[Cliff R]

The AR platform has came a LONG ways since first introduced. They are the most flexible of that type of rifle, and plenty of support from the aftermarket. Quite a few different calibers available as well. Here are a few pics of some of mine. The 450 Bushmaster is my favorite, shoots 1" groups at 100yds, and plenty of power to go with the superb accuracy.

I've had a few in the stable that didn't make the grade, not being accurate enough for my liking. I learned early on that going to upper level parts has a huge impact on reliability, and accuracy. These days I only by the very best barrels, and bolt carrier groups, and stick with Rock River and DPMS upper/lower recievers.

I bought one "low end" reciever, as those selling them alway insist they all come from the same source, only to find it was not accurately machined, and required some "messaging" to get assembled and functioning correctly......Cliff

[PonchoV8]

Some more info in this other thread from September. I never bought any ammo for mine. I knew I should've, but went a different direction and had a car painted.

Which barrel profiles do you suggest for the unknowing?
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...7&highlight=ar

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by PonchoV8

Is that an SWFA scope? What's the pistol grip called? Not the bipod one. The rear one.

Yep. You're good. It's a SWFA Super Sniper I bought many years ago. 6.5x20x42. Clear glass with no flash or glare and very rugged 30mm body. I don't have the monye for a variable.

The rear grip is a Falcon Ergo Deluxe Grip. I am ordering the regular deluxe to get rid of the palm shelf since I do not like it or need it. They are nice a and fat and fit my hands very well.

[Cliff R]

Unless building a heavy or bull barrel target rifle, the latest production Mil-spec chrome lined 1-7 twist barrels are hard to beat for the price. They were required to be accurate per the Mil-spec. Countless aftermarket sources for barrels, Douglas, Wilson, and ER-Shaw are popular, and 1-9 twist non chrome-lined seems to be the most common that show up in most complete uppers. Many stainless barrels will be 1-8 twist.

I had two guns with 1-9 twist barrels from ER Shaw, and one stainless bull barrel 1-8. None of them, even the air gauged bull barrel shot as well as my M-4 hammer forged chrome lined Mil-Spec barrel.

The slower twist barrels HATED M-855 ammo, and any of the low end imported aftermarket steel case ammo.

Ammo is equally as important in this deal as the gun/barrel. The best ammo I've found to date for accuracy in all my 5.56 rifles is PMC X-Tac. It will consistently delivery groups under an 1" at 100 yards if the shooter does there part. There in lies the key to this whole deal right to start with. In most cases, the gun shoots better than the guy holding it!......Cliff

[mviker]

Thanks for all the input guys.

Ok, well I did end up buying an AR at the show. That, 100 .223 rounds and 2 extra 30 round magazines racked me up to right around 2K. That's on the high end for what I was hoping for, but going from what was said herre, just about in the neighborhood for today's pricing in this crazy market. Yeah, I'd like to have gone a little cheaper, but overall, I got what I was looking for.

The rifle is a Core 15 brand. They're made down in Florida and from what I can tell, a fairly new company and relatively unknown, but fairly decent reviews. Some folks don't like them because they're too new, but I've seen mostly good stuff about them so far. They're famous for building boats, but a couple of the guys came from Bushmaster also. On a funny note, The boat company's name is Good Times Outdoors or GTO. Apparently, they made a GTO model rifle at some point in the recent past. My gun does have a GTO engraved in the lower receiver.

http://www.core15rifles.com/

The rifle itself, feels pretty solid and well built. Haven't gotten a chance to fire it yet though. I want to stock up on some ammo next as I know how easy and fast it's going to go through that 100 rounds I bought.

Now to go shooting!

[mviker]

This looks to be a pic of the model I bought.

I do have one question....How can one tell if it's a piston model or not? I guess I'm showing my ignorance here, but I can't tell the difference between a pistion and non piston model. Can someone enlighten me?

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by mviker

This looks to be a pic of the model I bought.

I do have one question....How can one tell if it's a piston model or not? I guess I'm showing my ignorance here, but I can't tell the difference between a pistion and non piston model. Can someone enlighten me?

Excellent! Good score. You got a lot of rifle for what you paid so don't be concerned. It has a nice Magpul stock, some rails, flip rear sight, etc. I have heard some good reports about that brand.

Does it have a chrome lined barrel and is it a 1:9 twist?

