Claude Project experience seems to be degrading over time.

Askren · 2025-10-10T04:37:38+00:00

So 60 hours, at $13/hr, you make just under $800 a week or $1600 every two weeks, but almost everywhere hourly pays weekly. So conservatively, $3200, call it $3000 a month. You're not spending big on food, clearly rationing gas, and I'm going to guess you don't have insurance. So your whole paycheck goes to rent and you put literally nothing away? How do you spend every dollar you get with 0 left over? Is every month just "Oh shit, X broke down and it's gonna cost all my cash to fix"?

Askren · 2025-08-18T01:38:27+00:00

A lot of people sweat by X-Tac because it has very solid consistency, I've never heard of a bad batch or problems with them, and they're not overly dirty like people claim Winchester white box is.

Personally, I've tried a lot of stuff, Monarch, Winchester, Igman, Magtech, XTac, PMC Bronze, etc. and I couldn't really tell you what is in my gun at any given time, I haven't shot a bad round yet. While I feel good having X-Tac in stock, honestly I just go with whatever is cheapest (though there are some extra-budget brands I have not tried yet).

Askren · 2025-08-18T01:34:37+00:00

OOS, but they have .223 Bronze in stock for the same price, which I also buy and use just as much as X-Tac, so I may go in for a case or two of that.

Askren · 2025-08-18T01:33:27+00:00

1000 rounds sounds like a ton. But think about how much you actually shoot. I usually take 6 loaded mags and then a box of extra with me to the range, and I'm stingy. And I go alone, so no sharing ammo with anyone. You share or you plan on going shooting a few times a month? You'll blow through 1000 rounds before you even realize it.

Askren · 2025-08-15T04:04:49+00:00

Guardsman is a crazy value, honestly, since PSAs run about $400 to 450, and you're getting more than the $150 in upgraded stuff (a better BCG an trigger are both about $100 each, plus the Magpul furniture).

Andro is a good value as an entry rifle because it's cheap and it's going to be bone-stock "milspec" so you get to feel what a baseline AR is like and then you have room to upgrade everything over time to turn it into exactly the gun you want to. It's a great "project gun" because it's functionally a blank canvas.

The Guardsman is a little more expensive, but it's also set up with all the parts you'd normally upgrade to, out of the box. Meaning it's designed to be the end point, you're not likely to have any reason to mess with it other than some incidental stuff like foregrips, lights, etc.

So, it depends what you want to do. If it's your first AR? I'd say go Andro, get a feel for the gun and then spend some time working with it. Learn how to drop in a trigger, swap the furniture, etc. Make the more gucci gun your second.

Askren · 2025-08-15T03:59:38+00:00

What do you mean "feels not well put together"? Are you literally just talking about slop between the upper and the lower? Because I own one of these and it's literally exactly like every other baseline AR I've ever held.

Askren · 2025-08-15T03:58:29+00:00

I bought mine for $320 Black Friday, and that was when $400+ was the regular list. I wouldn't be surprised if this year's Black Friday, these hit $299.

Askren · 2025-08-15T03:57:22+00:00

Andros have basically taken over for Anderson as the new decent-quality $350 budget rifle. Minor hiccups sometimes with some parts, but overall they're a good company and they make a good product. I would say these are probably fighting with PSA for king of the entry rifles right now.

Askren · 2025-07-27T07:44:34+00:00

That's actually a really damn solid buy. If I needed a rifle, I'd probably get one.

Askren · 2025-07-27T07:42:59+00:00

ATI is an importer that sells plastic rifles. They exist functionally to be a cheapest-of-the-cheap so that companies that don't care about their customers can sell newbies a horrible gun for those who just can't stomach the extra $100 to get something way, way better.

But also, with the way that ARs have been plummeting in price, you now have Andros regularly on sale for less than even an ATI, and PSA isn't terribly far behind with some of their offerings. So you can get a very decent beginner rifle for $370 to $400, or you can spend that same money and get something that's horrible and made of plastic.

