Rate the AR15 one to five stars

Rate the standard AR15 design/platform 1-5 stars

  • 1 ⭐️

    Votes: 5 2.6%
  • 2 ⭐️ ⭐️

    Votes: 11 5.6%
  • 3 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    Votes: 32 16.3%
  • 4 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    Votes: 69 35.2%
  • 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    Votes: 79 40.3%

  • Total voters
    196
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DeepSouth

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So after watching the responses in the "Who doesn't have an AR15?" thread. I found it interesting the wide variety of opinion, I was honestly surprised.

So I got to thinking we're all very accustom to a 5 star rating system these days. I mean really, everyone from Amazon to Buds guns uses the 5 star rating system.
So if the AR15 as a basic design/platform was rated on a standard 5 star system where would it fall, so logically I want another poll. :thumbup:

Feel free to leave your reviews as well, that'll at least make for interesting reading.
 
Deep South wrote:
Rate the AR15 one to five stars

Since you specifically asked us to rate the "standard AR15 design/platform", I gave it a "3". :oops:

Overall, I love the AR-15/M-16 for its engineering, design, ergonomics, and execution, but it is a design that in "real-world" use is critically hampered by the direct gas action that I think was conceived in the 9th ring of Dante's Inferno. :evil:
 
My Delton is one of the handiest rifles I own, one of the most accurate, it's cheap to shoot, and it cost me under 500 bucks.

5 stars. It's a keeper.
 
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I give the platform 4 stars. I really don't have any specific complaints, except that it's not an AK. But then, when it came time to pick between the AR and AK, I picked the AR... go figure. Sometimes I think of selling it and getting an AK XD
 
Jo Jo wrote:
I have a old school A2 I like and enjoy that is a basic AR...

You make me envious.

My older son liked the "classic charm" of the carrying handle and ripped off the Magpul plastic rear sight off and stuck a bolt-on handle (with adjustable rear sight) on top of his AR. He's got a condition called Benign Essential Tremor which means his hands shake all the time when he's not intentionally using them for something, so the fact he can hit a one-inch target at 25 yards with it every time seems something of an achievement. Before he put the carrying handle on it, he couldn't reliably get on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper.
 
I gave 4 stars only because I wasn't quite sure what was meant by the design/ platform. If you mean a basic quality AR-15 then it gets 4 stars. It's ergonomic, reliable, easy to take down, and somewhat accurate. If you meant what an AR can be, like a fully decked out JP-15 then there is no way you can not give it 5 stars. With better triggers, better barrels, adjustable gas block, JP silent captured spring, free float handguards, ambi safeties, larger latch/ambi charging handles, and a myriad of stock choices it is hard to deny a fully decked out AR 5 stars. Since some of these upgrades make slight changes to the design I went with 4 stars but if you meant what an AR has the potential to be then it would get a full 5 stars from me.
 
I gave 3 stars. This poll is a confusing to me; rate to 5 stars relative to what?
  • For ability to customize without a gunsmith - 5 stars!
  • Great hunting rifle - 1 star.
  • Defensive long gun - 4 stars.
  • Engineering - 4 stars.
  • Beauty & form - 1 star.
  • Value - 1 star.
  • Good military weapon - 5 stars.
If you are a firearm enthusiast & like to tinker & tune, this is your rifle!

JIMHO...​
 
I hate the charging handle!

JIMO- if it had a non-reciprocating charging handle on the right side and a high top for a more appropriate scope mount I'd vote 6 Stars. But I could have that if I poured enough money into it.
 
I hate the charging handle!

JIMO- if it had a non-reciprocating charging handle on the right side and a high top for a more appropriate scope mount I'd vote 6 Stars. But I could have that if I poured enough money into it.

I never understood the T handle either.
 
I dont find the "standard" configuration comfortable. I do like some of the none standards that correct the stuff that bothers me.

Again these are all personal gripes, coming from someone whos first centerfire semis were rem 7400s

I like right side reciprocating charging handles, hate the T handles, and dont like none reciprocating handles.

Dont care for the guns in .223, do like the other rounds mostly.

I shoot with my head fairly upright and realy dislike hunching up on a gun, thus I dislike the low bore axis and stock being inline. It helps the attenuation or recoil and muzzle rise, but it also means when i shoulder the gun the way i want, the toe of the stocks way above where i want it.
I havent found a fix for this that i like yet. Im thinking about making a drop block and new plate (like on adjustable stocks but simpiler and cheaper), to lower the heel a 1/2" or so, that will also allow me to run lower scope mounts.

