AR-15 Question... (many more to come)

[Uncle Giggles]

Originally Posted by hikeeba

What sort of targets are you going to be shooting? Are you planning on competing with the weapon, or are you just planning on heading to the range now and then to sling lead at paper plates and such?

Yea basically paper targets, beer cans, maybe even the occasional possum or skunk unfortunate enough to wander into my back yard, etc. I don't plan to compete with the gun, but I do plan to do drills and such. Like little time trials and what-not.

Originally Posted by DanTheEldest

Yeah, the 55-gr stuff is basically the standard round for us civvies for all-around shooting.

Good to know. I'll have to do some experimenting with the different types (once I get the rifle, that is )

[MarineFlyboy]

I would stick with the 16” barrel with a 1/9 twist for what you are looking to do with your AR. It will be plenty accurate and work great for CQC or HD applications and shoot pretty much anything you feed it. I’d recommend getting your basic M4 style AR with the A3 upper as you stated earlier with a detachable carry handle. This way you can learn how to shoot with the iron sights before you get a high speed optic. Plus you can add as money allows.

[Uncle Giggles]

Found something interesting:

Originally Posted by Bushmaster.com

The barrel's button rifling, in a 1 x 9" right hand twist, will stabilize a wide range of currently available ammunition with bullet weights up to 69 grains.

Guess the 1x9" can support a fairly heavy bullet.

[GaryTx]

Bigger is not always better. I don't have figures to support this, but I would be willing to bet that eight out of ten AR-15s sold today are carbines, shorter barrels and tele stocks...mine is.

[bigun]

The 1in9" twist will run everything you could possibly want to run through the AR platform. 1in7" is too fast for most of the lighter bullets 62grain or less. The big problem with the really heavy .223 rounds, over 70 grains, is the length of the bullet, when seated to work in a AR platform they use up a good deal of your case capacity and down range performance suffers. I have found the 69 grain Sierra HP BT to be the most effective bullet for my AR's 1 1in8" and 1 1in9". As far as AR's go Bushmasters are OK I've had 3 but I really like my Armalite M-15 National match A-4 better. RRA seems to be the hot ticket going right now but if you order one of those you have to specify if you want a chrome lined barrel, You do by the way unless you go with stainless instead.

[hikeeba]

Originally Posted by Uncle Giggles

Targets only. No hunting, and no self defense (that's what the .45 ACP is for )

Yea basically paper targets, beer cans, maybe even the occasional possum or skunk unfortunate enough to wander into my back yard, etc. I don't plan to compete with the gun, but I do plan to do drills and such. Like little time trials and what-not.

Drills and such... Just be careful. Practice SWAT ninja rolls without a weapon first .


Ok, I'm going to play devil's advocate here: Targets only, no slef-defense, no hunting. Paper and assorted non-alive targets, but maybe occaisional small game. No competitions, but 'drills and such.'

So, why a 5.56/.223 platform? Are you planning on doing a lot of 100m-300m target shooting? If not, why not look into a less expensive caliber platform, like 9mm or a dedicated .22? I have seen some majorly tricked out ARs in both of those calibers. If you're doing most of your shooting within 100m, pistol/rimfire calibers would make sense. If you don't require 'people knock-down power,' why not a .22?


Ok, devil's advocate switch turned off. I do entirely understand and appreciate the interest in the standard 5.56/.223 platform. But if money is tight and/or you plan on shooting a lot, there are other options out there that may not be as versatile (effective range), but they are just as fun to shoot. Don't forget your .45 ACP AR option, either!

[Badshot]

Gonna have to agree with Hikeeba here... I've got a 9mm RRA that is SO much fun and about $100 per 1k rounds cheaper to shoot.

Nuthin wrong with 5.56, got 3.5 of those and it'll put a hurtin' on targets at ranges out to 600m without a ton of effort or fancy hand loads (mind you I use both 62gr. and 55gr. rounds depending on what is available for a fair price). 600m is actually reasonable even with Iron Sights.

RRA, STAG, LMT, Del-Ton, Bushmaster, Colt and several others are top notch. I know that RRA and Colt have solid 9mm AR's, haven't looked for other vendors in the 9mm cause I'm a RRA and STAG snob

Let us know what you get! --- Pictures are required at this point as a small fee for all the help

[Uncle Giggles]

Originally Posted by hikeeba

Drills and such... Just be careful. Practice SWAT ninja rolls without a weapon first

Haha! I don't plan on doing anything THAT ridiculous . I took care of the evil samurai infestation with my XD last week.

Originally Posted by hikeeba

Ok, I'm going to play devil's advocate here

Sweet! You be Keanu Reeves and I'll be Al Pacino!

Originally Posted by hikeeba

So, why a 5.56/.223 platform? Are you planning on doing a lot of 100m-300m target shooting? If not, why not look into a less expensive caliber platform, like 9mm or a dedicated .22? I have seen some majorly tricked out ARs in both of those calibers. If you're doing most of your shooting within 100m, pistol/rimfire calibers would make sense. If you don't require 'people knock-down power,' why not a .22?

I have explored the 9mm/.22LR option a bit actually. But it's just not my thing... I just want the "real deal". In the end, I think it's like asking a 1911 collector:

"How come you're buying another 1911?! You already have one! Why not get some kind of .22? It's like $10 for 500 .22's, but $20 for only 50 .45's!"

(Response... ) "Well... cuz 1911's are bitchin!"

And plus, I'm sure I'll be doing some longer-range shooting. I do enjoy that kind of shooting, so I guarantee I'll be doing quite a lot of it at some point.

Originally Posted by hikeeba

Ok, devil's advocate switch turned off.

But I wanted to be Al Pacino for the rest of the day!

Originally Posted by hikeeba

I do entirely understand and appreciate the interest in the standard 5.56/.223 platform. But if money is tight and/or you plan on shooting a lot, there are other options out there that may not be as versatile (effective range), but they are just as fun to shoot. Don't forget your .45 ACP AR option, either!

Money really is not that big of an issue. I'd gladly spend whatever I have to to have (and feed) an excellent top-notch weapon.

I've never seen (or heard of) .45 ACP AR. Sounds interesting though. Got a link?

Originally Posted by Badshot

Let us know what you get! --- Pictures are required at this point as a small fee for all the help

Oh you betcha!

[bluebear]

Sorry I am coming in to this late, but I was wondering what you AR-15 experts think of Panther DPMS? I have a friend who owns a gun shop and he only sells DPMS Ar-15's.

[hikeeba]

Excellent responses Uncle Giggles . Please do keep us informed of your AR quest.

As for the .45 ACP AR, Olympic Arms offers a complete carbine and a complete upper. The Olympic system utilizes a standard AR lower. The twist is that Oly modifies an Uzi magazine for the .45 by welding a block onto it so it fits perfectly into the standard AR magwell. The down side is the modified magazines are expense, and at this time the Uzi magazines are hard to come by (I guess). The up side is Oly has a reputation for very reliable pistol caliber converted uppers that will eat lots of different ammo with nary a hiccup.

There are other .45 uppers out there, usually built be smaller companies, and in small batches. Also, I have heard of small runs of dedicated .45 lowers, but I haven't ever really seen any.

For more info on the .45 and other pistol caliber ARs, check out the Rimfire and Pistol Calibers forum at AR15.com: http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=3&f=15