• You are using the old High Contrast theme. We have installed a new dark theme for you, called UI.X. This will work better with the new upgrade of our software. You can select it at the bottom of any page.

considering an ar-15

Status
Not open for further replies.
the lowers of the AR-15 and the AR10 are completly different. no AR-15 upper will work on an AR-10, or vise-versa.

if you have an AR-15, you can buy uppers in 6.8 SPC remington, 6.5 grendal, 50 beowulf, .458 (also madse by RRA) socom, 7.62x39 (or "AK" round) and many many more. what you need for a cartridge to work in the AR-15 is for the over all length of the cartridge to be no more than 2.260". there are a lot of "wildcat" rounds availble as well. (well, not really wildcats, but not the norm ) some are, 6x45 (basically a .223 case necked up to 6mm) 6mm PPC, 6mm WOA, 20 tactical, 20 practical, 21 fireball, 17 fireball, and the list goes on and on.
 
jgo296 said:
.....is the lower of the ar-10 and ar15 the same?
Click to expand...
Not even close. The magwell of the -10 is much longer for the .308 round.

******************************************************

As much as some people dog-cuss them, I've had an Oly 16" bull barrel AR for years and have had nothing but good use out of it. It's also very accurate. Off of a steady rest with a scope I've put 3 rounds into the head portion of a police silhouette target at 300 yards. And I'm not talking about out where the ears would be. I'm talking in the area that matters - face/forehead region. And that's with el cheapo ammo - old Norinco 55 gr. hardball.

:)
 
You can get .50BMG uppers that are single shot and not even worrie about the mag well.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking that somebody needs to make a .308 upper with a side fed magazine for the AR-15. If they could sell it for $500...

ok i went up to the gun store and the guy told me basically any chrome lined ar-15 is equal he also said the "abc's" of ar-15 are armalite,bushmaster, colt
Click to expand...

He's wrong about all chrome lined AR-15s being equal. He's right about the ABC manufactorers, but there are plenty of others who make a quality product. Everybody and his brother is turning out AR-15s, so there is a wide selection of manufactorers and quality.

What barrel length are you looking at? 16"? 20"? Longer?

I've heard that Rock River dremels their M4 feedramps. Doesn't sound good to me. You will hear about how Rock River won the DEA contract, but that isn't that big of a deal.

Stay away from the lower tier manufacturers if your budget is 1K. You can put together an LMT rifle for that cost, IF you are looking for a 16" rifle (LMT does most stuff to milspec, except for tapered FSB pins and parkarizing under the gas block). LMT's lower parts are some of the best, too. Buying the upper and lower separately saves you the federal excise tax.

If I was in your shoes, I'd take a good, long, hard look at Sabre Defense, LMT, Charles Daly, and maybe Noveske. You want the highest quality that will be the most reliable and durable? Go with these brands.

If those are over your price, you might also want to look at Stag, CMMG, and S&W. Look at Armalite, too. There are a couple of other brands I'd consider too, like Sully's SLR-15.

I would not buy a Bushmaster, RRA, DPMS, Olympic Arms (they do make nice barrels, though). They may be very popular and get great reviews in magazines, but they would not be my choice...

You might also want to join M4Carbine.net, and see what they have to say.
 
Getting 1MOA out of an AR isn't that demanding. It is when you want 1MOA and maximum durability, reliability, and accuracy that you will start paying money.

If you relax any of those criteria (1.5MOA, 2MOA, I only need it to be perfectly reliable with Magpul PMAGs and Federal AE223), then prices come down a lot. Good mags and good ammo will handle 95% of reliability problems. 10k rounds should be within any ARs durability.

The Armalites I have shot have been terrific on reliability, durability and accuracy; but they are a bit more finicky about what kind of ammo they like.
 
Yup yup:D.

I got my upper for $489 shipped. Everywhere else had the same upper for $525 plus shipping.

No worries when doing business with Pete either, you can check his great feedback on AR15.com.
 
Do you need a .308 when you can get a .450 upper from Bushmaster that will snap on to an AR-15?? That should take care of the job!
:neener:
 
I got a New 16" Bushmaster for $979.99 (Last October).

Out of the box it took some zeroing on the Irons, and the only ammo that it did not like so far is Wolf.

So for a GOOD budget rifle, especially to plink, get a Bushmaster and feed it brass cased ammo and it will never let you down! (My testimony)
 
im thinking about getting an ar-15
Click to expand...
Excellent choice.

1) reliability and durability are first
Click to expand...
My Bushmaster 20" A2 HBAR has never choked on the dozen different kinds of ammo I've fed it including Wolf, Barnaul, milsurp from around the world, and a bunch of commercial ammo. It has even been accomodating as I've learned to reload. Not a hiccup, misfeed, failure to fire or failure to extract/eject. It's reliable, but I don't know about durable yet. I've only run about 3,000 rounds through it so far.

