Part of me thought I’d never see it, and part of me thought that it would eventually happen: the sub-$400 AR. Let me put this i perspective..a new AR for the price of a used Glock.

I probably wouldn’t have it as my primary gun for the zombie apocalypse, but I’d have no problem sticking a couple in a closet and reselling them to people who were too shortsighted to think that the ‘assault weapons’ hooplah wasn’t gone for good.

From MGE Wholesale.

Before the election, I wanted to pick up some more Glock happysticks. They are moderately practical for pistol use, but at some point I plan on having a Glock-mag-compatible carbine and I’d like to have some mags on hand for when that day happens. Anyway, the Glock-branded mags are, of course, flawless. They are also, of course, expensive. Magpul is supposed to be coming out with their own version, and based on my experience with their 17-rd mags I have no reason to think they won’t be an excellent alternative to the Glock magazine. But….Magpul is taking their time getting the bloody things on the market. Alternatives are the Scherer (utter junk) brand mags and the Korean (hit-n-miss with an emphasis on ‘miss’) mags. But, nature (and the market) abhor a vacuum. One of my regular reads is Tam’s blog and in it I found this post. Tam shoot’s more in a month than many of us shoot in a year, and I’m not one of those gunnies who gets hung up on who has two x-chromosomes and who doesn’t, so I respect her opinion. If she’s having a good experience with them, that’s enough for me to try a few. So…Palmetto has a sale on the ETS happysticks and I ordered up a few. So…when they get here we’ll see how they run.

So the election is around the corner. Because Im a survivalist, I have to be prepared for possible outcomes that will affect me. So…there’s is a vendor in the midwest right now who just sold a metric buttload of Magpul Glock magazines to some rude survivalist dude in Montana. I asked him how  they were selling. He said they’d sold over 100,000 in the last month. I don’t believe that, but I do believe that by this time next week his remaining inventory of 800 mags will gone.

It has been 12 years, or three Presidential election cycles, since the Clinton Assault Weapons Ban expired. If you had bought one magazine (your choice of flavors..AR, AK, Glock, whatever) every month since then you wold have a gross (thats 12 dozen, or 144) magazines for your favorite boomtoy. But many people didn’t do that. In fact, many people just shrugged their shoulders and did nothing to hedge their bets. Those people are now on the phone to CDNN listening to a recorded voice say “..you are caller number..85..in queue..”.

Assuming that youve been into preparedness/guns since that time, there is no excuse for you to not have your lifetime of magazines. In fact, the sunset of the AW ban was your ‘second chance’…your Jimmy Stewart “Wonderful Life” moment…to relive your magazine/gun buying past. Did you make the most of it?

So why did I buy more mags? A few reasons..first, while I have what I think I’ll need for the rest of my life I am a big fan of overkill. Second, these are mostly for resale at exploitative  prices to whiners who will say “You’re price gouging! That magazine only cost you ten dollars!”. And I will say, “Yes it did, the other $90 is for you expecting me to cover your twelve years of cluelessness.” And, finally, I just like having them. It’s a giver of warm-fuzzies…like food in the freezer, gas in the cans, money in the bank, and Jennifer Lawrence’s panties on my bedpost.

All is not entirely lost….once the election is done, the laws won’t really change until after the inauguration. Thus, you have about a two month window to really kick it into high gear…as millions of other people try to do the same. Perhaps with the new administration they won’t get around to ‘the gun issue’ for a little while, or at all, but You. Dont. Know.

And this is important: Any new ban will not be like the old one. Do you really think they’ll put in a sunset clause? Or an exemption for specific named guns? Do you really think they’ll simply copy the 1994 ban and run it up the flagpole again without changing it to suit their goals? Don’t be silly!

Yup, you’re going to spend a couple hundred dollars on magazines. Here’s something to help you put that in perspective:

Twenty years ago.

Today

You young whippersnappers may not remember it, but there was a time that you would think you’d stumbled onto gold if you found a guy selling a used Glock 33-round happystick for less than $125. Today, you can buy three of them for that price…more if you shop around carefully. I’ve a tall .50 can full of ones (Glock-made) that I paid $20/@ years ago.

