Bassbob
Emissary
This observation of mine is likely just a perception based on my own little corner of the world here, but an inordinate amount of my ex- military buddies have very little actual knowledge, other than operational, about the guns they carried in the service and the guns we carry and shoot now. That includes one of my best friends who is a marine corps combat veteran ( Desert Storm) and was an armorer in the corps. To be fair, he is a cheap bastard and has a penchant for cheap guns and his time in the service ( 12 years) ended a couple decades ago, but I have pretty much donated parts and tinkered with his BCA A2 until it now runs great and he can actually, you know, hit stuff with it. I have worked on several of his crappy pistols and shotguns too.
Then I have a kid on my truck ( kind of like my laborer on a 2 man truck) who is an Army combat vet ( Afghanistan) who I am currently completely re-doing his extremely basic Diamondback A4 style carbine which he bought when he got out in 2016. It literally has nothing at all on it except for some FDE MBUIS ( the rifle is black). He was clueless as to what kind of furniture, optic, etc. to put on it or where to get it or how to put it on. In the 6 plus years since he bought it he probably has a couple hundred rounds through it. He has very little knowledge of how to maintain it or strip it down. Since he has the FDE flip ups, we decided to put some B5 and Magpul FDE stuff on it, some QD mounts, a Haley strategic D3 and top it off with a Romeo 5.
Anyway, I have a bunch of other military and ex military buddies who DO know a lot more than me and who train circles around me, but it just surprises me that some guys with 6 and 12 years in the service are having me work on their guns. I suppose regular grunts in the service aren't really allowed to change much on their weapons though. The kid on my truck told me they moved them to some other base and sent them out in choppers armed with "off the rack" M4s. So they weren't even necessarily shooting weapons they had zero'ed for themselves. I know some of the guys I train with sometimes who were higher up on the food chain, were allowed to outfit themselves with P mags and furniture of their choosing. It seems wrong that only Seals and spec ops guys should be able to have weapons of their own that they configured to their own liking. It also seems wrong that a guy who didn't own an AR until the scamdemic ( namely me) should know more about them than guys who carried them in combat for years. Because frankly I don't know . I pester @10mmLife about 14 times a day with dumbass questions.
Then I have a kid on my truck ( kind of like my laborer on a 2 man truck) who is an Army combat vet ( Afghanistan) who I am currently completely re-doing his extremely basic Diamondback A4 style carbine which he bought when he got out in 2016. It literally has nothing at all on it except for some FDE MBUIS ( the rifle is black). He was clueless as to what kind of furniture, optic, etc. to put on it or where to get it or how to put it on. In the 6 plus years since he bought it he probably has a couple hundred rounds through it. He has very little knowledge of how to maintain it or strip it down. Since he has the FDE flip ups, we decided to put some B5 and Magpul FDE stuff on it, some QD mounts, a Haley strategic D3 and top it off with a Romeo 5.
Anyway, I have a bunch of other military and ex military buddies who DO know a lot more than me and who train circles around me, but it just surprises me that some guys with 6 and 12 years in the service are having me work on their guns. I suppose regular grunts in the service aren't really allowed to change much on their weapons though. The kid on my truck told me they moved them to some other base and sent them out in choppers armed with "off the rack" M4s. So they weren't even necessarily shooting weapons they had zero'ed for themselves. I know some of the guys I train with sometimes who were higher up on the food chain, were allowed to outfit themselves with P mags and furniture of their choosing. It seems wrong that only Seals and spec ops guys should be able to have weapons of their own that they configured to their own liking. It also seems wrong that a guy who didn't own an AR until the scamdemic ( namely me) should know more about them than guys who carried them in combat for years. Because frankly I don't know . I pester @10mmLife about 14 times a day with dumbass questions.