AR-15 shooters....

[superj]

i have no idea why they are so popular. i guess because people want to be able to defend against what the police and military have if we need to defend against that type of thing

 

[Shran]

I am sure I don't need to ask but I would like to know why AR weapons are so popular.

Why do kids like Legos?
Why do we like Rangers?
Why do the Toyota guys like Tacomas?

Easy to build, fun to build, literally a million different parts & pieces to customize it exactly the way you want. You're not just taking something off the shelf and using it, you can make it your own.

I don't see them as being any better than any other gun, just different.

 

[JoshT]

Availability of both guns and ammo at an affordable price. Variety of available calibers on a common platform. Ease of adoption and use my new users (if they'll get past the scary black rifle part). Ease and variety of customization options. Cool factor from seeing it in all the movies.

Probably also a bit of familiarity and nostalgia for former military members. That has been the cause of popularity for a lot of former military rifles, or their civilian counterparts, in the civilian world. It's what they got used to shooting in the military and they want when they get home.

Then there are people like my dad. He likes hunting, reloading and shooting . He has and uses bolt guns, but they can be very hard on him with messed up shoulder as. The AR makes for much lighter recoil with the same ammunition, and generally a lighter firearm overall.

I think very little of its popularity is actually related to home or personal defense. At least I hope that the FFLs are directing people seeking that to better options.

My first was because the '94 ban had just lifted and I wanted one before they got a chance to pass another. Bought mostly for plinking, 223 was cheap and available then (I should ha e bought a lot more). Then I liked shooting it. Decided I wanted one in larger caliber for hunting with. Yes I only need one or two shots per hunting trip for deer and a bolt gun works fine for that. The property I hunt also has a pig problem, and I'm as (or more) likely to have a sounder of hogs cross my path as a deer. The AR in larger calibers is good option for eradicating as many as possible.

 

[superj]

and you do need more than a single shot rifle for a pack of hogs. those suckers will tear you up if you aren't able to get above them quickly, or shoot them.

 

[Roert42]

Hi-point is fine, I’ve owned a number of pistols and a 9mm carbine. They all functioned flawlessly. They are kinda ugly and very difficult to disassemble & clean - that’s my one complaint.

Want to talk about a gun that is a PITA to disassemble. Check out the Cobra Denali. I bought one for less then $100 new, 5 round .308 mag,

It's a neat gun, but a Giant POS.

I keep it in my garage because I don't care if it gets rusty and fucked up.

 

[sgtsandman]

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against guns. I just don't understand the popularity of AR weapons for household use. I carried an M-16 during my 2 tours in Viet Nam and felt that was essential for that. I also had an M-60 on base for any attacks there. Since then, I have never had any interest in AR weapons.

I still have a 20-gauge shotgun that I rarely use any more and a .177 break barrel air gun that I like to use for target practice and keeping varmints from eating the fruit off of my trees.

I guess I sort of feel like having an AR weapon is kind of like driving a NHRA Pro-Stock race car as a daily driver. That would be awesome but overkill.

I am sure I don't need to ask but I would like to know why AR weapons are so popular.

For many, it's just another rifle. It has the benefit of being very easily customizable for whatever the person wants to use it for, which is a big plus.

You want to target shoot? They have mods for it.

You want to hunt? More mods.

Three gun? Even more.

Pretty much any use one has for a rifle or rifle caliber pistol, there is mods and parts for it.

Depending on where one lives, an argument can be made for home/self defense as well.

Since I live in the suburbs, a pistol or shotgun with buckshot makes more sense but the modularity and ability to quickly swap whatever size magazine you chose to use, there are a lot of pros to the platform.

If we were allowed to use an semiautomatic platform to hunt here, I would probably have one with a 5 round magazine and the approriate caliber. But we aren't. So, I carry a guide gun instead.

The AR has come a long way from the rifle that was introduced in the Vietnam era. I like carrying the M4 way better than the M16 when deployed.

 

[scotts90ranger]

On the Kel Tek PCC, the current gen 2 can be converted to most of the popular magazines with different catches that come with them. Mine's a gen 1 for glock mags which is fine, I don't have a glock so I had to buy them but they're cheap... Kinda wish I'd gotten into 9 instead of 40 but just kinda stumbled into 40... I like the Ruger and S&W PCC's better but they're kinda spendy, the ruger one coming into 2 pieces is unnecessary, I would have been happy with something solid, thought about the hipoint but got talked into the Kel-Tek since I have a few of their products and a shop I happened to be at had one...

