Information on AR-15/Black Rifles

[spartan933]

Hello my fellow INGOers. I am relatively new to guns. I started reading about different handguns a few years ago and bought my first pistol 2 years ago. I do a lot of research on guns I want to purchase. Now I have five handguns and a shotgun. What I do not have is a rifle. I am very interested in purchasing a AR15/Black Rifle. But, I don't know much about them.

Can you guys recommend a website or some literature that would help me with this issue? I just want to educate myself as best I can before I purchase one. I don't want to stick myself with something that I don't want.

 

[shooter521]

Make use of our search function and ask questions here; we've got a number of members who live, eat and breathe the Black Rifle (myself among them).

You'll waste a lot of time and get a lot of bad advice surfing ARFcom, and M4C, while an excellent source of information, can be a bit elitist and intimidating to newbs.

 

[OneBadV8]

There are a few good links on ar15.com but finding them is the problem. Here is a link to post talking about the difference of the actual manufacturers. There are only a handful of them that make lowers for everyone else.

AR Lower Receiver FAQ (56k beware) MMS, CMT, LAR, LMT compared... - AR15.COM

It talks about the differences of each or lack thereof.

 

[Turtle]

AR15.Com

Theres alot of AR guys here on INGO that im sure would be glad to answere your questions. But that link has some good reading too.

If you ever deciede to try an AK I can answere most questions. Or just ask smoking man he knows more than me. Good Luck! Turtle! Turtle!

 

[melensdad]

Make use of our search function and ask questions here; we've got a number of members who live, eat and breathe the Black Rifle (myself among them).

You'll waste a lot of time and get a lot of bad advice surfing ARFcom, and M4C, while an excellent source of information, can be a bit elitist and intimidating to newbs.

Ditto.

AR15 and M4C are websites that can be very angry, very elitist and often very mean. Not saying that much of the info is not good, much of it is. But much is very biased to some specific brands and much is outright wrong because of those biased views.

Its pretty sad, but those websites have a lot of good information mixed into them but a lot of mean spirited posts too.

 

[esrice]

I am very interested in purchasing a AR15/Black Rifle. But, I don't know much about them.

Where do you see this rifle fitting into your current "arsenal"? Will it fill a specific place/need that the other guns currently don't?

Do you want to buy a rifle complete? Do you want to buy a complete lower and a complete upper separately? Or do you want to completely build it from the ground up yourself? (for a first rifle, I'd personally recommend buying complete)

What "grade" of rifle do you prefer? HIGHEST quality, MIDDLE quality, or LOWER quality? Are you looking to pay a HIGH price, MIDDLE price, or LOWEST price possible?

And, finally, what do you want this rifle to DO for you?

 

[melensdad]

What "grade" of rifle do you prefer? HIGHEST quality, MIDDLE quality, or LOWER quality? Are you looking to pay a HIGH price, MIDDLE price, or LOWEST price possible?

And, finally, what do you want this rifle to DO for you?

Respectfully, I'd reverse your questioning completely and start out with what do you want this rifle to do for you?

Think of it like a when you buy a car. Do you want a sports car that goes fast? A car that comfortably will haul you and your special lady in style? Are you looking for extreme fuel economy? A car that will haul the whole family + your kids friends to the beach? Do you need something to get around a big city and is easy to park or are you a rural dweller where parking spaces are not shoebox tight? A vehicle that will haul lumber, mulch and spare gear on the weekends? Each of those are very different types of vehicles. And each of those vehicles can can come in many different luxury/trim levels from very spartan, to all fluffed out with bells & whistles. Further some can be had tuffed up with H.D. suspensions, transmission coolers, and industrial bed/trunk liners, etc.

So to it is with AR15 rifles. A varmint AR is not a deer hunting AR is not a home defense AR is not 3 gun match AR . . .

 

[spartan933]

I suppose I am looking for a combination of various uses. I want something that is functional for home defense purposes, but also good for target shooting and days at the range, and if necessary, to repel Zombies.

I suppose the best bet is probably to buy a well-priced good branded AR. Complete but with the option to add optics, etc. I am not sure. I imagine I can think of it like when I bought my first handgun (M&P .40). I learned as much as I could before I bought it, but it doesn't compare to actually owning it, taking it apart, reading the manual, and getting to know it. That may be what I do.

Thanks for all the input guys. As usual, INGO is the best information source on the web.

 

[esrice]

Respectfully, I'd reverse your questioning completely and start out with what do you want this rifle to do for you?

Spartan -- read my post backwards.

 

[melensdad]

I suppose I am looking for a combination of various uses. I want something that is functional for home defense purposes, but also good for target shooting and days at the range, and if necessary, to repel Zombies.