And if I’m wrong….if a Republican-controlled Senate and House hamstrings the new President and no new laws are enacted (what are the odds??) then what? Was it a waste of money? Nope. You still have something you want, and can use. Plus, and this is just my personal take on it, another ban will happen. If it doesn’t happen this administration, it’ll happen in another. But…like hurricanes and earthquakes, we may not know when but we know it will happen.

Oh, and not to jinx things, but I will bet that sometime between now and the inauguration, there will be a high-profile mass-shooting to reinforce the whole “we must ban them’ message. I hope I’m wrong, but I dont think I will be.

Suggested reading: Mag Speculating.

My life, broadly speaking, is a swirling cesspool of despair and hopelessness from which no ray of hope can ever escape. BUT…once in a very rare while, Fortuna, perhaps feeling sorry for me, will discreetly put her finger on the scale and tip it in my direction. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens often enough, like the occasional royal flush, to make me stay in the game. Case in point, todays totally unexpected surprise:

Yes, there is a small patch of wear from where the previous owner had an HK carry handle mounted on the gun, but this is an otherwise unfired, genuine, honest-to-Crom, HK-91 in the box, circa 1981.

A longtime friend of mine came by an announced he was thinning out his collection and gave this thing (and it’s bayonet) to me. I’ve had very few pleasant surprises in my life but this was one of them. I know, I know…most of you are still bouncing the word ‘gave’ around in your head. Yes, gave. As in “Here is an astronomically expensive gun that most people would have sex with a Cuisinart in order to possess. Take it, it’s yours. Free of charge.”

For those not in the know, these things were banned from import back in the 80’s. Of course, that immediately raised their value and they now trade somewhere in the range of what a decent used pickup truck costs.

Being a fatalist, I am terrified. If something this good happens to me, there has to be something equally bad out there waiting in the wings to balance the scales.

For those who havent figured it out yet, this posts title refers to the ‘unooficial’ motto of HK.

If you feel the 7.62×39 meets your anticipated needs, then the rifle to go with is an AK. If you think your needs are best met with .223, then getting anything other than an AR variant puts you at a logistical and economical disadvantage. Things get weird when you hit the .308, though. No particular platform has the overwhelming advantage of numbers like those other two have within their respective calibers. The AR in .223  is in first place and whatever is in second is probably outnumbered by an order of ten. The AK is in top place in 7.62×39, and beats the second place gun by a pretty heavy margin as well.

And the .308? Well, just off the top of my head: AR, AK, HK, FAL, M1A, and a few other platforms are out there. And whichever one is in first place has the next-ran pretty close behind.

Years ago, I bought a copy of the HK91 made by JLD (now PTR). HK-style rifles are notorious for being tough to clone well. PTR makes one of the best, and the most affordable, clones out there. A couple of detractions about the HK platform were it’s unsuitability for optics and it’s magazine release. PTR brought out a new version of their PTR-91 line that specifically addresses those issues.

The new PTR-91 rifles have, as an option, a Picatinny rail mounted to the top of the receiver. This eliminates the need for the old style ‘claw mount’ that put the scope waaaay above the bore axis. This is a nice improvement, but not nearly as nice as the next improvement: paddle mag release.

Real G3 rifles (the basis of the HK91) have an AK-style paddle mag release. But, to be approved by ATF for import, the semi-auto versions required some modifications to prevent the use of full-auto parts. One of the easy ways to do that was to modify the area of the gun where that paddle release was. As a result, the semi-autos just have the button mag release, whereas the G3 has the button and a paddle release. Now, you could gunsmith a paddle release if you were careful, and some gunsmiths did offer that service. But now you can get it straight form the factory.

That’s two of the greatest complaints about the HK platform resolved. Still present is the rather brutal recoil from the roller-locked system that operates the gun. There’s no free lunch in physics, and the awesome reliability of the gasless system is paid for with a bit more pronounced recoil.

A couple other changes PTR has made include changing the muzzle threads from the original metric 1×15 metric pitch to the more common 5/8×24 that will allow virtually any aftermarket .308 muzzle device to be used. Additionally, in the last year or so, PTR changed the fluting back to the original HK-style after people complained about issues with tar-sealed ammo gumming up the flutes and causing problems.

