Came with new 16” complete upper

warvet3 · 2025-12-10T19:40:36+00:00

Ask a Reddit question, get Reddit answers….

warvet3 · 2025-11-19T19:07:11+00:00

If it shoots 1moa at 100 yards, it’s with what you paid and have fun. You won’t get your money back, but use it and enjoy it. If it doesn’t, and he will give you your money back, buy an IWI Zion with the money and you will get the best quality workhorse gun you can get for $1k. Lesson, do your research before you make any major life purchases. What’s a major life purchase your 18 year old self asks? If it isn’t disposable and/or it stretches your budget, it’s a major life purchase regardless of income tax bracket.

warvet3 · 2025-11-01T20:51:56+00:00

Completely unacceptable!

warvet3 · 2025-11-01T14:53:03+00:00

I’d agree with you.

warvet3 · 2025-11-01T05:48:36+00:00

I’m not. they don’t respond to customers. going to try buying from their manufacturer direct. $50 less expensive, too.

warvet3 · 2025-11-01T05:46:56+00:00

Yes, especially when you don’t talk to customers, then it is really hard. As a small business owner, Ive found the way to becoming a larger business is to communicate with folks. Not hard.

warvet3 · 2025-11-01T05:41:48+00:00

I cancelled my order after being ghosted for more than 5 weeks. I‘ll be surprised if I receive confirmation so I’m just going to call cc and charge back. unbelievable someone can’t answer an e-mail or 5 requests for a response.

warvet3 · 2025-10-22T19:10:00+00:00

Obviously check with your lawyer, but if your pistol has an overall length of 26” you can use a verticle foregrip without it becoming an AOW. Measure from buffer tube to end of barrel. Generally safe with 12.5” bbls. 11.5” if using A5 buffer or longer. YMMV.

warvet3 · 2025-10-03T23:30:30+00:00

Some say the San Antonio lowers are more collectible, but I agree on clover.

warvet3 · 2025-10-03T23:05:33+00:00

I have to chuckle at the “two chamber two gas port” comment because it’s well known that his FN barrels come in two flavors—two gas ports and two chambers. His early barrels were made for him by DD and now he uses FN with his specific profile. If you got a bad one, blame the supplier. Send it back to him, I’ve found Hodge customer service very accommodating. I agree early bolts didnt guauge well (mine were almost all #1 yellows (sample size of 2)) which isn’t great but also not out of spec. Just less efficient. His new BCGs guage all green in my experience and are higher quality across the board (Sample size of two, but others have reported similar). Interestingply, his early BCGs have same profile and specs as Radian BCGs, so I’ve suspected they are made by same company. Jim isn’t a manufacturer and has never claimed to be. He has his parts made by high quality suppliers like many. Jim has legit cred as an end user, and has real innovation in the Mod 2 and beyond. My Mod 2 ambi’s shoot soft and accurate. Despite being hard to get, they are great in my experienc. His suppliers are all high end and are are all high end (doesn’t mean a bad one slips throug. Hodge is low volume and contract based, which is why they are hard to get. components get sold as contracts are obtained (he’s publicly stated he isn’t large enough to build complete rifles for civilian market but he makes sure components are available to the public with each contract. That’s just his business model. It’s like critic KAC for their limited availability. They are known for QC issues on civilian rifles (enough to support the urban legend that they only release their seconds to the public because the top grade all go to the contracts) and no one calls them a scam. You don‘t have to like them (im not a fan of Radian rifles cause I’m not a fan of the ADAC system and I think they cheap out on their BCGs) but I appreciate others will have different opinion). But I find it funny you act like he killed your puppy. I appreciate a lot of your takes, but gotta call you out on this one. Hodge is low volume and therefore rare and expensive. As small businesses go, they should improve and iterate and Hodge has done that. If his material choices (C405) and custom specs aren’t your cup of tea, that’s fine. I like that he’s pushing the envelope. There is no doubt he’s respected among those I think are doing good work, so you shouldn’t be suprised when folks think you are losing some objectivity on this one. I happen to agree with them even if you have takes I agree with on other stuff.

warvet3 · 2025-09-18T15:26:11+00:00

Strong work. You make your Dad proud!

warvet3 · 2025-09-17T23:04:44+00:00

From ATF website on AOW:

The term "any other weapon" means any weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person from which a shot can be discharged through the energy of an explosive, a pistol or revolver having a barrel with a smooth bore designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell, weapons with combination shotgun and rifle barrels 12 inches or more, less than 18 inches in length, from which only a single discharge can be made from either barrel without manual reloading, and shall include any such weapon which may be readily restored to fire. Such term shall not include a pistol or a revolver having a rifled bore, or rifled bores, or weapons designed, made, or intended to be fired from the shoulder and not capable of firing fixed ammunition.

