Chandler realized that his family had no weapon to defend itself, and decided to buy a gun when he got old enough.
When he turned 21 and began shopping, Maryland tightened laws in response to the December mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. That measure banned many types of semiautomatic rifles, so when Chandler eventually decided that he wanted an AR, he built one from scratch, adhering to the new restrictions. On one of his recent visits to a gun range, Chandler showed what made the AR a cutting-edge gun when it was created, and one reason why it became so widespread.
Pushing the gun's "takedown pins" with his fingers, he broke his gun down into its basic components, and within several seconds snapped it back together. This is why some people compare the AR to a car chassis, others to Legos or Mr. Potato Head. Those who build ARs from scratch link themselves to a centuries-old American gunsmithing tradition. Building an AR at home often begins with buying a "lower receiver," the only part with a serial number and that requires a federal background check.
The rest of the core parts are available online. Then there is a seemingly endless array of accessories: barrels, grips, stocks, rails, magazines and scopes. Chandler loves the AR he built. He admires its simple, efficient mechanics, its precision, and how much fun it brings.
He fires almost weekly for target practice, along with a Glock 17 handgun. Chandler, who is black, doesn't have many friends who enjoy guns as much as he does. So he has created a firearm-focused Instagram page to find similarly minded people, many of them millennial first-generation gun owners like himself.
The hashtag ar15 has over 1. This new generation of gun owners, who show off their accessorized rifles on social media — and often seek sponsorship deals with manufacturers — are a reflection of how conventional the AR has become.
But gun-control advocates say the industry has exploited people's fears and desires, promoting a gun originally designed to kill people. They argue that ARs and similar guns cause more damage, and death, when used in mass shootings. Related: Fate of Sandy Hook lawsuit against gun maker could be decided by a slingshot. Since the time of the federal ban, attempts to restrict gun sales have met with mixed success, with tighter restrictions on people accused of domestic violence but wider acceptance of concealed carry.
For instance, gun owners can have a However, it is important to note that some states and municipalities have their own laws governing firearms and their accessories, so be sure to familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations in your area.
Due to these restrictions, we strongly advise first-time shooters to purchase at least a sixteen-inch barrel so that they can swap out muzzle devices at will. On the other hand, longer barrels can provide higher velocities as there is more space for the powder to burn and more room for the bullet to accelerate. On average, sixteen-inch barrels are able to reach a target from four hundred yards away.
That being said, the traditional fifty-five grain load grows more imprecise after three hundred yards, so fire carefully. Shorter barrels generally weigh less and are easier to handle. When you first get into guns, it can be overwhelming. There are so many numbers and so much technical jargon that it might seem scary or confusing.
There are slight differences between that last one and Chrome Molybdenum Vanadium steel alloy contains a range of elements from chromium and nickel to molybdenum and so forth. It is renowned for its strength and hardness. Both are high tensile strength steels which make them great for guns as well as bicycles and the like. There are three basic options on the market when it comes to the inside of your AR barrel.
They are as follows:. Many environmental factors such as heat, moisture and more can affect your exact round count, but you can count on approximately ten to twenty thousand rounds before you need to re-barrel. As I said before, there is a lot of technical mumbo jumbo that comes with owning guns. Some acronyms that manufacturers like to throw at you include the following:. Of course, some ARs have not been tested at all, so buyer beware! This refers to the thickness and overall shape of your barrel.
Fortunately, there are several options available. They include:. There are two primary types of gas systems for the AR They are DI and Piston.
DI stands for Direct Impingement. DI is the original design whereas the Piston only became popular in recent years. The AR operates by transmitting hot gas behind the bullet into the gas tube at which point it the gas tube uses the gas to either move a piston or deliver the gas directly back direct impingement.
No matter how the force is applied, it makes the bolt unlock, move back, eject the spent casing and push a new cartridge into the chamber. Like most things, there are pros and cons to each. Gas system length is the distance to the gas hole. The gas hole refers to the triangular front site base FSB that sits on top of the barrel. You also get more rail space because the handguard extends from the upper receiver to that front sight base.
Another good thing about this style is that it can be converted by grinding down the front sight base to allow for a free-floating barrel. Front sight blocks generally use non-free-floating handguards.