And, finally, while they still offer the ‘Navy’-style polymer lowers, the “GI” series is available with the traditional steel lower…making for slightly heavier but more robust firearm.

Although the days of ninety-seven cent mags from Cheaper Than Dirt are behind us, you can still find HK91 mags for less than $5…which puts them leaps ahead of most other .308 rifle mags.

So, if you’re in the market for a .308 battle rifle, and you need to watch your pennies, the PTR is an outrageous bargain.

Which is why I have one sitting here……let’s check it out.

Here’s one of the biggest differences that immediately catches the eye: the newer GI model appears to use surplus steel lower receivers whereas many of the earlier PTR’s had the polymer ‘Navy’ receivers. And, yes, the lower is marked S-E-F..which, along with the paddle mag release, makes this thing a dead ringer for a real G3 if you ignore that rail. Naturally someone will chime in with something about how you’ll get popped by overzealous cops who think you’re toting a real full-auto G3. :::eyeroll::: First of all, how many cops have you met that know gun minutiae enough to tell the difference at a glance between a G3 and an HK91? Second, if you’re waltzing around with a .308 battle rifle and draw the attention of a cop, odds are pretty good he’s going to come up and have a conversation with you anyway…full auto or semi auto. So..non-issue.

Notice the newer style has the paddle magazine release whereas the older style does not.

The picatinny rail….

And the new 5/8×24 threaded muzzle device. This rifle will now take any muzzle brake or suppressor that takes the far more common Imperial thread.

And about a year or so ago, they went back to the original HK-style chamber fluting…for those of us who still have tar-sealed ammo floating around.

Older style chamber fluting on left, current chamber fluting

PTR moved their factory from Ct to SC a few years back and I was worried about that move creating some quality issues. There are a few things on this new PTR I’m not liking.

• The parkerizing is great, but they parked everything. Parts that move against each other are a bit gritty and will need to wear in. The paddle mag release, for example, is pretty stiff and I think thats because the contact surfaces were parkerized as well.
• The takedown pins are tight in those holes. Again, I think thats the parkerizing. Should loosen up a tad over time.
• Same story for the charging of rifle. A little gritty. Not as smooth as my old PTRs.
• Surplus furniture doesn’t fit perfectly. Forward handguard is a little loose. Easily remedied with a shim. However, when you use surplus parts you should expect some issues like that. I’m not going to fuss.

Rifle shipped with one mag. No sling. No instructions. No nothin’. Just a surplus (ca.1969) aluminum mag.

Many vendors are discounting the older style of PTR to move them out and make room for these newer versions. If you can live without the rail, thread change, and paddle (which many people do on their $3000 original HK91s) go snap some up at the closeout prices. When you order, make sure you find out which model of PTR youre getting…the older or the newer. The newer models have different model numbers than the older style. The newer guns are PTR100, PTR101, etc. Older style use completely different SKU’s.

One other thing, may people like to say that the HK rifles eat up the brass so it can’tbe reloaded. Nonsense. The case mouths get dinged sometimes but they are easily un-dinged with a bullet or other tool. And those distinctive flutes do nothing to keep you from resizing the brass and re-using it. It’s a non-issue.

Links:

• PTR homepage – see whats available and check model numbers
• RobertRTG – excellent source for HK parts, esp. surplus items and spare parts.
• HKParts.net – Self explanatory
• Specter CQB Sling for HK – My favorite sling for the PTR-91
• Sighting in

This is interesting:

The very interesting part is that this totally supports the long-standing generally recognized principle that knife-wielders within seven yards are a viable threat. Note that Adam gets the shot off in time at the eight yard threat, but when the threat is within seven yards the window of opportunity to get a shot off is greatly reduced.

Now, to be fair, Adam is doing the so-called ‘Israeli carry’ where the gun is carried with an empty chamber. With a gun in the ready-to-fire condition, say, like a Glock/XD/revolver or similar ‘no active safety’ firearm, the time would probably be geatly reduced.

