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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As a pheasant hunting gun, I give it one star. As a canoe paddle I give it one star.
OK you got me on these, I never even thought to add them to my criteria for rifle. I didn’t think to add buffalo and elephant hunting ether. And I completely forgot about
taking out trucks at a mile or so.

My Bad, can I change my vote?

I guess my point here is that you really have to look at the purpose of the rifle before you can grade it with a star rating... but, it does what it is supposed to do, and does it well.
Well said, For me it’s a great rifle. For others, not so much. You could say the same thing about my truck. For me its perfect. For others, it would be too big or too small or the wrong color.
 
And this is why you have to read the reviews and not just look at the overall rating. Opinions, everybody has one. From the five star----"haven't used it yet but it looks like a five", to the one star review----"it's too loud when I shoot it". In my opinion some opinions are meaningless to my opinion. Ha!

The AR has become a part of our culture. Seems everyone knows what it is and has an opinion on it. I would also offer an opinion that if it wasn't for the AR and its popularity the shooting sport would be fading and relegated to old guys with walnut and blued steel (I would be one of those old guys).

This AR popularity has greatly increased the number of people with a positive view and support of the second amendment. What would all these young people be doing today if this lego-tacticool firearm hadn't come along? Would they be into the shooting sports and subsequently supporters of the second amendment? Rock and roll is here to stay and so is the AR.

With the impact the AR has made and the 'platforms' capability to be pretty much be whatever you want it to be makes it a five in my opinion. But, you know what they say about opinions.
 
Well said Bang!

Love it or hate it, the civilian AR changed our culture & introduced guns & shooting & a new awareness of the 2nd amendment to a generation where shooting was fleeting away.
 
I gave the AR platform 5 stars not because I feel it is "perfect" but because 4.7 or 4.8 stars were not an option and I rounded up.

In my opinion, the basic M4rgery or basic A2 wannabes are ho-hum rifles. Good, relatively accurate and reliable. But the AR platform shines when you start to customize it and leave the basic military configurations. Optional parts and configurations abound. My long, heavy barrel AR-15s are very accurate and will go toe to toe with about any small caliber, varmint bolt rifle.

The AR-15's main limitation is cartridge size. As the case head diameter is increased, the bolt begins to have compromises. I have not worked with any AR-10s but potentially the AR-10 can fill the larger cartridge need. Unfortunately, the AR-10 is not military mainstream so much of the benefit the AR-15 design has gained from military contracts have not been extended to the commercial AR-10s.

As far as material of construction, wood and steel are traditional and are nice looking, but the polymer/aluminum/steel construction of the AR design is much more stable and durable. Colors other than black are working their way into the AR's system.

AR platform rifles are not for everyone. Just like some folks do not like single shot rifles, lever action rifles, pump action rifles or even bolt action (gasp) rifles.
 
There are a lot of AR-15s on the market and not all of the are created equal. Assuming we are discussing well-built examples of the design, say Mil-Spec or better like a Colt or BCM, I will give it 4-stars. This is remarkable for me because I haven't really considered myself an AR fanboy for most of my life.

The design has matured from decades of service and from the explosion in popularity it has received in the police and civilian markets. Nobody with a lot of experience on the design is saying it is finicky and unreliable, and craps where it eats. The DGI system might not be quite as reliable under some conditions as a short stroke piston, but regardless, a well built AR with a good coat of CLP on it will run for more rounds than you can carry before you show it anymore attention. Bottom line, nothing is perfect, but I consider the AR to be very reliable.

I never liked all the small parts that the AR makes you keep track of. We were trained to keep them in our cover when we were maintaining them in the field, but incidents involving covers getting kicked or blown over and Marines frantically trying to find their firing pin retaining pin were not nearly as rare as they should have been. As mentioned, the charging handle is equally inconvenient for everyone, but otherwise, I have no complaints with the ergos of the design. The 5.56mm is not the ideal service cartridge, but it might be the perfect police and defensive cartridge and it is certainly adequate for most tasks at most ranges.

