Its a firearm, not a Swiss Army knife.

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Balrog

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The AR is a neat little carbine for a lot of reasons, one of which is that it is easy to customize and make your own. I have seen a lot of really nice set ups posted here and elsewhere, but wonder if sometimes less isn't really more.

I see the AR carbine as being best when it is also light and maneuverable. Yet, if you add a gadget here and a gadget there, the ounces soon add up to pounds and you end up with an 8.5 pound AR.

It is somewhat dependent on what you want to do with the carbine, of course. But for most people, an AR is mainly used for plinking at 150 yards or less, and home defense, so it is mostly a short range carbine.

For me, an AR is best if its kept simple and light. I like a lightweight profile barrel, a small red dot like the Aimpoint T1 or Trijicon MRO, and sometimes a rail mounted light on the front end. And thats it.

Vertical forend grips add nothing for me. The higher end stocks made by Magpul don't add anything for me either. Storage compartments in the buttstock or pistol grip are neat, but really how often is a battery going to run down in the middle of shooting? It adds weight to carry stuff in the compartments, and I just don't see a reason to do so.

I don't need a magnifier for my red dot. I never found they work as good as an optic that has magnification built in, and most of my shots are less than 150 yds.

For my use, a sling isn't necessary, and in a home defense situation could be a snag liability.
 
Have you tried all of those gizmos on your AR’s?

The reason I ask is without first hand personal experience you may be missing out on discovering some useful accessories and other uses for your AR’s. Of course first hand experience means buying more AR’s to test the accessories on, buying more ammunition and spending more time on the shooting range conducting the tests. The fact that it means maxing out your budget and eating cold food is part time of the research.

This message brought to you from the AR Anonymous Support Group.
 
For me, an AR is best if its kept simple and light. I like a lightweight profile barrel, a small red dot like the Aimpoint T1 or Trijicon MRO, and sometimes a rail mounted light on the front end. And thats it.
And I’ve got an AR that’s got a 6.5-20x40 Leupold that gets first round hits on Prairie Dogs at 300+ yards. Had another in .358 WSSM for deer

People tend to lump all ARs into the carbine/.223 HD category
 
And I’ve got an AR that’s got a 6.5-20x40 Leupold that gets first round hits on Prairie Dogs at 300+ yards. Had another in .358 WSSM for deer

People tend to lump all ARs into the carbine/.223 HD category

In that regard, they are very much like a SAK. Varminting in the morning and deer hunting in the evening with the same gun and few if any trade offs.
 
My AK is probably 9lbs or more with a comp ml2 and MI mount, flashlight, and AFG. And a sling because I carry other stuff into the woods around my place when I'm working in the back. I could ditch the light but it can be pitch black here at night with cloudy skies and I have no yard lights. Surprisingly it is fairly well balanced rifle and scout-like so it's not a big deal. A lighter but out of balance gun would feel much heavier carrying it. If a pound or two is going to break you it's time to get a pair of arms that aren't painted on and start eating them wheaties or re-think that tactical accessory collection hanging out near the end of your barrel.

I'm over six feet and a lightweight AR feels like a kids gun, though it is very handy. I have no trouble with a much heavier rifle like a 20 round 308 as long as it is balanced. There is a point where any rifle becomes junked up enough to be way to slow to get on target. But, the main thing with anything you are going to carry a lot is that it's comfortable for you. Otherwise it winds up being a dust collector or a range toy.
 
The AR is a neat little carbine for a lot of reasons, one of which is

… that many accessories, even sighting systems, can be added and removed at any time, easily, and in most cases without tools.
Shedding activity specific items can keep the rifle svelte and nimble.

This modularity enhances its versatility by even changing cartridges by pulling just a few pins.
Able to fire cartridges from tiny varmint to Buffalo hunting, that all operate with the same lower and few cartridge specific parts, give commonality and camaraderie to many shooters across many disciplines.

:)
 
My first AR was a basic carbine, that I swapped out a bunch of the furniture on, then sold before really getting used to it. My second one, I built as an "operator" carbine, with tactical sling, tactical red dot, tactical railed forend for mounting a tactical flashlight... You get the idea. I then built a DMR, with a long forend, brake, scope, bipod, and little add-ons to get it over 10 lbs. I sold it to get back to the KISS principle, with no real attempt at weight savings, to get this 6.75# carbine:
20190914_084540.jpg
So yes, I like the modularity, but I also like a short, light, fast-handling carbine.
 
Not all ARs are carbines. Some are rifles. And some like the AR10 can be decent caliber ones.

I think OP makes some good points but he misses the most important one, ARs have all sorts of accessories, calibers, etc because it’s an amazing platform.

Just because he doesn’t like what others do it doesn’t mean he’s right and they’re wrong.

I’ve seen lots of cool ARs most I don’t want to own, but that’s ok. For me a bare bones carbine is a must have. But I also have a 3 gun AR and I’m building my 3rd and figuring out what I WANT. Not to please anyone but me.

I’d suggest he rethink things and realize that we can all be different and get what we need.

My LEGO set is different from his, but it’s ok. Think how boring it would be if none of had any.
 
I see what you're saying, but one thing that gets lost in a lot of the "tactical" mindset so prevalent these days is that guns while a tool can also be fun. If someone has fun decking out their AR in the goofiest form imaginable then more power to them. Have fun with it (so long as they're being safe, though accessory overload has nothing to do with gun safety).

That said, the only thing on any AR I own that could be considered an "accessory" are folding backup sights on my PCC in case the optic doesn't work :).
 
Have you tried all of those gizmos on your AR’s?

