Thread: If I wanted to buy a basic but sound AR15 what would be a good start?

More curious than anything at the moment, but there is a huge range of Ar15s, varying what looks bloody awful rubbish (Gunshitty?) to eye watering expensive. So what sould a beginner in the world of AR's look over and what should be avoided?

Noooooo

If you go down the lego gun route you can kiss the LR budget goodbye !

You'll end up with 2 lowers, 3 triggers, at least 5 barrels, and half a boot full of handrails, grips etc

I got an Remington R15 (same as Bushmaster I'm told). No frills only thing that could do with upgrading is the trigger, and I got it cheap. Some people don't like the camo look but I prefer it to the assault rifle look.

Originally Posted by steven

More curious than anything at the moment, but there is a huge range of Ar15s, varying what looks bloody awful rubbish (Gunshitty?) to eye watering expensive. So what sould a beginner in the world of AR's look over and what should be avoided?

I went the eye watering route first up (German made)... while that was painful initially, it runs like a dream. No need to upgrade any parts.

Originally Posted by ebf

Noooooo

If you go down the lego gun route you can kiss the LR budget goodbye !

You'll end up with 2 lowers, 3 triggers, at least 5 barrels, and half a boot full of handrails, grips etc

Ive always loved lego....



Of course my son is too old now, he's lost interest in lego so "daddy" has no excuse to spend 4+ hours on the floor building a cool castle...



bugger



On the other hand he likes pulling a trigger as much as me...



You are right on the LR though, I sort of wanted to shoot in the WSRA but Lee's are crazy money (for ones that are not worn out anyway) and the ppl getting 15 Vs look to be using Ar15s, so buying a decent Lee seems pointless (I watched one go for $1760 this week).

Either way (LR or Ar15) Im looking at $2.5K I think.



but in the future I think a AR15 is quite probable, yes after a LR gun though. Lots of research first....hence why I asked....

To be honest none of the readily available AR's here spin my wheels. I guess if I was starting out again, I'd probably get an NEA 14.5"or 18", make sure the gas key is staked properly, install a crane O ring, adjustable gas block, can and fire away. I was lucky to snap up a Colt M4 upper which spins my wheels. Mated it to my RRA lower. Other option is to build yourself, well, when parts come back in stock.

If you want to shoot with WSRA, most of the a cat offerings will put you in open class.

If you're ok with that, get a 14.5" NEA. Get a decent 2-7 optic (hey you're shooting in open, milk it), a decent mount, and maybe invest in a better trigger. You can probably get all of that for around the $2.5k mark if you shop around. I've got mine set up like that, and with hornady steel case it'll shoot under MOA.

The NEA is probably still the best deal going at the moment. The trigger isn't always flash (on the early ones, it may be better now), but the rest is pretty well put together, and digit really stands behind the product.

If you really want to shoot service class, it's slightly harder to find one in a-cat. Doable if you shop around, but not quite as easy. Optics are more limited too in service.

A cat AR's are pretty much banned from standard class, I have a mate who manages to shoot in it with his Schmeisser 20" AR, he has a Cavalry Mfg "A2 style" grip on it, which is basically almost identical to an A2 grip, except the stripling is a different pattern on the back strap so technically it is not "military pattern", it's cutting it fine though.

The Wyndham guns are nice, I think they only bring in the varmint model though. Good commercial spec rifles.

As Spanners mentioned in the other thread, the standard GI type triggers are really hit and miss. In my spare lower I have a CMMG trigger kit with a JP service rifle spring kit - it's terrible, not jerky, but very long spongy take up and heavy let off, almost like a bullpup trigger. My NEA trigger I installed a JP yellow spring kit, which made it very light weight with a crisp let off, but the take up was rough as guts. My RRA two stage is like butter, I love it, great trigger for the platform.

My mate got a Geisslle trigger for his AR 10, keen to have a tug on that

I got one of the Mosberg ones, Trigger is actually quite usable. Been to bloody busy to shoot it to much but it was accurate with Factory loads.... 1:8 twist so I have some heavier pills to load when I find time

The stock will get an upgrade when I get round to picking one up... been using a SH mag mostly and its not faulted..... but only 60 odd rounds through it .... Just not on I should be near the 1K round count with it by now

I picked up a new Stag Arms Model 3 in ECat for $2000 + my $300 hand in. Replaced the trigger with a Timney, went to Otago and shot 800 rabbits. I went with the Stag due to the build quality and the light weight - 6.1lb empty. My brother has 2 rock river's and they are just way too heavy.

RRA like putting fat barrels and shit handguards on their guns. Other than that they're good.

Originally Posted by Beavis

RRA like putting fat barrels and shit handguards on their guns. Other than that they're good.

RRA, especially match barreled ones are stupidly accurate out of the box, though.

Their barrel profiles can make the gun bloody heavy though. If you're sitting on a hill top picking off bunnies/hares/pest of choice from a bipod or pack, they're fantastic. If you're dragging one on a three day hike into your hunting spot, then they won't be so flash.

Like anything, it boils down to picking the right tool for the job. The great thing about ARs is that you can always have a varmint upper, and a lightweight bush-bashing upper and just fit the upper that is best for the job.