After 3 happy years with one of the best AR's that was ever made, I am saying goodbye to my Sport 1. A friend and I made a deal; my Sport 1 for his Arm A Lite.
My Sport 1 comes with a few nice extras as does the Arm A Lite. My friend knows the history of the Sport 1, it being the best entry AR, besides a Colt, to be introduced into the AR world.
Yes, I will miss it. But, he and I made an agreement that if either one wants to sell either one, the other would get the first chance to buy it.
Here is a pic when I first unwrapped it.

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Sounds like a win then if everyone is happy.

I'm back home with my new toy. My friend lives deep in the sticks and has a home made range in his back yard. I let him shoot my Sport 1 first. Boy, was he impressed. I filled 2-30 round mags, one aluminum the other a PMAG, with various gr rounds in steel case and brass. He shot both mags without a problem! I was like a father watching his son (the son being the Sport 1) hit his 1st home run!
Then it was my turn with the Arm A Lite. We filled the same 2 mags with the same type ammo that he had just shot. The smile on my face was the biggest it has ever been!
The deal was made then I parted ways and drove the 1-1/2 hour drive back home with my "new to me" AR.

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Why the swap to begin with? Were you just ready for a change? Was he? I don't think I'd swap for the armalite but that's just me.

Believe me, parting with my Sport 1 was like giving up a child! But, we did make the deal/agreement that if ever one of us wants to get rid of our current rifle we would give each other the option to buy/trade it back to the other.
Yes, I was ready for a change. Even though the S1 didn't have a forward assist or dust cover never mattered to me. That bad boy has that awesome 1:8 5R barrel, was built by S&W when they didn't cut corners (like they do now, IMHO), and was the BEST entry level AR ever built! Another thing that I liked about the Arm A Lite was the fact that it all started with that name, ARM A LITE!
I'm not too worried about missing my S1. My friend and I are going to start getting together to shoot more often. That means vist times with the old S1.

I hope you are going to be happy. At least a good friend has it,, that takes away some of the pain. I love my 1/8 5R Sport 1. It also has been 100% reliable and super accurate.
Jim

Jim, in the 3 years I owned it (almost 4 years) I only had to send it back to S&W twice. Once for a hair line crack in the gas block (would fail to eject) and the trigger was very gritty out of the box. When I called S&W about it they said it would be safer than sorry to just send it in. I had it back 9 days later with a trigger as smooth as a baby's behind! IMHO, that's back when S&W and their CS was on the ball. Today, I think their CS sux very badly! And, from what I have seen in the Sport 2, their QC is terrible and it looks as if they have cut corners to save a $.
Member cyphertext does not like my Ruger AR-556 (for reasons why, I don't know) and even I found a few things about it that I dislike. One, is Ruger saved money by not lining the barrel. But, being that it's CHF makes up for that. That and it's a 1:8 twist. There are a couple of other minor things, but, they are cosmetic. Oh, and it's not a Sport 1!
Jim, hang onto your S1. S&W will NEVER make another one like that! (I wonder what mine is doing right now. )

Why are you trying to pull me into this? I've told you many times why I prefer other rifles over the Ruger offering.

If you want to talk about your rifle and all, that's cool, but there is no reason for you to try to engage me once again. Just let it go... I think the other members here are growing tired of seeing us involved in a peeing match.

My Sport has held up good. I liked the stock trigger, or more like just got used to it, but after dealing with hand contractures it was necessary to drop in a CMC. A big improvement.
I walked through Wally world one day and spotted a Nikon P223 3x9x40
in the case for $89. Fate I guess. Now it rests on top of the Sport.
Added an extended charging handle and Im good to go.
Had disease not changed my life it may be still a stock 3 Gun rifle, a role in which it served me well. Now it`s an off the bench tack driver.
I sure lucked out with mine.
Hope you have many reunions with your Sport when you shoot with your friend.
Jim

I thought I was being nice by agreeing with you on some of the things Ruger could have done a better job on. I never saw it as a peeing match.
I did try to ask you a positive Q? earlier. And, I will ask you again; What BCG do you like? What BCG would you recommend for my AR-556?

