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AR15: An Armalite Rookie Viewpoint

CaddmannQ

CaddmannQ

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I've shot since 1963 but until yesterday I had shot exactly 5 rounds from an AR15 & 3 from a similar platform.

So in that respect I really didn't have the first idea about this weapon or what it's worth.

I put 40 rounds through a brand new one yesterday so I still don't know a lot about it. But here I will attempt to tell you what I do believe, and the first thing I believe is that I am really going to like this rifle once I get it tuned up.

Functionally it's flawless as far as I can tell but I need to put the AR scope on it which currently resides on the Henry lever action 22 rifle and it definitely needs a fancy bi-pod.

The plastic forestock looks exactly like the one my dad had in the Vietnam in 1964. Also it seems to wiggle a little bit. I think it needs to come off and have some urethane applied to the end, or a gasket or something.

Is it loose on purpose because this isn't a floating barrel design?

Actually I think its ugly and I probably will eventually replace it, but for now it's cool to have a gun that looks kinda like the one that my dad sent me a picture of when I was 11 years old, and he was a forward combat air controller in Dong Ha.

First photo of my new AR, in the parking lot at work, where it was delivered.

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My first impression is that if I had to carry a rifle all day for a living I certainly wouldn't want anything heavier. This is a very light gun and undoubtedly light weight is one of the things that makes it so popular.

Full specs to come...
 
Can't wait to make a valid one available. Without a scope it's dead on at 7 yards LOL.

I really out shot the AR with the Henry .22, because of the AR scope. It's still on the wrong gun.

I'd be testing that theory right now, but I gotta get my bike back on the road. It's 70° here and calm. Slight overcast of fluffy clouds. Perfect weather to ride the bike out to the range. ...but....1456683345564-668729297.jpg
 
The ability to swap uppers (calibers and lengths), you can go from mild to wild. At last count, there were I believe over 20 different common calibers that people have made the AR15 compatible with.

The AR15 is probably the most versatile weapon ever developed. A few of the most useful enhancements were designed by Olympic Arms. They were the first to make a flat top upper and freefloat forend, which has kept the aging platform relevant and adaptable even today.
 
Oh, Lord all the trees here are in full bloom and I had to go tearazzing around on the motorcycle through all that pollen.

My sinuses are on full alert.

I'll clean the guns and do the range report when this headache passes.

But right off the bat, I can tell without a doubt that this is the most accurate gun I own.
 
Official Range Report:

I'll need to make a collapsible target stand for the motorcycle. Since I rode Baggins to the range, I couldn't easily haul a regulation NRA target frame up the hill, so I was just plinking the 100 and 200 yds gongs, and shooting rocks off the hill. The 4x scope was not enough for me to take 300 yds shots.

I mounted it right there at the bench, so there was no bore sighting or anything. I was careful but I just put the scope on there and started shooting.

It seemed pretty straight, but without a real target to shoot at, no telling how good it really is yet.
 
Continued:

(EDIT: My smartphone initially made a mess of this post. Sorry about the nonsense.)
So far I've only shot two brands of ammunition: PMP .223s and federal ammo can 5.56 NATO rounds, so there's no telling how other brands of ammo will shoot, e but based on my experience so far is going to shoot anything you can stuff in the chamber.

To see if I could tell the difference I loaded alternate rounds in a magazine and shot it. Again, without a target I couldn't tell the difference.

The AR Mod-1 scope really looks nice on this rifle but I may want a more powerful model, or maybe I'll just buy the AR10 platform in .308 caliber and put a 60 power scope on that. HehHehHeh...
 
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I must warn you once you start down the AR rabbit hole there is no turning back.

LOL
 
Congrats on the Stag Caddmann. Nice rifle. Looks like a mid length upper. BTW, I hope you didn't take your AR to New Jersey on that ride, LOL.
 
Actually I only took the wife 3 miles for a sandwich at Jersey Mike's.
But the run to the gun range is about 35 miles round trip, so I got it loosened up a bit.
It started on the second try with a tank of 2 year old gas. The tank was full so I just rode it.
Thank God for fuel injection.

AFAIK, only the buttstock is from Stag. The receiver is from STS & we started with a bare 100% receiver that had one blem. We had to enlarge one hole to fit the California bullet button. It didn't quite fit from the factory.
The upper is a Stoner, the grip from Hogue. I don't know much more than that.

These are the only markings I can find on the upper:
5.56 NATO 1:9

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Here you can see the infamous Bullet Button which our AG claims allows these guns to be terrorist automatic machine guns. Or some such nonsense.
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Its hard to grab the charging handle withthis scope on, but those are the tallest rings I had. I haven't tried to tune the scope at all yet as it'll probably be coming back off.
 
For the 1:9 barrel, keep your ammo at 69 grains and below. 77's will be too heavy and won't group well, they may even keyhole past 100. My 1:9 loves the 69grain Sierra Match Kings. As others have said, AR's can get very expensive, very quickly.

More scope may be better for you. What you get all depends on you budget. Vortex makes the Strike Eagle scope which is an good mow cost 1-6 scope. ($325 retail) But they also make the Vortex Razor HDII JM 1-6 scope which retails for $1300ish.

The front hand guards will always have some play in them since they are designed to be easily taken off to clean under them. Only way around that is to free float the barrel. Adding a gasket or anything can effect barrel harmonics and throw your shots off. Just free float the barrel and you'll never have to worry about that. AR's are like lego's, you can do 1000 different things to them. Here is a pic of my 3gun competition AR as an example:



It has Spike's stripped upper and lower. RRA upper lower parts kits. Magpul PRS stock. JP Silent Captured Spring. Alpha Sports match grade 1:9 rifle length gas barrel. Samson Evolution free float rail. Adams Arms XLP piston conversion with low mass bolt carrier. SJC Titan compensator. MagPul everything. Harris bipod. Hiperfire Hypertouch 24C trigger. Vottex Viper PST 2.5-10x32 scope. Trijicon RMR offset. Etc, etc, etc.
 
Tuflehundon said:
For the 1:9 barrel, keep your ammo at 69 grains and below. 77's will be too heavy and won't group well, they may even keyhole past 100. My 1:9 loves the 69grain Sierra Match Kings. As others have said, AR's can get very expensive, very quickly.

More scope may be better for you. . . ..
Click to expand...

Thanks. So far I'm just shooting 55s. I don't really intend this gun to get quite as expensive as yours. I do want and need a better scope. The AR Mod1 is a CQB thing and I'm shooting at targets.

I think the Mod1 is going back on the Henry eventually.
 
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Nikon P223 is a good scope to top an AR. 3-9 will be all the magnification you should need. And a one piece mount like the Burris PEPR will get you at the right height, and eye relief.
 
I've tried the Nikon Prostaff & I liked it a lot. Not so much as the Vortex Viper.
But I'm the kind of idiot who will pay extra $ to have a Leupold.
Usually.
 
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