AR-15s for Dummies

dwarven1

dwarven1

Lonely Mountain Arms
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The recent article on how versatile the AR-15 is in Outdoor Life has got me thinking that I want to get one myself. However, I know almost nothing about the platform. I know that it's very versatile and very modular, and you can configure it for darn near anything, but I don't have a clue as to where to start.

So... consider this a tutorial for the terminally clueless. I want an AR-15. I'll probably use it for paper punching, with an eye towards MAYBE using it for hunting (outside of MA, of course) some day. I'll probably get a .22 upper for plinking. Having said that, how do I start? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various ways to configure the AR-15?

Thanks,

Ross
 
I consider it a must have for any collection... I went with a Bushy that I thought was reasonable price and heard nothing but good things about them when researching a few years back.

+1 on ar15.com also as that is where I did my research to make my purchase.
 
www.ar15.com is a great place to start. I bought an annual magazine on the rack called the Book of the Ar-15 its put out by Guns&Ammo once a year. And I read it cover to cover, then I did a lot of research online, then I spoke to everyone that I know who had one, then I went to Boston Gun Range and shot a variety of AR's (w/ their expensive shitty ammo), then I called God himself, Carl, at Four Seasons and he then told me out of all the info I learned what to buy. I bought the Rock River Entry Tactical w/ the short entry stock, which I kinda regret now but I will replace that stock w/ something a little longer. I am very happy w/ it and I think like any gun purchase you have made in the past it will be what is best for you after you gather as much info as you can.
 
For shooting .22 you don't need an entirely new upper, you only need a new bolt carrier and magazine. I'm thinking about buying this conversion kit for my AR once it is in stock again: Ceinver Conversion Kit

There are a couple of AR-15 books. Borders near us has(had) volume two of the Gun Digest Book of the AR-15, but not volume 1.

I'd also suggest buying a stripped lower and put it together yourself (or disassemble/reassemble your current one). It'll give you an idea on how the internals work. It's modular enough that you could probably get away with spending $200 a month for 2-4 months as money is available and end up with a pretty nice AR-15.

Disclaimer: I only have vague ideas and theories that I hope to put to the test and will be successful in building a variety of AR-15s over the next 1-2 years. They may be sane or insane as I am.
 
I'll help you make up your mind,come to Harvard,you can try out mine.It's got evil features and a tactical free floating thing to hold on to.I even added 3 extra barrel shrouds to it so it can be more accurately fired from the hip.

I'll even let you shoot some of my ammo[shocked]
 
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Mine is a Bushmaster Lower, with a Rock River standard A2 upper. I am partial to iron sights on a traditional carry handle A2, this is most likely due to my use of this config. in the service. But IIRC the Dwarven1 is partial to glass optics, that being the case I would consider a flattop style upper as that will facilitate the mounting of anything that fits on a milspec rail.
Once a caliber is decided on, most of the other differences are a matter of personal preference. Hanguards can be anything from traditional ribbed plastic through to free float aluminum tubes. Butstocks range from pinned collapsible to skeleton to standard Milspec fiberglass. Even the pistol grips are available in multiple configurations (check out the MIAD pistol grip from Magpul, I'm eyeing getting one). Other then what you think looks cool, get with a couple of NES'ers that have different configs and try them.
As far as the building thing goes, if you are mechanically inclined in the least you can do just about anything with an AR. Good luck and happy hunting.

My AR15 (sorry I couldn't resist the opportunity to show it)[wink]
Ar152.jpg
 
I'd been wishing and thinking and researching and trying to decide on the perfect AR for months. Then , while I was checking out a basic little off the rack carbine at Collectors in Pelham I said "screw it!" and bought it right then and there. Now I've got one, and when I'm shooting, it feels really perfect!
There's not enough time left to waste any.
 
Cross-X said:
Should anyone tell him about the virtues of buying an AR lower now, for careful assembly later, no matter what the political climate?
Click to expand...

The last time the political climate went against ARs, the requirement was to have a fully assembled rifle before the magic date, yes? Therefore no "spare parts" would meet the magic requirements. Better to just get the rifle now. [smile]
 
BoB13 said:
m4carbine is a good site for info on everything AR
Click to expand...

+1 www.m4carbine.net has some GREAT information. And the guys there seem MUCH more "in the know" than a lot of the shmucks over at ar15. Don't get me wrong, ar15.com has a ton of great info, the site is just too big for my tastes. Most of my time is spent at m4carbine with regards to reading up on the ar platform.

PS - BUY ONE! They're a blast!
 
