Last month, I asked a question about how to get into CMP rifle matches using equipment that I have or could purchase. I already own an M1 Garand and an M1A (M14 clone) as well as a SIG SAUER 516 piston gun. I wanted to know if any of those would work or if I should instead be look at picking up an AR-15 platform gun. The general consensus was that the 516 would not be legal for Service Rifle CMP matches, so that’s out. Either the M1 or the M1A would be the way to get started without laying out any additional coin. I hate to admit it, but that was not the answer I was looking for . . .
See, I suffer from the terrible condition of holophilia: I regularly get the unnatural desire to go out and buy guns simply because I haven’t bought one in a while. Fortunately, I’m also able to sell guns that I no longer use to fund this disease. I’ve even sold several guns that I never even got around to shooting. The AWB scare of a couple of months ago was rather helpful in this regard as I was able to actually make some money on a few of my sales as opposed to losing cash on my flips.
With that as background, I was really looking for some folks to say, “Jim, go ahead and get that SIG SAUER M400 Hunter you were looking at and trick it out into a CMP match gun.” Guys, you let me down. Fortunately, my aforementioned affliction overrode the common sense that was so prevalent in the comments and I went out and got myself the M400 after all.
Now, what I could have done would have been to go out and pick up an Armalite AR-15 in the National Match Configuration such as the one that Foghorn reviewed a couple of years ago. Then again, maybe not.
Foghorn reported some interesting problems with his gun that he traced to some manufacturing issues a few months later and ultimately fixed with a new bolt carrier (at least $200). Either way, the chances of picking up a National Match Armalite at this time of the year with the high power season shifting into high gear and the backlog from the Great AWB Panic of 2013 still impacting the market was pretty slim.
So I decided that if I’m going to do this, I’ll need to build it myself. And I’m starting with the SIG SAUER M400 Hunter as my base platform.
I chose this gun for several reasons. First of all, it has a 20” match grade barrel, rifle length gas system and a fixed stock – all requirements for the Service Rifle category. It also has an unthreaded barrel and no bayonet lug which is nice because I can take it across the border into Massachusetts if I want to compete there.
Unfortunately, SIG aimed this rifle at the hunting market and assumed that users would just slap a scope or other optic on the flat top and be done with it. That means no front sight was integrated into the gas block. Furthermore, since the rifle shipped with a Magpul MOE hand guard with an integrated front sling mount, there’s no place to mount a sling once I changed out the stock for a CMP-legal classic hand guard. And the final reason I chose the rifle was that it was in stock at the local SIG dealer.
The first step was to change out the sights. I bought a Colt detachable carry handle from my local gun shop which had just gotten in a batch of surplus units so I got a good deal on a new piece of kit.
For the gas block, I decided to go with a JP Enterprises JPGS-2FS front sight with gas block.
I went this route for two reasons. First, it mounts to the barrel with screws rather than pins, so nothing special had to be done to the barrel to swap out the included low profile gas block for this one. Second, it has an adjustable gas system so the gun had just enough gas to cycle the bolt and no more. When I explained this advantage to one of my colleagues, he sneered at me and pointed out the gas ports built into the Ar-15 bolt. These, he told me, already regulate any excess gas so you don’t need an adjustable gas block.
While that’s technically correct, he overlooked one thing. The JP block isn’t designed to vent excess high pressure gas from an overloaded cartridge. Rather, it’s designed to tune the gas system so that the bolt doesn’t come flying back with any more force than it actually needs to cycle. This reduces the shock of the bolt hitting the rear of the gun and should help to improve accuracy on those 600 yard shots. The only downside to the block is that it doesn’t feature the standard sling mount one usually finds attached to the A2 front sight.
This is actually less of a problem than you’d think because for highly accurate shots, you don’t want a sling pulling directly on the barrel, as it will cause deflection and a change in point of impact. What was needed was an attachment that doesn’t actually pull on the barrel – afree floating solution. For this, I turned to the folks at White Oak Armament and their Service Rifle Float Tube.
