Starting off let’s say one thing; some people ask what the best component is, the best rifle to buy, best optic, best blah blah blah… There is no best. Anyone that tells you that any single add-on component is the best does not understand the purpose of application. So here it is, my purpose and my application behind building my rifle. Hopefully this helps you understand the applications rather than the components.

This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine.

As I always say, I am a professional hit man in the realm of 3M products. There isn’t a piece of paper, staple or bit of tape that isn’t shaking in it’s metaphorical boots when I open my range bag. I wanted a good 3 gun competition rifle so I built this gun to scare paper. When I did this build there were three points that stood out as being the most important to me; how I shoot it, weight and functionality.

The way that I shoot is pretty standard, I like extending my arm all the way out to the end of the barrel rather than hold it by the magwell. There were two purchases that resulted from this; the AFG 2 from Magpul and the Sampson 15” Evolution Rail. The long rail allows for a place to put my hand, close to the end of the barrel. I have the AFG 2 mounted close to the end of the rail to accomodate my shooting style. I like it like that, some people can’t stand it, I don’t really care what other people want in my rifle as I am the one who will be shooting it.

The most important thing for me in this rifle build, aside from taking into account my shooting style, was putting as little weight on it as possible. The Samson Evolution Rail system comes with two 2” rail segments and one 4” rail segment that can be mounted octagonally around the rail system, which could come in handy. Other than that the rail system is a looker, and a light one at that – this rail weighs in at 13.2 oz. For a 15” rail to come in at 13.2 oz is impressive and adds very little weight. The free-float rail system was the main weight concern, as I was set on doing the 15” which tends to get really heavy until you spend four or five hundred dollars on a rail system. I picked this one up for $140.

I started with a functional firearm and a chrome-lined 1/7 barrel. So how do you improve it’s functionality? I added three things onto this gun to do just that. I won’t go into a lot of detail, but I’ve embedded links to each individual review. Muzzle devices can change the way the gun shoots… literally change it entirely. I put the EFFIN A from Ares Armor on mine and it works perfectly (Ares Armor EFFIN A Review). The second improvement was the Mission First Tactical BUS Milspec Stock and their ENGAGE pistol grip. Both have huge amounts of storage for extra firing pins, batteries and Twinkies. (Mission First Tactical BUS Stock Review)

All in all I am very happy with my rifle. I have the EOTech 512 optic on it since it uses standard AA batteries and I really wanted an EOTech. I love how quickly I can acquire a target with their optics and I know it won’t break unless I really try to break it. There are more and more low-price, high-quality options on optics and we will review some soon, since not everyone wants to drop four or five hundred dollars on an optic.

When all is said and done, I enjoyed this build and I’ve been asked to put together a build list once this article was finished (for now) so here it is:

  • Sig Sauer M 400 Enhanced
  • Mission First Tactical BUS Stock
  • Mission First Tactical ENGAGE Pistol Grip
  • Magpul MBUS 2 front and read flip up sights
  • Magpul Trigger Guard
  • EOTech 512
  • Samson 15” Evolution Free Float Rail System
  • Magpul AFG2
  • Troy Low Profile gas block