2) accuracy- i probably wont ever seek to get it ac
curized or whatever so i want 1 mao or sub out of the box
Click to expand...
As Mr. Roberts points out, you'll need match ammo to exploit the accuracy potential of a rifle. I was out this evening working up a mag length 77gr load for my gun off the bench. Many of the groups were around 1/2". Chrome lined barrel, no free float tube, factory trigger. Every load won't shoot that well, but the gun will with the right load.

3) customer support- if it does mess up i want the company having my back
Click to expand...
I reckon I got my customer service up front as I've never had to ask for no more.

The AR platform is inherently reliable and accurate. If your gun is put together well with good parts it will be too. Note I didn't say put together perfectly with the best parts. I don't think I have a special AR. I think mine is probably run-of-the-mill.
 
no

lowers for ar10 and ar15 are vastly different. As far as I know the uppers that will match the 5.56 lowers are the 204 ruger, 6.8spc and the 6.5 grendel. I could be wrong but thats all I know of. The Ar-10 shoots the .308 or 7.62 x 51 nato round. I suppose a 243 upper would fit on that lower but thats all that I know of.

I personally own a chrome lined midlength rock river matching upper and lower. It shoots sub 1moa out of the box with my handloads. It likes plenty of oil on the bolt and carrier. Once I figured that out I have not had a single problem. I have owned a DPMS for a short while but did not like it so it got sold. Also shot a bushmaster that was fine but rattled like an original 1911. Have fun with your purchase!!
 
but arent piston guns more reliable? (or less dependent on cleaning at least?)
Click to expand...
My USGI magazines have never failed me. Granted, I got a few well-used ones (sand included!) that got new spring and followers before they were ever loaded, but my $10 magazines have never given me a problem. But the HK mags are better and the price difference definately reflects that (but I'd get PMags instead).

Its pretty much the same with piston vs DI ARs. There is nothing wrong with a DI upper, but the piston upper is better, and more expensive.

My $.02.
 
By the way, when you say 1MOA accuracy do you mean actual 1MOA accuracy (capable of producing 10-shot groups under 1MOA every time) or Internet 1MOA accuracy (produces 3-shot 1MOA or better groups at least once per range trip)?

The former is expensive. The latter is fairly common for ARs.
 
internet 1moa

By the way, when you say 1MOA accuracy do you mean actual 1MOA accuracy (capable of producing 10-shot groups under 1MOA every time) or Internet 1MOA accuracy (produces 3-shot 1MOA or better groups at least once per range trip)?
Click to expand...

If a rifle is capable of 3 shot groups that are 1moa is it just a fluke then? I know that when barrels heat up they might change POI but I cant imagine the 3/4" barrels on most civilian AR's heating up too much for 10 rounds. I will admit to shooting 5 shot groups in the same hole and then picking up my rifle to try it again and they go to 2". I figured it had more to do with the shooter than with the gun. In a rest I believe that most guns with the right load will shoot pretty well up to 100 yards. I always believed that most accuracy problems could be solved with good optics and great handloads. So far I have been right. The biggest mistake that I feel people make is when they buy a $1000+ rifle and then put a $50 scope on it and shoot the cheapest ammo that they can find through it. "This piece of crap gun only shoots 3" groups!"

I have actually seen a military 8mm mauser 24/47 with a BLACK bore shoot very tight groups. Shows you what good optics and handloads can do to make a $80 gun shoot better than the $1000 plus AR's with crappy optics and cheap ammo. I believe that most guns have 1moa capability with the right loads and good optics.

What do you guys think?
 
rhubard, I'm with you on being labelled a liar if you have a cheap gun that shoots well. I've got under $900 in my Del-Ton/Oly mutt including the $60 Leapers scope, and the damn thing is more accurate at 200 yards than 100 half the time. My 15-year old son outshot me with it, his first time shooting at 200, a clean-barrel first-short flier an inch low, the next 9 went into .649", and all it takes is a steady hand and the ammo it likes. No, it will NOT do it with off-the-shelf ammo, ever. But with careful handloads, it's pretty consistent.

I am on my second Del-Ton, and will be buying another when I can. For the money, they can't be beat. www.del-ton.com, the two uppers I've bought from them blew my fancy match/target Oly by quite a bit, at half the money.

Papajohn
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
  • Locked
Considering an AR-15, now ,,,,?
2 3
Replies
57
Views
3K
streakr
S
D
  • Locked
ar-15 backlogs
2
Replies
32
Views
1K
taliv
T
N
  • Locked
Which ar-15 is the best
2 3
Replies
61
Views
2K
Art Eatman
A
E
  • Locked
AR-15 Case
Replies
19
Views
5K
jerkface11
J
L
  • Locked
DMPS AR 15 Panther, how far behind
Replies
8
Views
826
lesterg3
L
Back
Top