AR-15 what is it good for?

[erict]

I have 4 AR's (had 5 but traded one for a FAL last week). I like the AR platform because you can do anything you can think of with it. It is the most versatile type of weapon I own and can be taylored anyway you want it to be. You could use it for home defese and clearing houses; or get out and reach things at 200-400 yards if needed. There aren't many other weapons you could do this with that are so lightweight and simple.

You can go anywhere from a 7" pistol to a 24" LR rifle and anything in between using most of the same parts. You can change calibers simply by pulling 2 pins and switching mags/ammo.

Ammo is cheap, I get 1K of Lake City for $180 which is pretty decent and comparible to the price of 7.62x39 (if you're considering an AK also).

The only "downside" I've personally heard about the AR is it's size. If your screenname is any indication of your stature, you may not like the AR too much. A buddy of mine shoots with me quite often and he doesn't care for shooting my AR's too much. He's 6'7" at about 270lb. and complains that they feel like a "tiny little toy" to him...lol. Definetely try one out for yourself though and make your own conclusion.

 

[DMK]

The only "downside" I've personally heard about the AR is it's size. If your screenname is any indication of your stature, you may not like the AR too much. A buddy of mine shoots with me quite often and he doesn't care for shooting my AR's too much. He's 6'7" at about 270lb. and complains that they feel like a "tiny little toy" to him...lol.

Easy fix for that. Get a flat top, 20" HBAR. Add a free floating forearm rail, light, scope, backup iron sights, stuff the buttstock full of survival gear, add a mag pouch. That should weight it down enough for most.

 

[marklbucla]

Everything....literally.

There was a thread a year or two about a guy who carved his Thanksgiving turkey with one and made his sister's hippie boyfriend curl up into the fetal position and cry.

 

[Essex County]

Woodchucks to deer, and don't forget about it's social capablities...Essex

 

[Zero_DgZ]

Q: What are AR-15's good for?

A: Shooting!

(Awaits tomatoes.)

 

[bigman9828]

ok you guys sold me after seeing that hog pic. so what kind of setup on the ar 15 have you found out to be the best for hunting

 

[gopguy]

There are many good reasons to own a AR15. However my favorite is that it gives Hillary Clinton, Sarah Brady and most liberals night sweats. lol

 

[1911JMB]

"What were the brands/models your range friends were using that wouldn't run dirty?"

Bushmaster, Colt, and Armalite are the ones I've shot. The Bushmaster was a .308 and we were using SA surplus. Maybe you can fault the ammo in that one, but it was very clean and freshly CLP'd. In the AR15's we were using Wichester ammo, and those guns were fairly clean I believe, but its not like I know for sure how clean, I didn't exactly feel like field stripping the things when I had other guns to shoot.

I don't know for sure which models people were using when they needed my cleaning supplies.

 

[bigman9828]

o yes another question ok any kind of ar 15 can you swich the cal on the gun to something with alittle more kick

 

[rocketfish]

An AR in 5.56/.223?

Paper and no quarry larger than varmints.

 

[Andrew S]

o yes another question ok any kind of ar 15 can you swich the cal on the gun to something with alittle more kick

Thats what plenty of people in the thread have told you so far.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

Fun!

Couldn't have said it better myself


I just bought my first a couple of weeks ago, and my only regrets are:

1) Didn't buy one sooner.

2) Only have 1!

A buddy of mine shoots with me quite often and he doesn't care for shooting my AR's too much. He's 6'7" at about 270lb. and complains that they feel like a "tiny little toy" to him...lol.

I don't agree with that at all...I'm about the same size as your buddy, give or take an inch and 10 lbs...If its too light, all ya gotta do is add some accessories! Thats what i did

 

[GoRon]

o yes another question ok any kind of ar 15 can you swich the cal on the gun to something with alittle more kick

All things AR can be found at ARFCOM

 

[texlurch]

I am not a big fan of .223.

My AR is a homebuilt, and runs like a top with whatever I put in it, including Wolf. The older lacquer style had some issues (I am told) but the newer polymer coated is fine. And I am not a real religous cleaner, have run over 600 rds. thru it in a session.

I also have a .223 AK, WASR-3, that runs like a top. Not quite as accurate as the AR, but just as fun.

One more to go is a Yugo .223 AK I picked up to build. It is brand new and should be a shooter.

Bueaty of the AR is once you have the lower, you can pretty much build whatever upper you want and slap it on. Lots of options out there.

