Customizing a modern sporting rifle has become possible because of pre-fab rifle parts widely produced today. In many cases, the modification of rifles depends on the gun owner’s shooting style, physique, and strengths and needs. In addition, overall appearance and handling difficulty can also be considered when deciding the changes and upgrades.
Suppose you want to modify your modern sporting rifle. If this will be your first time, you need to know and understand the steps to do so for that purpose. With that said, this article will give you an outline of how to customize one.
Contents
1. Choose The Parts You’ll Customize
Before you start modifying your rifle, you may need to familiarize yourself with its different parts. To help you get started, here are some of the common parts you may consider customizing:
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Skin And Decals
When improving your rifle’s look, you may only opt to apply vinyl wraps to protect it from corrosion, rust, and scratches. For this purpose, you may choose to use skins to cover most gun parts.
On the other hand, if you want a more decorative design, you may consider using decals to cover the exposed areas of your rifle with thicker and more stylish skin and decals.
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Receivers
Generally, receivers connect all the significant and operable parts of the rifle, including the ammunition storage and barrel. Otherwise known as gun frames, these parts could be separated into upper and lower parts or used as one.
Among the different types of receivers today, 80 lower receiver or a receiver blank is one of the most popular. Since it is an unfinished receiver, it is not legally considered a firearm. Therefore, you may not need to undergo a background check and proper documentation if you want to make a purchase. For more details, check 80percentarms.com.
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Barrel
You need to consider if you’re after the firepower or accuracy in changing the barrel. If you prefer the latter, you may need longer barrels. Just be reminded to buy only the barrels made of high-quality material as low-quality models may backfire or break, causing injuries to anyone in the vicinity of the shooting.
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Handguard
Arm strength plays an important role when shooting. That said, if you are having difficulty managing your rifle, then you may need to replace the standard handguard with a lighter one.
You may also consider installing a free-floating type with a barrel nut to reduce the tension when firing to help increase accuracy. However, this could limit the accessories you may add to your gun.
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Brace
If you’re having trouble with the recoil of your gun, you may consider replacing your gun’s brace. You may also need to check the cartridge and chamber before picking what suits your weapon. After the replacement, you could aim your rifle while resting the brace in your shoulder to check if it fits your body size and angle of shooting.
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Sights
Some sports rifles have built-in sights, while others have none. In considering the attachment of these parts, consider your preference. Do you like flip-up sights for shorter distances? Or perhaps, do you prefer scopes for further spread yet better accuracy?
2. Disassemble The Rifle
After considering which part of your rifle you wish to update or customize, disassembling the rifle comes next. Before doing so, aside from ensuring that the magazine is empty, you must equip yourself with the proper tools and equipment, including safety gear. More so, keep the bolts and locks in a case to find them easily when you need to use them.
3. Replace The Standard Parts With The Custom-made Ones
Change the parts you choose, depending on your preference and convenience. The replacement process may need tools and equipment to drill new holes and lock new bolts in some cases. In these cases, you need to measure the length of the parts, such as barrels and frames, to be changed as you may waste the gun, time, and effort provided.
4. Secure The Fitting
Aside from ensuring the alignment of the rifle, you may also need to secure the fitting of the gun. You may do this by connecting the locks, washers, and bolts in order. In addition, you may also check the pistons, springs, and levers before trying the rifle out.
You may also need a top-notch straightener and presser to keep the barrels aligned and properly attached.
5. Practice Shooting
Trying out your newly customized rifle is necessary to ensure that your customization process went well. Try it out in an open field where you could aim for targets. You may try manual and automatic shooting if possible. Lock and load the gun repeatedly to see if the loading and reloading functions are proper. Then, shoot your targets for a prolonged period to see if your scopes, brace, and barrels are working and placed excellently.
6. Make The Necessary Adjustments
If you find your altered parts working differently, you could make the necessary adjustments. In deciding whether or not to adjust the rifle’s parts, always consider safety and convenience.
Some of the common issues you may discover if the rifle customization didn’t go well are the following:
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Bore Obstructions
Some parts of the barrel may be clogged with dirt or debris. Usually, this issue can be solved by cleaning or re-assembly.
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Malfunctioning Safety
This is a serious problem you shouldn’t take for granted. You need to repair the safety features until the issue is fixed when this happens.
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Timing Issues
To avoid misfires, you may need to disassemble or repair your rifle to ensure that your timing is standardized.
After the necessary adjustments have been made, practice shooting again. Doing so allows you to further make adjustments as needed to ensure that your gun is safe and comfortable to use.
Wrapping Up
Suppose you’re planning to have your custom-built sports rifle. In that case, you may consider the power, accuracy, and ease of handling, as well as the insights provided by this article.
But above all, always practice safety and caution the most so that you can avoid any risks and issues that may cause trouble rather than enjoying one of the many extreme sports and recreational activities in the world, that is—sporting a rifle.