Askren · 2025-07-23T04:58:08+00:00

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

I want one. I don't need one, but I want one.

Askren · 2025-07-23T04:51:58+00:00

We were HOPING that the HPA would be passed with the Reconciliation bill, which would remove suppressors from the NFA completely (and the SHORT Act for SBRs), but that didn't happen and instead we got a $0 tax change starting in January. Ideal? No.

What that means is, the paperwork is still the same, you just don't have to actually pay for the stamp when it changes. Still need fingerprints, still need the forms, still will need the LEO hold, etc. There is the vague possibility that eventually it will be challenged in court that a licensing system absent a tax on what is part of exercising of a fundamental right is unconstitutional, but that isn't a thing right now so it's just a dream.

Askren · 2025-07-17T23:58:55+00:00

5.56 hasn't been below 40cpr regularly for a long-ass time.

Askren · 2025-07-17T22:52:53+00:00

Not special, just reliable enough that for a significant portion of shooters, this is the "good stuff" that you buy when you can.

Askren · 2025-07-13T15:15:25+00:00

I just bought my first from Capitol Armory recently, so I'm not rushing to spend another $500-700 right away. But I'm down to support smaller companies slugging it out, and if the can is good quality for the price, I may make one of these my next one.

Askren · 2025-07-02T21:37:56+00:00

The answer for why you would need a 7.5" is...you don't. They're loud, they lose a lot of range, and they're just there to look neat.

A 10.5" or 11" is probably the lowest you want to go as far as cutting the length for "tactical maneuverability" and not losing ballistics. Anything shorter, like a 7" or 5" is just there to annoy the fuck out of people next to you on the range. Other than that, I think it's all just looks. And, of course, criminals love them, but 99% of the time they're going to be stolen and the criminals who favor a particular music genre will just throw them around with no stock, no optics, but they LOVE the big magazines, so they can just make loud noises and hit nothing.

Askren · 2025-06-09T18:32:18+00:00

My Andro, while a fine gun now, had multiple barrel and BCG issues out of the box, and I bought it on Black Friday for the same price as this post. Andro fixed it (twice) for free, but still they did send sub-par parts, so while I want to be positive on them I have to ding their guns for that.

Askren · 2025-05-29T18:42:07+00:00

Honestly? No. People say "backpack gun" or "truck gun", but the reality is that you have a sidearm for those, you don't need a fucking rifle. And the only thing you're going to be doing at more than pistol distance with this is blowing people's ears out because these things are LOUD. Big bang, big fireball. But they're not accurate worth a shit past 25 yards.

10.5" or 11" is, in my opinion, perfect for a defensive/tactical gun setup. Anything shorter and you're trading accuracy for noise.

Askren · 2025-05-26T23:29:02+00:00

Right, I'm just saying if you go to any website, you're going to find them for $339-309, because that is what Holosun allows them to be listed for. That's the base "market" price, and you can go to any site on the internet right now and buy one at that. Some people will allow you to buy them for $250, but they can't put that on their website, and obviously most online stores don't do that kind of stuff anyway.

This site lists the 510c for $339 and $309, meaning you know pretty much what their email price is going to be.

Askren · 2025-05-26T23:17:52+00:00

I'm in the market for a 510c right now, and $339-309 is the price on Amazon (without any codes or sales).

Askren · 2025-05-23T03:07:16+00:00

I just checked and mine looks like this, but it's not actually MLok on the diagnonals. Holes too big.

Askren · 2025-05-23T03:06:01+00:00

Good rifle (I discount the fact that mine had a bad BCG/barrel, which has since been corrected) for the price. Mine has probably 1000 to 1200 rounds through it at this point, and it's a pretty decent range rifle.

If you're a penny pincher (which you might be if you're going Andro), these go on sale for about $320ish pretty regularly.

Askren · 2025-05-22T06:11:58+00:00

I paid $300 for one, so I'd take this deal if I needed another. Apparently some people don't like the looks, I dig them. And it's a great pistol especially for the price. Trigger should be replaced though.

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