First AR -- Any Advice??

[3Phantoms]

Another vote for the Rock River! I have 2 RR's and a Palmetto State Armory. No comparison.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I assembled my 17 Rem, 20p, 223W uppers. A couple lowers to swap as needed. All are prairie dog capable. Assembly is pretty straight forward. The 223W is a complete carbine that was pre Biden, so parts were cheaper. Shilen, BHW barrels shoot great. The 50.00 Wyde gunbroker barrel shoots decent and is fun to shoot.

 

[Rocketvapor]

Triggers?
I have a FEW Larue 2 stage and the Schmid triggers.
A simple mod for trigger pull weight comes straight out of the unwanted parts bin.
The Disconnector spring from a run of the mill mil-spec trigger.



The MBT-2 has a peened in pin holding the Disconnector, the Schmid uses a common pin.

 

[joshb]

Another vote for the Rock River! I have 2 RR's and a Palmetto State Armory. No comparison.

Yup. 2 different levels of quality. If someone shows up without a gun, they get the Palmetto State. I don’t care if it gets dropped or dinged. It’s some times nice to have a beater around.

 

[miningshawn]

Lots of great info here, and lots of opinions. Here's mine.

Buy a PSA $500 rifle. If you are like 95% of the people who lurk here, you are going to end up swapping out most of the components anyway.

All it really takes to make a 1/2 MOA AR15 is 3 important items. (assuming that you are a reloader who will develop a round for this rifle...)
1.) A barrel - you get what you pay for. I prefer McGowen. I have tried quite a few, and have never had a McGowen let me down.
2.) Free floating the barrel. It really doesn't matter which furniture you choose as long as you like it and it doesn't touch the barrel.
3.) A trigger. Any trigger is better, really. I have tried most drop-in types and if I could only have one I would choose the Elftmann series.

After these three items you are near 95% of the accuracy that you can wring out of the platform. Whiz-bang BCG's, super-special buffers and springs, gas blocks, blah blah blah. None of this enhances accuracy without first taking care of the first three, and the gains are very incremental.

A standard upper, lower, BCG, buffer tube, buffer and spring, gas block, gas tube, and charging handle will carry you a very long way. There are a ton of options out there around 500 to 600 dollars that will get you started.

And when you buy that barrel, I suggest get a 1:8 to cover everything from 50 to 77 grains. Single loading an AR sucks pretty hard. A 1:7 or faster covers the really heavy bullets, but if you are going to feed them from the magazine you will never get the velocities you want being limited to 2.265 inches. A good 1:8 covers the all-important 69gr series, including the Sierra Matchking.

FWIW, I shoot out to 1000 with 77gr and get consistent hits on plates. 600 with a 69gr is all-day doable.

 

[riverside jeep]

Lots of great info here, and lots of opinions. Here's mine.

Buy a PSA $500 rifle. If you are like 95% of the people who lurk here, you are going to end up swapping out most of the components anyway.

All it really takes to make a 1/2 MOA AR15 is 3 important items. (assuming that you are a reloader who will develop a round for this rifle...)
1.) A barrel - you get what you pay for. I prefer McGowen. I have tried quite a few, and have never had a McGowen let me down.
2.) Free floating the barrel. It really doesn't matter which furniture you choose as long as you like it and it doesn't touch the barrel.
3.) A trigger. Any trigger is better, really. I have tried most drop-in types and if I could only have one I would choose the Elftmann series.

After these three items you are near 95% of the accuracy that you can wring out of the platform. Whiz-bang BCG's, super-special buffers and springs, gas blocks, blah blah blah. None of this enhances accuracy without first taking care of the first three, and the gains are very incremental.

A standard upper, lower, BCG, buffer tube, buffer and spring, gas block, gas tube, and charging handle will carry you a very long way. There are a ton of options out there around 500 to 600 dollars that will get you started.

And when you buy that barrel, I suggest get a 1:8 to cover everything from 50 to 77 grains. Single loading an AR sucks pretty hard. A 1:7 or faster covers the really heavy bullets, but if you are going to feed them from the magazine you will never get the velocities you want being limited to 2.265 inches. A good 1:8 covers the all-important 69gr series, including the Sierra Matchking.

FWIW, I shoot out to 1000 with 77gr and get consistent hits on plates. 600 with a 69gr is all-day doable.

I just picked up a 1000 of the 77gr SMK Midway 2nds and came up with a Varget load that shoots under a 1/2". Now I have to wait until the snow melts to get to my range but I can hardly wait to see how it does on the 1000 yard target !

 

[Dimner]

My advice is do not buy even a single extra part for your first AR. if you do, immediately send it back.

Any extra parts somehow grow into a full 2nd AR soon after wards, and then a 3rd grows out of nothing up because u had that extra handguard because it was so cheap because some sort of minor blem.

Then you think you are finally done... but you get that email notification that the barrel you really wanted was back in stock. So you rebarrel your 3rd AR with the barrel you really originally wanted and then you are like, well crap I got this barrel I already shot... Oh look I also have an extra charging handle and genric stripped upper in a trade... BAM 4th AR.