Thanks for the PM... I appreciate that.

Honestly, I would shoot that Ruger until it broke before I worried about replacing the BCG. You know that the firing pin is unshrouded, so just watch for wear on the retaining pin and the firing pin collar. If there is no wear, then just keep on shooting with it. If at some point it needs replacing, then I would buy one that is a full auto carrier, with a C-158 bolt, HPT/MPI and all that good stuff... BCM is good, but pricey. PSA lists the same specs for a lot less money.

Tell us more about this rifle you got. What are the specs? Not really familiar with Armalite's latest offerings.

Is there actual proof that the original barrel setup was more accurate than the barrel that replaced it? Because my Sport (not a Sport II) is very accurate and has been completely reliable so far. I know the arguments about twist rates but I have a 1:9 .223 that will shoot extremely well (once shot a 1" group at 500 yards with it). It will stabilize 75 gr. bullets just fine but it won't go heavier and still work well. I tried some 79 gr. match grade ammo and it was all over the map. But everything from 52 gr. to 75 gr. has worked well for me on that rifle. it is a bolt action rifle with a 26" barrel so it's possible the extra length helped to stablize bullets better. I really couldn't say without cutting down the barrel to test it and I'm sure not going to do that.

My thing about any really nice gun is that I never want to get rid of them. For example I have a Sig P220 that I carried for years but I have gone to a higher capacity gun and a smaller gun for CCW. It would make perfect sense to sell the Sig but it's just too nice to part with. I'd include my Sport in that category even though it is not top of the line of course. Still it is a fine weapon and has served me well to this point.

I understand wanting a new rifle (all too well actually) which is why I have a safe full of rifles and several that will be heading to my gun cabinet soon. The cabinet needs some repair work first but it will finally give me a place to put the rest of my guns.

I just can't bring myself to sell something really good. I suppose if I was going to go hungry I might sell one (maybe ) but I don't expect that to happen. I'd rather save my money, buy another safe and keep the really good ones.

Unless I had a sick child needing medicine or utilities being cut off, I'd hold on to a black rifle for a few months before selling. The downside of holding on is nil. The potential upside is significant.

I too like my Sport I. I've had good results with 1 in 9 barrel . But 1" at 500 yards . I'd take that one to Camp Perry

Dang, reading all of these stories is making me want my Sport 1 back.

That was just a one time thing. I thought I made that clear. I'd take it there in a heartbeat if I could shoot that way all the time. But that's not in the cards. It does shoot a tight group at distances like that though. 4"-5" is pretty common depending on the wind. I shoot at a place that has very little wind because of the surrounding hills. It has some wind of course but not like where I live now where there is always wind.

I had shot that rifle maybe once or twice in the last year before I took it out about a month ago and shot this group at 125 yards. It took me a few rounds to get lined up with how my sight was set - even a 1/8 turn seems like a lot at long distances and it's pretty much impossible to get a perfect zero which means Kentucky windage - but once I got it figured out I shot these last 4 rounds out of only 10 that I shot. Remember I haven't even been practicing with this rifle.



BTW this is a bone stock Savage 12 LRPV with the target action. It shoots .223. Rifles very similar to this one also in bone stock form have won international events in F class or maybe it was F/TR. One of those two. I can't remember which one is which. They shot against custom built rifles and won several of those events. These rifles are real shooters. Savage went to the people who shoot competitions and learned what they were doing to make their rifles shoot better and they put the best of those things into building the LRPV. They really did an outstanding job of it. I had a to move a couple of years ago and the new club I was checking into joining has a 600 yard competition. I was talking to the range master about that and he asked me what rifle I was using. When I told him it was like you could hear the "Oh great, another one to contend with" in his voice. He told me that almost everyone shooting in that competition was using the exact same rifle. They do quite well. I wish all my guns were made that good. I found this quote on a famous person's web site (who's name won't be mentioned since he didn't say this - he just reported what was said and well, he's a jerk):

"the Savage 12 Series rifles are, across the board, the most accurate rifles ever tested by Guns and Shooting Online."

And I have the best version of that series.