Building a T-Rex

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  • Candyman

    Well-Known Member
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    3   0   0
    Jan 15, 2008
    570
    18
    Denham Springs
    This is a post I did on another gun forum about an AR I built for my friend Steve Campbell.
    There are five parts to the post. I wil post them with the dates.

    (November 24th 2016)
    A little background first.
    I have a friend, Steve, that is dying. He found out in August that he had brain cancer and has been given 1 to 2 years. At first his doctors did not paint a pretty picture when they told him that he had a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball.
    He giving away a lot of his guns to his family. He gave three ARs away, one of which was a Tiger McKee Katana.
    He made it through surgery and radiation treatments like a champ. The doctors were amazed at how well he did.

    About two weeks ago Steve asked me what I would charge him to build him a lightweight AR. I told him I would do it for whatever it cost. He said he wanted a pencil barrel and a short stock. So we jumped on the internet and started looking for parts that he wanted.
    We ordered a 14.7 inch retro barrel from Brownell's, Aero Precision upper receiver without the forward assist and a EXO Nickel Bron BCG from Aim Surplus. I had a complete PSA lower at the house along with the rest of the parts. While looking for parts Steve saw a picture of the UTG Entry stock and said that was the stock he wanted. Hell, I had one at the house too.
    Now Steve is about 5'3" tall with short arms and he's a fighter. He's a combat vet and retired LEO. I told him one day, while picking on him, that he was more like a runt T-Rex then a Velociraptor. Because Velociraptors go after the weaker, but a T-Rex is a fighter and never backs down.
    So I'm calling this build The T-Rex. Here is a pic I took the other day. Since the pic was taken I got the BCG and Triangle hand guard in.
    The barrel is at the shop right now having the flash hider pinned and welded.
    bjc26c.jpg

    I told Steve I was going to have a T-Rex engraved in the right side of the magwell. He told me he would kill me if I did. :rofl:
     

    Candyman

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    3   0   0
    Jan 15, 2008
    570
    18
    Denham Springs
    (November 25th 2016)
    As some of you know, I had Tonsil cancer back in 2006. Since then I have had 7 friends diagnosed with cancer of one type or another. Five of those friends have died and two are still undergoing treatments. I'm starting to fill like the only one that has made it back from the war. Steve will be starting chemo in a week or two. I hope to have the barrel back in 3 to 4 days to finish the build and go to the range with him.
    To help Steve with the build my Gunsmith was only going to charge $50 to pin and weld the barrel. I ended up doing some horse treading for the work so the cost of the work will be $0.00.

    It is chambered in 5.56. Steve is a shooter and will most likely have over 1000 rounds through it in the first week.. The rifle will also be his car gun. He's the type of guy that carries no less then two handguns on his person and keeps an AR in his vehicle.
     

    Candyman

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    Jan 15, 2008
    570
    18
    Denham Springs
    (December 11th 2016)

    I qpicked up the barrel on Thursday and finished the build that night.
    The grip is an A2 grip that I cut down and stippled. The rifle is only 31 3/8" long.
    I was off on Friday, but brought the gun to work to get to Steve so that he could have it for the weekend.
    Steve was very happy with the build. I will see him later in the week to find out how it shoots.
    2zrdyrl.jpg

    2uoqp9i.jpg
     

    Candyman

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    3   0   0
    Jan 15, 2008
    570
    18
    Denham Springs
    (December 31st 2016)

    Steve really loves this little rifle. He said it shoots great and is very easy to deploy from a vehicle.
    But I do have some bad news. Steve started chemo the other week and he's been pretty tired. He has still been coming in to work at the lab. This past Monday Steve started having a few problems. While shooting the bull on topics in the office Steve couldn't seem to find a word he was trying to say. On Tuesday he had a hard time ordering lunch and ended up telling me that he wanted what he had the last time. He was also having trouble writing reports, he couldn't type the words he wanted. He called his Dr. Thursday and got an appointment for yesterday. He told me that he didn't think that he would be able to come back to work.
    I'm still waiting to hear how he's doing. Steve is more then a friend to me, he's more like a big brother, but shorter.
     

    Candyman

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    3   0   0
    Jan 15, 2008
    570
    18
    Denham Springs
    (March 18th 2017)

    Update:
    Bad news. Steve went to Huston and they found that the Tumor was growing again. They cut him open again and removed as much aas they could. He was doing good retaining 100% of his motor skills, but lost about 10% of his speech. He came by the LAB a few times to have lunch with us. He sometimes can't find the words he is trying to say or gets some mixed up. About 3 weeks ago the Doctors told him that they wanted to cut him open again, but this time there was an 80% chance that he would loose the ability to speak. The doctor told him that the surgery would most likely give him a few more months. Steve said that he didn't want to live like that. The Doctor said without surgery he had about 6 to 8 weeks.
    Steve came by work and gave us the sad news, had lunch, cleaned out his work area and said good-by.
     

    topgunz1

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    Sep 13, 2006
    4,087
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    Prairieville
    Nice meeting you last night Candyman! You showed me a picture of this gun, wish I had known it was for Steve! He was a great man, for sure.
     

    wcweir3

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    Apr 26, 2015
    1,191
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    Gonzales, LA
    I wish I had known Steve as so many people said he was a GREAT guy and it is a tribute to him that he was loved by many and will be missed by them. And from what I know of you, you lost a good friend.
    RIP Steve
    Wingate
     

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