So I bought a AR now what?

[jbkebert]

I have never had any desire to own a AR-15 platform of any type. Nothing wrong with them just not my taste or style. (carried one for 11 years in the Army so not clueless)

I got what I am thinking is a good deal on a Stag Arms model 1. The gun came used approx 250-300 rounds fired from a owner that i trust. A hard case, (7) 30 round mags, Otis cleaning kit, and a 1,000 rounds of Remington UMC green box ammo. Picked it up for $750 for all.

I do not want a 24 function swiss army knife hanging off the end of the gun by any means. I have thoughts of a red-dot and a weapons light. What handguards will fit this rifle with a single picatinny rail for a light. The rifle already has a detachable carry handle so mounting a red dot or a scope should not be a problem.

Does anyone have any prefrences on lights or scopes/red-dots. Not looking to shoot the moon but don't want cheap junk either.

If I put some money into this rifle will it pay off for re-sale or not?

Mainly bought the gun for the kids to shoot and have a little fun with around the farm or the range. I would not be surprised if we just don't shoot up the ammo and then sell the gun. I hate the way the buffer spring feels when you shoot a AR.

Lastly will that push pull effect of recoil and buffer harm a normal scope or do I need to buy a scope designed for the AR?

Sorry for the simple questions I just have never had enough interest to read up.

 

[juk]

You should be able to use almost any handguard you want. It you just need a rail to hang a light off of, look into the Magpul MOE handguard. It is a polymer handguard, but has locations where you can just bolt a rail on and go from there. They are a good quality product, installs easily, and only cost around 40$.

If you are not wanting to spend Aimpoint money on a red dot, look at the Lucid HD7, Vortex Strikefire, and Primary Arms variants. All of those red dots are fine for range work.

 

[jbkebert]

Thanks for the advice.

I have been trying to search the interwebz. There is so much stuff available its hard to sort through.

 

[jbkebert]

Next question how do I know if these are standard or carbine length handguards.

The Stag website does not list.

 

[benzy2]

Standard come on 20" barrels and carbine come on 16" barrels.

 

[sschudalla]

Did you buy it as a resale investment? If so...bad choice. Guns usually don't pan out, especially not now with the ar market like it is today. Many will ask this question but what do you ultimately want the rifle for? You mentioned a couple of reasons. I recommend you do a build and customize it to your wants. I do think you got a good buy based on what you posted. I suggest you hang on to it and but a lot of ammo.get to know your rifle and enjoy it.. For sightng there are many options. Atn is not a bad choice for red dot at a lower cost. As mentioned aimpoinr is the cadillac but you pay. If you want quick acquisition scopes trijicon is the best. You have a g ood rifle...enjoy

 

[mr.trooper]

Now what?

Shoot it for a while, then let it collect dust in a corner for a year or two. Eventually get tired of it and sell to finance something practical.

 

[mortomr]

There's certainly duds out there but any scope shouldn't even flinch at the recoil of a 223. If your looking for an investment I personally would look elsewhere, you could probably shoot your 1000 rounds for nothing though and resell for nearly the same price. Even if you took a "loss" and sold for $600 you're only paying $0.15 a round - cheap fun!

 

[goon]

It is an investment. If you don't want to do anything with it, zero it with the carry handle and use 300 or so rounds to train yourself and family on it. Then shoot it regularly to keep your skills sharp.
I've studied history. There have been people in bad situations throughout history (and there still are some in other countries now) who would give anything to have a reliable AR with several thirty rounders and 500 rounds of ammunition in their closet.

 

[mortomr]

@ goon - I didn't think of it that way, as investment in experience, very good point. I just interpreted the OP to be about recouping money spent on upgrading and customizing.

 

[MistWolf]

Before spending any money for changes, go shoot the rifle and fix what breaks (it is a Stag) then shoot it some more. How can you know what changes you want made to the rifle until you shoot it?

 

[Sgt_R]

I second the suggestion of Magpul handguards, and Magpul hardware in general. I've been consistantly impressed by the value of their products.

I also second the suggestion to keep the rifle. You got a pretty good deal, and a reliable rifle is a handy thing to have around. I only own 1 AR, which I rarely even pull out of the safe, but I wouldn't consider selling it unless I really needed the money.

