Holy sheep dip Batman, I finally got my first AR ...

Hiya Guy's , ...

I know I've almost said this once before when I bought a complete lower and 4 p-mags w/ the intention of buying a complete upper to pin to it, but I ended up trading it straight across+ a lil' $ for a purdy' Sino-Soviet SKS, and since I've primarily been a milsurp guy centered around Mausers, Mosins, Swiss, Swedish, German & Com-Block firearms with a sprinkling of others in between, I never thought I would actually say this but, I'm officially an AR owner now ...

Even though I really never had much interest in owning one and I basically know nothing about the platform other than basic operations as it relates to other platforms I have experience with, when I ran across a local gal on our local gun Grapevine that was looking to trade her Diamondback DB15 for what would be her first 1911 I thought I'd touch bases with her and find out a little bit more about what she was looking for to see if it was something that might pique my interest. It turns out she wasn't looking for a full-size, she was looking for a mid-size which would be an officers compact model in .45 . We talked about options since I have multiple 1911 / Hi-Power variants & we ended up squaring a deal for my high standard crusader officers compact 1911.

Well, I just met up with her and her husband and we just closed escrow on the deal and all parties are happy and now I officially own a DB15. I gave her a a nice package deal with the Crusader with everything she'd need to get started & intrade I got the Diamondback with a centre-point aoe illuminated red / green mil dot 4_16 optic w/ yardage settings on the objective out to 100 yards. It also came w/ a p-mag, metal mag, 150 rds of Federal 56 grn 556 & an AR scabbard.

After reading all about the history of Diamondback and the review of this DB from Gun's & Ammo :

http://www.gunsandammo.com/reviews/diamondback-db-15-review/

I think I made a pretty good deal and from what I'm seeing online thus far I'm guessing this is basically one step above an Andersen or a PSA. I don't know if it's just this model but there's certainly less polymer on this thing then I originally expected other than the adjustable stock, grip & forward handle which I'll probably take off of it, other than that everything is steel and aircraft aluminum. Who knows ?, I may even get to like this thing when I get it setup to my liking. I forgot to mention this also came with a laser bore sight that I can put to good use and get the scope zero to it probably starting @ 50-75 yds depending on how far out the pointer is visible on fresh batteries .

Ha ha . The way I'm looking at it right now is this'll be a cheap affordable soda bottle and pop can killer. Probably a tad cheaper than shooting an SKS but not one of my 22's obviously ...

JeeperCreeper said:

Nice! I think DB has come a long way and think it's cool they build air-boats in Florida!

Again, nice Star Wars gear!

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Thanks JC . I enjoyed reading about the history of Diamondback, how they got their start into firearms and what their background is and there partnership with Taurus and the review of the DB15 from the article that I posted the link 4 from Guns & Ammo magazine. I really like how they got there start designing and building really nice airboats in Florida just off of space Beach ie: Cape Canaveral and it was interesting to know that they actually hired some genuine rocket scientists and Engineers that have done a lot of work for NASA that were looking for a side job. Their business approach and reasoning is not only original I think it's pretty damn cool and I like their business plan to build one of the best AR platform rifles with the best features for the money because they design, engineer and produce everything in house rather than ordering pieces and parts from the same warehouses that most everyone else gets their stuff from. I also think their idea to partner with a holding company of Taurus to handle the Marketing sales and distribution was really smart because it frees them up to concentrate on what they do and let there business partners do what they do best & both companies profit from it. It'll be interesting to see just how big they become over the next couple of years and just how far they push the envelope because they have some serious advantages over a lot of the other AR platform competitors.

After finding all this out and doing some more reading elsewhere, I guess that's why I finally decided to pull the trigger on this and get my feet wet for my first AR rather than picking up one of the cheapest I can get bottom of the barrel ar's that I'd probably have a lot of issues and get discouraged with. I feel more confident starting out with this because everything I've read and seen online thus far says this is just a little bit better in just about every way than the bottom of the barrel alternatives. I'm not interested in having "the best" but I think this is a pretty good place to start and it might even be nice enough to keep me interested for a while ...

imashooter said:

Congratulations. Will not be your only one. Perhaps you should give consideration to joining your local chapter of AR Owners Anonymous (AROA). Twelve step program. 11 AR purchases then your 1st meeting.

