AR-15 popularity

[someguy2800]

I have 2. A 223 for varmint hunting, and a 7.62x39 just for fun. I may use the 223 for a 3 gun competition this summer, and have considered taking the 7.62x39 for deer hunting once, but I have better guns for that. I bought mine because other people didn't want me to have it and found out they are fun later.

 

[Varminterror]

I only have ONE AR-15 which was purchased based on political speculation. It was also motivated by a tide shift in availability for A2 uppers. So I bought an M4A2 Hbar clone in 2005 in the lay time after the original federal AWB, in a time when we expected another Brady bill to follow on its heels. Love the rifle, still have it, still shoot it regularly, but it’s not something I would own otherwise.

The rest, by and large, are meant for hunting, recreational plinking, and competition. By nature, several are well suited for defensive application. Not many days go by I don’t do something with an AR.

 

[Geno]

I have owned various AR15/10s (Bushmaster, Colt, DPMS, S&W). They were nice, but didn’t give me any warm, fuzzy feelings.

Then, I built 2 of my own, one in 5.56 and one in 300 Blackout. These give me what I was looking for all along, set-up the way I like. I also purchased 2 uppers in .223 Wylde.

I’m not sure what I’ll build next. I have toyed with the idea of a bull-barrel 6X45 for varmint. Time will tell.

Geno

 

[Mike .45]

Wish I could have selected all of the "yes" options. The AR is my favorite rifle platform. I have several and always seem to want another in a different configuration. Currently I have 5 complete rifles.

I kept them all in 5.56 so far. I do that purely for simplicity of ammo stocking. A family of 5 shoots lots of ammo!!! (I really need to start reloading. I bought a press and set it up but I haven't used it yet.)

Starting a dual build soon. Inspired by Gunny's build for his son and the m1a vs ar10 threads. I picked up a Aero stripped lower for my oldest son and I had a Aero m5 stripped lower laying around so we are going to do a father and son build. .308 for me and 5.56 for him. He just started his first job so he is waiting for his first paycheck to order parts. We agreed that what ever progress he makes I will match. Should be fun.

 

[Geno]

View attachment 785602 View attachment 785601 View attachment 785600 Mike .45:

All of mine are duo-builds. Whatever I build or buy for me, I get identical for my SF nephew to build after each deployment. As things arrive, and as I complete a build, I send him photos of what his will look like.

You know, since you have so many 5.56s, the 300 Blackout will give legitimacy to dented-up 5.56 cases...cut, resize, reload.

Geno

 

[Wanderling]

Have one for fun. I'm used to shooting AKs and the AR is just so much nicer to shoot (if not necessarily as powerful).

 

[GBExpat]

My Primary Use for my 4 AR-15s is "Fun".

That said, I am not a fan of direct impingement ... which is why I only have 4.

 

[Schlegel]

In original form i find them kind of boring. Got into them after I realized how much you could tailor-make them to purpose on your own with just a few tools. Buying bits for my 4th upper now. I intend to have easily 5 different calibers or more before I'm done. The versatility and enjoyment of tinkering make them pretty worthwhile in my book. So I guess that's one for fun.

 

[BSA1]

.
What I find interesting are the few who aren't familiar with it. While growing up in the 1960's you could have a family gathering and at least one in ten of the men there had served and knew how to handle a Garand or M14. Now? One in a hundred.

On the other hand 5 out of 10 people at a gathering know how to handle the AR-15.

And for those that don't it is a easier rifle to learn how to operate and shoot than the Garand and M-14.

 

[Demi-human]

... so we are going to do a father and son build. .308 for me and 5.56 for him. He just started his first job so he is waiting for his first paycheck to order parts. We agreed that what ever progress he makes I will match. Should be fun.

Absolutely wonderful! Many good evenings to you both!

 

[bbqreloader]

I just wanted to build my first rifle from scratch, thus my AR was born. I built it strictly as a range/plinker and quite happy with it. Reload for it, so ammo is not an issue, but in the end, don't know if I'll build another. Was a great stepping stone for my AR9. Didn't go high end parts for the 15, stayed middle of the road, great experience.

 

[someguy2800]

I have a suppressor coming so I’m thinking of building a pistol lower for a 300 blackout pistol upper. If someone ever gives me about 500 rounds of 450 bushmaster brass I will get one of them too. As it is the brass is too expensive for me to be interested though.

 

[adcoch1]

I have a suppressor coming so I’m thinking of building a pistol lower for a 300 blackout pistol upper. If someone ever gives me about 500 rounds of 450 bushmaster brass I will get one of them too. As it is the brass is too expensive for me to be interested though.

Boy i feel ya on the expensive big bore brass! I am waiting on engraving for my sbr lower, so I will have an ar sbr to play with. Also have a home built lightweight 5.56 carbine, and most of the parts for another ar pistol. Ar stuff comes and goes for me, but I do have a few and regularly build uppers and custom parts for them. Its adult legos...

 

[Theohazard]

Can not see me owning a rifle, that requires me to reach over my shoulder to chamber a round.

You can also charge an AR using your off-hand. The nice thing about the AR charging handle is that it’s ambidextrous.

