Got my 6.8 last week and my MD law limited 10rnd magazines yesterday.
[MD's gun laws are a joke. It is legal for me to own higher capacity mags, I just can't buy them here. So I'll grab a couple in neighboring VA when I have the opportunity.]
The upper and lower are by a local company, Engage Armament, which has to be one of the last hold outs in the gun manufacturing business in the Leftist Republic of Maryland.
The rifle has a White Oak Armory 16" bead blasted SS barrel and a BCM slim aluminum/magnesium alloy lightweight hand guard. Can't recall who made the butt stock, but I tried several at Engage and chose this one for fit and cheek weld and because it didn't rattle. Trigger is a Geissele G2S, which is a two stage, 4.5lb non adjustable trigger, which I find crisp and clean with virtually no over travel and think is a good compromise for SHTF and hunting use. Bare rifle weight without mag is 6.6lbs.
FWIW, the rail section in front of the magazine well is where I mount a panning bipod with a QD mount. I found by trial and error that if you are using a bipod when predator hunting the further rearward the bipod is mounted the easier it is to pan to cover a wider FOV with less movement. The sling point on that rail is temporary while I wait for the right mount for in front of that rail section. I shoot long guns lefty, but my 15yr old son is a righty. I'm a bit mixed hand since I shoot pistols and bows righty and play pool lefty. I don't find the operation of a right handed AR awkward or slow in any way, so I have decided, at least for now, that our AR's will be righty and I will adapt. Sling mounts on our rifles will be centerline or both sides.
The scope is a 1.25x4 Swarovski in a Bobro mount, and it will switch with the EoTech next to it in the photo. This is the rifle on which I hope to mount either an Apollo or IR MKII as a clip on. If I go IR, and I think I will, I will try it as a scope as well, to see which I prefer. But I am hoping to use the Apollo or the MKII as a spotter and then weapon mount for approach.
I have four hundred rounds of 6.8 ammo, half FMJ and half Hornaday 120 SST. I've been kicked out of the house this weekend since my wife and 18yr old daughter are hosting a prom after party, so this weekend both the 5.56 and the 6.8 are going to get a work out on the range at one of my hunting clubs. [I offered to stay home and clean guns in the kitchen all Saturday night, but my daughter didn't take me up on the offer. FWIW, I am a life member of D.A.D.D.s - Dads Against Daughters Dating.]
I am going to pick up a 5.56 upper for this rifle so both my son and I have 5.56 rifles in case SHTF. I have several thousand rounds of 5.56 just in case. I am 53yrs old and live less than a mile from the DC border, about a 20min drive to the Whitehouse or Capital. If you had asked me if I thought taking some SHTF precautions was necessary seven years ago I would have thought you were wearing a tin foil hat. Now I have taken some precautions and worry what might happen on or after Friday, January 20 2017, which is Inauguration Day. Maybe before.
ETA: I got the 6.8 because my son and I have done some hog hunting and really enjoyed it. And also because my daughter will be attending Southern Methodist University in Dallas next year. And I WILL visit her toting my rifle for extra curricular porcine activities!
JPK
[MD's gun laws are a joke. It is legal for me to own higher capacity mags, I just can't buy them here. So I'll grab a couple in neighboring VA when I have the opportunity.]
The upper and lower are by a local company, Engage Armament, which has to be one of the last hold outs in the gun manufacturing business in the Leftist Republic of Maryland.
The rifle has a White Oak Armory 16" bead blasted SS barrel and a BCM slim aluminum/magnesium alloy lightweight hand guard. Can't recall who made the butt stock, but I tried several at Engage and chose this one for fit and cheek weld and because it didn't rattle. Trigger is a Geissele G2S, which is a two stage, 4.5lb non adjustable trigger, which I find crisp and clean with virtually no over travel and think is a good compromise for SHTF and hunting use. Bare rifle weight without mag is 6.6lbs.
FWIW, the rail section in front of the magazine well is where I mount a panning bipod with a QD mount. I found by trial and error that if you are using a bipod when predator hunting the further rearward the bipod is mounted the easier it is to pan to cover a wider FOV with less movement. The sling point on that rail is temporary while I wait for the right mount for in front of that rail section. I shoot long guns lefty, but my 15yr old son is a righty. I'm a bit mixed hand since I shoot pistols and bows righty and play pool lefty. I don't find the operation of a right handed AR awkward or slow in any way, so I have decided, at least for now, that our AR's will be righty and I will adapt. Sling mounts on our rifles will be centerline or both sides.
The scope is a 1.25x4 Swarovski in a Bobro mount, and it will switch with the EoTech next to it in the photo. This is the rifle on which I hope to mount either an Apollo or IR MKII as a clip on. If I go IR, and I think I will, I will try it as a scope as well, to see which I prefer. But I am hoping to use the Apollo or the MKII as a spotter and then weapon mount for approach.
I have four hundred rounds of 6.8 ammo, half FMJ and half Hornaday 120 SST. I've been kicked out of the house this weekend since my wife and 18yr old daughter are hosting a prom after party, so this weekend both the 5.56 and the 6.8 are going to get a work out on the range at one of my hunting clubs. [I offered to stay home and clean guns in the kitchen all Saturday night, but my daughter didn't take me up on the offer. FWIW, I am a life member of D.A.D.D.s - Dads Against Daughters Dating.]
I am going to pick up a 5.56 upper for this rifle so both my son and I have 5.56 rifles in case SHTF. I have several thousand rounds of 5.56 just in case. I am 53yrs old and live less than a mile from the DC border, about a 20min drive to the Whitehouse or Capital. If you had asked me if I thought taking some SHTF precautions was necessary seven years ago I would have thought you were wearing a tin foil hat. Now I have taken some precautions and worry what might happen on or after Friday, January 20 2017, which is Inauguration Day. Maybe before.
ETA: I got the 6.8 because my son and I have done some hog hunting and really enjoyed it. And also because my daughter will be attending Southern Methodist University in Dallas next year. And I WILL visit her toting my rifle for extra curricular porcine activities!
JPK
