When steampunk hits the range

“Steampunk” is an interesting genre. Although the girls in corsets, goggles and tophats are appealing, the weaponry and gear is what is usually the most amazing. There are some seriously talented (and creative) people out there building some awesome stuff, from working “props” to incredibly complicated clothing – and apparently, functional rifles.

So it is that while I personally appreciate all the effort put forth by these ladies…

…I also admire the astonishing amount of effort that went into this gear – especially the “firearms.”

Now, what happens when someone puts that sort of effort into a functional firearm? Recently “Doc Fortin” (USMCdoc14) posted a an album on Photobuck with his Steampunk (ish) “Copper plated AR-15”.

How gorgeous is this?

According to TFB (The Firearm Blog) the weapon began life as a Billet80.com lower with a DPMS L0-Pro upper. The wood is a piece of English Walnut and the handguard an English Walnut veneer laminated over carbon fiber. The buttplate is milled from solid copper. Interestingly the bipod is an M-60 bipod with A.R.M.S. attachments welded to the barrel ring. The barrl is 20 in. heavy profile, chrome lined 5.56mm with a modified Vortex style flash hider on the end.

Says USMCdoc14 in his message to TFB,

“There is most likely tons of details I am forgetting, but who cares, it is a wonderful soft shooting rifle that makes people smile when I bring it to the range. Most people say they would never take it out and use it, but I own no ‘safe queens'.”

Check out the entire photo album here on Photobucket.

Read the article in its entirety over on The Firearm Blog, it's pretty damn cool.

Check out USMCdoc14's YouTube channel here.