Home Built...

Recently, The Rifleman took the class  Rifleman I from Valor Ridge. There has already been a review of the class posted on this blog, and I would suggest you read that review. The purpose of this post is to discuss the decision by Valor Ridge ban rifles that have been built at home, or that contain internal parts originating from somewhere other than that manufacturer's Factory.

Here is  The Video announcing that decision. You will note that there are thousands of comments, mostly negative.

Here is  an AR15.com  read on the topic. This is not linked for fact, but for the fact that ar15.com discussions usually will contain all sides of an argument. And this one is no exception.

If The Rifleman were to guesstimate the percentages of the responses seen online, they would probably look something like this -
60% - This is BS.
35% - Reid's School, Reid's rules.
5% - Legit decision. 

So what are the Rifleman's thoughts on this?
No, I do not know more about the AR15 platform than Eugene Stoner. But I would be willing to wager that Bill Geissele  does. And unquestionably so when it comes to triggers.

I trust myself to assemble a rifle better than a $15 per hour laborer at the factory.

Every rifle I have seen fail in a class I have taught, has been a home built rifle. Reid is most certainly correct about this.

No, I do not buy the argument some are using against Reid stating that he is being anti-libertarian in his views on what is and is not allowed at his range. It is Reid's property, therefore you must abide by Reid's rules.


For the record.
Now here comes the real confession. During my class there, I used a hand built rifle. I was the one who built the rifle. To my knowledge, had it been checked, this rifle would not have been permitted on the line. In an effort to be able pass a less than thorough check, I put an ALG trigger in it. The ALG trigger is a mil-spec trigger, which has been smoothed out a bit... by Geissele Automatics. However, I did not use my Geissele SSA-E trigger.

I was the one who assembled the barrel to the upper (forbidden, according to the Valor Ridge disclaimer). I was the one who put the gas block on the barrel (again, forbidden). I was the one who put all of the pins and detents into the lower (again, forbidden). It had a Fail Zero built in it, which is not mil-spec (again, forbidden).

Nevertheless, my rifle did not experience the first malfunction. It would not have malfunctioned, even if I had left the SSA-E trigger in it.

And I say all of this, in full knowledge of the fact that if Valor Ridge discovers this post, and if they determine who I am, I will likely be banned from ever taking a class there again. This is not as I would prefer it, but I understand the consequences of my actions.

One of the rules at Valor Ridge is to conduct yourself with honor and integrity. I know that some will ask how I consider my actions to be those of honor and integrity. Simple. When I signed up for and paid the money for the class, those rules were not in effect. Under the contract I signed, that rifle was perfectly acceptable. Under contract law, an agreement cannot be changed unless the change is agreed to by both parties.  I never agreed to the change.  And I abided by the agreement I made.  That is integrity.  

Some will say that I deceived the school.  That is not the case.  They had every chance to inspect my rifles.  They never did. Simple. 


And, most importantly...
The greatest teacher, failure is. 
It is my estimation that people who bring a home built rifle to Valor Ridge do so at their own risk. This is my estimation, and not something that was said at the school. However, there were hints in that direction. It is my estimation that the disclaimer was put out there so that they can remove students from the line, without having to refund them, if the student is foolish enough to home build his own rifle without any knowledge, and expect it to work in a high performance class.