I'd look at the various 16" carbines. I'm not a big fan of the "M4" contour barrel, prefer a heavy barrel for the added weight out front, but that is just me. Then again, I've got M4, heavy barrel and ultra light barrels on various ARs so I can pick and choose as the mood suits me. Still for an all around gun, I prefer a heavy barrel upper. For me they seem to swing better with the slightly heavier weight up front (sort of like the way Trap Shooters like longer barrels to move more weight out front). I also prefer C4 size handguards, they are the larger diameter forearms that are found on M4 and some other style uppers.

Because you said home defense, go with a collapsable stock. That way the gun can be adjusted for you, as well as your spouse. It also can be used in the fully collapsed position inside a hallway easier because the overall length of the gun is shorter.

 

[Flintlock]

I concur on the 16" carbines. Take a look at Stag Arms. They offer a very good, quality product at reasonable price, if you can find one, that is. If not, take a look around at your local shops. Prices seem to be dramatically falling on AR's so just keep a sharp eye out and you can score a great deal.

 

[zsm]

Go with a 16'' mid-length, flattop.

That's my favorite configuration (and the way to go if you're going 16''). Go lightweight barrel if weight means much to you, but an HBAR with all the goodies hanging off the front will still balance ok. If you're going to put optics, get a freefloat rail with flip up sights. 10'' continuous rail is also my choice. This would be very similar to the M&P15T

 

[LPMan59]

drink the kool-aid and get a colt. the chart says it's the best.

 

[sloughfoot]

IMO, you can't go wrong with a standard A2 with a 20 inch barrel. It is already a carbine length and with iron sights, is very versatile. The 16 inch versions are kind of a super carbine.... They are cool too, but not real useful at rifleman ranges.

The beauty of the AR type rifle is that you can have one lower with many different uppers in different configurations for different purposes.

I own them all, from 20 inch Service rifle, to 26 inch match/varmint rifle, to 16 inch iron and red dot sighted CQB rifles.

A standard iron sighted 20 inch A2 will serve you well while you sort it out..

 

[SmileDocHill]

So you want to buy an AR-15, huh? - Police Forums & Law Enforcement Forums @ Officer.com
I am the least knowledgeable person that will respond to this but this link is to one of the most well rounded educational threads I have come across. It is written with verbiage anyone understands but explains all the options and why you would want one over another (depending on your purpose) to a fairly detailed degree.

 

[spartan933]

So you want to buy an AR-15, huh? - Police Forums & Law Enforcement Forums @ Officer.com
I am the least knowledgeable person that will respond to this but this link is to one of the most well rounded educational threads I have come across. It is written with verbiage anyone understands but explains all the options and why you would want one over another (depending on your purpose) to a fairly detailed degree.

Damn dude, you are right. That is a great buyer's guide and very informative. What's interesting about the AR15/Black Rifle is that it looks so damn cool! It looks mean. My girlfriend, who says I don't need one, looked at a photo of one on that page and said,

We'll see what I get. I still have to do a lot of reading in the next few days. But, my brother is getting back from overseas this Saturday, he's finally being stationed stateside for a while. Anyways, I think I am going to drag his ass to the gun store to get a military opinion.

 

[shooter521]

Anyways, I think I am going to drag his ass to the gun store to get a military opinion.

No offense to your brother, but just like with cops, not all military guys are gun guys. In fact, there are plenty of .mil folks who have never fired a gun outside of basic training. Get his opinion, but take it with a grain of salt unless he was a gun guy (and specifically an AR guy) before joining the service.

 

[spartan933]

No offense to your brother, but just like with cops, not all military guys are gun guys. In fact, there are plenty of .mil folks who have never fired a gun outside of basic training. Get his opinion, but take it with a grain of salt unless he was a gun guy (and specifically an AR guy) before joining the service.

That's a good point. Yeah, my brother and I are VERY different from each other. He has been in for ten years and I didn't start getting into guns until about two to three years ago. I have never taken him shooting with me when he has been in for the holidays. But, I am going to take him anyways to see what he knows. We really don't talk that much but I am going to take him to see if we can bond a little bit. I know he has experience from his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, but maybe he will impress me or vice versa.

 

[cce1302]

Ignore the chart. It has information, but no intelligence. No processing of the information. Just because Colt has something, doesn't mean you need it on your rifle, or even that it needs to be on any rifle.
That being said, yeah, talk to your brother, also, most of the people that posted in the thread (above me) know an awful lot about ARs-Melensdad, 521, and Esrice I think.

 

[SmileDocHill]

I have a very unexperienced vantage point on this but I found an additional thread for the real beginner like me. You are probably way beyond this but I thought it was a good take home refresher of the most basic operations. A good home study followup after getting good instruction from someone who knows.
http://revver.com/video/865856/basic-ar-15-operation/