Nonetheless, it is interesting to show that even at around 20 feet, a bad guy with bad intent and a sharp piece of metal is a viable threat to a man with a gun…despite what some lawyers in a courtroom might say. On the other hand, with the threat 24 feet away Adam also had a 24 foot headstart to simply turn around and run from the threat. (Of course, that assumes he outruns the threat…if he doesn’t he loses all his advantages.)

In the real world, not everybody has access to guns. There are still plenty of people who get robbed, jacked, raped, and murdered at knifepoint. And while some people may have trouble getting access to a gun, for whatever reason, just about any idiot can go into Walmart and buy (or steal) a good sized knife.

So, when someone says that the guy twenty feet away with the machete wasn’t a threat because the other guy was armed…well…show them this video. And..don’t  lull yourself into thinking you’re not in trouble because he ‘only has a knife’.

One of the biggest hassles of the HK91 series of rifles is that the original paddle magazine release had to be omitted in order to meet ATFE’s guidelines. (Short version: the way the paddle release was built into the gun allowed the use of full-auto parts. To import the gun, the capacity to accept full auto parts had to be removed.) The result is a somewhat awkward button mag release.

No more. PTR, whose products I rather like, announced that “As of 1/1/16, G.I.’s will come with 5/8×24″ barrel threading and a paddle magazine release”. About dang time. Plus, the standard threading to the muzzle will allow silencers and other muzzle devices that normally were difficult to mount because of the metric (15×1) threading of the muzzle.

G3 mags are still some of the cheapest mags out there. With the advent of the paddle magazine release, and the ability to use ‘common’ or ‘standard’ .308 muzzle devices, the PTR series of rifles is looking like an even better choice for those wanting something with some .308 horsepower. As of this moment, CDNN shows them on sale for $849..but you might want to double check and make sure its a newer model with the paddle.

The AR series of rifles have their ups and downs, but they are the most common rifle to come across in this country. The ergonomics are quite nice, and they do tend to be accurate. The drawbacks include the direct impingement gas system (which, to be fair, may not be as big a deal as some folks make it out to be) and the rather small and easily lost parts that make up it’s innards.

Various guns have come out to try and topple the AR and none seem to succeed. The AR is an excellent example of a system that remains dominant, despite better systems being available, simply through ubiquity.

The Tavor was supposed to be a challenge to the AR and, for the Israelis, it did in fact compete successfully. As the Tavor has started showing up in more numbers here, I finally got to shoot one the other day. Sadly, it will not make me give up the AR for my .223 needs.

No doubt, it’s a handy rifle. It’s compact profile makes it a darling for the tight confines of vehicles and the like. Unfortunately, for me, that’s about all it offered. The iron sights, an afterthought at best, are unprotected and stick up like a flagpole off the Tavor’s flattop receiver. I’ve no doubt that a drop from any height onto a hard surface will bend them or snap them off. To be fair, they are emergency backup sights…not meant for everyday use. But the iron sights on my AR are very well protected and easily adjustable.

The trigger…well, it’s a bullpup. You do the math.

My biggest complaint was getting lungfuls of propellant gas when shooting more than a few rounds at once. While the ejection port is right next to your cheek, your face is up towards the front of the gun where the gas, it seems, vents from the piston.

The forend seemed unnecessarily bulky and unwieldy, the safety lever rubbed irritatingly into my thumb, and the low bore axis made for an odd cheekweld with open sights.

All in all, I just didn’t like it. I’ve shot the MSAR STG556, a copy of the AUG (sorta), and found it to be more likable than the Tavor.

But…neither one really offers anything that is paramount enough to make me give up the AR. This isn’t to say the AR is the best .223 rifle. Rather it’s to say that given the huge distribution of the AR in this country, and the enormous aftermarket parts, and the ease of logistics, there isn’t anything offered by the Tavor to make me give those up.

If you have an AR already, there’s nothing here for you, in my opinion. If you haven’t gottten a .223 rifle and are in the market for one, I’d not recommend the Tavor unless you really have a thing for bullpups. In a perfect world I’d have a safe full of HK93s, but given the ubiquity of the AR platform…….