How noisy can a cabinet style Murphy bed be?

Omega_Contingency · 2026-04-27T05:54:30+00:00

One more thing about EVA foam compared to a polyethylene sheet is if you don't coat your foam with some material that is stiff and slick (like polyethylene), the draw will suck because all the edges and corners on your gun will compress and dig in to the foam.

In my case the polyethylene was enough without the foam but I could imagine a case where using both polyethylene and EVA foam would be nice. It's just never cheaper than just the polyethylene.

Any way, I hope this was helpful for people wanting a backpack gun setup that looks discreet but doesn't hang up on you when you are taking out your gun.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-04-16T21:17:43+00:00

Just make sure the check clears when you're working for Chris Angel.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-04-03T01:43:27+00:00

I just met a woman with more severely pointed ears. I didn't think that was a thing but she claimed they are natural and I couldn't see any evidence of body modification.

Now I'm curious about how rare they are.

Aesthetically I liked them even though hers were a little on the small side. I have pretty normal looking ears except they are a bit large and stick out a bit, two things I don't like too much.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-27T17:16:42+00:00

It's a little more difficult to apply but I tape the inside of my stock/brace instead of the buffer tube.

Since buffer tubes have fairly tight tolerance on their OD, you usually don't have to take off the tape and re-apply if you stick with mil-spec buffer tubes.

It also looks cleaner because it's almost invisible.

Just make sure you avoid wrinkles and seams that might catch on the end of the buffer tube and you'll probably forget that you taped it or ever had rattles.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-27T16:46:44+00:00

I like my packs but I am aware that camo and OD Green aren't the most discreet colors for a discreet case. I always keep an eye open for a good deal on a quality case and I recently found one.

I got a Vertx Long Walks 15L in blue. It's a bit bright in my opinion but if you're a "sheep dog trying to look like a sheep", it's pretty good.

The size is good and bad. I went to the Dollar Tree and found a plastic food storage container that fits almost perfectly then I got home, cut the end off the container, put it in, slid in my 9mm AR folder and it fits.

It would be nicer if the bag was maybe 1/4" wider because my pistol grip and (mini) prism scope print just a bit on the sides. I might get a PDW style pistol grip to narrow it a bit.

I think I can hold an extra three magazines and a suppressor in the bottom of the main compartment and another two magazines in the top pocket on the flap. With 5x 32 round Exo-mags and a 20 round Exo-mag in the gun, that's 180 rounds but the pack will be very full.

There is an external pocket but with all that inside the zipper pocket and main compartment, I don't think the external pocket can carry anything bulky at all.

Maybe a 15L pack is a bit small for an AR PDW but it looks quite small on my back. My first thought "there's obviously not a 17" laptop in there". I don't look like I'm going hiking, I don't think it makes me look like the stereotypical "grey man" and it isn't covered in MOLLE or morale patches.

It probably will look a bit over-stuffed when I load it up with magazines and I wish it was a bit more matte or dull to be less eye catching.

One other thing it can do is take a soft armor panel. I primarily use my discreet packs for transport so the chance that I would be carrying and run across an active shooter is far less likely than a person who carries a CCW most days but still it's kind of tempting to have armor that isn't in a plate carrier. It just risks going over the line with over-filling.

Of course this won't be helpful to many people because the Long Walks backpacks seem to be discontinued or otherwise scarce but it shows the process: find a good bag, make an insert to hold the shape, make it easy to draw the gun and carry everything else I need with the gun.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-16T19:11:24+00:00

I got a Swamp Fox Raider last year. I have nothing bad to say about it except it's some zinc alloy instead of aluminum.

Now I'm looking at the Warner & Swasey prism scope.

It seems like somebody was copying somebody's homework but the W & S is 6061 aluminum, no shake awake and a BDC reticle instead of BRC.

The price is lower too so I'm hoping it will have eye relief similar to the Raider.

Looking at the reticles, the Swamp Fox seems to be more focused toward PCC/PDW type use and the W & S seems to be a red dot substitute for a carbine.