It is comfortable, accurate, and modular, as noted. It is simple and easy to work with. It is lightweight and portable. It is also extremely economical right now. And it is as American as apple pie. Every design has its quirks and leaves room for improvement, but the AR has had more experience and is more refined than most and honestly, it's getting harder to find real issues to nitpick.
 
When I see those youtubers put a fist full of mud and rocks inside an AK, AR or any other firearm what is this teaching us? Absolutely nothing, other than screwing
around with some perfectly good firearm. I hand full of AKs and long stroke piston ARs that will pass the most brutal over the beach test but
is that critical for 99.99% of the use I am going to give to my rifle? No. The accuracy trade-off is not worthy for most roles in either civilian or military/tactical use.
If someone is not capable of providing some minimum cleaning, lube and care for the firearm they depend on then what does this say about other aspects and that person?
Firearms are tools and like any tools with some care and TLC they will give you good service vs. neglecting them so they might fail when you need them the most.
There is not perfect rifle for everything nor perfect round for everything, only some sort of trade-off. The AR trade-offs are pretty well balanced.
 
I give it 4.5 for being accurate, cheap, modular.
I give it 2 for ergonomics in basic form.(bias alert: I am left handed) The charging handle is about the dumbest thing I have ever seen in a rifle. forward assist, nope. bolt lock/release location, poor. A2 pistol grip - fail. Safety lever, bad for lefties.
Mechanics, well, I'm not sold on the DI system. it works, but I can't think of any other gun that uses it, and there is probably a reason for that. Also, it suppresses poorly. And the buffer spring in loud. call it a 2.5.

overall I'll give it a 3 as a gun, and leave the caliber discussion out of it.
 
I give it 4.5 for being accurate, cheap, modular.
I give it 2 for ergonomics in basic form.(bias alert: I am left handed) The charging handle is about the dumbest thing I have ever seen in a rifle. forward assist, nope. bolt lock/release location, poor. A2 pistol grip - fail. Safety lever, bad for lefties.
Mechanics, well, I'm not sold on the DI system. it works, but I can't think of any other gun that uses it, and there is probably a reason for that. Also, it suppresses poorly. And the buffer spring in loud. call it a 2.5.

overall I'll give it a 3 as a gun, and leave the caliber discussion out of it.
Interesting post.
As a left handed rifle shooter myself, I find the AR15 to be one of the few out there that actually works well from both sides.

Ergos of the pistol grip are fine, working the safety (even in its basic form) simply requires moving the thumb to the other side of the pistol grip.

Why so much criticism of the charging handle? you only use it when you load the first mag and to clear jams so...?

In the years I have shot AR's in competition and elsewhere, I have never needed to use the forward assist (why force something in there that doesn't want to go?)

The bolt release is a non issue as well.
Even with smaller hands, I can reach around the mag well and hit the button with my right hand. not difficult at all.

The only thing I can fault the ergos for *really* IMO is the mag release. Which, surprisingly, is the only thing you didn't mention.

Can't fault you for not digging the DI system. It makes sense, but the DI system is efficient.
 
I'm not a soldier so I won't presume to know if its a good combat rifle or not. From my civilian point of view I can't think of any 223 semi auto rifle available to me that is better in terms of accuracy, ergonomics, value, parts availability ect... So mabey if there is nothing better I need to change my vote to 5 stars.

The biggest thing I don't like about them is the sproing sound of the buffer spring, and the silly charging handle. I just ordered a side charging upper receiver to build so I guess I will see if I like that better than the other ones i've shot.
 
I am right-handed but left-eye dominant and shoot left-handed. The standard safety on the A4 took some getting used to for me while I was in but overall I had few complaints with the ergos of the M16/AR. As a civilian it is a non-issue as an ambi switch can be cheaply installed by the user with commonly available tools in less time than it takes for the ads to get you back to the game at half time. The sound of the buffer spring did take some getting used to for me as well. Guess I eventually just decided that was a little too naggy and nitpicky for me and dropped it.
 