Ross,

I'm going to chime in for Colt. Yes, they are more expensive, yes the pins are different. However, my Colt National Match was singularly the nicest shooting and nicest looking AR-15 I've seen - right out of the box. Laying on a bench side by side with other makes, it's obvious which one was the Colt. Fit and finish were superb, reliability was outstanding, accuracy was mind blowing. No fancy hand-guards, barrels, free float this, two stage drop in that. It was a tack-driver from shot #1 and my only regret was selling it. It's on my short list of guns I need to buy again.....
 
I'm gettin' EBR fever...

LoginName said:
Buy first... ask questions later. [smile]
Click to expand...

[thinking]

I just got back from Match Shot where I was picking up some Christmas ammo.(Nothin says "I Love You" like a box of .45 JHP's.) [smile]
You don't know how close I came to going home with a Bushmaster carbine today.

It was hard to put that back on the counter, it was "almost" right.
I didn't like the look of the round handguards and carbine length barrel but oh boy ! When I picked it up and laid my cheek on the stock the sights lined up without having to adjust my postion or the rifle. Maybe it's just the ergonomics of the AR or just my memory of shooting an M16A1 when I was in the service but it felt so natural.

Time to pick up a book or two and plan this purchase.
 
Ripach said:
But IIRC the Dwarven1 is partial to glass optics, that being the case I would consider a flattop style upper as that will facilitate the mounting of anything that fits on a milspec rail.
Click to expand...
Well, I just brought my M1 into my optometrist's office and we spent about an HOUR discussing vision needs. I'm hoping that the new prescription will let me use iron sights better. We'll see.
Cuda444 said:
+1 www.m4carbine.net has some GREAT information.
Click to expand...
Yup, lots of great information... and all very specialized. They have even fewer stickies than we do, and whoever is deciding what to sticky seems to have very subjective tastes.

For me, trying to find out what I'm trying to learn there (or at ARFcom) is like trying to sip a drink out of a 55 gallon drum - way too much info, and nearly every post I saw is assuming a level of knowledge that I simply do NOT have.
Ripach said:
Once a caliber is decided on, most of the other differences are a matter of personal preference.
Click to expand...
You guys still aren't getting it... Look, when you start teaching someone to shoot, do you immediately start talking about the difference between +P and standard pressure rounds? Do you immediately start telling someone about unsupported firing chambers leading to a big kaboom? Of course you don't. You start with "This is a gun", and "the bullets go here". Actually, you probably start with "the difference between a bullet and a round is...". THAT'S the level I'm looking for here, folks - think raw newbie and you're not far off.
 
Some decisions to make are, pre ban or post ban receiver.
Your choice will determine what features you can get or add to the gun.

Primary shooting preference of iron sights or optics(will determine if you want a flat top or not).

Long barrel or shorter barrel with flash hider extention (depends on whether you get a pre or post ban receiver). Or SBR if you want to do the paperwork and pay the $200 federal tax

Twist rate of barrel rifling to fire lighter bullets or heavier bullets. If you aren't going to be shooting real long distance, a 1/9 is probably sufficient for 55gr and 62gr milsurp types of ammo.

Full stock, pinned collapsable or collapsable(depends on pre or post ban receiver) and your preferences in a stock.

Heavy barrel or pencil barrel. If its not going to be fired on a fullauto lower, this is probably not real important and is more a matter of appearance than anything.

.223 chamber (tight) can be finnicky with ammo selection, shorter throat in the chamber.
or 5.56 chamber (looser than .223 and more forgiving with ammo selection)

Front grips, old triangular, newer round ribbed type with heat shields (will depend on barrel) as to length.

Might be best to look at Bushmaster's website and maybe a few others and find a gun that you like the looks of and see if it specs to what you want.

You can build an AR from a receiver and parts for a little less than you can buy a complete rifle. They are one of the most "plug and play" guns on the market.
 
dwarven1 said:
You guys still aren't getting it... Look, when you start teaching someone to shoot, do you immediately start talking about the difference between +P and standard pressure rounds? Do you immediately start telling someone about unsupported firing chambers leading to a big kaboom? Of course you don't. You start with "This is a gun", and "the bullets go here". Actually, you probably start with "the difference between a bullet and a round is...". THAT'S the level I'm looking for here, folks - think raw newbie and you're not far off.
Click to expand...

I feel for you. I'm just building my first AR too.

Here's my advise for what it's worth. It will take you a while to teach yourself enough to start making the big purchases. You don't know what could happen in that time. Four Seasons stocks stripped lowers for as low as $140 bucks. Start there TODAY.(ok..they aren't open today, go the next time they are open)

Even if you don't know what a "Stripped lower" is, buy it anyway. Just walk in and ask Carl for an "AR stripped lower" and he'll hand you something that looks like one of these:
lower.jpg

BTW...the lower is the part that is legally considered the gun. It IS the platform on which the rest is built. The good thing about Carl is that he will fill out the FA10 right then and there so that it's legally in MA. That way if some ban comes up, you'll be grandfathered.

