Upgrade!

I built my first AR-15 almost 24 years ago. I purchased the lower, actually two of them, from a friend who had an FFL. They were expensive, $39.95 and tax. They came from Esential Arms in Lousiana, and even today, they are a highly recommended brand. I picked up the parts kit for arround $200 with shipping from a company called Nessard In Lake Zurich Illinois. They took forever to ship it, and for a while, I thought I'd been ripped off. They were that back logged, and their phones were busy all day every day. I finally got through by calling at 6:59 in the morning, right as the secretary got to her desk and got my order in. It took six weeks for delivery. If you look at the pictures, you will notice, its a bastard. The upper receiver has A-1 style rear sights, but an A-2 bump similar to a Canadian Diemaco. Every one was retooling to A-2 standards, and the market was screaming for guns, guns, guns. You'd have thought ObamAA+ just got elected, it was that bad. When the parts kit arrived, nothing was assembled. Today, if you order a kit, it comes with most of the upper built. This one didn't even have the sights assembled. it was a fun build. There was a little filing and fitting to be done, but I had a fully assembled AR done in a day.

The grip and hand guard rings are also A-2 spec, and the barrel is the heavy one as well, The hand guards were el cheapo, no heat shields, and the finish was shit. I aquired a set of A-1 triangular grips and stuck them on instead. I hated how the cheap ones got hot with only a few rounds.

It was a bastard indeed, but it shot great. I was used to the AR, having served in the Army at that point for nine years, but this one upped the ante a whole bunch. If you think I'm complaining, I'm not. I shot expert every time I qualified, and was only ever out shot by a peer once. I respected the M-16, I just never considered them a tack driver until I built this one.
Back then, parts kits were junk compared to what is available today. Nesard, Sarco, and Old Sarge all pumped junked military stuff onto the civilian market. Nesard is now Model 1 Sales, and a lot of guys swear by them. They offer a good variety of options, probably the largest selection on the internet.

A couple of months ago, I was poking arround a pawn shop when I came upon this set of grips. Seems some lucky GI got them as a present from his wife. The only problem, his rifle had a 16 inch gas pipe, these are for a 20 incher. They fit fine though, and enable me to add a bipod, kelly grip for the range. I've got a scope mount fitted into the carry handle. The scope got switched to another rifle because that mount sets it too dang high for comfort. I like a nice cheek weld, not a chin one. I've been debating on upgrading the upper. I love my barrel, but would really go for an A-3 upper. I've been debating on just changing the upper and keeping the barrel, or on adding another upper to my collection, Ogden pawn has some nice ones in, 20 inch A-3s from DPMS, and I am tempted.