I never had an interest in an AR-15 but given the present situation in this country with a gun ban for semi auto assault rifles looming sooner or later do I need one? Should I buy an at-15 just to have one? It’s a AR-15 vs another handgun?
What would you do?

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Plant garlic in the fall

Only you can make that decision. Doesn't sound like you have needed one to date.

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Only a cold warrior

It sounds like you really aren’t interested in one. I wasn’t either but bought one because Diane Feinstein said I shouldn’t have one. Split the difference and get a nice 38/357 lever action. I kind of wish I had.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

I didn’t buy any of my AR’s because I needed them, I bought them because I wanted them.

As Sistema1927 said, only you can make that decision. That being said, however, I'll tell you what one of my sons told me when he decided to get one a little over five years ago.

It was shortly before the 2016 presidential election. As he said, "I'm just afraid if this election happens to go a certain way, they're going to tell me I can't have one...and when someone tells me I can't have something, I want it all the more."

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Pack light and cinch tight.

Split the difference and get a pcc. Get one that is the same caliber and magazine compatible to a pistol you already have. Of course there isn’t much available in today’s gun market that isn’t so overpriced as to be ridiculous. I’ve had a CMMG .45 rotary bolt bcg and rifle bbl ordered through Optics Planet for 6 months and the ship date keeps getting moved. I have the rest of the upper ready to go.

Are you willing to use it if needed?

Otherwise you are probably just buying it to give to the government at a later date, for $200.

Blue and walnut only for me in long guns. A black gun in AR-15 or M4 was part of my life in two centuries on 3 continents; no more.

Now a Ruger #1....

Double post.

Yes.............

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Sure you did

Split the difference and get a pcc. Get one that is the same caliber and magazine compatible to a pistol you already have.

I agree but would buy it in an AR pistol with a 10 barrel. Palmetto State Armory has them from time to time reasonable. Any pistol round is greatly improved by a 10 inch barrel.

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SWCA 3417 HF 642 NRA-TC

IMO need has nothing todo with it.

Do you want one? That is all that matters.

I'd rather have one and not need it than need one and not be allowed to have it.

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Made it, Ma! Top of the world!

[QUOTE=Rob613;141105597

Otherwise you are probably just buying it to give to the government at a later date, for $200.[/QUOTE]

May not get $200. Larry

i have bought a few over the years. when the anti gunners start with, ban this ban that, prices skyrocket and someone always wanted them much more $$$$$ than me. happy to sell to help them out. krs/kenny

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Too good

I don't like AR's or Glocks. I own both for two reasons:

1. They are so ubiquitous there are always parts available.
2. There are always buyers available.

If you can afford it and have room in the safe, get it. Your choice as to configuration and caliber, but it would be helpful if you have some ammo tucked away already that would work in it.

Get a good lever action, like a Marlin or Rossi in .30-30, .357, or .44 Magnum.
Low-profile is the way to go.
A lot can be done with a bolt-action rifle with peep sights in the hands of a skilled rifleman.

One might say that any rifle round is greatly diminished by a 10 inch barrel.

Not to mention the horrendous increase in muzzle blast.

IMHO every responsible head of a household should own a firearm for not only protection of their family and themselves but also of our way of life. This means to me that AR actually stands for AMERICAS RIFLE not the evil Assault Rifle name hanged onto it.

Until 2016 I also never saw any need for one. I brought some stripped lowers in 2016 with the intention of flipping them for a obscene profit if HRH won the election. Well we know how that worked out and at the urging of a co-worker built a complete rifle. Since that time I have gone onto to become a AR fan and have built several more. The fact that the Liberals want to ban them so badly shows how important it is in protecting our 2a rights.

I let myself get talked into getting one under similar circumstances. After a few years of it primarily sitting in a safe and coming to the realization I had no actual practical reason to keep it, I decided to sell it and haven’t missed it in the least.

I've never cared for the AR-15. But a few years back when they were screaming to ban 'em again, I finally broke down and bought one just because. I doubt I've put 100 rounds through it. But I have one.