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Alright, I pulled the scope off this and figure it out what model it is and got it set up more to my liking for the eye relief. For now I think it will do just fine and there really isn't a need to replace it at this time. I think I'm going to get rid of this ridiculous lower forward handle after which I might readjust the scope a notch or two but I'll wait and see. Here's the optic :

https://www.amazon.com/CenterPoint-LR416AORG2-4-16x40mm-Illuminated-Adjustable/dp/B00TEAD3JW

GunnyUSMC said:

Congrats. I see a new pistol grip, slimmer rail and trigger guard in your future.and then another AR.

I built two in the pass two weeks for friends. They just showed up at the house with a box of parts, well most parts.
I started on another build for myself yesterday, like I need another one.

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Thanks, I agree. I've already pulled the lower forward grip off of it and put the adjustable fde buttstock up for trade for the same or a similar adjustable black buttstock . I like the looks of the front handguard but it is a little wide even though it doesn't bother me but it does sit awfully close to the objective of my scope, close enough that the Discover keeps catching on it so I'll probably put a Slimmer one on it at some point in time. I definitely plan on replacing the pistol grip for something a little bit nicer rather than this cheap plastic grip.

GunnyUSMC said:

Your buttstock is a Magpul MOE. They are on sale at Primary Arms right now for $31.95.
http://www.primaryarms.com/magpul-moe-carbine-stock-mil-spec-black-mag400-blk
The MOE grip in black is on sale for $14.95.
http://www.primaryarms.com/magpul-moe-pistol-grip-black-mag415-blk

Now that cheap grip on the rifle has been used by the military since 1985 and has seen combat around the world.

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Thanks . I got a message from one of the local guys here in the valley on our local gun Grapevine yesterday. He told me that I didn't need to trade this buttstock for , or replace it with a black one. He said that I should run down to the store and pick up some black Rit Dye and dye it black. He said it'll look like new only black and it won't flake off or chip like a lot of other coatings or paint will. Now I've dyed plastic parts for RC cars back in the day and I may be new to the AR sscene but I've never heard of anyone dying parts for them as of yet?

Good Ol' Boy said:

I've had my DB15 for about a year and a half. Great gun no problems whatsoever. My first AR as well.


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I predict you will like yours.

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Ha ha, that's awesome , glad I'm not the only one . After reading a really good review on the db15, the history of Diamondback, their partnership with Taurus and the fact that they manufacturer all their parts and everything in house I thought this was a really good place to start for my first AR. Idk why but there seems to be a lot of hate for the Diamondback coming from the AR fanboys. I've done a lot of research and compared a lot of entry-level AR's & since I'm not an AR fanboy I think I can give a unbiased opinion on the db15 based on what I've seen so far. Imo it's one of the best entry level AR's out there based on all the features you get and the quality of all the parts that are built in House at Diamondback for the money. I think that they're a step above other entry level AR platforms like the Psa, Del-ton sport, M&P-15 & maybe the Rock River Arms AR and I think I'm gonna like it enough that it's going to keep me interested in the platform for a while ...

GunnyUSMC said:

That’s a big statement.
Just because someone builds everything in house doesn’t make it better. Radical Firearms does the same thing and had many issues the first few years.
To tell you the truth most AR’s are made to milspec and are pretty much the same. The biggest difference is the barrels. The next would be the finish.
So who makes the best AR? That’s for the fanboys to argue about. But what I can tell you is. Once you start building your own AR’s you will be able to build it the way you want it.

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Yeah, maybe a little but I like to give people a good reason to engage their brains and think about things once in a while. I realize that most AR platform rifles are built to mil-spec these days but what I was thinking is that since DB makes all their parts in house just like radical firearms and a handful of other companies, they can actually make the parts cheaper than what most other companies can order them for from the AR Parts warehouses where the majority of companies get their parts from. This means they're able to build rifles cheaper out-of-pocket than what the other companies can build from a bunch of parts that they've had to order from Parts warehouses. This gives them the opportunity to add some extra features to their rifles that you normally don't see on entry level M4 rifles, & they can still sell them for a good price and I think we win because we can get an AR with some nice features that we don't have to pay out of pocket to upgrade to.