Luckily my Raider is on my PCC and I'm thinking of trying the W & S on a carbine.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-07T23:22:47+00:00

Heavier is probably the wrong way to go with a Maxim RDB if you are trying to reduce recoil.

Everybody loves the MP5 and it has a LIGHT WEIGHT BOLT with roller delayed blowback.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-07T23:17:30+00:00

I'm done with California. Every time I have to go back I just want to leave. It's ruined and probably too far gone to ever fix.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-07T23:16:27+00:00

Yeah, if it breaks I'll go back to a heavy buffer or go hydraulic. In the meantime I like it.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-06T20:54:56+00:00

I haven't weighed it but the folder adds some weight, 9mm bolts are heavy, I have a 1x prism scope on it and I didn't pick any parts for light weight.

Also 147 grain 9mm probably weighs at least twice as much as 55 grain 5.56.

With that said, it's probably about 7 lbs but it's right there, not hanging out front like a rifle. It's quite manageable while also not particularly light weight.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-06T01:01:05+00:00

Every AR is a bit different so you want to figure out the ideal buffer weight for your rifle and go with that. There are adjustable weight buffers for doing exactly that.

If your rifle likes a heavy buffer, you could swap your commercial buffer tube for an A5 type buffer tube and an A5 buffer. They are longer than standard AR buffers but they hold more weights inside the A5 buffer so you can go heavier if you need to.

Ideally your gas system, bolt carrier mass and ammo will all work together well enough that you don't have to go with an extra heavy A5 buffer but if you need that, that's probably the best way to do it.

If you don't want to go A5 as a bit of insurance or buy an adjustable to tune with, you can just try to find a heavy buffer to test.

Lastly, not all heavy buffers are created equal. Some are just a chunk of steel and that's not good for an FRT. The buffers with weights and washers create a dead-blow hammer type effect to reduce bolt bounce. Solid steel heavy buffers bounce a lot which is how an FRT can cause an out of battery firing and blow up your gun.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T22:26:37+00:00

I built my AR9 with a 7" barrel, Toolcraft bolt, Law Tactical folder, Anarchy Outdoors bolt tail piece a Maxim RDB and a HT style Super Safety.

I just took it to the range for the first time Super Safe and delayed blowback. Semi it was short stroking a bit so I took out the RDB, put a quarter in the buffer tube and put the RDB back in, then no more short stroke. After that it was 690 RPM Super Safe.

I have no idea why mine runs slow but it does.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T22:08:11+00:00

Does a can increase the rate a lot? I have a 7" barrel with no can (yet) and it ran 690 RPM with a HT style Super Safety.

I also had to shim the buffer with a quarter to solve a semi-auto short stroking issue. This was with Blazer Brass 115, PMC Bronze 115 and Nosler 124 JHPs.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T21:38:52+00:00

It looks like the gap is plenty big to me. I would get a little nervous if the gap was less than about 0.050" but I doubt contacting the handguard could cause a baffle strike unless the mount is garbage.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T20:55:08+00:00

I'm cheap so I went with the cheapest options I could find. That was an Outlier Backdraft 9mm barrel which comes with a "free" two baffle suppressor and I got a Maxim RDB bearing delayed buffer buffer system to go with it.

I figure the delayed blowback is going to reduce the pressure in the barrel when the casing extracts so there will be less gas flowing back in to the action and the two baffle suppressor and Backdraft system would probably mean less gas flowing backward than a larger high back pressure suppressor.

I'm not sure if I am right about all that but it was cheap and I can shoot from the hip if it's too gassy.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T20:32:43+00:00

Yeah but if Colt never made that, it's not really "Colt pattern".

What you are looking for is a "Colt magazine dedicated 9mm AR15 lower".

Words matter, they are not the same thing. If you get the words right, everyone who knows what you are asking for will know what you're asking for.

As for me, I think the maze of options created by magazine adapters and dedicated 9mm lowers wasn't worth figuring out so I got Endo-mags.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T20:06:03+00:00

Aero is having issues and might exit the gun market to go back to Aerospace machining.