I never had any desire for one since I’ve had one assigned to me since 1983. Before I retired I bought a DOC trade-in because it was a Colt and only $475. I shot it once and put it away. I may sell it and get something I like.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I just don't get all of this, "I don't need an AR", "I don't like AR's", "AR's are evil weapons of war", etc. It's just stupid. Regardless of caliber, color, or, the amount of rounds the magazine holds. It's just another rifle....albeit a very customizable rifle for whatever one chooses to use it for.

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SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS

That caliber may be the only ammo your neighbor or adversary has when or if its needed in dire straits.

Ironically. you could look at it as a backup.

Sip...not sure of your age....
But, say you spent the dough on a shiny new AR.
If things go really south. How long could/would you last
against a 19-25 year old combat trained trooper ?

As advise, get a good lever action....If you survive any involved
altercations an AR and ammo will likely be on the ground...

I my gun collection grew it came to have many types of rifles. Bolt, lever, semi..........

I shot an AK at the range. Didn't like it. Big deal.

I shot an AR at the range. I really liked it!

I decided maybe I wanted one, I knew my son did. So I bought two lowers and started getting parts and putting them together, but it was SLOW going.

Late last year I decided that I'd better finish them off, so I got the remaining parts from Palmetto Armory and finished them off. Now I have two. One for me, one for son.

They are fun to work and and shoot. They are fairly low powered, I can make them any of a dozen calibers. What's not to llke.

I did have a thread posted where I was having learn the manual of arms for the AR platform and had a few bugs in my handling which are fixed with some special help, like a penlight to help me see that the chamber's empty.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I had no need, I have a 30-06 I bought in 1962 that still does one shot kills on deer. But, I decided I'd like to get an AR as close as the one I had in Vietnam. Picked up an SP 1 on the cheap just before that last gun crisis. It's easy to shoot, same as my M-16 just not full auto. Ammo was cheap until lately, still comparatively cheap. I just use it to kill paper. One thing that got me to buy one was when a female SSgt waxed me at a Highpower match with her AR, I was shooting my good old M1 Garand. Plus they can be accurized, ammo is cheap and there is no recoil.
SWCA892

After doing my time with what USAF called a GAU I pretty much stayed way from anything that looked like an M16. Until CA told me I shouldn't have one. I think I have about 5 now, with a dozen uppers in everything from 22 lr to 458 SOCOM and the usual 5.56. They're the gun version of potato chips.

One thing to consider, should an AW come. Add an upper to whateve AR lower you have and it becomes a different gun.

If one doesn't like the AR set up there's a"conventional" rifle out there called Flightlite SCR that uses AR uppers.

I am an M14 guy all the way.
But I have several ARs.
Because: screw em

Everyone should evaluate their own position. Here is a little something to chew on.
The Top 10 Reasons You Should Own An AR-15 Rifle

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Wise old man with nothing left to lose vs. young know-it-alls who just want to finish their work day, go drinking and chase women?

Yes, you need one, if only because a certain group hates them. I think I bought mine mostly as an act of defiance. But once I had it, I wondered why I waited so long.

I know nothing about rifles. This maybe a really dumb question but whats the difference between an AR and an AK?

The AR is an American design, chambered mostly in 5.56mm. The AK is a Russian design, chambered mostly in 7.62 x 39mm.

BigBill, I'm with you on "I never had an interest in an AR-15" even after serving 21 years active duty army. I now own two! My story is on the way to vote in the 2016 election I stopped at a LSG and purchased one. I enjoyed shooting it and decided to build one. So I did and now have two.
Disclaimer; if someone from the current administration is reading this I sold both of them to some guy I don't know and cannot remember.

I've enjoyed all sorts of firearms since the 1960s. After about fifty years of handloading for a variety of rifles and handguns, I became curious about ARs. All this curiosity was from a shooting, accuracy, and handloading perspective and not for the reasons already cited in this thread, though I've been an NRA Life member for decades.

I tried several ARs, all Colts, because I figured if I lost interest, these would hold value best and be the easiest to dispose of. These guns have functioned perfectly and have been accurate, right out of the boxes. They've been fired considerably, always in the pursuit of load development and accuracy, never to see how fast I could heat up the barrel or empty a magazine.

