Ruger ar-556

Status
Not open for further replies.

parhis

Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2016
Messages
20
What do you fellas think of the ruger ar556 -rifle?

Is there any "birth-problems" left with this semi-young rifle?

Sorry about my english, i come from far away, from northern Europe... :)
 
The head of one of the gas key bolts was rounded out on mine. Looks like the assembler didn't get his allen wrench all the way in there before torquing her home. If I ever remove it I may have to cut a slot into the head of the bolt first.

It's fine otherwise.
 
I bought mine just over a year ago and, other than a loose barrel nut that allowed the barrel to wiggle a bit, it has been fine. For an entry level AR, I think it is well put together but you may find that "some (dis)assembly is required." While it was frustrating for me to have to tear it down repeatedly and mess with it, I ultimately found it to be beneficial because I now know the rifle VERY well!
 
Thanks.

I have been shooting Bolt actions and shotguns my entire life. Pistols a couple of years. This would be my first ar..

Thanks everyone for your comments so far.
 
Thanks.

I have been shooting Bolt actions and shotguns my entire life. Pistols a couple of years. This would be my first ar..

Thanks everyone for your comments so far.

I don't have one and I can't comment on the Ruger from 1st hand experience. But I don't think there's any 'birth problems'.

I wanted to say...Welcome to THR.

Judging from what you wrote so far, your English is fine. Maybe even better than about 1/3 of the people here.
 
A friend bought one. Great rifle and very reliable. I would definitely recommend it. Ruger's AR 556 is a great entry level rifle. Buying a rifle at this price range will help you figure out what additional add-ons you really want/need in an AR...without having to initially invest a lot of money. (And I have a feeling aside from a red dot, you probably don't NEED anything else. Keep it simple and light.)

Pros: Economical. Good company to back it up. Very reliable. For your average weekly plinking at the range, this is your rifle.

Cons: It doesn't have the "Colt" name brand. But for those who don't care about name brands...this AR is a great rifle. For battlefield conditions, I would want a more rugged rifle. (But again, those asking about AR's probably need this rifle as a "starter rifle".)
 
Last edited:
Sorry, can't personally comment on the AR 556 as I don't have one... yet. From everything i've read it's a good entry level AR. Not the best but certainly not the worse.

I love my other Ruger firearms and their customer service is one of the best, and free, if you need it. Not sure how needed repairs would work out if it had to be sent from Europe though. Maybe check that out.

Welcome to the forum.
 
Well.. I have done pretty much research and tested few different ar's.

For some time i was going To buy 18-20" rifle lenght, match barrel and high end parts for whole weapon... (dd, noveske etc.)

At this time and politic situation, i want something else and faster for not having To save money
 
I don't have one myself, but a friend of mine works at a gun shot and happened to have the Ruger on the wall next to a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Sport and a couple of other comparably priced ARs. I have an original "first generation" Sport that had a 1:8-twist barrel but no forward assist or dust cover. Then S&W changed to a 1:9-twist barrel, while Ruger introduced the AR556 with 1:8, forward assist and dust cover. S&W then "caught up" by adding the forward assist and dust cover to the new Sport II model, but stuck with the 1:9 barrel. The significance of this is that faster twist rates (1:8 and especially 1:7) have increased in popularity among people wanting to use heavier bullet weights in their ARs. You may or may not care about this yourself, especially since heavier tends to equal more expensive, but twist rate is a factor for many buyers. That alone may make the Ruger more attractive to some.

The fit and finish of the AR556s I've seen seemed equal to others at around the same price. The rear flip-up sight is different from a Magpul MBUS but similar, and the A2 front sight is serrated, which I haven't seen before. The handguard and stock are the typical generic style. Not much to differentiate the Ruger from its competitors. If the warranty is a good one, that might be a deciding factor, but I haven't looked into it myself.
 
My cousin purchased one several months ago and brought it to me so that I could teach him the Care & Feeding routine. :)

I dis-/re-assembled the rifle, showing him how (while inspecting the parts), and was left with a very good impression of these little rifles. His appears to be well-built with excellent fit & finish.

Last month his son came for a visit ... and brought the Ruger AR556 that he had just purchased.

They ran thru a few hundred rounds and my cousin later told me that he was very impressed with the rifle's accuracy ("iron" sights, no scope). He also said that it functioned perfectly.

Enjoy!
 
I'm planning To put some glass on top of the rifle.

Like i said, i come from land of Sako and Tikka and have shot Bolt actions my whole life.
Let's hope the accuracy is good enough for me :)

EDIT. I know that this is not gonna be a 1/2 moa gun but still hoping fof decent accuracy
 
Last edited:
I just recently picked one up and shot it for the first time, literally, a few hours ago. So far, so good. For the price, it seems to be a solid carbine.
 
Parhis - I see you are new to this forum. Welcome aboard. Being new you may not have experimented with the Search feature yet. I clicked Search, then selected Advanced Search and entered the words Ruger+AR and came up with this recent thread.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=805450&highlight=Ruger%2BAR

You could play around with various search terms and see what you can turn up.

I'm not a AR15 enthusiast so I can't speak from authority but from what I have heard other friends with ARs say is that in today's market it is hard to get a bad AR from one of the major manufacturers. The platform has been around so long the bugs are all well known and easy to avoid. So whether you go with Ruger, Smith&Wesson, Palmetto State Armory or any number of other manufacturers I'm sure you will be satisfied with your purchase.

As a side note, it might be interesting for you to open a thread in the General Discussion area and tell us a bit about the attitudes toward firearms in Finland and any other countries neighboring you. Our mainstream news sources seem to paint all of Europe as more civilized than the US because firearms aren't popular or tolerated over there. Your insights would be interesting to read.
 
Thank you for the searh link. I tried to search but seems like i had something wrong because couldn't find anything...

AND before this turns into a another Colt thread, i wanna say that colt's are Hard to find here, an the price is about +500€ from ruger...

I have positive experiences with rimfire rugers, since i have mkII targer and 10/22 td.
 
why is everyone pumping up colt? do they still use the oddball sized take down pins making the uppers and lowers incompatible with everything else on the market?

If I were advising ar15 purchases, I wohld be selling the short stroke piston operated models like adams arms makes. I have one and gas impingement is history for me.
 
What do you think about breaking in the barrel, and what is your method in that?

I have broke in all other centerfire Guns i own, exept pistol..
 
What do you think about breaking in the barrel, and what is your method in that?

I have broke in all other centerfire Guns i own, exept pistol..
I think that you can find very reputable sources that say it is important to do and others who say it makes no difference. My take is that it cannot hurt, so why not do it?

I use the following method:

10 slow shots, run a bore snake after each shot
20 slow shots, run bore snake after every other shot
20 slow shots, bore snake after every 5 shots
 
I'm from the land of Sako and Tikka ;)

Finland that is.

Well I hope you didn't settle in Death Valley or Phoenix. You'd dry up and blow away in the wind! Anyway, welcome to the USA!

As far as the Ruger AR-556, it's an ok entry level AR, nothing special. I'd compare it to others like the S&W Sport II and PSA $600-700 offerings.
 
It must be a bit of trouble in Finland to qualify to own a semi-auto rifle?

In the UK they can buy a Ruger Mini 14 (.223), but--the rifle can only function as a Manually-operated bolt action.
If you don't believe me, watch "Jubbles 2343" on Youtube, in England: "Shooting a Mini 14 rifle at 300 and 600 yards".
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top