However, if you do intend to sell it, then don't sink any more money into it. You can probably sell the rifle for about what you paid for it, even if you shoot up all the ammo first, but you won't get your money back on accessories.

R

 

[dnthmn]

Sounds like you got a pretty good deal. Stags are pretty straight foward AR's. You should be able to use any standard handguards for it, but unless you want to buy some tools for it or pay a gunsmith, you'll have to make sure any rail you get works with the end cap and delta ring set up, basically a non-free float design. If you don't want to change out the handguards, they make rails that mount through the holes in the handguard and you could mount your light on. That is going to be the easiest and cheapest method.

AR accessories aren't great for resale, but if you don't bang and scratch them up, they don't loose a ton of value if you buy decent quality at a decent price. If you keep it stock, you should be able to get almost all of your money back even after shooting up the ammo.

Also any good scope shouldn't have any problem with the AR's recoil. Any crap scope that fails due to it, would have failed on just about anything anyway.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

I dont think I have ever lost money on a gun. I came close with a MN "Sniper" I bought without a lot of knowledge. Ultimately I was still able to get out of it for a little more than I had in it.

750 for the rifle, mags and 1000 rounds is a great deal IMO. .223/5.56 sells for .30+ easily so that is 300.00+ of that price. the mags are 10-20 each depending on make and condition so lets say 75.00. So, 750-375= 375.00 for the rifle....you wont lose money on that! I would put the value at 600 +/- depending on condition and yours sounds new. 300 rounds is just getting started!

I never plan to make anything on accessories. In my opinion accessories are to makes something you use better, for you. When I look through gun adds, I find myself not wanting tricked out / heavily modified guns from someone. If you sell it remove the stuff, and show it seperate IMO.

Thanks for your service, I think you'll like it more than you think. You got a good deal. A capable rifle in capable hands is a good thing!

 

[jbkebert]

We have fired about 150 rounds through it so far. Sure the rifle is fun to shoot my two boys ages 10 and 11 are having a ball with milk jugs. no formal shooting yet just messing around in a back pasture at 50 yards or so. The kids are fascinated by the military like most 10-11 year olds. So learning the rifle seems to be a joy for them.

I am not sure what my hang up is with the AR's in general the feeling of the buffer spring bothers me. reminds me of a couple mini-14's/mini-30's I had. Feels sloppy not the nice crisp feel of a good bolt gun.

More than likley i will keep ahold of the rifle but have no practical use for it. I was curious if acceseories hurt value or helped. Perhaps i should look at it as a fun gun instead of working arm. I'll buy a bulk pack of the HSM ammo with the 55 grain V-max loads and tote it along on a prarie dog hunt. Just for grins.

Thanks for the input from everyone.

 

[Tirod]

A railed forearm is expensive for the return. You can get smaller strips of rail that bolt onto stock handguards for $200 less, and accomplish the same thing - mount a light. For that, there are front sight mounts that do the same.

Issue railed forearms are an institutional compromise to mount different pieces of old school hardened design gear with bulky battery packs. Since the service won't allow different units the leeway to customize their specific weapons, they are all stuck with the standard KAC quad rail. You are not, and don't have to accept their compromise to get what you wanted done.

As for swapping out for MOE kit, it is inexpensive, it's not necessarily a huge improvement. The biggest difference is style - it's simply a copy of the FAL paratrooper handguard. That doesn't make it do anything more to improve accuracy, it depends on your assessment if that is an improvement in handling or feel. Try one if at all possible.

Some will suggest a free float, which is what an issue quad rail can do. It isolates sling tension and keeps it from affecting the barrels point of aim. Not using a tight sling does exactly the same thing, for $0, and the barrel inherently shoots it's MOA anyway. Most M4geries are in the 2MOA class, which is milspec.

Check out optics vendors for a red dot. I've been shooting one since the late 70's, a 1Gen Aimpoint. They were pricey even then, now there are serious competitors at half the price available. Primary Arms, Millet, Bushnell, Burris, Lucid, Vortex, and many others are marketed now, some with mounts included, some use standard AA or AAA instead of expensive hard to find lithiums. Many have battery life rated in 1,000s of hours, have multiple reticles, and magnifiers or are built with 2X. The total cost mounted on the gun counts - a wonderful red dot can pale in price if a $75 mount is mandatory for use.

