Ruger SSR-556

[General Tso]

I'm looking at a Ruger 556 or 6.8. I want a piston rifle. I was on another "black rifle type" forum and some of the members said the Ruger was laughable. I find that hard to believe. I'm definitely not an AR expert but I can't believe Ruger would put out junk. What do you all think of the Ruger AR's?

 

[Gasitman]

I had one and sold it fast. They are horrible on carrier tilt. I saw so many metal shavings after each trip to the range. Thankfully I was able to offload it. I think they are around $1400-$1500 new, for a few hundred dollars more you can get an LMT, which is what I did. Fantastic rifle.

I really would not recommend them from my personal experience.

Buy this, it is where I got mine and they are the cheapest on the net.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=212861360

You may be able to search my posts and find the pics I took of the metal shavings, but then again it may of been on another website, I'm not sure.

 

[mc223]

Ruger has not proven anything to me. I think they should pour some serious engineering into the mini. No, not a screw on fix.
I doubt seriously that they do much more with the AR than have their name engraved on it.
You can do much better for the money

 

[451 Detonics]

Why do you want a piston AR? What advantages over DI are you trying to achieve?

 

[MtnCreek]

I don't own a Ruger AR, but I have a couple of friends that do and they love them. I've put a couple hundred rds through one and it functioned great. Someone posted the Rugers cost around $1500. That seems a little pricey for a Ruger.

Some people have talked about the bolt carrier running rough. I didn't notice that with my limited use, but it should be noted that the carrier in the Ruger is stainless steel. Stainless steel requires a different lube. Also, since it's a piston operator, the carrier can run (and probably should run) wet.


451, Biggest advantage of piston operation is the rifle runs much cooler. I have another brand AR that's piston driven and it seems to be less picky on ammo as well. Not that my gas operators won't run some ammo, just that the piston rifle is more consistant with various preasure ammo; IMO.

 

[Birddog1911]

Let's try and not have another session on whether piston is better or not; most of us know where we stand on that subject.

General, for the price of the Ruger, you can get a lot more. For a little more, LMT is a good way to go. Gasitman made an excellent point; not all piston rifles are created equal, and will have their share of issues.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I'm on that other forum too.

I also consider the SR-556 horribly front heavy.

The only piston ARs I would really consider are LMT, LWRC and POF, and I wouldn't take any of them over a quality DI AR. I've shot the POF-15 (.223) a fair bit. It's also front heavy, but not as bad as the Ruger. I've seen it jam more frequently than my DI ARs. In the glossy brochure/POF website it looks really cool, but I can't find that it actually does anything better.

If you really want a piston, I would take a serious look at the SCAR, ACR, and XCR.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I'll add: that "other forum" is absolutely obsessed with the technical data package (TDP) for the Colt M4, and with having weapons that run in all conditions, after 2000 rounds without cleaning in a sandstorm, etc. regardless of cost. Really, where else does anyone seriously recommend a Knight's Armament product as a first AR? That doesn't mean that information there is wrong, but opinions need to be taken with a grain of salt there too.

I don't think that the Ruger SR-556 is junk, by any means, but I really don't think it does anything better than a whole lot of $1000-1200 DI AR-15s.

 

[Birddog1911]

Now, to be fair Michigan, I'm sure that only one or two folks over there would go so far as to recommend KAC as a first AR.

 

[Z-Michigan]

It must be at least two because I've read two such recommendations from different members there in the last day and a half. It's like telling a 16 year old that a Lexus or Mercedes "may" have problems and you can avoid them by only buying a Rolls Royce or Bentley instead. There are people there who act like LMT is a discount brand, which is good enough if you can't afford something better. I wish I was joking. (Of course, we have people here who act like the cut-rate brands are Rolls Royce, so I guess it all balances out if you read both here and there.)

 

[General Tso]

After reading all the opinions on both sites, I guess I'm going with Noveske or LWRC if I go with a piston. It's just weird that so many rip on Ruger. I always thought Ruger was quality.

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[451 Detonics]

451, Biggest advantage of piston operation is the rifle runs much cooler.

The bolt may run a bit cooler in a full auto but the barrel and handguards run much hotter. Don't see why that is an improvement.

After reading all the opinions on both sites, I guess I'm going with Noveske or LWRC if I go with a piston.

As far as I know Noveske doesn't make a gas piston gun, in fact he said...

"Also, we should mention the poor choice of platform for the piston conversion on a round receiver bore as found on the M16/M4 system. All other piston type systems out there utilize a railed receiver design, like the M14, AK-47, M249, FAL and so on. The round receiver bore design used on the M4 is only acceptable for the standard op system.

 

[General Tso]

Correct. I mean if I choose DI it will be Noveske.

