Ar-15

[capstan]

I am thinking about picking up 1 AR-15. Just to have 1 modern black plastic rifle. The 223 caliber ammo is reasonably cheap I noticed ,and its sold all over in bulk. I have read a few good reports on the accuracy of these military style black plastic semi auto rifles. So I am curious to see how they shoot.I know very little about these rifles. Ive never even held one to look at it.
Would you recommend a Colt ar15? I think there are many others for sale by other manufactureres. To have a good accurate example and the best value for the dollar , what make would you reccomend? Do youthink the Colt made AR is the top? and what range of price would you expect to pay Thanks for any info on the ar15

[Major Pain]

Great shooting rifle. I've had 3 or 4 over the years and all were top quality and all were Colts. I currently have a Colt H-bar and it is a great shooter.
Several different makes out there but I think Colt is the best followed by Bushmaster and there are several other good ones on the market.
Best bet would go to local gun shop or show and look them over. You probably could make a friend at the range and get to shoot one before you buy.
Hope this helps a little.--MP

[capstan]

Great shooting rifle. I've had 3 or 4 over the years and all were top quality and all were Colts. I currently have a Colt H-bar and it is a great shooter.
Several different makes out there but I think Colt is the best followed by Bushmaster and there are several other good ones on the market.
Best bet would go to local gun shop or show and look them over. You probably could make a friend at the range and get to shoot one before you buy.
Hope this helps a little.--MP

Thanks Major. I have seen so many articles and info on the ar15 I am now real curious. I am a bolt action rifle man primarily. That's what Ive hunted with for 50 years. But it would be fun to shoot a semi auto in .223 that is quite accurate.

[dfariswheel]

While the standard military style AR rifles are usually very accurate, accuracy type AR rifles are taking over many types of rifle matches.

Most of the top shooters at Camp Perry who shoot the National Match shoot the NM version AR rifle now and many other types of matches are being taken over by the AR.

The reason is, the AR is an easy to work with modular design, and just about anyone can assemble a very accurate rifle.
Top builders can build AR types that will out shoot any other semi-auto rifle type.

As an example, my buddy is a very good National Match shooter. He used to shoot the M1A, but a couple of years ago he went to the AR.
With one of his rifles fitted with a Leupold 12X scope and his accuracy loaded 52 grain match ammo he's getting just over 1/2" groups at 100 yards.

While an out of the box Colt AR probably won't shoot that good, most of them will shoot better than the average shooter can.

[broknaxl]

I opted for a Rock River Arms with a 20" barrel. It's the Coyote Model. It's very well made, has a great trigger out of the box. And the accuracy has been very good with most factory ammo I've put through it. Usually 1 to 1 1/2 inch 5 shot groups at 100 yds with a Nikon Monarch 5x20 scope.

I did get some under an inch and belive with a better rest I can shrink that.

[JudgeColt]

The actual Colt AR-15 was discontinued in about 1985, and was followed by the AR-15A2, which was in turn discontinued in about 1990. Since these rifles are a minimum of 20 to 25-years old (the commercial AR-15 was introduced in 1964, so the oldest true AR-15 rifles are 46 years old), any rifle so marked can have seen a lot of use. I would not recommend one, unless you are primarily a collector instead of a shooter, especially since newer rifles have many improvements.

You would be better off buying a current Colt AR-type rifle, or a rifle from one of the quality clone makers, such as ArmaLite, Rock River, Bushmaster, Lewis Machine & Tool, etc.. You cannot get the "evil" flash hider and bayonet lug on a Colt commercial, but can on the easily available "law enforcement" models.

[Dee P Six]

To add to what JudgeColt said, 'Law Enforcement' models, while they are available with evil features, are not produced in a 20" rifle model. Thankfully Colt has finally done away with their wretched oversize FCP's.

[ccw1911]

I hate to say it, you pay a premium for a Colt AR15 but unless it's something that is low production or some other feature it's probably not going to give you any thing in return fpr that premium unless you count pride of ownership because it's a Colt. As far as accuracy and quality there are a lot of AR clones that are as good or better.

You should first decide which configuration you want there are some many varieties, from 16 inch lightweight to 24 inch bull barrel and everything in between plus lots of calibers. Then you can look at the manufacturers to see what they offer that fits your needs and wants.

I can't name all the good makers from memory but some of the ones I've delt with are Rock River, Dpms, Bushmaster, JP rifles, Delton,LMT,Stag who make a nice left hand version, and a bunch of others I'm forgetting. It is hard to buy a bad one if you stick with the well known guys, run from the foreign clones.

I would also get one with a .556 chamber unless I knew for sure I would never shoot any surplus military ammo in it.

[charles isaac]

Colt has outstanding quality control and does a few extra operations such as shot peening the bolt carriers. Personally, I've seen literally millions of rounds go through Colt M16s/ARs in every type of climate and they are an incredibly reliable and accurate rifle-er, ah, "platform" for you young guys.

For pure plinking on a regular basis, I would go at least mid grade because a cheap gun will break, then it will nickle and dime you to death. If it is a rifle you think you would be apt to grab in an emergency, like to defend yourself or loved ones-Colt.

Case in point-just last week there was a guy at the range shooting an AR from a brand "Z" maker I never heard of and the hammer pin broke. I've never even seen or heard of a Colt, FN or even a General Motors M16 doing that!

The Rock River match grade guns are very accurate.

The Bushmaster has been made for quite some time now and seems to be a good gun, but I don't have much experience with them. Where's Twaits when you need him?

[William B.]

Colt has outstanding quality control and does a few extra operations such as shot peening the bolt carriers.

+1! I would recommend Colt, Bravo Company USA, Daniel Defense, and a few other brands who actually build their rifles to a standard.

Colt high pressure tests (HPT) all of their weapons and follows this procedure up with magnetic particle inspection (MPI).

HPT

MPI

Colt also uses stronger barrel steel, a true 5.56 NATO chamber, and a 1/7 twist rate that is capable of stabilizing the heaviest of defensive loads.

Colt does little things as well, like properly staking the gas key and the castle nut to ensure that nothing comes loose. They have plenty to offer over most of the other AR15 makers out there. Most other companies (Bushmaster, RRA, etc.) lack attention to detail or resources and have little to no quality control. They are not "mil-spec" despite their claims and similar appearance.