New Ruger SR-556 questions

[Goofycat]

I am semi-serious about purchasing a sem-automatic weapon along the lines of the M-16 that the military uses. Ruger has just come out with the SR-556, a piston-driven semiautomatic rifle that is reported to be fairly accurate out of the box.

(1) Should I consider paying $1995 for this rifle, or should I consider one of the other brands that cost several hundred dollars less---such as the Remington, Stag, etc.?

(2) Would it be better to purchase the Ruger, or simply buy a cheaper weapon, such as those mentioned above, and have it accurized with a target trigger, barrel, etc.?

(3) Are these types of so-called "assault rifles" legal in California?

(4) Are there advantages to reloading for the weapon, other than lower cost or possibly better accuracy, or are there sources of over-the-counter .223 ammunition that would work well enough for coyote hunting? Which type/brand of ammo would you recommend?

Thanks,

Barry

(4) Is there a website or forum devoted purely to this type of weapon?

 

[fdshuster]

No choice for me: Over 40 years of proven performance, 1/2 the cost, unlimited support, longest length of time as the official US Military rifle, extremely accurate right out of the box, and on and on.

 

[sixfiveguy]

DPMS all the way!!

 

[jerryscherrer]

Rock River Arms

 

[fdshuster]

Along with Rock River, Olympic Arms, the new Smith & Wesson, Remington, Colt, etc. So many choices. Seems to me Ruger came to the party after it was over, and now has no history of reliability, accuracy, etc. Course, some of the "gun magazines" will tell you "you gotta buy one right now", but that's based on generating sales, not to any advantages for the buyer. Sorry Ruger, I have no interest in your new rifle, but I wish you well.

 

[LRPV]

I have experience with Rock River varminters in 24", 18", and 16". All are capable of shooting under 1" with the right factory ammo which you just have to try different stuff to see what it likes. These come with decent 2 stage triggers from the factory.

I own DPMS rifles. One 20" SS bull barrel gun shoots .5" with 55gr soft point Ultramax on a fairly consistent basis, and has liked almost everything I have fed it. 16" lo pro classic which is a CM bull barrel didn't like factory shells near as good as reloads such as 50 vmax and 70 bergers but it will shoot those right with the 20" mentioned above. The factory "mil spec" triggers that come standard in the DPMS are very stiff and gritty. They can be ordered and some stores stock them, with JP triggers which are a vast improvement over the mil spec.

I personally have not had good luck with 3 bushmaster varminters. None would group much under 1.5" under any conditions but others have had good with them. I have a 20" Hbar that is just the way it came from bushmaster that with a scope can shoot the occasional .75" group with reloads.

Ar's are just like a bolt gun on the reloading side of it, in my experience anyway. Some might shoot pretty good with factory ammo, but you can always improve with loading your own. You are limited on seating depth to around 2.25" in order to get them into a magazine. The gas piston system seems to be where it's at in the future. For a hunting rifle I don't have a problem with the "old" gas system. As far as the Kalifornia legal question you'll have to ask someone else, I know that you can have them, but there is a certain configuration that they have to be in. I think that you are not allowed to have a removable magazine. There are plenty of websites dedicated to the ar platform, just look around.

As far as price you should be able to buy 2 of the Rock Rivers or Dpms for the 2 grand you are talking about spending on a Ruger.

 

[fdshuster]

It will be interesting to see, in the future, how many real SWAT members ( the real ones, not the wannabe's) are carrying the Ruger SR-556's. Anybody want to make a bet?

 

[fdshuster]

Just saw the new SIG516, gas piston operated AR type rifle in the new issue of "The American Rifleman". 3# trigger, decent group sizes (for its' type), selling price of $1300: I think Ruger's sales efforts will have to increase, a lot, if they hope to outsell the Sig. If I were in the market, it would be an easy choice for me. Sorry Ruger.

 

[Goofycat]

FD, I just read the same article. the Sig looks like a winner, and at $700 less than the $1,995 Ruger, I would opt for the Sig.

It is now a moot point, since California has outlawed these so-called "Assault Rifles," making it impossible for me to have one for coyote hunting. Therefore, any ideas as to a good substitute other than the Ruger Ranch Rifle? The only other semi-auto I know of that is legal in California is the Browning BAR.

 

[LRPV]

Absolutely nothing wrong with a browning BAR.

 

[Lynn313]

I own one of the piston driven AR-10s & AR-15s
The piston driven is always going to be more expensive. It’s best to study the difference in direct impingement systems vs piston operated systems. The main advantages of the piston driven system is you can shoot 100 rds and can’t tell your receiver is any dirtier than the 1st shot. The other being you would have to fire 200+ rounds to feel receiver heating up.
The main advantage of direct impingement is cheaper cost to build. On the Ruger SR-556 one poster is correct in that Ruger came to the party to late. They decided to build a high end rifle when everybody and their brother had starting companies building much cheaper direct impingement rifles. Ruger discontinued the high end build and went back to what they do best; compete on the low end.
Another poster mentioned military use. Infantry & grunts receive direct impingement because they are cheaper, reliable when cleaned often whereas some of your special ops are issued piston driven ARs because of the increased reliability without needing to clean often; ex H&K.
Both are good. I hate the frequent cleaning DI demands so I pay more for piston driven.

 

[XTR]

What is up with the zombie threads lately. This thread is 11 yrs old

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I bought a piston upper several years ago. Mine is an Adams Arms. All I can say is that if you hate cleaning the bolt and chamber area you will love a piston upper. No gas and crud gets back in that area. I have a few gas uppers and hate cleaning them.