I question the perceived practical value of features like rapidity of fire, a large magazine capacity, and a barrel that is too short vs. a good quality bolt-action rifle. The possibility of metropolitan civilian front porch warfare is pretty unlikely even though many seem to enjoy fantasizing about such matters as they dress in their desert camouflage costumes. Reasonable preparedness and paranoia aren't the same thing.

I've become disinterested in ARs; they don't offer the allure for me that they do for many, but I'll not criticize those that enjoy these guns. Our tastes vary and I'm certainly appreciative for the choices we have.

I was in the “why does anyone want one of those things” frame of mind.
Then one day at the range I picked up a Colt from the guy next to me. That was it, off to the races.
I use a 300 BLK SBR for deer hunting in the thick NC woods. My shotgun and long guns relegated to the safe.

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Sure you did

There was a time you could get a base S&W or Ruger for about $500. I saw no reason not to buy one of each.

If Joe believes you and I shouldn't have one ... then
YES we both need to get one !
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

I would get one. Get it broken and sighted in. If it sits in you safe, at least you have it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They are a great platform. Everyone should have one.

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Sure you did

Everybody needs America's Rifle IMO.
Buy an AR lower and keep an eye on PSA (Palmetto State Armory) rifle kits.

Just last week things were almost semi normal and you could find a nice carbine or mid length gas system 16 inch bbl for $469 with free shipping.

This week demand jumped and all that is gone and we are back to $650 for a Kit. While not the $299.00 prices of a basic kit in the salad days of 2019 it is still not what it'll be if we get another AWB. I lived the first one and acquired my AR back in 94 just beating the deadline.

My AR is appropriately neutered with fixed stock, no flash suppressor, Magazine lock or paddle fin pistol grip. 10 round magazines, I still wouldn't trade it for a lever action or most anything else.


I live with the screwed up ultra restrictive California gun laws and fear the current party in power will ram our laws down the throat of the rest of the country.
I already can't buy ammo from out of state. It must be in person, in state, with full background check and a form and my signature for each caliber and round count.

Bob 459

I also had no interest in the AR having shot a friends rifle and being annoyed by the sproing noise of the buffer spring preferring the feel and look of steel and walnut. However when I retired and had money I put one together for the hell of it using the nice Seekins lower and upper in 300blkout with a second cmmg dedicated upper in .22. I’ve shot the .22lr a bunch. About this time the pcc became a item so I explored building a .45 version finally settling on a dedicated greasegun mag lower built by CNC Enterprises, a dpms upper and Olympic Arms bcg and bbl to build my version of a pcc. I also put in paperwork to sbr it. I added a forward charging handle never liking the ar charger. Turned out great. I eliminated the buffer spring noise by using a flat spring. I’ve since built a couple more .45 pcc’s with the last being a pistol using the new cmmg rotary bolt system instead of the blowback. Also turned out great. The AR is ok [as a pcc, imo].

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Every time this discussion comes up, I remember this scene. The man does make a valid point.

A friend once told me that every gun collector/enthusiast should have an AR15 and a 1911.

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FBINA # 161

If you live in Portland, yes, you probably need one.
If not, if you want one, get one.

As always, there is a considerable amount of handwringing on a post like this.

However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

1) I could be wrong, but I doubt that we will see a full "turn them in" ban. Probably closer, if it comes to pass, like the '94 "ban" except probably without a sunset clause. Even that would surprise me right now due to the (without getting political) number of Senators from the South and West, regardless of party, who know that voting for this would be the kiss of death for their careers. (I have written the House off, at this point, as a waste of space.)

2) Even if the worst happens, there aren't enough LEO's (assuming they are willing to violate their oaths) to kick down all the doors and seize all the weapons. There are millions of us. If the "war on drugs" is an absolute failure, think about what a law enforcement nightmare depriving Americans of their rights would be.

3) Even if it comes to that, there aren't enough jail cells to contain us. Once again we have the strength of numbers.

As a result, enjoy your freedom, maintain vigilance, and keep your powder dry.

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Only a cold warrior

What does need have to do with it?

The 2nd says that you have a RIGHT to keep and bear arms. You want a 1898 Mauser? go get it! you want an Winchester 1894? go get it!

You want an AR? Go get it!

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On the Oak Savannah

That is exactly what got me to buy one.

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Super Snooper