Am I Doing it Right, Mr. Biden?

It’s a very nice day. My AR-15 upper order has been confirmed. No word on when it will get here.

Something else nice happened tomorrow. I got an alert saying a lower receiver I wanted was in stock online at a good price. I jumped on it. I also ordered a padded buttstock.

I was expecting to have to use the upper with my existing lower, because reasonably priced lowers are hard to find these days.

I went with Anderson manufacturing. This is a well-known company that supplies receivers for other businesses. People say Anderson receivers work great, although there may be prettier receivers made by boutique outfits. I have zero complaints about the mid-tier receiver on my first AR, so I don’t see a problem. The AR world is full of cork-sniffers who pay out the nose for things that don’t help.

I got the receiver for $10 less than MSRP, and in the current climate, that seems like a steal.

I also ordered a third LaRue Tactical trigger. I asked for a straight trigger. I like them better than curved ones.

The upper is from White Oak Armament. The barrel will be fluted and threaded.

The only thing that concerns me about this gun is the weight. I ordered a 22″ barrel in order to make sure I got all the velocity .204 Ruger can offer, and length means weight. Fluting will help somewhat.

I have read that some people have trouble using .204 Ruger in .223 magazines, so I have put out feelers to get recommendations in case my current magazines don’t work. I have read that a company called C-Products makes great magazines for .204 Ruger. They’re called Duramags. Supposedly, the .223 models will work fine, but they also make them specifically for .204 Ruger, so I think I’ll pick up a few. I haven’t found them in sizes beyond 10 rounds. Maybe I can also get a 20-round .223 job and see what happens. If it works, I’ll use it for .204 Ruger. If not, it will be fine for .223.

I had a crazy idea about squirrel hunting. My .22 rifles just are not accurate or powerful enough to do what I need. I want something I can use to hit a fairly distant squirrel in the head, with enough energy to put the lights out even with an off-center hit. The other day I learned that .17 HMR is not as accurate as I had thought, so that’s probably not the best choice. I read that some people hunt squirrels with .204 Ruger, and that got me thinking.

A .204 Ruger round has tons of energy, so I assume body shots would splatter squirrels and make the meat useless. But the same energy would probably be great insurance for head shots. The meat would be fine, and the squirrel would be on a little pearly wheel in squirrel heaven before it knew what was going on.

I should eventually get a 6.5 Creedmoor upper for my LR-308, not to mention a better buttstock.

I have totally gotten the message, my Democrat friends. You’re all for tolerance and love, so you definitely want me to spend more money on the things I enjoy. Thanks for understanding.