Or fires by dumping dirty gases into the action on every shot.

This is a vastly overstated “problem” with the AR design. And this design contributes to its light weight, its low recoil, and its accuracy.

I don’t mind if people dislike the AR. To each their own. But I often encounter people who dislike the AR for completely bogus reasons, and that’s annoying.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I bought my first two ARs and built the rest. I started off with PSA uppers and lowers then went to building the uppers and lowers.
I have been doing purpose builds and have over 20 ARs now.
For home defense:
My 10.5” SBR in 5.56.


And my 7.5 5.56 pistols.


For fun and hunting:
The Lone Surviver mock-up 20” 5.56.


And 18” side charger in 223 Wylde.



And then there are the fun builds.
Lightweight Spartan 5.56.


FED USMC 5.56.


My Junkyard build 5.56.


And the 9mm.


I built this one with The Jack lower after hearing people winning about how if you ever had to use it, it wouldn’t look good for you in court. It’s not evil. It’s a Pirate gun.

 

[Water-Man]

You can also charge an AR using your off-hand. The nice thing about the AR charging handle is that it’s ambidextrous.

This is a vastly overstated “problem” with the AR design. And this design contributes to its light weight, its low recoil, and its accuracy.

I don’t mind if people dislike the AR. To each their own. But I often encounter people who dislike the AR for completely bogus reasons, and that’s annoying.

Bogus to you. You get annoyed too easily, it seems.

 

[Theohazard]

Bogus to you. You get annoyed too easily, it seems.

Perhaps I do. But that doesn’t change the fact that the reasons he stated for disliking the AR are bogus: You don’t need to reach over your shoulder to charge an AR, and the gas design isn’t a weakness unless you’re using it for sustained full-auto fire.

 

[SamT1]

It is the right tool. It’s a platform you can hunt with, target shoot, compete, defend yourself.
You can Smith it at home easily. Reliable. Accurate. Durable.

There’s really nothing else with as much to offer. It took me a long time to come around to AR rifles and a long time to Love them. They don’t offer the beauty of a wood stock bolt action, but they are so much more useful. One of the big drawbacks to them is that they all look the same. At 10ft it can be hard to tell a 2500 gun from a 500 one. Sometime it’s hard to tell holding one or even shooting it. That makes them hard to buy used. A bolt action is really easy to pick up and tell if it’s a 350 or 1000 gun.

 

[benEzra]

Or fires by dumping dirty gases into the action on every shot.

The gases aren’t dumped in the action; they are dumped overboard through the gas vent holes in the bolt carrier. See it for yourself at 15 seconds in, and look how little gas there is in the action as the bolt opens, compared to how much gas is vented from the gas piston through the vent holes in the bolt carrier.



Very little of the gas from the gas tube actually gets into the action, and that only occurs after the gas flow has tapered off and the movement of the bolt carrier disconnects the gas key from the gas tube. At least with my Rock River midlength, it seems to me that the bolt lugs (which get fouled from combustion products coming out of the chamber during extraction) are at least as dirty as the area around the gas key/gas tube interface.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

Got the 6960 out to Deer Creek Shooting Range yesterday and established an initial zero on it, about 3 inches high at 100 yards. Hopefully get it out again today and get it dialed in at 300 yards. First three rounds at 25 yards could be covered with a dime. Just shooting some Federal M855, which is not match grade, for sure.





I tried to go back and edit the options to include multiple selections, but it wouldn't let me edit anything to do with the poll. Sorry. I understand the AR-15 is versatile and adaptable, and that many of us will have multiple uses. I am primarily interested in what people consider their primary use for the rifle. Getting into debates online and on social media you hear a lot of how little we need them. People with no experience with either AR-15s or hunting will say you don't need an AR to hunt. It is interesting to me that almost a quarter of voters right now say the primary purpose for their AR is for hunting.

 

[ar-newbie]

I got into the ar platform simply because people wanted to keep me from doing so. I was always a big bore pistol kind of guy, and the ar-15 seemed kind of low powered to me. I built 1 chambered in 5.56 and can acknowledge they can be fun on the range for little money spent in ammo (reloaded) , and I grew to really like the simplicity and modular nature of the platform, so I just finished building an ar-10 chambered in .308 winchester and look forward to using that.

If the ar-10 turns out half as nice as that ar-15 did, I can definitely see some additional uppers in larger calibers in my future.

 

[CraigC]

I have two, one is a tool, the other a toy. They're not what keeps me up at night but I do like to have them around. Also have another lower I have yet to decide what to do with. Might become a .450BM.




I also find a lot of utility in look-alikes with similar furniture/controls.

 

[horsemen61]

I lost mine in a boating accident

 

[Demi-human]

I would dive in for mine...

 

[P5 Guy]

AR15 for fun, but a few of my friends do hunt feral hogs with ARs.
Mostly I bought mine because the gooberment said I shouldn't be allowed a weapon of war. Like my M1s? Well I am pretty certain the 1943 receivers on my reworked by Springfield Garands did some assaulting. Maybe in the Pacific, or Africa, Italy or even France. If they could only speak.