If you need any information as to where to get things or AR stuff at all send me a PM.

[mviker]

Originally Posted by PMD1969

Excellent! Good score. You got a lot of rifle for what you paid so don't be concerned. It has a nice Magpul stock, some rails, flip rear sight, etc. I have heard some good reports about that brand.

Does it have a chrome lined barrel and is it a 1:9 twist?

If you need any information as to where to get things or AR stuff at all send me a PM.

PMD1969,

Cool. I'm glad to hear that. Yeah, the rifle came with some of the mods I was interested in, so I thought I may be saving a little by getting it that way instead of building it up muself. The rifle I pictured is close, but not exactly the same. If you go to the core 15 website, there's a rifle in the background of their page on the left side that looks to be the one I bought. I don't see it in their actual products listings.

No flip up rear site, but it has some sort of scope that puts a green dot on target when you look through it. I think I done good, but will know after I get a few rounds out of it. Hopefully, that'll happen real soon!

I asked about the chrome lined barrell before I bought it and was told yes. Not sure on the twist. I want to call Core 15 and see if they can enlighten me with more details about the gun. I'm also intrigued with the prospect of buying another upper for it in .22 LR to save on bullets. That should be do-able from what I've heard, but that's down the road. Need to recover a little from this purchase first.

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by mviker

PMD1969,

Cool. I'm glad to hear that. Yeah, the rifle came with some of the mods I was interested in, so I thought I may be saving a little by getting it that way instead of building it up muself. The rifle I pictured is close, but not exactly the same. If you go to the core 15 website, there's a rifle in the background of their page on the left side that looks to be the one I bought. I don't see it in their actual products listings.

No flip up rear site, but it has some sort of scope that puts a green dot on target when you look through it. I think I done good, but will know after I get a few rounds out of it. Hopefully, that'll happen real soon!

I asked about the chrome lined barrell before I bought it and was told yes. Not sure on the twist. I want to call Core 15 and see if they can enlighten me with more details about the gun. I'm also intrigued with the prospect of buying another upper for it in .22 LR to save on bullets. That should be do-able from what I've heard, but that's down the road. Need to recover a little from this purchase first.

What is the brand name of the Dot sight? Not that it really matters just neat that it came with one. Rear flips are not that expensive and Magpul has a decent one for under $30 bucks. I just like having irons.

If you have a 16" or longer barrel you most likely have a 1:9 twist. The reason I asked is that you'll be able to run ammo up 69gr. The shorter twist barrels can shoot heavy weight projectiles. Most everyone shoots 55gr for plinking. Chrome lined is excellent as the barrel will last a ling time if cleaned and cared for properly.

If I were you I would be looking for a couple 20 round mags for bench shooting and a pile of 30's before they get banned. D&H (Labelle) USGI mags w/Magpul Gen3 followers are my favorite mags. http://dsgarms.com/ProductInfo/MA-02DSGB.aspx Magpuls are a fanboy vogue mag that have had their problems in the past hanging up in magwells, weak springs, depressed feed lips, a cracking.

Hear is just one of too many places that is excellent to shop at http://dsgarms.com/

Congrats! You now have the BRD! (Black Rifle Disease) lol

[mviker]

I see the mags are gonna be a challenge. They're all over the place online, but none are in stock. Also seeing the prices ranging from $12.50 all the way up to around $60 a pop for the 30 round magpuls. Crazy! Oh yeah...Of course, now that I have the rifle, time to go looking for all the goodies that go with it.

There's no obvious brand name on the scope/sight that came with the rifle, bit I'll look around and see if I can locate it and letcha know what it is.Mags and bullets. Looks like those two things are where the real robbery is going to take place. There are some places that seem reassonable on both. Just need to catch them when they have something in stock, hopefully.

[PonchoV8]

I stopped by Walmart a while ago about .22 ammo. I asked about the last ARs he'd seen coming in for sale. He said the last shipment he saw was 2 weeks ago and the 2 they got were there for a "long time" since they were Colts that a lot of people looked at but didn't want to spend the $1097 each for. I said, how long is a long time. Evidently an hour and a half is a long time for an AR to stay for sale at WM.
I like to use their $4.97 Gun Socks to cover my stuff with so I can bang them around in the safe and not damage them. I like the Winchester one better, but they went to another maker that stretches too much for my liking.