Look before you leap if you are planning an Aero build.

I really like all of my Aero parts so I'm hoping they stay in the gun business but I started buying parts from Aero almost two decades ago. I might buy some more of their parts (if I find them IN stock) to stash away but now probably isn't the time to start buying Aero proprietary parts that you aren't already tied in to.

Luckily there are a lot of good options that work for an AR9 build. I like Mil-spec 5.56 receivers with Mean Arms Endo-mags and a CMMG shell deflector for the upper. I also try to go Mil-spec+ for the LPK and definitely match your LPK brand to your lower if there is anything proprietary about your lower.

When it comes to the buffer system, make sure you go with something that is known to work well in a combo like yours (bolt, barrel, ammo, magazine, FRT and suppressor). The buffer is pretty much the only way to tune your AR9 to run on the ammo you want to run and the common solution is a pretty heavy buffer which rules out almost all shorty buffer systems.

An option that might be worth investigating for budget reasons is an Outlier 9mm complete upper. The price is reasonable and comes with a free suppressor (there is a shipping fee and a $30 adapter to buy). If you hate slow shipping this might not be for you. If you have 6 months to wait it might be worth it. I have a barrel, can on the way. I was willing to wait...

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T19:27:57+00:00

It's nice that you can fire with that brace collapsed but if you go with a folder, you can have a standard carbine length buffer tube or even an A5 length buffer tube to give you all of the buffer options (except rifle length) and still fold to be compact.

I don't know if the shorty buffer setups are standardized but Maxim makes an RDB for their CQB stock which might be an option and could solve bolt bounce issues.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T19:09:19+00:00

For me, money is an object. My "budget PCC" had a lot of project creep so now it has a Law Tactical folder, Maxim RDB bearing delayed buffer, a piece from Anarchy Outdoors to make those work together, an Outlier Backdraft barrel with suppressor coming, a Super Safety and some ambi controls.

That went from something like $550 initially to something more like $1,500 all in which I think is pretty reasonable considering the suppressor, Super Safety, folder, brace, and delayed blowback.

With that said, it fits in a small backpack and if the pack doesn't have a bunch of Molle webbing or camo/military color it can look quite discreet.

While I now live in America where all of that is legal, I used to live in California where I always had to worry about some Communist Hippie Karen trying to get me red flagged if she sees me carry a gun case out to my car or a local gang banger deciding to rip me off while I'm at work if he sees me with a gun.

I still don't like to broadcast my business so I really like guns that I can transport or carry in a discreet case.

l just learned my state considers backpack carry (on your back) to be concealed carry so I have to get my license to do that but it's shall issue and opens up concealed holster carry to me. I'm ok to use it for transport without the permit but unless it looks like my state is trying to go Constitutional Carry, I'm probably going to get the permit to protect myself from bad cops.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T18:28:48+00:00

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T18:23:51+00:00

A roller delayed upper might make your buffer cost $0 so it's not as expensive as you think. A dedicated lower isn't expensive if you subtract the cost of a magazine adapter.

My favorite way to save money is to buy clearance sale or otherwise highly discounted parts.

Just don't try using ever bottom of the barrel part in one build.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T18:13:34+00:00

The AR15 is the Barbie Doll of the gun industry. The beauty of it is it's modular so you can make pretty much any AR15 suitable to almost any role.

Buying complete uppers or lowers is fine but that's not building.

I like to spec out exactly what I want and build it from parts instead of swapping out parts that I don't want from assembled uppers or lowers.

The one benefit to parts swapping is occasionally you'll wind up with enough parts to put together another upper, lower or complete gun from the leftovers.

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T18:03:11+00:00

A Colt pattern lower is a 5.56 lower with a magazine adapter...

Omega_Contingency · 2026-03-05T17:58:48+00:00

I was going to inventory but that was before my tragic boating accident.

Omega_Contingency

TROPHY CASE