History of Dottie

Dottie has seen almost as many changes as Kaylee.

Dottie's name derives from a line in the movie, "Armageddon". The amateur astronomer who discovers the planet killing asteroid wants to be able to name it after his wife, Dottie, because she's a life sucking bitch from which there is no escape.

Dottie is a "franken AR", her parts are from everywhere. The lower is Spike's Tactical, the lower parts kit is CMMG. The upper is a mid-length Dissipator upper from Palmetto State Armory.  Handguards are Magpul MOE.  Optic is a Vortex Spitfire AR.

GURPS Alts

Gun Stats vehemently disagrees with some of the published ranges.

But here we go anyway!

5.56x45mm M193 from an M16A1: 5d pi, 430/3,000; ST 8, Rcl 2.

5.56x45mm M193 from an XM177E2: 4d+1 pi, 360/2,500; ST 8, Rcl 2.

5.56x45mm M855 from an M16A2: 5d+1 pi, 530/3,700; ST 8, Rcl 2.

5.56x45mm M855 from an M4: 5d-1 pi, 490/3,400; ST 8, Rcl 2.

The Soviet opposition:

7.62x39mm M-43 from an AKM: 5d+1 pi, 520/2,200; ST 9, Rcl 3.

5.45x39mm 7N6 from an AK-74: 4d+2 pi, 480/3,400; ST 9, Rcl 2.

The Loyal Opposition: 

6.5 Grendel 123gr @ 2,457 from a 16" AR: 6d-1 pi, 670/4,700; ST 9, Rcl 3.

6.8 SPC II 115gr @ 2,550 from a 16" AR: 6d-1 pi, 760/3,200; ST 8, Rcl 2.

.300 Blackout 123gr @ 2,215 from a 16" AR: 5d pi, 500/2,100; ST 9, Rcl 3.

.300 Blackout 220gr @ 1,010 from a 16" AR: 3d pi, 570/2,400; ST 9, Rcl 3.

22 ARC 75gr @ 2,953 from a 16" AR: 5d+1 pi, 680/4,800; ST 8 Rcl 2.

6mm ARC 108gr @ 2,626 from a 16" AR: 5d+2 pi, 810/5,700; ST 8 Rcl 2. 

.30 Remington AR has been discontinued, so we're not going to show that with 125gr @ 2,800 fps from a 22" barrel R-15 did 6d+2 pi, 640/2,700; ST 9, Rcl 3.

Dusting Time

Unlocked the M12 rack and dusted the AR's.

This, of course, meant pointing them at the mirror and aiming at my reflection.

Although Dissipator Dottie is about the most comfortable, holy crap is the XM177E2 clone LIGHT!

That applies to the M16 and M16A1 clones too.

They're just so damn pointable!

It also reinforces my feeling that a fixed stock is better than a collapsible one for comfort.

The M4 clone is comfortable enough, but... 

Although

I have loosened and re-torqued every single PSA barrel nut I've ever gotten on an assembled upper.

Only one was not grossly over torqued when I got it.

I discovered it the first time when I just wanted to change uppers from flat-top to a carry handle. 

I tend to forget that I do that and I wonder if the sudden shift in zero was caused by this improper assembly. 

State Of The Alternates

Last Year.

Using availability at Midway as a proxy for popularity.

6.5 Grendel.

21 loadings from 11 manufacturers.  20 available, 1 you can back-order.

6.8 SPC

16 loadings from 9 manufacturers.  9 available, 3 you can back-order.

.300 AAC Blackout.

86 loadings from 25 manufacturers.  48 available, 15 you can back-order, 3 coming soon.

22 ARC

5 loadings from 1 manufacturer.  5 available.

6mm ARC

15 loadings from 8 manufacturers.  10 available, 4 you can back-order. 

.30 AR

1 loading from 1 manufacturer.  1 unavailable.

This is Kaylee.

Kaylee is my first AR-15.  She started life as an attempt to make a clone of an XM177E2.  Unfortunately, I didn't know much about XM177E2's when I started; in fact I thought CAR-15 was the proper designation.  I later made a much more faithful clone of an XM177E2, and then I decided to make Kayee more of an Israeli  carbine.

This Israeli carbine, in fact.

But as time passes, plans change.  Kaylee was entirely too similar to The Lovely Harvey's Cheyenne.  Cheyenne is a clone of an R653-P because Harvey loves the carbine carried by SSG Barnes in the film Platoon.

Because she felt I was stepping on her toes, I changed Kaylee's furniture.  Then did some swapping with some Arfcommers and ditched the carry handle.