Notice there are two different stamps on the far left. These indicate the brand. There are dozens of brands but there are only 4 companies actually manufacturing these lowers (well..the forged ones but I don't think you want to spend the $$$ on a billet ones just yet) and the 4 types are almost exactly the same. Here's more on that:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=12&t=318113

You mentioned your purpose is paper punching and hunting outside MA. If one or both of those are just casual use then you're ok but the two are rather different if they are both for serious use. For example: for hunting you'll want light weight, for serious paper punching you'll end up with just the opposite. Decide which is more important.

Once you decide which is more important, research the barrel first. Things to look up are chambers, overall barrel length and twist rates. How long do you want this barrel to be? Do you want something very short?

If you want to hunt you'll probably be using a specific type of round. (IE: 60 grain Nosler partitions) You'll want to consider a barrel that is best suited for that bullet type and weight with respect to twist rate and length. Do research on what barrels work best with the bullets you prefer.

If you focus more on casual paper punching, you'll probably want cheap Milsurp ammo. Consider getting a barrel chambered in 5.56 or 223 Wylde. If you want serious paper punching and don't see yourself using milsurp, get a standard 223 chamber.

The standard gas operating system is filthy. If you want something more reliable then consider a gas piston setup like this:
http://www.pof-usa.com/upper/P-415-16-BP-SF-223.htm

Basically you need to start by asking yourself a lot of questions. Once you have them answered then research research research!!!

Then come here when you're confused [rofl]

Anything more then that and you'll have to ask more specific questions. A general "teach me" won't work because there is WAY too much info out there for us to just blindly start throwing info at you.
 
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Snapshot said:
BTW...the lower is the part that is legally considered the gun. It IS the platform on which the rest is built. The good thing about Carl is that he will fill out the FA10 right then and there so that it's legally in MA. That way if some ban comes up, you'll be grandfathered.
Click to expand...

IANAL, but a few lawyers I've talked to stated that a lower is NOT considered a gun in MA for the purposes of an FA-10. The law states completed firearms must be registered. That being said a stripped lower is not a completed firearm, but any in state store will make you fill one out. If you plan on building it while in MA you might as well do it, but if you plan to be out of MA you should be safe without an FA10, though you'll have to buy out of state. AR15 Sales in Plainstow, NH I think was selling RRA for 135ish.

However, note that if you have the components to complete it you better do a FA10 as you can get charged with intent to build an unregistered. There was a thread a while back in which a resident LEO and lawyer I believe stated this.
 
Snapshot said:
The good thing about Carl is that he will fill out the FA10 right then and there so that it's legally in MA. That way if some ban comes up, you'll be grandfathered.
Click to expand...

Really? Please explain how mindlessly submitting an unnecessary and improperly filled out form is "a good thing."

As has been noted on the forum many times already, a stripped lower is NOT a gun under MA law. Once again, while the Feds deem a bare casting a functioning firearm, MA requires the actual capability of discharging a projectile, which a bare frame obviously lacks.

Still not convinced? Answer these questions:

1. What caliber did the ever-so-helpful dealer put down for your BARE LOWER? [rolleyes]Note that AR's come in everything from .22 LR to, IIRC, .50 Beowulf.

2. What barrel length did the ever-so-helpful dealer put down for your BARE LOWER? Note that AR's come in barrels from pistol length to 24."

Since the FA-10 your "helpful dealer" cretinously completed and filed did not contain the required information, he filed a nullity - with YOUR name on it. Big help, huh?

The lower was "legally in MA" when the 4473 was completed. The FA-10 achieved no intelligent purpose (unless you count mental masterbation by the overly obeisant).

And yes, you DO still need to file an intelligently and correctly completed FA-10 if and when you actually complete the build.

"Help" like that you can live without....
 
Jeepdeep said:
Would multiple uppers for a single lower require multiple FA-10s?
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No. Only the lower has a serial number, so once you register the one completed gun, you may add a many uppers - in as many calibers - as your wallet and interest permit.

The same as putting a Ceiner conversion on your 1911 or a Mech-Tech conversion on a Glock.
 
Jeepdeep said:
Would multiple uppers for a single lower require multiple FA-10s?
Click to expand...

No, only the lower needs the FA-10. You can register it as "multiple" for calier. Also, if any of them are a SBR be careful... The BATFE can try to get you on intent to build an unregistered SBR if they wanted if you had multiple lowers and one is an SBR as you could easily throw it on one of the others. This may be more the case if you have an SBR and a completed lower without an upper.
 

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