How to Zero your AR15 Scope in Two Shots!

Maxpedition Excelsa-First Impressions (+playlist)

Just Right Carbine and PW arms 33 rnd Glock Mags

I  recently picked up some PW arms 33 rnd Glock 9mm mags. These are made in Korea similar to KCI and Kahn. The KCI and Kahn mags seem to  be hit and miss. I had used some previously in my Kel Tec Sub2k and Glock 19 and 26 with no issues. I decided to pick up a bunch as I got them very cheap.

I took the JRC to the range today with the mags loaded to about 25 rnds. I had read online to disassemble the mags and lubricate the springs. I did this with some Rem Oil. I'm happy to report I had zero problems with the mags in over 100 rounds! I was expecting the worse. Turns out the mags where very reliable.

However, my JRC had a hiccup of it's own. One nice feature of the JRC is that you can swap the charging handle to the left or right side. Well the allen scew that screws into the bolt to allow this broke off in my bolt assembly! Luckily I was done shooting the JRC.

I called justrightcarbine's and without a question they are sending me out a new charge handle and screw. Looks to be an easy fix, and the tech said they have had some other issues with this on other guns. We will now see how fast there customer service is in shipping out a new part.

Oddly enough the Korean part ran without issue, where the American made part failed. I would usually say that would be reversed. Stay tuned...

UPDATE! Got the part from JRC in not time at all! Impressed with their customer service. Had to break down and buy and AR15 stock wrench. The only way to break down the JRC is to remove the buttstock. Not my favorite feature and differs greatly from an AR15. It was very easy to install the new charging handle. I opted for the right hand this time.

Took it too the range and had no problems that where gun related. I did however have an issue with one of my PW arms mags. It was the mag that I tried to modify to drop free, so I'm sure from my dremmeling that it weakened the magazine. It cracked up by the fee lips. The other two mags performed flawlessly.  I mounted a Bushnell TRS25 red dot and I really prefer this over the Magpul sights. Overall this is a great little carbine. 

Gun Review-Smith and Wesson M&P15-22

In my search for a "tactical" 22 I've tried a few. I had a Ruger 10/22 decked out in a ATI strikeforce stock, a Sig 522, and now the M&P15-22. I decided on the 15-22 for a few key reasons. First, it is a great trainer for my AR15, also a S&W M&P. Second, it was the lightest and fit my 7 year old son the best of all the 22's we tried. It was a win win situation.

The M&P 15-22 is the closet thing to a real AR15 out there minus a dedicated .22lr upper. It breaks down like an AR, shares the same lower receiver and trigger group and furniture as it's big brother. It's a perfect trainer for your AR15. For me, it was a better trainer to teach my son how to shoot. With the collapsible stock it's quite a bit shorter than most 22's out there minus maybe the Cricket 22, which is a single shot. The M&P is also lighter than most offerings. I would HIGHLY recommend this gun as a first gun for a youth. It's a great trainer for a centerfire rifle and allot of fun! It's also given me a constant range buddy and quality father son time.

The M&P15-22 is a very reliable plinker. We have easily over 2k rounds through ours with few if any malfunctions, and I chalk those up to bad ammo. That's a mix of Federal, Winchester, and CCI blazer bulk packs. The cheapest ammo you can buy.

The magazine's are one of the strong points of this weapon. Smith and Wesson did a great job designed a reliable 25 round magazine that is very easy to load, and closely resembles an AR15 magazine for training purposes. Another bonus is they are reasonably priced, I think I paid $15 each for the past couple I ordered.

The sky's the limit on accessories for the 15-22, as it will take pretty much any AR15 accessory. The handguard is not interchangeable with AR handguards. That's about it. Any AR15 trigger, stock, grip, sights,etc will work with the 15-22.

I highly recommend the 15-22 as a first gun, tactical trainer, small game gatherer, and range plinker. I have plans to someday add a suppressor to further magnify the fun factor of this gun. Maybe even a slide fire stock! I give it a 9/10.

Youtube Channel

I tried to change my username which I guess is not possible. So without losing some of my already uploaded videos I decided to keep the orginal channel. Here is a link to my video's. Not all there but more to come!
http://www.youtube.com/user/iceman84087/videos

Gear Review- Nikon P223 3-9x BDC 600 Riflescope & Burris PEPR mount

My quest for AR optics has been a long one. I've tried many of the hundreds of options out there for AR15's. I've gone Eotech route, Aimpoint style route, red dot with a magnifier, 1-4x scope, etc,etc. I use my AR15 mostly for target shooting, but recently have take up varmint hunting. By varmint I mean Coyotes and the occasional prairie dog. A red dot is not going to cut it on a shot at 200 yds on a yote. So I tried the 1-4x option. Best of both worlds right? 1x like a red dot and up to 4x magnification like a scope. While I feel these are some of the best options out there for AR optics, for me I needed something with a bit more magnification for hunting.