What we have here is a Del-Ton carbine kit that I have modified.  The 16" HBAR barrel that came with the kit was replaced with a 14.5" 1:7 nitrided Palmetto State Armory barrel with an A2 flash-hider (not shown is the $200 piece of paper that lets that be legal).  The C7 upper has been replaced with an Aero Precision flat-top and Matech BUIS.  The lower receiver came from Anvil Arms, who are no longer in business.  Surplus Colt M4 pistol grip, Damage Ind. M4 stock with QD and Colt M4 handguards.  Bravo Company mil-spec receiver extension and H Buffer.

Complete history after the fold.  There have been a lot of starts and stops along the way while I figured out what I wanted to do with her.  And yes, I give my rifle's girl's names.  And yes, you've seen this post before, it gets bumped and updated as I make changes.

Click Me For The Full Post

Narrow Window

My unit didn't have any M16A1's when I got there in early '88.  We only had M3A1's and M1911A1's to go with the M60A3(TTS) we were getting ready to send off to Turkey.

All of our rifles were M16A2's.  We got them the same day the M1(IP) showed up.

Mine, or rather the one assigned to my tank, was a Colt.

I replicated it in semi from an 80% lower.

It's interesting that we had a mix of Colts and M16A1 lowers made into A2's from kits.  I remember the gray lower Hydramatic M16A2 that went with A-22.

Colt only held the contract to make them for two years, thanks to the UAW.  FN wasn't having labor issues, so they got the contract they still hold to this day.

This one is USAF issue at MacDill in 2007.  Thanks to the unnamed Airman who let us take a pic of the logo.  I am not sure if it looks gray because of the light or if it actually was gray.  My memory says it was black.

Out Of Production

A recurring theme in small arms development is the production line for the gun that's getting long in the tooth is long gone.

At about the same time as project AGILE was running with early AR-15 R601's a couple of the supporting Special Forces guys said that it really didn't offer a big improvement over the M2 carbine.

OK.

Let's make more M2s then!

Where'd the tooling go?

Inland went back to making car parts. 

Underwood went back to making typewriters.

Rock-O-La went back to making juke boxes. 

Quality Hardware went back to making tooling.

National Postal Meter went back to making postal scales.

Standard Products went back to making car parts.

Saginaw went back to making car parts.

IBM went back to making office equipment.

Only Winchester kept making guns and they returned to their pre-war commercial catalog and had five years of pent-up demand to satisfy.

There wasn't an M1/M2 production line left in 1964.

Colt, on the other hand, had production capacity available and was, not only, tooled up to make the AR-15, but was actively trying to get someone to buy them in quantity.

The rest is history. 

I Only Just Noticed

6.5 Grendel and 6.8 SPC are inherently safer to have around 5.56 guns because they don't use the 5.56 bolt face.

The larger bolt face on them means the bolt just isn't going to get to the point where the firing pin can reach the primer when the bullet is too big for the bore.  Even if the shooter is, "insistent." 

The smaller face of the 5.56 round will go into a 6.5 or 6.8 bolt face, but the bullet is smaller than the bore so, even if you do get it to chamber and fire, the chamber pressure will be well below safe limits. 

...and what did he mean, "slow of mind?"

State Of The Alternates

Another fun filled installment of comparing the not-5.56 rounds for the AR...

Last year.

Using availability at Midway as a proxy for popularity.

6.5 Grendel.

21 loadings from 11 manufacturers.  20 available.

6.8 SPC

16 loadings from 8 manufacturers.  10 available, 1 you can back-order.

.300 AAC Blackout.

86 loadings from 24 manufacturers.  64 available, 6 you can back-order, 3 coming soon.

22 ARC

5 loadings from 1 manufacturer.  5 available.

6mm ARC

9 loadings from 5 manufacturers.  8 available, 1 coming soon. 

.30 AR

1 loading from 1 manufacturer.  1 unavailable.

It's The Sights

Dissy Dottie ends up 1.5 oz. heavier than Valentine with the same handguards

3.7 oz. are from Dissy Dottie having a big block of aluminum UTG fixed rear sight and Valentine has the much more svelte folding KAC 600m.

The M16A1 trapdoor stock is 1/2 oz. heavier than the A2.

The rest is from the barrel profile and extra gas-block conspiring to eliminate the weight savings from chopping 4" of barrel (which should be a weight savings of 7.3 oz.)!

Update: Looking at the profile, the 4" comes out of the pencil section and should only account for a weight savings of 4.9 ounces.

Built For Comfort

The KE-Arms KP-15 lower famously has the same stock length as an M16A1.

Gene picked the right length, in my opinion.  I'm not alone in that thinking.

Finding a quality A1 length stock can be troublesome.

Adding Members To The Tribe

Do you know someone who has not yet purchased an AR and wants to buy one?

Do they have a somewhat limited budget?

Erin and Blue Collar Prepping have spotted a Memorial Day bundle at PSA.

