Friday, June 3, 2011

Ok, so i was all set to choose the M&P 15 MOE, but THEN ...

My local dealer is having a one-day deal on the SIG 556 Classic with a rotary diopter.  I fell in love with this rifle by looking and holding it a few months back, but I read some bad reviews (primarily too heavy @ 1.5 lbs over the average AR-15 weight) and too overpriced (about $1400 with a rear diopter, $1600 with a SIG brand cheap-ass red dot optic.  Here it is:  Isn't she sweet?    What a great deal.  Now I'm a little conflicted. At full retail, it's a no-brainer -- I'd go with the M&P.  But at this price, the SIG is such a great bargain, I might have to reconsider.  Thoughts?

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Choosing my next firearm ...

When I set out to build my collection, I had a few key needs that I wanted to fill on a priority basis:

1.  Pistol for Home Protection  -- check.
2.  Pistol for Personal Protection -- check.
3.  Smaller Pistol for Personal Protection when wearing light clothing -- check.
4.  Pistol for Competition Shooting -- check.
5.  Back-up Pistol for Home Protection -- check.
6.  Versatile Hunting Rifle -- check.

The next step was to accesorize as needed:

1.  Multiple magazines for all firearms -- check.
2.  Holster, belts and mag holders for heavy/light carry and competition -- check.
3.  New sights, barrel and trigger system for competition shooting -- check.
4.  Optics and sling for hunting rifle -- check.
5.  Range bag and hunting backpack -- check.
6.  Cleaning kits and gunsmithing tools -- check.
7.  Plenty of ammo for all firearms -- check.
8.  Pistol safes to keep all pistols locked -- check.
9.  Hard case to transport hunting rifle -- check.

So, what's next?  The obvious missing elements to forming a well-rounded collection (aside from a safe to keep them all in) are an assault rifle and a shotgun.  Indeed, whether it's for sporting carbine competitions, clay pigeon busting or zombie annihilation, everyone should own at least one AR-15 and one shotgun.  I would also like to have one long-range pistol in the form of an FNH 5.7.  Some would say that I need a revolver or two, but for some reason, I just can't get into them.  I really like the semiautos and can think of several others I'd buy before I would even consider a revolver.

At this stage, a shotgun is simply out of the question.  This is true because when I buy a shotgun, I'm buying a BADASS over/under shotgun that can withstand the pounding of shooting thousands of clay pigeons at the local table-trap range.  Those shotguns, my friends, don't come cheap.  None of my guns or wish list future guns are cheap, but a truly well-crafted sporting shotgun is not cheap on a whole other level.  Think decent used japanese sedan price range.

I'd REALLY REALLY REALLY like to buy the FNH 5.7 and it would require the least capital outlay of the bunch (which matters since I've been cut off from "house money" for firearms purchases and forced to rely on my personal allowance until 2012).  However, it's kind of hard to buy another handgun when I don't own a decent assault rifle or sporting carbine.

Thus, I think the logical choice is an AR-15.  I've had my eye on the S&W M&P-15 MOE.  At first, I really wanted it in flat dark earth (shown in the link).  Lately, I've been thinking all black is the way to go.  I'm going to have to give this some more thought.  Yep, I think that's the right choice.  I can spend the rest of the year accumulating magazines and saving for the insanely expensive optics I want to mount on it,  then look into the FNH 5.7 around the holidays.  That leaves early 2012 to accumulate funds for the right shotgun before the trap shooting season gets into full swing.