The reason I ask is without first hand personal experience you may be missing out on discovering some useful accessories and other uses for your AR’s. Of course first hand experience means buying more AR’s to test the accessories on, buying more ammunition and spending more time on the shooting range conducting the tests. The fact that it means maxing out your budget and eating cold food is part time of the research.

This message brought to you from the AR Anonymous Support Group.

I have tried vertical forends, fancy buttstocks, magnifers, and anything else I mentioned in original post.

To clarify, I also agree with the comment made that some ARs are rifles and made for purposes other than short range/home defense type applications. I made that disclaimer in the original post if you take a look, and said that most (ie, not all) ARs are used for short range plinking and home defense, which is what my subsequent comments should have been applied to.

Obviously, an AR10 intended for long range shooting would be set up differently than an AR15 intended for home defense.
 
It has become increasingly difficult to find a good, basic AR with no bells, whistles or mounts for them. Not that I'd really need yet another, but my son recently bought a .223 and a .308, and he had to settle for cheese-grater handguards with full-length rails, relatively heavy barrel profiles, skeleton-type telestocks etc. in order to buy instead of build (he was in a hurry) them. All the tacticool gimmicks are coming off and will probably be sold on the way back to simple A1/A2/Carbine configurations.

I love my early Colts for what they are. Lightweight is the keyword. I understand that bolting on everything from a rail-mounted pressure cooker to a satellite dish may float some (most?) buyers' boats, but when you really don't care for any of that, the market in quality AR:s is surprisingly thin these days.
 
Couldn't do without a sling. Also wouldn't do without a red dot on at least one carbine. The nice thing as others have pointed out. All the gadgetry add ons are usually easily removed within seconds....
 
I like my ar's pretty plain jane, but, thats ME.

I think if other people want to add all sorts of stuff, well, good for them....isnt that what owning a gun is all about??
 
for ME:

HD:

- long-ish AR pistol with brace, 10.5 - 11.5 bbl, guarded front sight
- 55 gr. loads
- alternate 7.62x39 upper with brace
- Big Trij Rx30 red dot
- angled fore grip
- single point sling
- light
- under 8 lbs

General Purpose:
- AR carbine, 16" bbl.
- 62 gr. loads
- alternate 6.5G upper
- Scout firedot scope (works as a variable power red dot)
- vertical fore grip
- ching-like sling
- light
- 8 lbs

Long Range:
- AR rifle 20" bbl.
- 77 gr loads
- alternate 6.5G upper
- Leupold Mk4 scope or equivalent, illuminated mil-dot reticle
- detachable bipod

The best part is all of the parts are interchangeable (within BATF rules)
 
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It has become increasingly difficult to find a good, basic AR with no bells, whistles or mounts for them. Not that I'd really need yet another, but my son recently bought a .223 and a .308, and he had to settle for cheese-grater handguards with full-length rails, relatively heavy barrel profiles, skeleton-type telestocks etc. in order to buy instead of build (he was in a hurry) them. All the tacticool gimmicks are coming off and will probably be sold on the way back to simple A1/A2/Carbine configurations.

I love my early Colts for what they are. Lightweight is the keyword. I understand that bolting on everything from a rail-mounted pressure cooker to a satellite dish may float some (most?) buyers' boats, but when you really don't care for any of that, the market in quality AR:s is surprisingly thin these days.

Really?
PSA is practically giving away bare bones uppers.

And Smith and Wesson, Ruger and others have basic guns.
Also if you don’t like MLoK or Keymod on an existing gun I believe you can get covers for them that aren’t very expensive.
I know they also have them for picatinny rails.
 
I intend to keep the AR I am configuring now under 7 pounds. It is a Daniel Defense V7 SLW that is 5.9 pounds as shipped. I am going to add a Trijicon MRO at 5 ounces which gets it up to about 6 pounds 3 ounces. I may add a flashlight to the front end, which should bring it up to about 6 pounds 8 or 9 ounces. Nothing else. Not even putting back up iron (or polymer) sights on it.
 
I like some stuff on my ARs. Light, sling mounts, and a magnified optic. prefer slim handguard, larger pistol grip (bloody hate the milspec grip), and a more stylish stock.

plain n simples good, just don't particularly care for the "traditional" AR furniture.
 
For me, an AR is best if its kept simple and light. I like a lightweight profile barrel, a small red dot like the Aimpoint T1 or Trijicon MRO, and sometimes a rail mounted light on the front end. And thats it.

Hey I know where you are coming from. At the present moment my favorite and most accurate AR is a PSA 16” carbine upper on a Anderson Lower that I built myself. I built it just to see how good of a carbine I could get on a budget. It is a simple, reasonably lightweight gun that is fun to shoot.

Since then I have become a member of AR Anonymous and have several AR’s all in different styles and features in various stages of completion. They are or will each be getting different gizmos on them.

My biggest problem is finding a another AR that is as simple and as accurate of the PSA one. Daughter #1 is claiming it for herself and
I told her she is not getting it until I find another one to replace it.
 
One of my ARs is used as a camping/hiking/exploring carbine in .450 Bushmaster. Not having a sling, or just having a thin, simple one would be dumb. Not having a light would be dumb. Not having an extra mag handy on the rifle would be dumb.

Just depends on the mission. For me, all those things you thought were unnecessary are absolutely essential for my application.

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One of my ARs is used as a camping/hiking/exploring carbine in .450 Bushmaster. Not having a sling, or just having a thin, simple one would be dumb. Not having a light would be dumb. Not having an extra mag handy on the rifle would be dumb.

Just depends on the mission. For me, all those things you thought were unnecessary are absolutely essential for my application.

View attachment 862720


What is the purpose of an extra mag in your application?
 
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