Trust me... Don't keep spare parts.

 

[bobcat93]

AR-s have become so mainstream now I honestly don't think you can go wrong with any of them..
Just get something with a reputable name on the lower and upper...everything else is insignificant and can be changed..parts use to be easy to find as the market is flooded with black rifles..but im not sure if manufacturers can keep up..

 

[Cecil S.]

jds holler....no you are not the last hold out on the AR platform and recently I feel the need for one, just because I am not suppose to have one. For me I might do the AR-10 to keep reloading simple with 6.5 caliber. Opinions are welcome.

 

[Kevin1990]

I'm gonna jump in again and stir the pot. I've seen quite a few threads over the years on forums about an out of spec PSA lower. I rarely see that on Anderson quality and above. Just like when you buy a barrel. All you buy is a probability. The more you spend usually gets you a better barrel. Same for AR parts. I feel like there's a cut off for price/quality and Anderson is it. Anything below that, I'm not getting.

 

[quest450]

so If have 2K budget for an AR15 should I have it custom build or just get a top shelf one like Daniel Defense ?

 

[Rocketvapor]

Some, like me, just like the idea of shooting a rifle I put together, with ammo I loaded.
Adds to the fun, for me anyway.

 

[quest450]

Some, like me, like enjoy the finer things and still love shooting with reloaded ammo
Adds to the fun, for me too

 

[jds holler]

Sooo -- I never expected this much response to my request for advice on this little thread. Should have known better with you guys.

"Anyways, as per my original statement/question,
I'm dumb about these rifles, kinda want to have one while I can get one. (Oregon)
Is there any reason this one isn't right for me?? jd"

So in the interests of keeping things simple, I've got that rifle ordered - for better or worse. I'll learn from it, and hopefully get to like the platform. If the habit grows, I'll know more about what I want, and which direction to go.

I appreciate everyone's advice, and have confirmed my belief that EVERYONE knows more about these rifles than I do. RV, you must have a doctorate on this subject. (and everything else) I'll be in touch. jd

 

[6Creed73]

Sooo -- I never expected this much response to my request for advice on this little thread. Should have known better with you guys.

"Anyways, as per my original statement/question,
I'm dumb about these rifles, kinda want to have one while I can get one. (Oregon)
Is there any reason this one isn't right for me?? jd"

So in the interests of keeping things simple, I've got that rifle ordered - for better or worse. I'll learn from it, and hopefully get to like the platform. If the habit grows, I'll know more about what I want, and which direction to go.

I appreciate everyone's advice, and have confirmed my belief that EVERYONE knows more about these rifles than I do. RV, you must have a doctorate on this subject. (and everything else) I'll be in touch. jd

I think you'll like it, it's a fun platform with endless possibilities for updates if you wish.

 

[Rocketvapor]

We like helping others spend money

 

[Rocketvapor]

Get some factory ammo to start your quest into AR's.
When the wife was shooting a 16" 1:8 twist carbine gas AR she liked the 69gr TMK, and the 77gr SMK.
She did a couple 600yd F-TR matches with a 20" 1:7. Not great, not terrible with the 77gr IMI.
Your 1:7 should like them also. Lighter bulets like the 55-62gr, maybe not so much.
The new Hornady ELD-VT 62gr should work.
I suggest function testing factory before you reload for it.
Buy stock in a rifle cleaning supply company

 

[nmkid]

I'm dumb about these rifles

That was me when I got an AR about 2 years ago. The young man(?) at the counter says, "You say you are a Vietnam Veteran and you don't know anything about an AR-15"? Well, not all of us used the damned thing! Anyway, now I want to change it to a 20P. As soon as I figure out what I need. I was looking at a WOA setup but, it comes in a 1:10 twist and I want a 1:11 because that's what I once had in a bolt rifle.

 

[Rocketvapor]

Wife jumped in first. Retired Marine Door Gunner (well sort of ).
Then I just had to follow. My FIRST AR:

My latest:

I now have enough SPARE PARTS to build a couple.

Wife has gone full circle, from old bolt gun battle rifles, to the AR, and now back to a bolt gun.

 

[6Creed73]

Wife jumped in first. Retired Marine Door Gunner (well sort of ).
Then I just had to follow. My FIRST AR:
View attachment 1527040
My latest:
View attachment 1527041
I now have enough SPARE PARTS to build a couple.

Wife has gone full circle, from old bolt gun battle rifles, to the AR, and now back to a bolt gun.
View attachment 1527043

I have enough spare parts to probably build two more AR rifles as well. Rather than buying another lower receiver to build another rifle, I just assemble another upper and swap them. I swap uppers to change barrel length and sometimes caliber. I have dedicated AR's in 5.56 and 300BLK, but sometimes I'll put an extra 300BLK upper on the 5.56 lower to bring two 300BLK rifles to a friend's land to shoot supressed. It's a very versatile platform.