Milestones

Back in February of 2006, I had a little adventure. Osteomyelitis, MRSA-origin, of the right clavicle and sternum. Oopsie.

Big chunk of right clavicle and sternum went away, but given the alternatives....not such a bad thing. And I hit pay dirt, and recovered 90% use of my right arm, much to the surprise of all involved - but with various and sundry wee warnings.

By December of 2006, I'd moved to Seattle...and before terribly long, I'd taken action on my realization that .45-70 was *not* a good thing for a right-side dominant shooter with a fragile right shoulder, and the Marlin got sold and I was resigned to pistols as the only practical option.

November of 2008, some lovely people in a wee town in the SouthWest invited myself and a number of others to a tiny gathering...where, surrounded by decades of firearms, emergency medicine, and training experience...I was persuaded to play with a series of AR-15's.

A tad nervous, I lit off the first round of .223...and rapidly realized there WAS a centerfire cartridge I could get away with. And fell quietly in lust.

Various realities being in play, I put an AR variant well down on the want list...until August of 2009, when a friend offered a free upper if I'd do the rest of the build. My excuses to KEEP the AR-15 on the want list, rather than the reality list, kind of evaporated.

By November, a lower appeared ...and the last parts arrived on Saturday. I am *most* pleased and grateful.



Now...to find a range, some ammunition, and start stocking up on magazines. YAY!