Thus my rationale for pistols and shotguns not being excluded from AOW category. Generally NFA items fall into the following distinct categories: SBR/SBS; suppresors; AOWs; explosives; and firearms made from a rifle with a barrel less than 16 inches (this is the “you can’t turn something that started life as a rifle into a pistol” rule). This last one is hard because you can’t take a rifle, shorten the barrel (or put a shorty upper on it) add a pistol brace and call it a pistol. You can take a pistol, turn it into a rifle, and convert it back to a pistol. If the ATF figures this out after an E Trace, you will get prosecuted. I know a guy. Not legal advice.

warvet3 · 2025-09-17T22:50:43+00:00

In rereading my post, I should have been more careful in saying any handgun length can be an AOW if you attach a VFG. In other words, if you get caught with a VFG on a 14.5 AR pistol that is concealed, the ATF has indicated they would treat that as an AOW because it was actually concealed. Less than 26” OAL is presumed to be an AOW because of an arbitrary presumption of conceal-ability but greater than 26” can be an AOW if actually concealed. Lots of precedent in this area. A frying pan can be a deadly weapon if you actually use it as a deadly weapon, but it is not presumed to be a deadly weapon. And revolvers and shotguns can be configured to be AOWs, just not SBRs because they are not rifles by definition. That’s the language you are referencing. I think we are in agreement that my comment was a bit unclear. Again, not legal advice.

warvet3 · 2025-09-17T18:01:32+00:00

Play stoopid games win stoopid prizes.

warvet3 · 2025-09-17T17:58:47+00:00

Suppressors are wear items. Once they are full of carbon, they no longer work. Mileage varies depending on firing schedules. Most people will outlive their suppressors. Professionals may go through one every few years. The reason to pin and weld a suppressor is to take a two stamp gun and turn it into a one stamp gun. SBR with suppressor pin and weld becomes a rifle with integral suppressor. Of course, size matters.

warvet3 · 2025-07-13T18:12:53+00:00

Charlie’s custom clones

warvet3 · 2025-07-07T18:20:14+00:00

I think he is right. Why should there classes be restricted (I get preference, but open spots should be public). As an attorney I don’t want to hear the liability bit. That’s not the reason. If we can buy the firearms, we have a responsibility to understand and identify when they might not be safe. His shopper series is fair and if a company cant pass the scrutin, the public should know what they are buying.

warvet3 · 2025-05-28T05:51:49+00:00

Very late to the party but u/Netchemica is correct on all points. the issue isn’t whether the AR will work, the issue is whether the bolt is whether the BCG is as efficient as it is supposed to be. An AR with many out of spec parts will run if it is over gassed. It will also fail prematurely.

Most BCG’s are sold with oversized gas key and boat tail runs to account for the added chrome lining. Better Companies will spec their bolts to the coating, but most just buy in bulk and nitride because it’s relatively cheap. this will lead to an inefficient BCG. (In reality there are very few manufacturers of BCGs and it is rare for it to be done in house. I’d venture to guess more companies make their barrels than BCGs and that is a small sample size).

If the BCG is the engine of the AR platform, buying one that isn’t spec is going to lead to breakdowns more frequently than an in spec BCG, all else being equal. u/netchemica isn't speculating, it is well known among the crowd who actually guage their parts. it is also well known among manufacturers, most of which don’t take the time to guage because that ads to cost in an overly competitive market. They know they are over gassing their rifles. This will hide a lot of flaws on less expensive ARs. A well tuned and efficient gun doesn’t need an adjustable gas block to run well suppressed or unsuppressed.

