Longrange1947 - You hit hard! Even if I do agree with you. (Now get Ed to add his .02) And I never had anything but heartburn out of the ART II's either. I bought an SA version ART IV many years ago and it's gathering dust too. Since the thread appears to have been resurected, I'll throw in the PM I sent Mac - since he hasn't bothered to check back in lately.
Ref M21 - Hope I'm not too late!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mac - Saw your post about the M21. Sending a PM because I think the thread's gone stale. Unfortunately I was out of the net when it went down. Have you committed yourself yet? If not - check out
www.lrbarms.com. Specifically their M25 reciever. I saw them (and their product) at the SHOT Show (courtesy of TR). It's a good concept and appears to be a quality piece of work. You don't really need the double lugs, they make bedding the stock that much more difficult and if they're not part of the original forging (many are weld-ons) they can cause problems. Get yourself a copy of "The M14 Owner's Guide and Match Conditioning Instructions" by Scott Duff and John Miller. Its the best book (for the price) on the M14 (that's all a M21 is - a souped up 14) that I have in my library. If I were to get another one (got two match grade ones now) that's the way I would go. And probably get Fulton or somebody similar to build it for me. (Fulton does good work, they built both of my Garands - you just have to be patient.) If you don't want to wait, check out Ronnie Morris (ronm@bellsouth.net), he built my newest M1A and I've been quite pleased with it. Shoots 175's as well as I can hope for. Now the question - Why do you want a M21? Personally I love them too. I used mine for service rifle competition for years until I started shooting ARs. But the truth is, they're not the most accurate rifle out there and they require a lot more care and feeding. I still shoot mine regularly for nostalgia but when I'm serious I use other guns. Last but not least - pay heed to TR's advice especially about the optics, he knows the products. FWIW - Peregrino