[mviker]

I wanted their Sig M400, but no Walmart in may area sells guns at all. Not even ammo from what I can tell.

[PonchoV8]

The Sig's my choice too. The Colt would be one I'd flip.

[69Goat1]

Originally Posted by mviker

This looks to be a pic of the model I bought.

I do have one question....How can one tell if it's a piston model or not? I guess I'm showing my ignorance here, but I can't tell the difference between a pistion and non piston model. Can someone enlighten me?

Piston gun runs like an AK., rod on top and gas pushes the piston which works the action via the rod. The piston/rod would be under the forward hand grip on top of the barrell.

Most AR's are what they call "direct impingement" systems...

Both have their followers. Piston guns are said to run cooler and stay cleaner than di guns which is why I bought mine. My cousin has 2 di guns and when we shoot mine is always a bunch cleaner when it comes cleanup time...

[mviker]

Originally Posted by 69Goat1

Piston gun runs like an AK., rod on top and gas pushes the piston which works the action via the rod. The piston/rod would be under the forward hand grip on top of the barrell.

Most AR's are what they call "direct impingement" systems...

Both have their followers. Piston guns are said to run cooler and stay cleaner than di guns which is why I bought mine. My cousin has 2 di guns and when we shoot mine is always a bunch cleaner when it comes cleanup time...

I did read up a little about it and yep...Each has their followers. I do see the gas rod, so I guess mine is piston. from what I can tell, the two look virtually the same. I'm definitely green with these newer weapons, but I'm sure that after I put a few rounds through it, I'll know my way around it better.

Thanks!

[PonchoV8]

It's not the gas tube you're seeing? The tube goes through the barrel nut from the gas block at the front of the handguard.
BTW, the Sig M400 is gas impingement. I bought it anyway (Dillon).

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by mviker

I see the mags are gonna be a challenge. They're all over the place online, but none are in stock. Also seeing the prices ranging from $12.50 all the way up to around $60 a pop for the 30 round magpuls. Crazy! Oh yeah...Of course, now that I have the rifle, time to go looking for all the goodies that go with it.

There's no obvious brand name on the scope/sight that came with the rifle, bit I'll look around and see if I can locate it and letcha know what it is.Mags and bullets. Looks like those two things are where the real robbery is going to take place. There are some places that seem reassonable on both. Just need to catch them when they have something in stock, hopefully.

Sent you a PM. Better hurry

[mviker]

Originally Posted by PonchoV8

It's not the gas tube you're seeing? The tube goes through the barrel nut from the gas block at the front of the handguard.
BTW, the Sig M400 is gas impingement. I bought it anyway (Dillon).

I can see the gas tube. Not much of it, but it's there. I'm familiar with it's location. I've just not had my hands on any of these guns before, so I wasn't clear on what I was looking for. Both types look almost exactly the same as far as I can tell. I know that now that I have one, there's gonna be some learning going on to get up to speed with it. Not a problem there.

[PonchoV8]

I stopped in the nearby Walmart today to look for some .22 ammo for a friend. As I walked in I saw an AR on the counter being prepared to place in the case. I noticed the worker looking at me as if he didn't want me to make eye contact. Then when I asked if it was for sale he looked as though I just took his lunch money. The other worker by him turned to look at me with the same expression. As I looked it over he kept reaching for it as if he wanted to take it back from me. It made me wonder if they had a buddy on the way in for it. I tortured him for several minutes before putting it back down. Some frantic woman busted in the area a few minutes later asking if they had any ARs.

Oh, it was a DPMS for $597. It's the Sportical that they offer. It appeared to be the least featured AR of the line.

[66Post]

Originally Posted by mviker

I'm headed out to a gun show later this afternoon and am interested in an AR style rifle but know next to nothing about them. Just wondering if anyone out there can give me a rough idea of cost for a decent one and clue me in on which ones ARE decent!

I'm not an expert shooter, but I've been interested in one of these for going on years now. Figured the time is right to get one before they are no longer available to us ordinary citizens. I'm betting they don't come cheap. None of the gun shops in my area have them. They sell out quick. I'm thinking there may not be any at the show either, but I'd like to snatch one up if there are, assuming there's any decent quality ones there.

Any input, thoughts, suggestions are welcome!

Thanks guys!

Kevin

Are you still looking? I have a Colt AR-15 one owner I bought new in 1975. Last fired in 1984. PM me if interested.
Rich