Here's just one vendor and what they offer: http://www.opticsplanet.com/s/Red+Dot+Sights/hpp~200

Plenty of forums have a sights and accessory subforum, read up and sift through the responses, and read up on reviews.

 

[atblis]

Shoot it
and then
Shoot it some more
Then figure what you want.

I've found the ARs to be accurate enough that once the novelty of a militaryish firearm making a lot of noise wears off they don't lose their charm (unlike AKs).

Find a place to shoot some jugs or steel plates at 200 yards or so.

 

[BADUNAME37]

• Look for good Magazines on sale and buy them.
• Look for stripper clips and buy them.
• Buy a Magazine-Loader.
• Buy extra ammo to have on hand, only buy it when it is a good price for quality ammo.
• Save all your good brass in case you reload or start reloading!

 

[mljdeckard]

I think it's a good enough deal. I don't think that any enhancements you put on it are going to come close in resale to what you paid fore them. There are a lot of red dots, you don't have to spend a lot for one. If you were more serious about long-term usage, I would recommend getting seven pmags, or at least, new magpul springs and followers for the mags you have, that's the easiest improvement you can make. Just shoot it and have fun.

 

[jbkebert]

At one point in time I had a red-dot with 4 reticles and a 2x magnifier made by Sightron. Are these considered any good these days.

Also what about EO-tech I know a guy who has three or four of them that he is thinking about selling off.

Or what are you all's thoughts on the Leupold series of Mark-AR scopes. Possibly the 3x9x40 duplex or 1.5-4x??. I don't think the rifle warrents the 6-18x40 AO. Not enough open area around here and I don't think the gun is capable of shots requiring that kind of magnification.

 

[karlb]

For a decent cheap red dot, I'd look at a Primary Arms M4 red dot. I used one for two years until I upgraded to an Aimpoint. They're under a $100 with a mount.
I use a Midwest Industries mount that clamps to the front sight post for a light mount. Activate it with your left thumb.
I love MOE handguards and run them on all of my ARs. But they're just handguards. If you don't mind the Stag ones, forget about it. I build my ARs from parts, and I buy the MOEs because they don't cost much more than standard style.

 

[MIL-ARMS-LOVER]

I'd keep it for a future need. IF/WHEN another gun bill (LIKE the BRADY BILL) gets passed you can easily make a tidy profit. While these guns have their quirks, as you well know, they are generally mastered by almost anyone and are reliable if maintained in the proper way, as you know.
Good buy, Good investment!!

 

[goon]

The feeling of the buffer and spring moving during recoil does take some geting used to.
As far as practical use, maybe today you don't have a practical use for it. Maybe tomorrow you won't have a use for it.
Two weeks from now a natural disaster could make that reliable semi-auto rifle the defensive weapon you're glad you have.
Ten years from now... who knows how much use that rifle might be seeing.

I'm not paranoid, but as a species, humans never seem to see the bad things coming until it's too late. I still vote for keeping the rifle!

 

[mc223]

I'm not much for gloom and doom.

I do agree with goon on this one. With the addition of a fun factor. Spring twang can be tamed with grease.

ARs IMHO are just plain fun to go shoot.

Resale. You could do OK as long as you dont get greedy.


Red Dot: I have always liked the C-More Systems. Tough and reliable.

 

[jbkebert]

As far as the no practical use goes. The .223 is legal in Kansas for varmits. Any big game it does not meet the min requirement. Yet there are quite a few yotes on my place.

Help me to understand this co-witness business. I bought a tru-glo 2x red-dot with a 2.5 moa dot. I removed the carry handle and the center of the sight is only 1/2 way up the front post. So this thing is going back. I bought it at Dicks sporting goods to try out.

I have been checking out the primary arms m4 and the Vortex Strikefire. Both of these come with mounts. Are these mounts high enough that the center of the optic is at least in the upper 1/4 of the front sight post. Or do I need to buy a higher mount or a block to raise up the new sight. To darn bad the front sight is not removable.

Really never thought i would feel like a moron when it came to firearms.