I mainly wanted a PCC for around the property, less range than other options for bigger pest control if necessary. For small pests I have a SLEW of pellet guns for everything racoon size and down.

I'm not too into the black rifle crowd, I talked myself into one, it's sure fun and is legal to use in my world with a 5rd mag so not useless... don't regret having it, nothing special currently.

 

[broncc]

whatever is cheap used at LGS

maybe not what you're looking for but I have come around to seeing the value in getting something that I can go straight to the range with and put 200 holes in something without worrying about headspacing, cross referencing gas port sizes, or watching too many videos about someone else's opinion on trigger feel... far too many projects already

(also just getting a mini 14 lol wood looks better)

 

[JoshT]

whatever is cheap used at LGS

maybe not what you're looking for but I have come around to seeing the value in getting something that I can go straight to the range with and put 200 holes in something without worrying about headspacing, cross referencing gas port sizes, or watching too many videos about someone else's opinion on trigger feel... far too many projects already

(also just getting a mini 14 lol wood looks better)

Not entirely sure what you are suggesting. I've been able to do that with all, but two of my ARs. Those two uppers I built from parts and had a thicker than normal finish on the inside of the upper causing drag and short stroking. A bit of hand lapping and haven't had a problem since. By hand lapping I mean I sat around the campfire at hunting camp and manually slid the bolt back and forth in the reciever with a liberal amount of lube until it freed up, I literally had nothing else or better to do at the time. Outside that, everything just works unless you are doing something truly custom. At least, that's been my experience with the 8 that I own.

Nothing wrong with a Mini-14, but I haven't found a good reason to add one to my inventory.

Oh, you can get wood furniture for an AR as well. I will admit that it looks a little odd though. Good, but odd.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Growing up with the A team I've wanted a mini 14 since I was like 5, but their current price pushes me away, one day... I mean it's the A team, millions of rounds of ammo and no injuries, basically the safest firearm on earth!

 

[Jim Oaks]

I have a S&W .38 spl that I began carrying as a security officer when I was 19 and then as a police officer at 21.

As a Trooper I carried a S&W .357 and then we eventually transitioned to Beretta .40 cal. We had problems with those guns and replaced them with Sig Sauer P226 .40 cal. For some reason the Patrol replaced them with P320 9mm's in 2019. Surprising considering the Patrol was adamant about choosing the .40 over the 9mm when we first went to semi-auto's.

I prefer the .40 and have a Glock 22 .40 cal.

I have handguns and a shotgun to defend my home. If I had a farm or ranch (acreage) I'd defend it with an AR due to the range.

My concern with the 5.56 for home defense is that the round has the ability to travel over 4,000 yards where the .40 will only travel 1,500 yards. So my real concern is what's beyond the target that you might hit.

I like the AR and the abilitly to easily add sights, scope, flashligt, laser, etc to it. It would be fun to shoot on the 100 acre farm that my daughter and son-in-law own.

Hopefully I never need it to defend from the Russians and Chinese.

 

[scotts90ranger]

One AR accessory I will own at one point is a can cannon, because duh... I have a friend with one, we shot skeet with it once, was a blast...

 

[sgtsandman]

The thing about Mini 14s, from everything I've seen on them, is they are either pretty accurate or you have problems hitting the paper with any kind of reliability. I don't know if it's a quality control thing or what but it seems a real roll of the dice to get a good one.

As far as the .40 S&W PCC, it sounds like a good match for your stated intended use.

From everything I've seen about the Highpoint brand, they aren't the most accurate firearm but get the job done and they are difficult to get them to fail. I've seen a few torture tests done on their pistols and they took a lot more abuse that many higher end pistols would ever take. They are heavy, clunky, and ugly but they perform.

Kel-Tec seems to be a mixed bag. There are a good number of internet "experts" that won't trust them to run when it counts and others love them. Granted, as a range toy but love them.

I haven't seen much negative on the other brands of PCCs but with the channels I follow, they really don't cover them a whole lot.

The same goes for ARs in pistol calibers. They are out there but there isn't a whole lot out there on them that I've seen. Most of those have been 9mm and .45ACP. I imagine someone makes one chambered in .40 S&W but I don't recall seeing anything on them.

 

[Roert42]

Maybe something like this in 308