When I started semi-seriously getting into gun training in the late 90s, I let myself be persuaded by several friends that I "needed" an AR-15 to be Truly Tactical. I ended up paying $1100 or so for a practically new AR15A2, Colt, IIRC. It was okay. I didn't have any problems with it.
But it was basically twice the size it needed to be, for what it was. I wished I had gotten the M1 Carbine I had wanted for years, instead. And then, one day someone (Byron?) said, You still can.
Now, in a fit of gun-selling, I later sold that carbine to finance something else, but in general, I'd prefer a M1 Carbine for defense and most everything else to a full-sized AR-15 type rifle. I prefer an M4 to a M1 Carbine for defense, but that's just because I have so much more trigger time on M4s.
John
But it was basically twice the size it needed to be, for what it was. I wished I had gotten the M1 Carbine I had wanted for years, instead. And then, one day someone (Byron?) said, You still can.
Now, in a fit of gun-selling, I later sold that carbine to finance something else, but in general, I'd prefer a M1 Carbine for defense and most everything else to a full-sized AR-15 type rifle. I prefer an M4 to a M1 Carbine for defense, but that's just because I have so much more trigger time on M4s.
John