This little gem attaches to the receiver of the upper and allows attachment of a sling and the hand guards so they don’t touch the barrel. This is certainly something that an experienced person could install, but I’m not that sort of person. Plus, I suspected that I’d have some clearance problems where the sling attachment point met the gas block, so this was something that I referred to the professionals at Wicked Weaponry in Hooksett, New Hampshire. Just as I thought, some milling was indeed required to get the float tube to properly mate with the gas block.
In addition to the float tube fitting, the Service Rifle hand guard needed to have its heat shield removed and the end milled to properly fit into the hand guard cap. By the way, the SIG M400 came configured with a round cap, but the hand guards I bought needed a triangular one. Fortunately Wicked Weaponry had one in stock.
Since this had to fit the Service Rifle as-issued specs, I needed to replace the Magpul hand guard and pistol grip with a stock rifle-length hand guard and A2 pistol grip. These were bought from Fulton Armory.
The trigger that came with the SIG wasn’t bad, but it was also not competition grade. I’ve had a lot of success with Geissele triggers, so that was the next thing that was swapped out. I went with their two stage SSA trigger. The rules of Service Rifle competition state that 4.5 lbs of pull is the minimum and since their SSA-E model has a slightly lighter trigger pull, it didn’t make the cut.
The final pieces of the puzzle were replacing the front sight post with an Armalite National Match post and the rear sight with an Armalite National Match Rear sight. One minor problem that I noted is that the Armalite rear sight screw extends further down than the sight screw that came with the Colt carry handle. What this means is that when the carry handle is attached to the rifle, the rear sight cannot be brought all the way down.
I suspect this may be a problem for long distance shots. I’m in the process of investigating my options. I may attempt to grind off a bit of the bottom of the sight screw so that it is flush with the bottom of the detachable carry handle. Alternatively, I could drill a small hole into the rail mounted on the receiver of the rifle, but I am loathe to make that sort of modification to a gun. I’m in the process of figuring this out with Armalite now.
Total cost for the build: about $1,700. For comparison purposes, an Armalite National Match rifle with a nearly identical part list would have cost around $1,200 before Newton. I know because I owned one. I sold it during the height of the AR-15 panic for $2,000, so depending on how you look at it, I either paid a bit more or saved a bunch. I’d estimate that today, if you were able to find one, you would probably be looking in the neighborhood of $1,700, so overall the cost was not too bad.
The JP adjustable gas block and Geissele trigger are nicer than what Armalite ships on their NM gun, but if you chose to forego the trigger upgrade, you’d have a price around $1,500. Geissele also offers the Geissele 2-stage trigger which they claim is the same as the SSA. That would save you $45 over the SSA. Since I already had an SSA in my SIG 516 and liked it, I decided not to roll the dice with the cheaper model.
I’m pretty pleased with the way everything turned out. I have an accurate rifle that qualifies for the Service Rifle category on the CMP competition circuit for a reasonable price. If you’re looking to build one yourself, this would be a decent place to start.
Bill of Materials
- SIG SAUER M400 $940
- Colt Detachable Handle $50
- JP GS-2FS $130
- White Oak Float Tube $105
- Handguard & A2 Grip $30
- Gunsmithing & Cap $130
- Armalite NM Sights $95
- Geissele SSA Trigger $219
Total build cost $1,690
One more Pessolini, she’s the hag’s ageing daughter, and she’s a fascist too? Oh, no! You don’t say . . .
Great article on the 30-40 Krag! My Dad willed his pristine Krag-Jorgensen 6.5x55mm to me and I was greatly appreciative to him for that. I first gained my love of older military weapons from him (he was a Korean war vet) and later went on to have a full military career of my own and was in the first gulf war. I now own many various military weapons of which the Krag is one of my favorites. I do have to put in a plug for the Finnish M39 carbines of the late 60’s to early 70’s. they have been some of the most accurate and yes, smooth action rifles I have owned and I am the proud owner of both an original 1915 M91 U.S. Mosin Nagant (U.S. Westinghouse) and a 1969 M39. Both of these are rare and highly sought after now. (My Krag still wins my heart however) I also like very much my Swedish Mauser made in 1908, which unfortunately was sporterized, but well done. Thanks for a great article!!
