Parts is parts

Sorry for  the delay for those who stroll by regularly. Between work and personal life, I've been pretty tied up and haven't shown this blog attention in a few weeks.

Something different - A critique of the shooters out there. Well, some of you anyways

This is an exploded AR, in case you're not a shooter. Standard platform broken down into it's individual components.

Side note - You can tell the AK was designed by a soldier and the AR by an engineer. Having put together a few AR lowers, the amount of tiny pieces, little holes, and springs on the thing, you can see why it doesn't really like mud, sand, and just overall grit. Those little detents and springs suck ass. Back to my commentary...

It's common for people, once they have an AR or two, or twelve, to begin customizing them to make them 'their own'. Stocks, foregrips, grips, end-plates and so on. You can really go overboard sometimes and make it look like a bit of a franken-gun

But guess what? It's your gun so unless you're making it unsafe for those around you, you're the one who has to deal with it.

Why my gripe?
While looking for a new stock for a recent AR build, I came across this little thing from Magpul called a B.A.D. (Battery Assist Device) lever.

The idea behind this little thing is it helps you engage and disengage the bolt catch using just your trigger finger. It requires no modification, as it just clamps on with an allen head screw around the standard catch paddle. I thought it was pretty nifty and when reading some of the reviews from people, they said they really liked how it allowed them to change magazines a little faster as you can drop the spent mag with your trigger finger, bring up a fresh one and instead of "dropping the bolt" with your support hand, start moving that into position while you let the bolt go with your trigger finger. You can still work the catch normally, obviously, but it lets you move a little quicker.
No problem there.

But here's what rubbed me the wrong way and it's with the 'religious' faction of the shooting community out there. Those who believe the 1911 was designed by His Holiness John Moses Browning and must never be sullied by guide rods, flared mag wells or the like.  Or The Lord Eugene Stoner betrothed this Holy AR upon the masses and we must bow down before Its wonder and majesty, never to alter his Creation. "ALL HAIL GLOCK! ALL HAIL GLOCK!"
Comments from this group ranged from "It'll cause the bolt catch to engage or at least cause it to rub against the bolt, causing early failure." to "What, you'll save half a second engaging the bolt normally?" to my favorite "Devices like this will make it harder for you to pick up someone else's gun in the middle of a firefight and operate it properly. Don't use this on your duty weapon."
First off, this part was developed by Magpul, who is a leader in developing parts for the AR platform. You don't get to the leader status by making things that can cause a weapon to fail or function improperly. Yes, some people make thing that are just to make a buck. I get it. But Magpul? Yeah...
Yes, shaving time off is what you want if you happen to find yourself in a real life gun battle (maybe .1% of people in the "civilian" world, but...). And if this was for a competition setup, that .5-1 second shaving is the difference between first and loser.
Finally - Unless you are in a situation where all of your guns are issued to you or you ALL buy the exact same guns and don't modify them, everyone has different guns out there. You may have a grip sleeve on your Glock 22 and your partner doesn't. You may have an HK P30 and the buddy you're hunting with has a S&W M&P 9. If you ever find yourself having to pick up someone else's gun, you're going to have to take a moment to figure it out. Even basic things like triggers, grips, or stock positions differ from gun to gun and person to person. While something can be said for the idea of "train how you fight", that gun you just picked up isn't yours and will require an adjustment. Get over it.

We are sometimes our own worst enemies. It's one thing to be critical of someone who's making their guns unsafe, but the idea that artistic or ergonomic changes require you to become a dick is beyond the pale. I may think in part of my head that this is sort of silly...

...if it floats your boat and makes you happy with your firearm, have at it. Besides, there's an adage out there that says "It takes a real man to wear a pink shirt."