Blue Collar Build
It just f#ckin' works.
The 'Blue Collar' build was designed with tight budgets and functionality in mind. Starting off with the lower, a stripped Anderson Manufacturing lower, spec'd out with a 45 degree safety selector, anodized takedown pins, and enhanced controls from Strike Industries. As well as a classic A2 grip (wrapped in Goon Tape... of course), a milspec trigger and a Magpul trigger guard. We all love a nice rear end and the Battlelink Minimalist Stock from Mission First Tactical is one of our personal favorites.
Moving on to the upper, we used an assembled 11.5" (Form 1 your sh#t, be a man) upper from Palmetto State Armory sporting a 10.5" MLOK handguard with a picatinny rail running all the way down (wrapped in Goon Tape, of course). We opted to use a Strike Industries charging handle due to the raised edge to block gas and at a much lower price point than others on the market. Paired with an Aero Precision NiB bolt carrier group, this thing is ready to rip.
You're probably not going to reach out and touch anything with this setup (although, you could) so we opted to use the KISS method when picking the attachments. Starting at the muzzle, it's 2023, get that bird cage outta here! SilencerCo's ASR muzzle brake was the obvious replacement. Not only does it look, like, really cool, but its got their QD system to thread on that hush hush also. Ya can't shoot what ya can't see! P.I.D. is important and with 1000 lumens of identifying power from the Streamlight ProTac HL-X. It's gotcha covered, it also stands up to all the recoil and abuse you can throw at it. Moving on down, the Shorty grip from BCM is a fan favorite and for good reason. Jam it up against a barrier for support, use it as an index point, or use it to push or pull the rifle where you need it. All that mobility is pointless if you have to hunker down to get a quality sight picture. The Holosun HS503CU is nothing short of a damn good dot. It has, very quickly, moved up our list of top red dots. With 3 separate reticle options you're guaranteed to find one that works for your purpose.