I use Tubb flat wire springs:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/6...ire-buffer-spring-ar-15-rifle-stainless-steel

ETA: I think that flat wire springs help a lot with the twang in the stock. I use them in all my builds now.
 
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Kozak6 wrote:
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.

Why do you think things would be completely different if the upper were the firearm? How? Why?
 
Why do you think things would be completely different if the upper were the firearm? How? Why?

Really? It's pretty simple. You have less useful options modifying a lower than an upper receiver. Declaring the lower receiver to be the firearm means that we can change calibers, barrel lengths, and an infinite number of other things without passing a background check for each new upper receiver. This increases the practical modularity of the system. If the ATF declared the upper to be the firearm, you could mess around with stocks and pistol grips, but buying a new upper would require another 4473 and thus, another background check.
 
It's hard to take this thread seriously. The AR is Direct Impingement? The AR needs a piston because it doesn't have a piston? Fiction
 
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Really? It's pretty simple. You have less useful options modifying a lower than an upper receiver. Declaring the lower receiver to be the firearm means that we can change calibers, barrel lengths, and an infinite number of other things without passing a background check for each new upper receiver. This increases the practical modularity of the system. If the ATF declared the upper to be the firearm, you could mess around with stocks and pistol grips, but buying a new upper would require another 4473 and thus, another background check.

You can buy and change the slide and barrel on an M1911 without needing to go through a background check. I have one M1911 that can shoot 22 LR, 45 ACP and 38/45 Clerke just by changing the slide, barrel, recoil spring and magazine.

You can buy and change the barrel cartridge and length on a Thompson/Center Contenders and Encores without the need for a background check.

I can buy and change the barrel on my Savage rifles including length and cartridge without needing to go through another background check.

There are others.

I still do not see the point why BATF should have classified the AR upper as the firearm. Plenty of precedence where the frame, or lower in the case of the AR-15, is the firearm.
 
I am really glad the BATFE got it correct when they classified the lower as the firearm.

I like the fact that I can change out an upper to any caliber I desire and not have to get another firearm.

Don't see any point other than just bashing the ATF to bash them for criticizing that decision.



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It wouldn't change a thing, if the upper receiver were the firearm. The only difference is a PSA kit would include everything except the stripped upper and the stripped upper would have to go to the FFL
 
I rated 5 stars.

My Colt has been the most reliable semi auto I have ever owned. Used it for years in competition and decided I wanted a more accurate rifle with specific features.

That led me to build a kit gun for competition. Then a dedicated .22. Then a shorty. Then another lower. Then a 9mm version...

I don't own any other rifle in multiples. And I own a number of rifles. I'm sold, its a great system and fine shooter. Is it great for big game? Nope, but that's not what I bought it for.

I went from owning NO AR-15's in 2008 to owning.. what six of them in less than 10 years. That's an endorsement.
 
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IMHO when rating something it is best to prepare an objective criteria rating specific features or characteristics individually
and with a philosophy of use or context in mind. Otherwise things will start to go in all sort of directions.

Exactly, well said.

I think it’s also important to note that me giving an AR a five star rating doesn’t take any stars away from other excellent rifle designs. I would rate several rifles with five stars. The M1, the AK, Rem 700 for example.
 
Three, and that's in consideration of it's new-found modularity. They are a PITA to clean properly, I know, I had to redo tons of them that soldiers thought were clean, or sit in the Arms Room waiting for them to get them right themselves. To do it right, you need specialized cleaning tools and expendables (carbon scrapers and long pipe cleaners come to mind), and have to remove small, easily lost parts to do it.

I would rate several rifles with five stars. The M1, the AK, Rem 700 for example.
5, 4, 3, respectively.
I'd give it a four strictly as a civilian rifle; they are usually better taken care of and the modularity is a great asset.
 
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