Which ar 15

There are a number of youth Rifles for Sale available on our site as well. All of our youth rifles are specially designed for young shooters who are beginning to learn how to handle firearms. Buying rifles online is not only more convenient but also typically more affordable than buying in-store.

At DeGuns. We've searched far and wide to find the best prices on rifles so we can pass the savings along to our gun-loving customers. Toyota designed, tested, and has proven that each component on the vehicle operates reliably for years upon years. Some folks want to add more lights, racks, bumpers, lift kits, suspension, and other mods.

All of these things make for a more capable and fun vehicle, but the tradeoff has to come from somewhere. A supercharger adds power, but stresses the engine. Lift kits and larger tires add ground clearance and off road prowess, but shorten the life of other drivetrain components.

To summarize, every step you take away from the original design introduces variation and complexity that has drawbacks elsewhere, many have negative long term effects. I think the AR is similar to this. For most of modern small arms history, there was a persistent belief that infantry rifles needed to fire the most powerful cartridges that could be tolerated by the average man.

Such requirements usually included the ability to make aimed hits at yards and still take a target down. As far back as the s, there was a competing theory that a smaller and lighter bullet moving at high velocity was able to deliver most of the terminal capability of a larger bullet at relatively short distances, such as to yards.

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. I understand. Stick to your iron sights and master them while you save for the optic.

It is not worth buying a cheaper optic in the meantime that could fail on you at any time. But you should still get an optic when you have the funds. Red dot sights are sometimes problematic for people with astigmatism. It turns the red dot into a cluster of red splotches, lines, or other misshapen things. As an aside, please make sure you zero your sights. If you want to use your AR for home defense, you need a flashlight.

You also want something with enough power; — lumens is plenty for this purpose. Some people try to push it well beyond what is practical. Make sure you get one matched to your flashlight body diameter and mounting system rail, M-LOK, etc. Slings do more than just carry the rifle. I have a long history with variations on the shooting sling, which cinches around the arm to stabilize the rifle.

A good sling allows you to take up and release slack as needed to adjust the rifle or get more stability. I always recommend two point adjustable slings for new shooters.

They will never stop being useful, and can be modified for even more functionality. I consider it the quintessential American rifle these days. There is a lot of information in this article, and I keep it updated as needed to reflect my thoughts and experience.

Do your homework, buy quality, and you will have a great experience with your new rifle. Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions down in the comments. Feel free to argue with me as well. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. First AR? More like my only AR. I bought what I could afford. The budget red dot, someone gave me. Did you polish this article a little? Anyway, spot on with so many good, solid, reliable and accurate suggestions and philosophies that any newbie or guy who has stepped away from the market for a while, like me, can come back to and reference.

The gun, revolutionary for its light weight, easy care and adaptability with additional components, entered the mainstream in the mids, after Colt bought the patent and developed an automatic-fire version for troops in Vietnam, called the M That transformed a specific brand to a more generic offering on which a mini-industry would flourish.

When the AR and other semiautomatic rifles began to turn up in shootings, a movement began to restrict their manufacture and sale. Much of the outrage stemmed from the militaristic appearance of those guns, and their ability to fire rapidly. But there was also a more visceral reason, involving flesh and blood. ARs inflict much more damage to human tissue than the typical handgun, which is used in most shootings.

That's largely because of the speed at which projectiles leave the weapons; they are much faster out of the muzzle of an AR, or similar rifle, and deliver a more devastating blow to bones and organs. Those projectiles are also more likely to break apart as they pass through the body, inflicting more damage.

Manufacturers continued making versions of the AR that complied with the new law, which was allowed to expire in That set the stage for an explosion in AR sales. Anti-terror police forces began patrolling cities and transportation hubs, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were covered intimately. That higher visibility seemingly fed a desire among gun owners to get what the troops and cops were using.

With encouragement from the gun industry, the AR grew popular not only among people who enjoyed owning the latest tactical gear, but also among recreational and competitive target shooters, and hunters. Many saw it as a pinnacle of firearms engineering — ergonomic, accurate, reliable. Production of AR-style guns has soared since the federal ban expired. In , , were made. In , the number was 1. The organization does not provide sales data, nor does it have production estimates, but says that year's activity likely broke all records.

Today, one of out of every five firearms purchased in this country is an AR-style rifle , according to a NSSF estimate. Americans now own an estimated 15 million ARs , gun groups say. Chandler is an unlikely AR enthusiast. He grew up outside Baltimore, a city plagued by gun violence, raised by parents opposed to firearms and was friends with kids whose lives had been torn apart by them. For much of his youth he considered himself anti-gun.

Then a well-to-do neighbor was shot in a home invasion. 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.