So the two-piece handguard touches the barrel at the front sight base which, unfortunately, can add a bit of inconsistency when it comes to force. Consequently, your shooting accuracy can be affected. Nevertheless, if you are a non-competitive shooter, the non-free-floater will be accurate enough.
While there are some aluminum models, most are made from polymer and are cheaper and just as good at more affordable price points. Magpul MOE handguards are our go-to handguards because they enable the shooter to attach Picatinny rails on slots which allow you to add accessories.
Picatinny rails are a tad on the heavy side, but if you like to attach accessories, this is the way to go. It retracts when you pull the charging handle back. When you let go of the handle, the bolt carrier group moves forward, strips a round from the mag and releases a round into the chamber. When you pull the trigger, the hammer is released and it strikes the firing pin, hitting the the primer.
This sparks the gunpowder, sending the bullet down the barrel. This is where the gas system comes into the picture. Below is a full list of all the top AR manufacturers around followed by my personal favorites. As of the publishing of this article, we vouch for the following eight companies as the absolute best manufacturers of AR15 rifles :.
I suggest you run at least 1, rounds through one of these rifles before you trust any of them with your life. They are inexpensive and may be the right choice for starter rifles. This is just based on our own tests. Since its introduction back in , the Ruger AR has firmly established itself in the AR market as one of the best budget ARs available.
The AR is a more inexpensive variant of the SR series of rifles. The primary difference is that the AR is a direct impingement weapon, and the SR is piston driven. The AR comes coated in a matte black oxide finish for excellent rust and corrosion resistance. It comes standard with a 16 inch barrel that is cold hammer forged with ultra precise rifling for both longevity and excellent accuracy. The handguards over the barrel and gas tube are built out of a glass filled nylon and are very heat resistant so they can withstand repeated firing.
The M4-style synthetic buttstock is easily adjustable with six different positions offered. Additional features include a forward assist, dust cover, brass deflector, an elevation adjustable fixed front sight, and a Ruger flip up rear sights.
This is a mil-spec M4-style AR that comes with a 16 inch M4-profile barrel with a twist rate. The lower and upper receivers are built out of forged aircraft grade aluminum. As a mil-spec AR, an A2 handguard and collapsible synthetic stock are also installed on the rifle. This is also an optics ready AR, meaning that it is ready for you to add a red dot or scope to the Picatinny rail on the top of the receiver. There are no sights on the rifle, so you will need to add those yourself if you so desire as well such as the Magpul flip up sights.
With a chrome lined barrel, the Mod 0 was not designed for the gamer, rather it is geared toward tactical applications. But when it comes to training and range shooting , this one packs a lot of punch.
The Mod 2 is a quarter of an inch wider than the Mod 0 and shares its cable lock and 5. The first time I picked one up, I felt like I was in a Predator movie. The brass case is under tremendous pressure and is sealed against the wall of the chamber.
Optimized by Armalite for a inch barrel, the mid-length system taps gas further down the barrel which increases the length of time before it begins extraction. This results in the pressure dropping a bit more before the case is extracted. Getting Better.
Typically this will be found on inch barrels. The rifle-length system will have the lowest case pressure during the extraction of the three systems. This system will have the most trouble-free performance of the three systems. It delays the extraction longest and allows the case pressure to drop to aid in the easy ejection of the spent case.
I just wanted to preface this next section with that. Do you want it as short and portable as possible? Buy a pistol AR Many have carbine length gas systems. These are the ultimate in portability, but consider that there will be lots of concussion! If you are going to buy a suppressor in the future, these builds will give you a compact, suppressed package. Compact, loud, but lots of fun.
Still hurty enough for self-defense. Do you want it to look like an M4? Buy a carbine with a pinned flash hider on a It will be light and very handy fighting machine should you need to use it for defensive purposes. A pinned flash hider is necessary to bring the overall length of the barrel to the legal inch mark. A solid all-around choice.
Do you want a short package like an M4, but care more about durability and shoot-ability? Buy a inch barrel with a mid-length gas system. This is a compromised system. It is a bit higher on theoretical reliability than the carbine, but less so than the rifle. If you want a jack of all trades to start with the mid-length 16inch AR This will be another excellent all-around shooter. Do you want an M16 clone or a rifle high on reliability and muzzle velocity? Get a rifle length system.