 

[blackhawk2000]

My AR is absolutely filthy. It hasn't been cleaned since a carbine class I took a few months back. In that class alone I ran over 1000 rds of Wolf through it without a single problem. I have had exactly 2 FTE's with Wolf, and the gun was very hot, dry, and dirty. It's a box stock Bushmaster M4gery. Anyone want to host pics?

 

[texlurch]

email them to me and I'll host them. [email protected]

 

[possum]

what are they good for you ask!
Home defense

varmit hunting

target shooting

bringing new folks into the shooting sport without scaring them with recoil like other rifles, plus great for little ones like was said before.

one of my favorite thing is the fact that you can modify and accesories them to meet any situation you might need.

changing out upper recivers is one of the coolest things about them. you can have one lower and a upper for cqb/ self defense, huntig, target shooting, varmit hunting the list goes on and on.

 

[blackhawk2000]

Pics inbound.

Before I put it back together I wiped what I could with a rag. Took a pic of the rag too. There's a pic with a mag inserted backwards too, just in case anyone wants to see that it can be done.

 

[Juna]

a rifle for punching great big holes in things (.50 BMG, .50 Beowulf, .458 SOCOM, etc.)

Didn't realize you could get a .50 BMG upper. Seems like it would recoil like a SOB in a platform that lightweight.

That said, I loved the M4 I shot. I was pretty darned accurate with it with just a plain old carry handle & stock sights. The recoil is light, and it's really quite accurate. I will definitely own one when I can afford to build one (if it's before the anti-gun Democrats try to ban them!).

 

[lamazza]

Big~
.223/5.56 is nice because its still relatively cheap to shoot. For hunting I think a setup in .308 is the way to go and still not really too expensive-yet.

 

[toecutter]

Ar-15... it's the firearm version of legos.

I own many, in different calibers, configurations etc. The only time I've ever had any kind of issues with these is when you have crappy magazines. Any of the milsurp mags, if they are used, put new springs and either a green or magpul follower in. The AR is a victim of it's own success, since everyone wants to sell magazines for it, they do, and many of those companies make magazines that really suck (promag).

I will say though, the AR-15 is a lot less finicky about magazines than the Ruger Mini-14.

As far as the FAL. I really like the FAL platform, it's simple elegant and functional. The thing I don't like about the FAL is that the ammo is heavy, and largely expensive. (by comparison)

As far as cleaning and maintenance. I recently built up a CA-legal carbine using a sundevil lower, and a stag upper. It's beautiful. I have both a 6.8 SPC and .223 uppers for it. (both stag) Combine that with the .22 upper I made, and I can hunt for everything from rabbit all the way up through deer reliably.

The thing to keep in mind with a cartridge as small as .223 is that you have to make big trade-offs. If you put together heavy bullets, you will get better penetration but less delivered energy. With light bullets you will get better energy transfer but it will happen too quickly to go very deep. Having shot a lot of every bullet offered in .223 I really like the SS109 projectile, the 68/69 match bullets from hornady and sierra are very good bullets, I also like the CT ballistic silvertip from nostler in .55gr. However, I've found that bullets over the 68/69gr weight are just too long (hornady amax 75 etc...).

I've also loaded some of the frangibles from scinterfire. All very nice.

 

[bigman9828]

alright guys should i stick with the 223 or go to a 6mm for only $50 more?

 

[blackhawk2000]

5.56 chamber. Chrome lined barrel and chamber. .223 is safe for a 5.56 chamber, but not the other way around.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Shoot Dirty?

Guy I work with has a new ArmaLite.

First few hundred rounds he had to keep it clean. Shoot 200, clean rifle. Shoot another 200, clean rifle. Repeat for 800-1000 rounds.

He can now shoot multiple sessions of more than 200 rounds and it continues to run. He does have trouble with random "generic" gun-show-bagged ammo. All the commercial stuff he's fed it works just fine, including Black Hills remanufactured stuff. You may want to stay away from Billy-Bob's Night Reloaders Special, though.

Depending on specs and tolerances, you may get one that will do 1000 out of the box, or you may get one that requires a little more break-in.

His needed a break-in. I'm sure after another 1000 rounds his will smooth out and just run.

The guy next to his cube has had some trouble with his no-name AR, but discovered it works lots better with all its springs and pins.

Note to self: care and feeding of ARs includes keeping all the parts.

 

[bigman9828]

all right guys and gals i think i have found the right now with everything i needed besides a scope for now so here it is and tell me of what you think

http://www.bushmaster.com/shopping/Carbon15/az-c15m4pre.asp