A little off subject from the 15-22

[Juvicator]

As it has already been stated above, a handgun or shotty for home protection is prob best. Also think about if you had to use it and you wound up in court, they would have a field day with that. "Your honor, he was not defending himself he was attacking my client, with his ASSAULT rifle"

 

[cush]

I'll stir the pot a bit...

But as far as .223 bullets going through several walls, and shotguns/handguns being better for home defense...do some homework (and not on gun forums.) You'll find that .223 bullets tend to tumble once hitting walls and lose energy/velocity very quickly. Shotguns and handguns actually penetrate more sheets of dry wall.

That's my 2 cents.

 

[Wes Smith]

For the 223 start reloading your own

 

[team sidewinder]

So, I've owned my M&P 15-22 for a little over 6 months now and absolutely LOVE it! I've accessorized it with everything imaginable and will be just about complete once I finish my B.A.D. lever (custom made) and decide on a new barrel shroud that I plan on purchasing from Belt_Fed. I think I'm ready to step up and buy the big brother M&P-15 or some other type of AR-15 .223/5.56. I've been doing a ton of research and there are well over 100 different types of the AR-15 from various manufacturers. My question to all of you is pretty simple:

1) What is the best AR type .223/5.56 on the market for around $1,200?



2) What do you personally look for in buying an AR type rifle?

3) What is the maximum distance an AR will fire with precision accuracy?

4) Would you only purchase an AR from a well known manufacturer such as Smith & Wesson, Bushmaster or DPMS?

5) Does an AR, due to the caliber size, serve as a good home defense weapon?

I've been looking and contemplating on purchasing the Bushmaster M4A3 or the S&W M&P-15T. I can't seem to make up my mind on which one I want. What I will tell you though, whatever rifle I choose to purchase I plan on accessorizing with only the finest of parts. If that means I have to drop $450 on a LRA bipod than so be it. (I've actually seen it and met the designer/manufacture and believe it or not it's well worth the $)

Overall I'm looking to expand my arsenal and my next purchase is going to be an AR style rifle. After that, who knows maybe a BMG .50 and S&W 500

Any input would be extremely appreciated. I do understand that this forum is for the M&P 15-22 enthusiast (which I am and have made many posts in the past) but I also assume most of you also own a more high powered rifle.

Thanks again guys.

Me too but for not the home defense thing ( already got that covered ). The S&W M&P AR is looking pretty good and the reviews aren't all that bad for the price. From the experience I have with my 15-22 I will be adding another S&W M&P when my wallet recovers from the last bleedout.

 

[ragingyeti]

First, let me admit I didn't read every word of every post, but I am sure it is all solid advice.

Second, I would say if you want to spend ~$1200 on an AR15 and spend a lot of money on accessories, you could just build your own rifle with mixed and matched quality parts for about the same price.

I just started building one and its around $1500 for a piston-driven AR15. But, instead of buying a $1200 rifle and then replacing all the parts for what I wanted, you just buy all the parts outright and put them together. Its actually not terribly complicated to put together your own rifle. Brownells.com has a great video series on building your own, I would check it out (even if you don't build your own, its a great way to really learn how your rifle works and the parts that go into it).

 

[rakusi]

1 - You can ask 10 different people and get 10 different answers. Personally, I'd build one. The AR build I'm working on right now will be a little over $1,000 before it's in "range trip" condition, and things like the Geissele FCG I'm putting in it really don't help with the cost. Realistically, you could assemble a decent AR for $800 or less.

2 - Personally, I look for Mil-spec parts and what suits the needs for that particular rifle; I'll take several purpose-built rifles that do a single job well over a single rifle that does everything "okay".

3 - I believe it's somewhere around 400m, but don't quote me on that.

4 - I don't plan on ever buying an off-the-shelf AR, but I wouldn't get too hung up on manufacturer. Read up on reviews for different rifles and go from there.

5 - Strictly going off caliber, it would make an "okay" home defense weapon. One thing to take into consideration when you're talking home defense is overall size of the weapon though; a handgun is much more suitable for close-quarters than a rifle/carbine/shotgun, especially where doorways, corners, and hallways are concerned. My only concern with my 1911 being my home defense weapon is that I'll be borderline deaf for a few hours should I ever have to use it.

 

[BXRandall]

+1 on the build your own route. but on the otherhand if you wanted to get something off the shelf then the S&W or StagArms would be a good purchase.

.223/5.56 is not a long range round. 400-500m is about your maximum effective range if you are talking about shooting and eliminating a healthy living entity. that being said unless you shoot on the regular you shouldn't attempt shots outside of 200-250m anyway. If you think you might want to shoot effectively at long ranges then look at a .308 platform of some kind. if all you are going to shoot is paper 99% of the time though a .223/5.56 is sufficient.

for home defense get a 12 guage and some #4 and be done. if you are thrifty you might can get both the AR and the 12ga. a handgun for the home is generally not a good idea unless you are very proficient. the shotgun is by far your best no nonsense option for defending your home and family.

 

[mobilecommand]

1) To be honest i would say go local.. I buy all my stuff in AZ from one of the top tier builders he is Arizona armory. All billet uppers and lowers, custom engraving and i personally think the billet is worth the expense..Also if you go local they can build the gun to your specs and you can save money.. why buy a gun that you are going to toss half the parts into the garbage so to speak and put a maid or moe grip on replace the butt stock, add a hand rail etc.