Typically these will come in 18 inch and 20 inch flavors. With the rifle length system we have arguably the most reliable AR15 of the weapon family. It also has the highest muzzle velocity, and it is one of the softest shooting variants of the three systems. IF you want the nitty-gritty details of pressure, dwell time, army reliability tests, ect. Now that we have covered the gas systems, its time to decide your rifles goal: do you want tack-driving accuracy or a tough, long-wear fighting machine?
Poke you in the eye down a hallway this one can. Here we are going to touch on three popular barrel types. Chrome lined barrels will last a great many rounds before deteriorating.
Due to slight inconsistencies when applying chrome to the bore of a barrel, they are considered less accurate than other options. Keep in mind that the Marines use a chrome-lined barrel to hit man-sized targets at yards. These barrels can typically do 1. This option will have a long bore life and be more forgiving of less frequent maintenance.
As the barrel erodes the match-grade accuracy will degrade to very good accuracy. See ADCO firearms test here. This is the barrel you want if you value accuracy over barrel life. Typically capable of 0. Nitriding has more lubricity than chrome, it is harder than chrome, and does not add inconsistency to the thickness of the bore. Kent published a report backing the theory with evidence and hypothesized about future development. Casualties from aimed small arms fire almost all happened within yards, and almost never happened beyond yards.
Beyond that, it was essentially as random as shrapnel from artillery or a grenade. The most important factor for whether or not someone is shot is how long they are exposed and how quickly the shooter can aim and fire.
To survive meant being lighter and quicker, and to be effective meant improving sight acquisition and rate of accurate fire. By those standards, Hitchman theorized that the ideal infantry weapon would be lightweight and effective up to yards for aimed fire. Around this same time, Armalite designs the AR rifle around the newly-adopted 7.
Through the use of new manufacturing methods, lightweight aluminum, and composite materials, Armalite is able to reduce the weight of the heavy-hitting rifle. It unsuccessfully competes against the M rifle for adoption by the US Army. But the lightweight rifle made an impression, and Armalite eventually gets a request to scale the AR down so that it shoots the lighter and faster experimental.
The rifle is ideally suited to combat at less than yards, but still effective to a bit beyond that. This is eventually the M, and the primary specs of being lightweight and primarily used as a general purpose rifle for up to yards serves as our baseline. I started developing this concept several years ago when interest in the AR began spiking among my friends and coworkers. The suggestion that follows is the result of nearly ten years of experimentation, competition, training, and study.
The minimum capable carbine is one that reliably performs most tasks well. This gives you time to learn the ins and outs of the platform and develop your skills with a rifle that grows with you. This AR carries well, has good accuracy, and always fires as long as a basic maintenance routine is kept. It is equally suited to home defense as it is carrying on a hike through the woods. But before that, the question will come up:. When I started out, buzz said was that it was cheaper to build your first AR The idea was that you could buy the exact parts that you wanted and assemble them.
The hidden costs added up. From shipping all the individual parts to all the extra tools that I had to buy to complete the assembly. On top of that, I still had to pay someone else to assemble the upper correctly. I watched them do it and always questioned whether they did it right. To date, that upper has been rebuilt three times. That kind of money could have bought me a KAC SR or some other very high-quality rifle out of the box.
These days, there are so many good manufacturers making such a wide variety of rifles that it is silly to choose the individual part selection route for a first rifle. My suggestion, especially for your first AR, is to buy a complete rifle from a good manufacturer. These manufacturers produce a good product right around the sweet spot price point.
If you still have the itch to build, then you should buy a stripped lower receiver to finish. Then pick up a complete upper from one of the mentioned manufacturers. Several years ago, a gentleman by the name of Rob S put together the infamous Chart. These specs contributed to the reliability and performance of the rifle. In the years since the chart went public, the gun buyers got smarter and more demanding about what they wanted.
In response, manufacturers started touting their compliance, lest they be seen as inferior. These days, the chart is long gone, and nearly all those specs show up on every AR sold. That made it more difficult to tell the difference between a good quality AR and a lesser quality one by only looking only at the spec sheet.
That said, I want to run down the key specification points and offer some tips. This is not a comprehensive detailed breakdown. Each of these topics has their own associated blog post getting into more detail.