Yes, lets get ride of everything the minority views as scary so we can all live in a Utopian world where no one feelings get hurt and there is nothing but rainbows and unicorn farts
The real question is why these elitist, worshipers of tyranny and mass death( this is the end result of their Marxist, socialist, communist belief system) are in control of our schools?
Actually, the answer is in history; historically, this type of nihilistic, selfish and self destructive type of thinking becomes the norm at the end of all great civilizations, there is a reason dark ages happen; we’re seeing those reasons now, all around us.
LOL I thought the man in the crowd was holding a rifle. Had to play it again, but it was just an umbrella.
That’s one way to guarantee police will open up a can of wamp ass on you. However which one of the officers missed the gun in the pat down, not a small gun!
1:57 – I’m a bully cop who’s so pissed at being scared shitless that I’m gonna grab you by the neck and scream obscenities in your face now that you’ve been disarmed and are helplessly handcuffed.
They should have turned off the cameras and tattooed the guy. I’m as vigilant as any one on abuse of power, but for gods sake, how much danger do you expect the cops to be in and not react? F this looser. Throw away the key time.
1:19 -To whom was he referring when he said, “Stupid %$#@!”
I posted this on that site:
I’m all for this:
“…with actions to address the root causes.”
However, I don’t believe guns are the root cause.
This was a very strange statement:
“…democratize the hope and democratize the solutions…”
What if the majority is wrong? How do you democratize hope??? Hope is a concept that resides in each and every one of us. It is not a democracy.
“…that address root causes of poverty, crime, anger, and hunger for which guns are an accelerator.”
I think that decisions made with guns are the accelerator – not the physical gun itself which is an amalgamate of typically polymer, steel, springs, wood, etc.
“… let us resolve to get between our kids and guns any way we can, so that fewer mothers have to suffer next Mother’s Day.”
I agree – this is a parenting issue, a moral issue. Parents need to teach values and respect to their children… so those children don’t pick up a gun and shoot someone in the face.
What this woman forgets is that there WERE people standing between the gun and the children at Newtown–courageous, self-sacrificing adult women who put themselves in the path of the deranged monster in an attempt to protect the children, and those women died because good intentions and courage are no protection against incoming fire. With no means of defense, these women died nobly but needlessly.
Given that evil people will always find a way to DO evil until good people put a stop to it with force, it would be far better to prepare for the worst and arm educators than to deny the inevitable and hide behind good intentions and ‘feel-good’ legislation.
That, however, would be a harsh dose of reality that this woman cannot handle; Denial is so much easier than action, and ‘doing something that FEELS good’ and does nothing else is the key to sheep-like happiness.
Huh?!?!?!?
Those police officers must have been giving the man in the back seat a courtesy ride since they obviously had not frisked the man nor put him in handcuffs. I guess that is just bad luck for those two officers.
That is a good example of why it is foolish for police to patrol in cars all by themselves … it would have been exceedingly difficult for one officer to disarm that guy all by himself.
On another vein, is there a law against possessing a handgun in the back seat of a police car if you are not under arrest? Is there a law against having it out of your pocket/holster and in hand in the back of a police car if you are not under arrest? Is it unwise — of course. But is it illegal? I never saw the man aim it at any of the officers or otherwise threaten them.
I think having it in your hand could be considered “Brandishing.”
She isn’t one of my relatives.
Like a lot of American gun companies – from Smith on down – frequent changes of ownership/ management results in fluctuating quality. I’ve got a friend who loves his Charter .38; the only thing of theirs I owned was an AR-7 which was the most unreliable .22 auto (pistol or rifle) I’ve ever owned, shot, or heard of. (The Henry ARs are a world different.) But everything I’ve seen and heard about Charters is that the quality depends on who owned or managed the company at that particual moment in time.