If you had to go with name brand i would go with Larue, Or BMC, Spikes, noveske.. Done. Best bang for the buck will be Spikes or BCM on Sale. Larue well there is nothing better IMHO

2) I could not make up my mind so i ended up with 5 Ar's one for every thing i wanted to do... 22 ar, SBR, SPR, LW, and my version of a kiss AR "had spare parts so i built another gun lol"

3) my SPR will hit 200 yd easy. 18 in Fluted luthor walthar barrel, FF hand rail, Chrome BCG, timney 3lb single stage trigger, billet upper and lower etc.

4) not at all i support Local first then named brand. with that said i would only purchase from BCM, spikes and larue. Even though everyone says milspec don't get entirely hung up on it. Sure its important but there are plenty of AR's that are not mil spec and shoot well..

5) It can be but you have over penetration. As far as home protection goes nothing does better then a good old pump.. Racking the slide once will scare 99.9 percent of the people that hear it and the .1 percent that don't a slug will take care of that.

Ar's are like the rice burners of the Gun world.. There are many options and you need to do your homework to figure out what you want..

if i had to do my first rifle again i would get this configuration.

Billet upper
billet lower
geissele SSA trigger
14.5 in 1x7 Chrome lined barrel with pinned flash hider
mid length gas system
FF hand rail "YHM is good gear for the value"
Chome BCG "Young MFG national match" "easy clean up"
Ctr Stock
Front and rear flip up sights "YHM is good value Troy is best"
Magpul ASAP
Magpul RSA
Red DOT "Primary arms is a good value"

With that said with AZ being a Sate that "allows SBR's" i would only have the following 3 rifle configurations if i had to do it all over again.

10.5 in SBR
18 in SPR
S&W 15-22

with all ofthe goodies, FF hand rails, Chome BCG's. high end triggers, all magpulled up etc..

here is a good site to go over AR's in general

So you want to buy an AR-15, huh?

Here are some pics "some are older and have changed configs a little"

My one gun is still waiting for my 10.5 in barrel but you get the idea..

Many options just here is a few to give you an idea.

Family photo minus my kiss AR

My first AR " this is getting the 10.5 in barrel and upper, lower, buffer tube and FF handrail is getting done in OD green

My kiss AR

Spr Upper

SPR Complete

A LW Chrome BCG from young Manufacturing

My SHTF Engraved lower

My Zombies Lower

 

[yeren]

3) Testested several times to 550m / abt 600 yards with 7 inch rise 20inch barrel ( colt) and 16x magnification Meopta and 77grs Nosler and Sierra .224 bullets.........and Sierra writes just under MOA ( 155mm/ 6 inch groups with 10 shots). I think very respectable for 223 rem. Nosler is not so good, but can hit 12 inch square area all ten shots.

 

[Aceman58]

I'll take a stab your questions:

1) What is the best AR type .223/5.56 on the market for around $1,200?
A: There are many many good ARs out there, you can build one from the ground up for $580 (I know I did). Or you can purchase one pre-built from around $700 to as high as $2,000. You can purchase the lower reciever (that is were you need an FFL lic. person to purchase and wait the 10 day backgound check (Calif.). The rest of the AR can be purchased from web sites like DSArms, Del Ton, and many many more.

2) What do you personally look for in buying an AR type rifle?
A: That is a hard question, what are YOU wanting to do with the AR, home defense, Targeting, Tactical training, or just wanting to own one for the "End of Day Zombies" attack. Only you can know this. Better to talk to a gun dealer and he may be able to help you decide.

3) What is the maximum distance an AR will fire with precision accuracy?
A: Depending on the ammo used (55 grain, 62 & 77 grain) you can go up to 500 yards accurately. Again depending also on the barrel rifle twist rate (1:12 - 1:7), there are many factors on what you want to build for the kind of shooting you plan to do.

4) Would you only purchase an AR from a well known manufacturer such as Smith & Wesson, Bushmaster or DPMS?
A: I would always try to purchase from a reputable manufacturer, for one, you may need to depend on this for your life and it needs to work when you use it. So yes, now who is the best from the not so best, that's hard, talk to owners, check web sites. I like Spike Tactical out of Florida, they have great products and the price point is fair.

5) Does an AR, due to the caliber size, serve as a good home defense weapon?
A: For home, the AR15 5.56 caliber will have way to much penetration on a miss shot, not the best for family home defence. Now if you are in Iraq looking for terrorist in their home, YEA, rock and roll take the house down. You have a 62 grain bullet traveling at 3200 fps, dry wall ain't gonna stop it much unless you hit solid wood. Stick to 12 gauge, 9mm, 40mm or 45 cal. for this.

This is a readers digest answer, and I'm not the worlds expert, just a retried range master with 18 years on the street.. Good luck.

 

[chuck s]

Buzzt!

The 5.66mm bullet is one of the safest you can use indoors because it has low wounding potential after penetrating doors or a layer or two of drywall. Much less than a 9mm pistol bullet, in fact. This is one of the defects of this caliber in urban settings. You can still put an eye out, of course, but wounding potential after wall penetration with this cartridge is poor.

-- Chuck