Choosing your barrel is a stressful decision for most beginners. There are simply a lot of options out there. I highly suggest you check out the full piece on choosing an AR barrel , which prepares you for making this decision. Get it with a chrome lined bore and fixed front sight. This combination is the most versatile for people who own only one AR and need it to do lots of things well.
The length primarily affects the velocity and balance of the rifle. Velocity has a huge impact on the trajectory of the bullet as well as its effective range. They targeted these towards competition shooters since heavy barrels tended to be more accurate. Their extra mass also helps put up with higher volumes of fire. The accuracy thing is interesting. But if this is your first AR then you are not likely to take advantage of the increased capability. Otherwise, you are better served by learning the rifle and shooting out the first barrel as you practice.
That will take about 20, rounds. For most people, that represents may years of shooting, if they ever get there. A lightweight profile puts up with plenty of abuse while also being easier to carry and maneuver. Weight matters. There are a lot of barrel steels out there. It has a bit more durability for use in firearms due to its higher carbon content. Stainless barrels are often used in precision rifles. Historically, stainless barrels were easier to machine and polish, while also being more resistant to corrosion.
That means manufacturers shorten their supply chain and produce more consistently machined barrels. Stainless barrels come with some risks in durability, particularly in very cold weather.
For that reason, stay away from lightweight profile stainless barrels. They should always be a medium profile or heavier. If you want to go the stainless route, then buy one made from or r stainless. If you plan to use the rifle in below freezing weather, then stick to r. The compromise is that nitrided barrels are much less heat tolerant of high rates of fire.
This applies more to fully automatic rather than your regular semi-auto rifle. I know there are nitrided stainless barrels out there on the market. Be cautious here, since the temperature used for nitriding is very close to that used for tempering a barrel. For more information here, read my article all about barrel nitriding.
Look for a twist rate of or Some cheaper barrels have a twist rate, which work fine for shooting bulk ammo in the 55gr to 62gr range. But if you ever want to use the heavier and more accurate 77gr family of bullets, then you need the faster twist. If you want more detailed information about selecting the right twist rate for your rifle, head over to my article all about rifle twist rates. Some people are particularly passionate about this.
They are usually lighter, plenty durable, cheaper, and replaceable. I usually find them more comfortable as well since the shape is ergonomic and internal heat shields help protect my hand after lots of shooting. Rails come in either free floated or non-free floated format. These days, I see no reason at all to have a non-free floated rail system. There are several well-made rails on the market that are even lighter than plastic handguards.
AR triggers are a highly personal thing, and everyone has their own preferences. I suggest reading my longer article about AR trigger selection as a follow-up to this. All of those are great triggers. I love my nice triggers, but I also realize they circumvented the process of learning to squeeze the trigger well. Lighter triggers are not a replacement for poor fundamentals. A practiced shooter can take any trigger and use it effectively.
Get a decent mil-spec trigger and practice. To be honest, this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Far too many people are getting too complicated with this. If one of those applies to you, then cool. Take your pick, as they all work about the same, and will cause you and everyone else the same amount of headache when you shoot it near them.
The stock is one of those things that most people take for granted. If you are buying a complete rifle, it probably comes with a pretty good stock already out of the box.
Shoot it and enjoy it. If you are taking the path of assembling your own or want to customize what you already have, then pick what looks good to you from Magpul, BCM, LMT, or B5. For a long time, I advocated for fixed rifle-length stocks. I still enjoy them.
I realize that there is a lot of utility sacrificed in the process, though. Fixed stocks offer much more stable cheek welds, which increases accuracy potential. This happens at the expense of adjustability and compactness. What you value more is up to you. Whichever choice you make, make sure to get the right size. If you go for a rifle length stock, then you will need a rifle buffer tube technically called the receiver extension. That also requires a different rifle spring and buffer. Again, whatever path you choose, buy quality.
Aside from the rifle itself, I think a minimum capable AR should have an optic, sling, and white light. There is an optic targeted to every price point, from ultra cheap to high end.
Most people are best served by a red dot sight. This projects a little red dot against an unmagnified lens, and it greatly speeds up the aiming process.
It is best suited from 0 to meters, give or take depending on your eyesight. You can find them today for very reasonable prices.
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