But small pistols… just seems like there are a lot of gunboys out there who have no concept of physics. Just look at the excitement over the latest plastic/ titanium/ aluminum concealed-carry .40 or .45… oh boy! a +P+ .49 Magnum that only weighs 3 ounces! Sorry, you can have it; I’ll stick with something that has a reasonable mass-to-recoil ratio even if it is a bit on the heavy side. The most unpleasant handgun experience I’ve ever had was the one shot I fired from a friend’s airweight J-frame loaded with +Ps. I thought you were supposed to throw the grenade as far as possible, not let it go off in your hand. Much more unpleasant than anything I ever put through my Super Blackhawk or P220. Since I figure in the real world I might need a follow-up shot (and a wrist to take it with) I’ll trade a bit of bulk/ weight for maximum concealability. Actually, if it came with an ambi safety, I would rate the steel-frame Star Starfire 9mm “just right” for a carry gun… small but heavy enough to be controlable with combat loads and downright fun with plinking ammo.
Nick, good review. It’s a handsome looking .38 snubbie. Still, when it comes to a gun that might be your life saver one day, I’m of the mind-frame to buy something different such as the Ruger LCR even if the LCR is an ugly duckling in comparison.
Like the Barney Fife award winning cop who put a round through the TSA break room at the Philly airport trying to unload a double-action only revolver.
Still remember the MSNBC line, “A flight attendant tries to board an airplane with a gun. Then, to make matters worse, the gun goes off in the terminal.”
Yep, then the gun giggled maniacally and scurried off to hide under a chair.
There will always be stupid decisions by parents. The trouble is that inviting prosecution for one stupid parental decision invites prosecution for many other parental decisions based only on the prosecutor’s idea of what is good and bad.
Drumroll please. And the winner is….
5spot, for this gem:
Um, what is the safe word again?
Thanks for playing. Tune in again next week.
I think yes, in general… proof of training is a reasonable requirement for a CHL. Especially if it ever goes to a national license system.
had Adam Lanza’s mother acknowledged that her son was a whack job and properly committed her son
FIFY.
It should be taught in school. Right next to “reading riting and rithmatic”
I am fine with training requirements as long as the cost doesn’t get crazy and there are no catch22 type requirements (e.g. – must train with own gun to get gun-permit, must have gun-permit before buying/owning gun)
This is why. Most people who own guns fall into three categories:
1. Hunters.
2. Target Shooters.
3. CCW folks.
These three categories all end up getting training one way or another.
1. Hunters need a Hunter Safety certificate to get a hunting license.
2. Target shooters almost always are members of a club and or organization like CMP, NRA etc. They often volunteer for precision markmanship classes etc. People into Sporting clays, Trap, Skeet are also almost always members of a gun range and get training there.
3. Most states require a training course to get a Concealed carry permit.
Requiring training would not change the status-quo very much, if at all.
Having nation wide common training requirements could also be used as a way of heading off the Anti’s arguments against National Reciprocity.
For carrying in public it’s worthwhile to require knowledge of the legal responsibilities of the carrier and some basic safety. This can be done with a study booklet and test similar to what is required for a drivers license. A realistic expectation will be that the booklet will be written by anti-gun bureaucrats and therefore the right answer can be reasonably guessed by looking for the one that most discourages carrying. However for proficiency it’s impossible to provide worthwhile training that is not overly burdensome in time and cost. 4 or 8 hours is not enough to be proficient in anything but a classroom setting and that is already getting pretty burdensome for a fundamental right. The best one could hope for might be a proficiency test and provide recommended practice drills and third party training providers to pass it. This would allow the shooter to train on their own or find a suitable instructor that offers a range of training options.
All of this would be done with the understanding that it probably won’t accomplish much except get some nanny statists off our backs, but honestly it might be worthwhile for that anyway.
As may have already been pointed out . . . Adam Lanza’s mother was not in the habit of taking her guns out of the home. True w/ many/most spree killers.
I think a mandate would create some questions like:
How/Would it apply to states that allow open carry?
