I’m working on a bid for 24 Crusader Guardian rifles for a Police Department back east. Looking at some other custom rifles from other makers… straight up, this PD is going to be getting twice the gun for the same price as the other guys. The only thing the other guys have going for them – big names. The Guardian rifle is one of my favorite builds, as it’s in between the entry level Partisan, and the fully decked out Templar. It’s that sweet spot of price verses performance. Or Bang for the Buck as they say. If you want an awesome AR Type weapon that has fantastic accuracy and “To hell and back again” reliability, check out the details on the Guardian on Crusader Weaponry. If I may suggest, upgrade the Vortex flash hider with a BattleComp… that puts the Guardian over the top. In my opinion, it’s the best AR rifle on the market under 2 grand.
Tag Archives: Guns
I’m looking at you, Taurus.
You know, Taurus is one Gun Maker that has more than it’s share of detractors. But I have to give them some props. Their 1911 really is a solid and well built gun for the money. Bang for the buck value is through the roof. I took a couple that we have at the gun counter, hit them with some Slipstream… and I kid you not, the bloody things are the smoothest 1911s in the case now. (In fact, I’ve never felt such a drastic effect from Slipstream, as I did with the Taurus 1911s!) These are very good 1911’s, not just “for the money”, but very good 1911s – period.
The only real problem it has, is that they are not selling.
Remington 700 Sendero .25-06
You guys know I’ve been itching for a .25-06. Well we got in an older style Sendero on trade. If I was in a better situation financially, I’d snag this thing. As it is, it’s tempting for me to put it on layaway. The older style has the narrower, slimmer stock. The new ones have that huge retarded palm swell that I don’t really care for. This one is just how I like them. If I got it, I’d want to put a Rapid Z 800 on it.
Sometimes I really hate working in a gun store. Being an addict makes the job hard.
I don’t know why.
The Barrett model 82A1 is almost Ten Grand. And I don’t know why. I can’t put my finger on any tangible reason the thing is so bloody expensive. The gun is a very simple design with no complicated machining, and it uses some very common parts. The gun is build of what looks like stamped sheet metal. Thick, but it’s still sheet metal that has some bends. Some of those bent metal parts are welded together with welds that… well… Let’s just say I’ve seen better welds in high school metal shop class. Just looking at the gun I’d say it’s a 600 dollar gun, with a 2,000 dollar barrel… so I’d price it at about 2600 bucks.
Llama’s cute little .22 Auto
We got here a Llama .22LR. It’s very 1911’ish, small, and cute as hell. The action feels well worn, and the finish is about 80%… but the gun still feels solid and it should shoot just fine. We took it in for a hundred bucks… Marked it for 220 bucks. It has the box, all that, and two spare magazines. My question is should we mark it for more? I mean, dang… this thing is adorable.
S&W 745
This is an older Smith & Wesson auto. I’m not sure of the value as the blue book on it only showed the 745 IPSC model, which looks just like this, but has a fixed rear sight. It’s Single Action Only. The safety lever is only a firing pin blocker, and does nothing to prevent the trigger from dropping the hammer.
The grip is slim, giving it a feel much like a SIG P220 with factory synthetic grips. The checkering on the front strap is a little rough, but it’s factory checkering. Over all, I like the gun.
The Two Biggest Gun Counter Misconceptions
At the Gun Counter, I frequently come across one of two of the most common misconceptions.
ATI Commander Update
The nice wood double diamond grips were just too nice for the ATI. They didn’t go well with the matte black finish. After awhile it got to the point that I found them just irritating. So I got some nice plain old Hogue grip panels in OD green. The matte finish on the Hogue work very well, keeping the ATI in a nice subdued scheme.
The gun is north of 600 rounds now, with only one fail to feed. Again, that failure to feed was in the first few rounds right after I got the gun, and it has never happened since. I did replace the recoil spring after those first few rounds, because the gun did feel under-sprung. The gun has been perfectly reliable since. The gun shoots point of aim/point of impact at 30 feet or so… I’ve had no complaints about accuracy, only compliments from everyone that has shot it. I’ve let a few people shoot it and no one has had a negative bit of feedback, and no one has reported any malfs.
The biggest question about the ATI is the quality of the steel. So far, there has been no unusual wear on any of the internals. So I am thinking, so far, that the steel is up to snuff. I have no reason to suspect that its a lesser quality steel alloy. I don’t think it’s anything great or special… but it doesn’t look bad at all. The only real wear the gun is showing is on the finish, which looked suspect right from the beginning. If you look at that photo closely, look at the muzzle end, you can see the wear. I’ll have Joe at Crusader Weaponry give this thing a Duracoat treatment, and that will take care of the finish – no problem. It’s a 450 dollar 1911, so you do have to cut it some slack. And finish that shows holster wear only makes it looks like you actually use the thing… I think a gun with some holster wear looks better than a gun that looks like it’s a Safe Queen. But that’s just me.
An interesting pistol for HK Fans
I don’t know if a lot of guys have seen these… they are pretty cool. It’s a .22LR version of the HK 416, as a pistol. It’s like any other AR pistol type… meaning it’s cool but awkward and would take some time to get used to it.
Sold a nice rifle package today…
An 82A1 topped with a Zeiss 6.5-20. Gorgeous.
