now has a much larger library to pull from.
Just in time for Hanukkah, Christmas, and the New Year — our Maker Skill Builder Humble Bundle offers up to $227 worth of killer content for just $20.
Running through Dec. 27 and, as always, supporting the Maker Education Initiative, the final Humble of the year has two mystery books that will be “unlocked” on Wednesday, Dec. 20, and features two brand-new Jumpstarting books written specifically for this event.
Our Humble-only Jumpstarting ebook series provides a quick three-part avenue for makers to swiftly glean topical knowledge. Each book starts with instructions on how to install or initialize the hardware or software needed to reach the all-important “Hello, World” stage. The second project builds on the first to use more of the hardware or software’s capabilities. The final build expands the user’s knowledge into lesser-know aspects of the topic.
All Jumpstarting projects are specifically devised for makers — they provide hands-on, real-world experience in making the hardware or software do what you want it to do.
With this Humble Bundle, we launch Jumpstarting C and Jumpstarting JavaScript, two great tutorials for getting up to speed on these languages well before the resolutions wear off. And there’s nowhere else to get them but here!
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I find myself reaching for this titanium nitride shop snip a couple of times per week. It is like nice sharp pair of scissors with (almost) the power of tinsnips. It is VERY sharp and will cut through tough materials like vinyl cove base, nylon pallet strapping, or rope quite easily. I recently had to cut some vinyl trim that was too thick for scissors, but got mangled up with tinsnips. This tool cut the material perfectly. Fiskars says this about the Titanium Nitride coating: “EXTREMELY DURABLE Titanium Nitride coating resists wear, nicks and scratches as well as corrosive chemicals and sticky substances while reducing friction for easier cuts.” I found the rubber grip is comfortable and the tool is very easy to control. It seems very well made. It has nice little touches such as: the tab that keeps the blades locked closed is powdercoated.
The official Star Wars Twitter account shared one final short trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi yesterday, commemorating “VIII days” until the movie’s premiere. It’s only 30 seconds long, and it’s in that infuriating social video aspect ratio, but the new teaser does include some perplexing new material.
While the new spot uses a fair bit of footage we’ve seen in previous trailers, there are a handful of new shots—one of them quite provocative for the types of fans who revel in speculation and theories. So if you want to go into each shot fresh, watch before reading. And if you want to go into the movie totally fresh, don’t watch the trailer at all.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi “VIII days” trailer
Trailer details
In this trailer, we get several more shots of Poe Dameron in action behind the throttle of his X-Wing—they comprise the majority of what’s new here. But we also get a glimpse at a stormtrooper preparing what looks like an energy axe, for lack of a better term.
But the most striking shot is the last one—in it, Rey takes and wields what looks like Kylo Ren’s red lightsaber during some kind of altercation in Snoke’s red throne room. There are a lot of reasons this could happen, some significant and some not. It could be that Kyle Ren was incapacitated, so she grabbed his weapon in a time of crisis. It could be that they team up, and he gives her his weapon so she can fight Snoke.
The other explanation is that Rey has in fact turned to the dark side—maybe the Snoke throne room scene involves a shocking switcheroo in which Kylo Ren sees the light and Rey goes dark as they swap lightsabers in a confrontation. But most of the trailers to date have teased that Rey might turn to the dark side, and they’ve done it with such volume and consistency that leads me to believe that’s not going to happen; they wouldn’t spoil something that big in the trailers, right? Besides, the Leia going dark fan theory is a lot more fun.
A Gun is a Tool for Moms to Use to Protect Their Kids: Quote of the Day
courtesy Facebook.com
“For the longest time it’s always been assumed that it’s the men who are the protectors. But when you really start to ask, ‘Who is the most responsible person in the household?’… It’s the mom! It’s my job to protect my family with whatever tools are available, and a firearm is just another one of those tools.” – Amanda Suffecool in I Took A Ladies Handgun Fundamentals Course — Here’s Why [via refinery29.com]
A Gun is a Tool for Moms to Use to Protect Their Kids: Quote of the Day
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is a man on a mission. He’s like everyone else in this country in so far as he doesn’t want to see another Sutherland Springs. He especially doesn’t want to see another one in Texas.
Patrick requested Friday that Paxton issue an opinion clarifying whether congregants can bring guns to church and whether churches are exempt from state fees for creating volunteer security teams. Patrick said in the request that he hoped Paxton could inform more churches “what legal options they have to improve their security.”
Patrick made it clear in his letter to the attorney general that he feels state law allows congregants to bring guns to church unless a sign at the door says otherwise. He also wrote that a recently passed law exempts churches from fees other institutions must pay to form their own security forces.
The law in question just went into effect in September, just a matter of weeks before the tragedy in Sutherland Springs. It allows churches to have armed volunteer security teams without having to pay state fees to license the volunteers. Those fees can be fairly steep, thus creating a burden on smaller churches. The measure’s author, State Rep. Matt Rinaldi, noted last month that he believed that many churches were unaware of the new law.
While many look at Sutherland Springs as evidence that more gun control is needed, they ignore the fact that one armed congregant may have stopped the whole thing before it started.
Of course, gun control advocates scoff at the whole use of the word “may” and note that we know he killed plenty of people, and that’s true. It’s also irrelevant since an armed citizen outside the church engaged the killer and put an end to his rampage.
More armed congregants in more churches may well make churches poor target choices for future mass shooters. After all, these guys are motivated by big body counts. They want fame and notoriety. They relish the idea of everyone knowing their name. That’s part of why we don’t use their names here at Bearing Arms.
However, if they know they won’t get their infamy at a church because they’ll be killed far too quickly, they’ll move on somewhere else.
Harden enough targets by having armed citizens present and eventually we’ll see these dipsticks stop trying to get fame this way. If they want fame, it’ll become much easier to learn how to sing or play a sport than to try and shoot up a house of worship.
If you hit that point, you no longer have to worry. There’s a reason that gun control will never work, and this is it.