Bartholomew Roberts
Member
I thought briansmithwins outlined a pretty nice rifle if you don't want the NFA hassle. I do like the adjustable stocks though since it can be handy for everything from wearing a ton of gear to teaching others how to shoot.
The DD 7.0 with aluminium barrel nut is actually lighter than M4 double-heat shield handguards with a GI barrel nut. The DD 9.0 with aluminium barrel nut is the same weight as plastic handguards. Other handguards that are within a few ounces of that are the DD Lite and Larue.
Not sure what a picatinny section weighs; but handguards and picatinny are going to be close in weight to the above named rails. The handguards will be cheaper; but the rails will free-float the barrel, offer better cooling, give a more stable attachment point and offer more versatility.
You certainly don't have to have one to do what you need to do; but depending on your needs and wants, it might be worth the extra expense.
Like most choices, this has a lot to do with personal preference. Some shooters find that even with two eyes open, a fixed front sight post obscures part of the view and prefer to run with a flip front. However, if the red dot fails, they will be slower to transition to irons. At close ranges <25yds you can just center your target in the dead optic and that will work will enough on IPSC targets to let you finish without transitioning to irons. The other issue with Picatinny gas blocks is that most are set-screwed and are more likely to come loose than a pinned gas block (although it usually requires some fairly hardcore shooting to shift even a set-screwed gas block). If your gas block shifts on the barrel, you now have a straight-pull bolt action. On the other hand, there are pinned lo-profile and picatinny gas blocks out there.
For people who aren't comfortable with the centering the optic trick at close range, using your dead optic like a large ghost ring with a fixed front sight, will let you make hits out to about 50yds on an IPSC target.
Some people aren't comfortable even with that and run fixed rear and front sights with the red dot so that they can transition to irons through the dead optic. If you do this, be sure to sight the irons AFTER you have mounted the optic.
On slings, I either run a single point or a two-point like the VCAS or VTAC slings. Zak Smith has a good article on slings somewhere that is worth reading.
The DD 7.0 with aluminium barrel nut is actually lighter than M4 double-heat shield handguards with a GI barrel nut. The DD 9.0 with aluminium barrel nut is the same weight as plastic handguards. Other handguards that are within a few ounces of that are the DD Lite and Larue.
Not sure what a picatinny section weighs; but handguards and picatinny are going to be close in weight to the above named rails. The handguards will be cheaper; but the rails will free-float the barrel, offer better cooling, give a more stable attachment point and offer more versatility.
You certainly don't have to have one to do what you need to do; but depending on your needs and wants, it might be worth the extra expense.
Like most choices, this has a lot to do with personal preference. Some shooters find that even with two eyes open, a fixed front sight post obscures part of the view and prefer to run with a flip front. However, if the red dot fails, they will be slower to transition to irons. At close ranges <25yds you can just center your target in the dead optic and that will work will enough on IPSC targets to let you finish without transitioning to irons. The other issue with Picatinny gas blocks is that most are set-screwed and are more likely to come loose than a pinned gas block (although it usually requires some fairly hardcore shooting to shift even a set-screwed gas block). If your gas block shifts on the barrel, you now have a straight-pull bolt action. On the other hand, there are pinned lo-profile and picatinny gas blocks out there.
For people who aren't comfortable with the centering the optic trick at close range, using your dead optic like a large ghost ring with a fixed front sight, will let you make hits out to about 50yds on an IPSC target.
Some people aren't comfortable even with that and run fixed rear and front sights with the red dot so that they can transition to irons through the dead optic. If you do this, be sure to sight the irons AFTER you have mounted the optic.
On slings, I either run a single point or a two-point like the VCAS or VTAC slings. Zak Smith has a good article on slings somewhere that is worth reading.
