AR-15 advice...Brand???
Can someone advise me of what they like and dislike about there AR-15 and maybe some helpful suggestions on what accessories I might need? Sorry for such a broad question but I am looking to purchase one and I'm not very familiar with them. I have hunted all of my life and know my way around guns, just not these. I mainly intend to use it at the lease for a pig and varmit gun for my wife daughters and myself but worse case scenario I want one for self preservation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Lance
Thanks,
Lance
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If you do a search you will most likely find a thread with answers you seek. There are hundreds of AR threads on here. You didn't give a price level and these rifles can run anywhere from $650 to several thousand dollars. The only brands to really stay away from are ones by Vulcan, Hesse, & Blackthorne. I have a Rock River UTE2 and it has been a great rifle. As far as accessories the sky's the limit. Magazines, scopes, slings etc. Most of the companies that make the rifles also make or sell accessories too. Colt, Rock River, Stag, Bushmaster, Olympic all have reasonably priced AR's. Noveske, LRWC, POF & Les Baer make higher level in price & quality guns. 0 -
IMHO, the best value on the market nowadays is the AR made by DPMS. For a reasonable hunting or personal protection scenario, it will do a outstanding job. 0 -
I almost bought a SOG Armory Warrior that is regularly priced at $1999.00 but show price at the Ft.Worth gun show today was $1599.00.
Here is the link.
http://www.sogarmory.com/ProductCustomize.aspx?ProductId=104028&Catid=154&ParentId=1540 -
castleberry1,
Hello, and welcome to the forums, here, on Gunbroker.com.
Listen to the advice rufe-snow is putting out there. It is a very good brand, as are a lot of other's, like Rock River Arms, STAG Arms, Busmaster, Colt, Armalite, S&W, Remington(made by Bushmaster, who is part of the Remington group now, as are DPMS also) and several others that slips my memory. There are always the great ones like Les Baer, POF, LMT, and ones put together by GA Precision.
The ones not to let slip your memory, are the ones assembled by Century Arms International(CAI), Hesse, Blackthorne, or Vulcan. They are pure junk, and cannot be relied on for anything.
If you have any further questions, feel free to post, or e-mail me.
Best
EDIT 1
One last thing I forgot to mention, is the twist rate of the barrels, and ammunition that works well in it.
Like skyfish stated below, the 5.56 NATO, or the 223 Wylde chamber, will usually be accompanied by a 1 in 7, to a 1 in 9 twist. The one turn in 7" is obviously the faster twist. The 1 in 7, 8, or 9 will work with heavier bullets. However, as a general rule, they dont provide as good of accuracy with the lighter 40-55 grain bullets as the the 1 in 12 or 1 in 14 twist rates do. Most of the surplus type ammo runs to the 55 grain spec. Some of it is 62 grain, and some 69 grain.
basically what I am saying, it is most likely your rifle will like the 62-75 grain ammo, depending on which fast twist rate you have.
I have a 16" RRA varmint upper with the 1 in 8 twist, and it LOVES the 62, and 70 grain Barnes TSX bullets. It will shoot 1/2 MOA or better with them at 200 yards. Excellent pig bullet too.
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tsr and ruf gave good advice.
Also, based on what you want to do, decide on barrel length. 16, 18 & 20 are common lengths. If you go 16", I would suggest a mid-length gas system, but that's a small detail. The 18" is my favorite compromise, but that's my taste.
Go with a good brand like above, stay away from the high end stuff. Its your first one, make sure you like the platform before diving in. I like the RRA(Rock River) 2-stage trigger a lot, but DPMS, Delton, BCM(Bravo Company) or a Bushmaster would work fine.
Also, decide on aiming system. From what you want to use it for, you'll want a scope. I would think that 1-2.5x on the low side and 8-12x on the high end. I like the minox 1.25-8x, That would be great, except maybe small varmints. But there are probably more scope choices than rifles.
One more thing, I'd stick with the 5.56 chamber or the 223 wylde, most any 16" or 18" rifle will have one of these though. I'm also assuming your right handed, have fun.0 -
Spend your money wisely and you'll never have a problem; Daniel Defense makes the no-sheite best mouse gun out there, but they realize it. Be prepared to pay a li'l more.
I'm prejudiced against anything that takes 5 O-rings, a handful of tiny springs and pins to work, but DD makes the best Bar none.
Check out the torture test
http://www.youtube.com/user/DanielDefense0 -
Last weekend I had NUTHIN but problems with a Colt-brand AR-15 upper/lower and 62 gr steel-case JHP rounds. Brass cased? No worries. Steel cased? 3-4 maybe 5 shots then jamola. In the end one jammed so badly I had to pound it out with a cleaning rod when I got home. I never did figure out why.
However the Bushmaster lower/DPMS upper gun I also brought ate them all up with 100% reliability over 200 +/- rounds. Both guns are well cared for, but in this case a "Frankengun" outperformed a leader in the industry. Does that make X better than Y? No. This Colt just hated what I fed it.
Anything mil-spec should be good to go, so look around for the best buy you can find. (IMO a lot of the brand named ones will cost more up front, but might have better resale when you're done with it.)
I will say from experience don't buy a tru-glo red-dot, it is IMPOSSIBLE to see the dot on a bright day, no matter what the setting.
Some dudes dress their guns up with handles, rails, lights, sights, etc. You can do this, as the AR is like a lego set, but all you'll really need are good functioning mags, ammo your gun will eat every time, a sling, and maybe a flashlight on the end for the self-preservation mode.
Good luck and have fun!0 -
Get a flat top upper and research the various triggers out there. The stock trigger will make you unhappy in short order. A drop-in trigger assembly will give you what you want without any fiddling and it isn't affected by looseness or wear in the lower housing. 0 -
I have looked at many guns this week. Cheaper Than Dirt retail store here in Ft. Worth has two good deals right now. S/W M&P 16" barrel, nice flip up front and rear sight, very nice quad rail, 200 lumen tactical light, one 30 round clip and ten 20 round clips for $1299. It may have had a few other things but that's all I can remember. The other was The same M&P but basically stripped down version and no extras for $899. I think I have chosen to build my own from the ground up though. I really liked the $1299 one but I would still have to change the trigger to a 2 stage trigger, the stock was ok but I would rather have a different one and then still add all of the extras after that. I think I am going to dedicate all of Saturday to buying every part I need to build a custom gun from the ground up at the Misquite gun show and if it still looks like the $1299 M&P is a good deal I have till closing Saturday to go buy it. 0 -
If I do choose to build my own would it be such a big deal that I'm giving up a lifetime warranty that most guns come with now? 0 -
For what it costs for good components to build your own with, you are further ahead buying a decent one. You will have quality parts from one manufacturer, and not a mixed parts mongrel when you are done. But of course, you might want to drop in an aftermarket trigger.
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OK but would I be better off buying say the $899 M&P from Cheaper Than Dirt and adding what I want or buying one from a dealer at the gun show and adding what I want or buying one from an individual? 0
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