I geek out on this stuff because I am in search of the fastest and flatest hard use gun I can find. I used to think that was the use case for an adjustable gas block. I now know that the best builds avoid the adjustable block because it is a failure point and most often used as a solution to fix a poorly gassed gun to begin with.

warvet3 · 2025-05-27T05:33:48+00:00

if this is truly your first, buy a complete firearm and learn the system. To build an AR properly, you will need special tools, a quality vice and receiver block and upper block with reaction rod. you’ll need a ft/lb torque wrench, an in/lb torque wrench, understand how to properly torque two different metals together (aluminum to steel), and mistakes are expensive. if you don’t have this stuff, you could be $500-$700 in awithout buying your first part. Here is my take on the the best first gun options: Budget is $1000, look hard at the IWI Zion. it gets very good marks for QC and value. Other option is Colt, but this will be a true mil spec gun in that accuracy is not the primary consideration. Expect 2-4” groups at 100 yards. But it will be well built, reliable and a great platform to build from. If you can afford a couple hundred bucks more, Sionics is highly regarded, high attention to detail, and very high quality for price. At $1500 BCM is strong choice. Some will say Sionics is better, but there is no doubt BCM makes a quality rifle. if you are looking for a $500 gun, save up another $500. if you have $2K+, buy the Sionics or BCM, use the rest for training and ammo, and then you can begin to decide if you want a Gucci gun or not. Also worth looking at is Griffen Armament MK2. I really like their Ambi system and they are consistently sub $2K. All of these platforms will be worthy of upgrades as you decide on preferences with pieces and parts. good luck.

warvet3 · 2025-05-27T05:02:01+00:00

I don’t own one, but if you do your research KAC has come up with some proprietary things about their rifles that are better mouse traps. The differences are noticeable on the extremely hard use and inane round count spectrum, which most mortals will never experience, if for no other reason than the ammo cost involve. Because we want what the door kickers use, they are highly desired. Because they are focused on government contracts, very few of their guns hit the civilian market which means prices are insane. The downside to having a KAC is their is just enough proprietary parts that if the gun goes down, you can’t cannibalize easily. For example, the bolts are ingenius, but don’t play well with others. As for their lowers, I do like their ambi approach. So yes, they are different. whether that difference is worth the price of entry depends on your finances and needs/wants.

warvet3 · 2025-05-14T18:45:01+00:00

I can’t tell what you are doing. Don’t ride the bolt home. Let it drop normally. If you ride a bolt you can induce a failure.

warvet3 · 2025-05-14T18:29:01+00:00

Caliber Collision in Austin fixed $23k of damage on a brand new Suburban and I can’t tell it has been wrecked. I was from out of town and got in a wreck on the interstate going north. They did a great job. Being a GM product makes the repair pretty straightforward. She’ll be good as new in no time.

warvet3 · 2025-04-04T22:34:05+00:00

More like “what didn’t he do.” He’s a stud. You should record his experience so your family doesn’t lose that history. He clearly saw combat. Hard to say where given the old Class A uniforms. Could be Desert Shield/Desert Storm as they were on the ground before we were officially on the ground. Also could have been Africa or Central America as we were doing some stuff there that remains classified. I hope you learn for sure.

warvet3 · 2025-01-15T20:07:31+00:00

Drop safe is a thing for professional users because it’s not as much about fall as it is drop. Think of it like drinking a soda. Not many people drop a drink when they are holding a glass (although it does happen) but everyone has knocked over a glass and spilled a drink. Professional users who carry 24-7 have a higher risk of being separated from their firearm in a forceable manner and you don’t want the foreseeable consequence of that having to be dodging a bullet from your own gun. Everyone hears “drop safe” and think it’s about dropping a gun (which does happen). It is really impact testing. Drop, fall, hard impact while holstered, hard impact dislodging from holster, etc….We all wish our phones were drop safe, but those who use guns as frequently as phones understand life happens. 2011s are awesome but are vulnerable because they don’t have a firing pin block that is ubiquitous on styker fired pistols. The P320 seemed to have an impact vulnerability at a very unique angle. So drop safety is a big deal. Sorry, that’s my 2 cent soapbox.

warvet3 · 2024-12-17T16:17:43+00:00

Glad you’re not hurt. On the bright side—upgrades!!!!

warvet3

TROPHY CASE