Everything you need except ammo.

Offer expires while you wait, operators are standing by.

Score

Carbine buffers run about $20 each.  Or did last time I shopped.

Today I nabbed two for $10.

A well loved H and an, apparently, unused H2.

I didn't really need them, but...

Rack 'Em

The ready magazines for boarder repelling were always falling off the shelf.

Harvey heard my growls of frustration and got me some organizers.

Only good for PMAG's, but those are what I've decided on for social purposes.  They're not intended for the 40-rounders, but they, obviously, fit well enough.

This is in addition to the magazines in the grab-bags.

MOAR Rumors

In addition to shedding employees, the rumors are also saying that KE Arms has stopped making the KP-15 lower and the last run was in 2021.

Clearly they made plenty, because they still have stock, but this is sounding familiar.

GWACS did a big run and sold lowers for a while after they'd stopped making new ones too.

For this one I am wondering if the idea of a monolithic polymer lower is just too much for people.

I know people who are still waiting for this whole plastic pistol thing to blow over.

And 5.56 is just a phase that will end once sensible people take over too.

Too revolutionary coupled with the bad blood that is being cultivated between disparate political factions...  That could chill the heck out of sales.

The bummer part is it didn't have to be.

You want to sell to bible thumping conservatives AND Antifa?

Don't mention your politics at all and take money from anyone who can pass the background check.

Take sides?  Expect the side you don't support to look elsewhere.

WWSD A Critique

It really shows that Jim Sullivan was onto something when he figured the AR-15 out from the AR-10 with Mr Stoner.

It's important to recall Mr Sullivan when talking about what would Mr Stoner have done if he'd started today.

The number one goal was a weapon that would be adopted by the military.

Everything about the AR-10 and AR-15 were in support of that goal. With the deck stacked deeply against them because the M14 wasn't that long in the tooth when they started pitching their concept.

Abandoning steel and wood for aluminum and synthetics because technology had advanced thanks to WW2 wasn't taken as the reason for the development.

When they were up against the M14's prototype and the FAL contender with the AR-10 they even showed the problems with "lighter weight at all cost." They burst a barrel and were forced to withdraw from the competition.

Some of the ideas in AR's tend to ignore what would Stoner did?

The modular Cadillac Gage 63 system and the AR-18 say a great deal about where his mind was.

He abandoned advanced materials for designs which could be built with a lower level of technology.

WWSD is an exercise in making an AR light for lightness sake using the latest and greatest materials.

Bully for them!

But it comes with a terrible cost.

Costs that Stoner and Sullivan realized would keep their rifle from mainstream acceptance even if the customers accepted the space-age materials.

The two things remaining on the AR-15 from the advanced materials list were the aluminum receivers and the non-wood furniture. With specific materials chosen from a list of proven materials. Proven in aviation, not firearms, but well within a division of Fairchild Aviations ability to make.

The WWSD rifle uses a lot of new materials which are proven in aviation use too. But the prices have yet to come down.

A WWSD upper receiver on overstock clearance is still near a grand.

More than a complete rifle from PSA and a crate of ammo. And the PSA gun will come with a way to aim it!

So far, I'm just not seeing what the premium price gets you besides the lower mass.

And embracing the KE Arms KP-15 lower has the mass with a PSA upper well below the "good enough" line.

Perfect has long been the mortal foe of good enough.

That applies to accuracy as well. Especially since it's a rare AR, from any maker, that will not far outshoot the shooter. Most of us will be better served by using the difference in price between my Behind Every Blade of Grass idea and What Would Stoner Do? on ammunition and range time.

Or, dare I say it, taking a class on how to employ their new toy to its fullest!

But that's just me.

Mine Arrived

Got my KE Arms order today.  2.5 weeks from order to door.

Not impressed with the service.

Weight Reduction

Dottie was a tubby girl.

8.6 lb. plus 1.2 lb. for the optic.

Changing to an A1 stock and round handguards drops it some.

8.3 lb. plus the 1.2 lb optic.

Hiding her behind every blade of grass, really drops the mass!

7.6 lb. plus the 1.2 lb. optic.  Almost the same as just the rifle was before!

I don't tend to count the sling but they run about 0.4 lb.

I think she's no longer Dottie.  Too much has changed.  Brenda simply gets a new caliber!

KE Arms Observations

Olive has the first complete KE Arms KP-15 lower I've had.

KE Arms springs are black.

Their buffer is black.

They like black, apparently.

I've read about their 45 degree ambidextrous safety not working with some triggers.

Triggers that work fine with bog standard safeties.

Their buffer spring doesn't like seating all the way home on the buffer.

Not sure it makes any difference, but they seem to have a problem with adhering to the established standards.