I had the opportunity to pick up a Burris PEPR mount in a package deal with a BSA Sweet 223 scope. The Burris mount is probably the most popular mount out right now for the AR15. It's rock solid, and reasonably priced at around $80. The BSA scope was nice, but too much optic for the AR. I mean that by the 6-18x magnification and heavy weight where more than I needed. I sold the scope and picked up the Nikon P223 scope.

The P223 is part of Nikon's new AR line of scopes. They have the P223 series as well as the M223. The P I believe stands for Pro Staff and the m Monarch, relative to two of the product lines Nikon offers. The p223 is available in a fixed 3x compact scope,and the 3-9x with the BDC 600 recticle.

The BDC 600 recticle is calibarated for a 55 grn FMJ 223 bullet. Here is a picture from Nikon's website of what the recticle looks like. Each circle and mark represents where you would hold the recticle.Using Nikon's excellent Spot On softwarehttp://www.nikonhunting.com/page/spot_on, you can calibrate those circles with what range you are shooting at, the zero of your scope, different bullet weights etc. It's very cool and it's free to use. I also downloaded the Android app. The app is $4.99 but worth every penny. It's great to have at the range and in the field.


Zeroing the P223 was a breeze. I boresighted the scope in my backyard at 25 yds. I then removed the scope to unmount my MBUS sights to use on the JRC. I re-mounted the scope and headed to the range. One of the selling points of the Burris PEPR mount zero retention. I put up a target at 50 yds and was amazed that my shot was right on center. The mount returned zero after mounting and dismounting without any issues. I've NEVER been able to zero a scope that well just on a backyard boresight. I was very impressed.

The clarity of the scope is VERY good for this price point. This may be one of the nicest scopes I've owned. Nikon claims 98% light retention and I believe it! The recticle is very quick when switching from a target at 50 yds to one at 100 yds. I'm now a huge fan of Nikon scopes and will continue to purchase them in the future. For the money the can't be beat.

The 3-9x model with the BDC recticle should be perfect for my application. Nikon also makes a 1-4x, 2-8x, and 3-12x in the M223 series of scopes. I've also spied the same BDC recticle on a few prostaff scopes at Walmart. Coupled with the Spot On software these would make a great scope for any caliber rifle. Adjustable parallax would be a nice feature, but the P223 does have a focus ring to aid with this. The P223 also sports tactical turrets with a Zero retention which is quite nice. I give the Nikon P223 a solid 9/10 rating. For around $160-$200 it's a great budget optic.

Gun Review-Just Right Carbine 9mm

Not much excites me like a new gun. This is my latest pick up. The Just Right Carbine is a new line of pistol caliber carbines similar to the Hi-point 995, Beretta CX4, and Kel-Tec Sub2k. The gun is relatively new to the market, coming out in 2011 I believe. The JRC uses Glock magazines similar to the Kel Tec offering. That's where the similarities end.

 The JRC was designed after the AR15 platform. The lower receiver is all AR including the stock, commercial spec buffer tube and 6 position stock, pistol grip, safety and trigger group. This is one of my favorite aspects of this gun. It shares the same controls as my M&P 15 and 15-22. The JRC also sports a free-float quad rail that is machined aluminum. The quality of this gun far surpasses that of Kel Tec and Hipoint's offerings. I've not been lucky enough to shoot and CX4 but I'm sure it's top notch being Beretta made.

Earlier reviews of this gun where mixed. Some had failures to eject, feed, etc. Just Right made it "right" by swapping out the bolt assembly for a new design, as well as a heavier bull barrel. I believe serial #'s 17000 and up have the upgraded parts, and Just Right will send you the replacement parts for free as party of their lifetime warranty.

The gun weighs in around 6 lbs, which is very light and easily maneuverable. As tempting as it will be to mod this baby out with AR15 type accessories, I think I'm going to keep the light weight and maybe add a foregrip and red dot. I will be changing the furniture out for Magpul MOE equipment to help replicate my AR15 and 15-22.


Limited Range Report


This is limited because I'm a knucklehead and thought my range was open until dark. Turns out they close at 5pm on Saturday's! I showed up at 4:20. I had a limited amount of time, one 10 round mag the gun came with, and a set of Magpul MBUS that needed to be sighted in.

I'm happy to report that the gun has ZERO malfunctions with 60 rounds of  FMJ and HP ammo. The HP's being 115 grn Hornady XTP's I loaded. That's not alot of rounds but that's all time allowed. I've since picked up some 33 round KCI mags to test in the gun and will update this post with my results.

The gun was very accurate with open sights at 25 yds. I have a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot on the way and I'll stretch it out to 50 yds. I can tell this is going to be a fun little plinker and a formidable home defense option. 33 rnds of HP's is going to make for a very bad day for a home intruder.

Stay tuned for a more in depth range review.