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[Gasitman]

So you just went from a $1500 ruger to a $2500 noveske? I am confused. You need to be more specific on what you are trying to do here. I have a scar, and IMO a scar is the best rifle money can buy. I have owned many ar's, and I really dont care about the haters, a scar is awesome. And for $2500 you can get a scar for less than that.

If you must have an ar, with a piston, go with an adcore defense. Only piston gun with a free floating barrel.

http://adcordefense.com/

 

[nipprdog]

If you must have an ar, with a piston, go with an adcore defense. Only piston gun with a free floating barrel.

Or better yet, go with the Stag Model 8, only piston gun to deal with the carrier tilt. And, it can be ordered with a free floating barrell.

 

[General Tso]

Noveske is only $1500. LWRC is $1800.

 

[General Tso]

I just want an AR that will last me a very long time and is good quality. Mostly range shooting, maybe a little hunting.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Get either a BCM with the BFH barrel, or a Daniel Defense with their hammer forged barrels, and it's very unlikely you'll have to replace anything significant, pretty much forever with the use you're describing. Either company's barrel should last around 30,000 rounds, and both know how to make quality on every other aspect as well.

Noveske is fine if you want it, but for sheer durability won't offer anything over those two options.

 

[W L Johnson]

Stainless steel requires a different lube.

In almost 40 years of shooting I've never heard this before.

 

[Hanzo581]

If he wants piston how about the SIG 516?

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_397/products_id/69519


http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/sig516-review/

 

[General Tso]

Why do guys on some forums say that you only get about 5000 rounds out of a barrel? Is that true? I hear Noveske makes the best barrel and that is/was a huge concern for me.

 

[MCMXI]

I've shot the POF-15 (.223) a fair bit. It's also front heavy, but not as bad as the Ruger. I've seen it jam more frequently than my DI ARs. In the glossy brochure/POF website it looks really cool, but I can't find that it actually does anything better.

I've shot both my POFs more than "a fair bit" and I can assure you a lot more than 99.9% of the members on this forum. I will absolutely put either one up against any AR on the planet in terms of reliability and many in terms of accuracy. Mine simply do not jam or have any problems of any kind ... period!! I will admit that I'm not running the stock buffers or buffer springs so there's a clue. I will agree that neither POF offers me any significant advantages over models from LaRue, Noveske, LMT, LWRC, Daniel Defense etc. For the record, I don't find the P415 to be particularly front heavy. I would happily own a DGI AR308 from LaRue, KAC, LMT or a bunch of other excellent manufacturers. I'm done buying any .223 Rem/5.56x45mm chambered rifles ... I have enough and I'm simply not sufficiently enamored with the cartridge to want more.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I will admit that I'm not running the stock buffers or buffer springs so there's a clue.

Interesting. All I can say is that my friend's POF-415 (?) jams somewhat frequently using mags that work flawlessly in any of my DI ARs. Weight balance is part perception, and it could also relate to how much "stuff" is hanging on his quadrail. Glad your POFs work for you.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Why do guys on some forums say that you only get about 5000 rounds out of a barrel? Is that true? I hear Noveske makes the best barrel and that is/was a huge concern for me.

5k rounds is realistic barrel life in two scenarios:
-skilled precision shooters requiring sub-MOA accuracy. In fact many of them will only get 2k-3k out of a barrel before replacing it. These are all competition or police sniper shooters, and vastly more of the former.
-people who have full-auto M4s (meaning mostly mil and some lucky police, as well as a tiny handful of ordinary people with pre-86 MGs) shooting mostly full auto can wear out a standard chrome-lined barrel in 5k, even with top quality barrels like Colt.

Noveske definitely makes a top quality barrel, but all I've read is that the quality hammer forged barrels (Daniel Defense, BCM's BFH which is apparently made by FN USA, and any other quality h-f barrels probably including the one on Ruger's SR-556) that are chrome lined and made of mil-spec steel will go around 30k rounds. That's probably not 30k of sub-MOA accuracy, more likely 30k of acceptable accuracy. Military barrel life standards are often based on velocity loss rather than accuracy loss, as well.

Realistically, most AR owners won't wear out even a cheap 4140 button rifled barrel, so I wouldn't worry too much. But if you want ultimate durability, I would get either a DD or BCM-BFH barrel.

 

[MCMXI]

Z-Michigan, tell your friend that I'm using a TUBB CS flat-wire spring, an H buffer (one tungsten and two standard weights) and a roller cam pin from POF and that the timing with XM193 or reloads using GI or MAGPUL mags is perfect. The GI mags have BM springs and followers. I don't have any "stuff" on the front of my rifle and I have a DD Omega rail which is very light.