How/Would it apply to retired cops?
If it is a mandate, and it is violated, what would be the punishment?
Safety in our schools??
Would it not be a smart thing to give a thorough course of instruction on gun safety in high school, since it is of such a national concern.
A safety class that would educate and turn low knowledge individuals into at least those with some knowledge.
How could parents not want their children knowing enough to be safe. (But then again, wasn’t there a sex ed controversy?)
An optional live fire training outside the school for additional cost for those interested or for those living in states that require live fire for CCW.
Hell, If the state of Wisconsin was going to honor my Hunter Safety certificate from 1968 as training for my CCW in 2012, (did you expect me to find it after 40 years)
these kids should then be good to go for their CCW as soon as the age into it.
Imagine these 3 million educated kids each year nationwide contributing to the neutralization of the current NO knowledge voters in this political environment.
As if the Left would not see this coming, but what would they use as an argument against it and not be looking at a mirror image of the anti sex education Right wing.
If you want to argue against Cops in schools go ahead, but how are you against education in schools? (don’t answer)
So, I have to pass a language course to exercise the 1st amendment? A law course to exercise the 4th and 5th? Hotel management to excercise the 3rd? No. And no to mandatory safety course to exercise the 2nd. It’s smart to do so, but legistating smart things into manditory things is what got us to the nanny state we have now.
Pretty sure Winchester’s parent company is Olin, not Odin. Autocorrect FTW?
Lol. Just got home from CMP & NRA weeks at Perry. Armalite NM rifles $850-$1250 all day long, price depending on what day you walked by. Sales restrictions sucked, unless you happened to live in Ohio or a neighboring state; whoever was responsible for that should be replaced. Great two weeks though.
Is that shot of her from an upcoming musical number or something?
I have been reading this blog with some interest. at this time. Look at dates of post. you can get a rifle for $1200 that will win any service rifle comp you wish to go to. I said the rifle will not the shooter. To build a good rifle, one can spend around $800 and have a real nice one to start with and even win club matches. one rule that has been said but not pushed in the blog, is it must look like an M16.
Im am going to repeat, say again, some of the things that have all ready been said, This is coming from a guy that has helped set up several people with rifles. About 200 in the last few years. I shot my first match in about 1974 and still shoot. I shot on the Ft. Bragg AMTU for several years. Army service last part of 1972 , ret. in feb 2000. I run NRA high power and NRA small bore matches, the next match is March 7, as in 2015. I will be shooting in the nationals this may. So here I go.
First thing is shut up, second thing is to get off you butt and go shoot some local matches. Next is quit thinking that you have the best answer, you don’t. Hell I don’t so why do you think you do. what I do know is you can talk this to death and then go play your video game and go no where. Get to a local match, we do not care what your shooting at first and then only if you want to move up do we say very much. The cmp is at the bottom end of matches, the only one that means any thing to most of us is the EIC matches. NRA matches are the way to go, They just are, cmp could if they wanted but most of their matches deal with old stuff. Even their small bore is low key, My SB rifle can not be used in their matches, (anny 1813 rifle) Yes I am old school as they have out the 2013s, I just don’t want to spend $4000 for a new rifle when mine does just fine. I see this build a rifle, or test ammo bs all the time. I had a guy start with a win. 30-30 , shot it for a year before he went to a ar15, (got it with tax money) we supported him all the way. These blogs should be a sounding board for good info not a who’s who of how dumb can one be when the rule books can be down loaded.
AS I stated , I am only repeating what has been said, I just put it in simple terms. I am still located in the Ft. Bragg Fayetteville are, any one wanting to shoot give me a call or a email, be happy to get you started with out all of this BS
Rick Smith
[email protected]
we shoot high power, small bore, 3 gun / 2gun and pistol.
you guys should try the small bore, its a great way to learn and train in the off season , I shoot it year round.
we also have classes for shooters.
See you on the firing line but not much of this on line.
gyrfalcon sounds like an a-hole that has never been a newbie. His sh1t doesn’t stink at all….