I just prefer non-pistol grip firearms, nothing to be done about it so ill live with it.

Other than that i think they are a wonderful platform, and a very impressive design.
Parts are cheap to make, and generally easy to make and assemble with decent alignment, which helps accuracy.
They are reliable in most condition with decent maintenance, and amazingly customizable.

I even like the DI gas system. I take my bolts apart after every other outting, and clean them takes me 5mins. Since i have a 6.5G and .458Socom i dont shoot a ton tho, 50-100rnds at most.
 
I gave it a "4". Overall I like most of the design features, the ergonomics, and the fact that it's remarkably easy to you build or modify one.
 
3 stars.

It's a mashup of questionable 1940's firearm design fads with 1950's sensibilities and 60 years of fine tuning.

I think that the popularity of the AR15 has really only resulted from the ATF misclassifying the lower as the firearm. Well, that and the ease of production on modern CNC tooling.

If the upper were the firearm, things would be completely different.
 
Obviously its popularity is based upon the ability of the average owner to mix and match parts at home by themselves, rather than a smith. "Builds" as we know are really assemblies, with none of the parts actually made by the owners. But this still seems to give owners a feeling of accomplishment which leads to multiple builds.

Modern manufacturing is at a state where generally all parts from one manufacturer will assemble compatibly with those of any other manufacturer, so guns will work fine regardless of the configuration. The fact that parts and complete assemblies can be relatively inexpensive hasn't hurt.

It also doesn't hurt that the owner can look like GI Joe with a weapon resembling the current military model. In "The Graduate" Dustin Hoffman's character was told one word was important, "plastic", now that word seems to be "tactical". lol

In the spirit of disclosure, I own and have "built" an AR.

For its ability to have many configurations, ease of assembly, relative accuracy regardless of who's parts are stuck together, low cost, and the joy it seems to bring the owners, I give it a 4.
 
As has been mentioned, this rifle platform, in its relatively-basic form, is a lightweight, easily-handled and maintained instrument that does very well in each of several applications. Virtually anyone can be trained and become proficient with it.

However, unmodified, it comes up short in a very few niche applications, such as as a larger-game hunter, as a longer-range sniper, or in match use.

For these reasons, I score it as a "four." If I could have, I'd probably have scored it somewhere between 3.5 and 4.0.
 
I think that the popularity of the AR15 has really only resulted from the ATF misclassifying the lower as the firearm..............................

If the upper were the firearm, things would be completely different.

Really how so?

Tell us more about how this would have changed things.




.
 
I gave it a 4 because there are a couple things I don't like about it but I can't think of any rifle available that does any better. A side charging AR with piston gas system would be a 5.
 
I'm giving it a 5, mostly based on price. Back when a good AR cost much more and you could pick up AK's for $200, it would have been a lower rating. But I can get a pretty darned good AR today for under $600. I'd have to spend a LOT more for anything I'd like better (I'm looking at you, FN SCAR).
 
While I'm not really a black rifle guy, I think the design is great. No arguing it is phenomenally popular. I gave it a 5 star rating based on design and market success.

Key here is to separate quality from preference. I can understand and appreciate fine wine ... even though I don't care for it; I'd rather drink a porter or brown ale.
 
I'll give it two
one for the p̶l̶a̶s̶t̶i̶c̶ er polymere
and one for the al u min e um
if I could I'd give it an extra half star for the little button that can make a cartridge go all the way into battery
 
I gave it a 5,capable of multiple calibers just by pushing 2 pins everybody and his brother makes some sort of accessory for it and considering the militarty have been using the basic platform for 50+ years what's not to like.
 
The T charging handle is equally clumsy for both righties and lefties. Plus if you have a scope mounted, you have to grasp it from beneath unless your fingers are skinny enough to fit between the handle and the scope bell.

The in-line design almost requires that optics be mounted high above the bore. For me, that puts the first crossover at 75 yards, which I don't particularly like.

The floating firing pin is not my favorite design choice. Getting a little dimple on the primer from the bolt closing seems like a chancy arrangement. That forces the use of primers with thicker cups.

I find the safety very unergonomic.

But it's an enjoyable rifle to shoot, so why not enjoy it for what it is? I just don't think it's the best design ever.
 
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Positive points for being silly easy to build into a very accurate rifle w/o half trying and for the price.

Minus points for crap ergonomics, requiring frequent lubrication*, and being bulky to transport.

BSW

*The rifle just doesn't run when it's dry. Dirty and wet, yes, but not dry. Plus the DI system has the effect of drying out the action, leading to the requirement for frequent oiling.
 
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