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Can we have a decent discussion on this ? Seems like it is a pretty political and controversial subject since a possible ban could effect 20 million owners.
Catgirl, I wanted to reply to you. Your reply seemed pretty open mined.
Here is how I ended up with my first AR. I am not a hunter, so never had hunting rifles , I did have a Ruger 10/22 at the time. That is a semi auto , mag fed , rimfire rifle , chambered in .22LR , it is cheap to shoot and I could shoot it at my local indoor ranges. Something I couldn't do with the old SKS I have.
At the time .22 ammo was extremely scarce , so I did some research on the AR15 platform. Found that many of my local ranges allowed it to be shot there and found they are reasonably simple to assemble. Being a hands on person I figured that would be the way to go. I have since assembled at least 5 , and have introduced my dad (gifted him one) and at least 10 friends to the platform. There was a period of time when they got pretty pricey , but now they are quite cheap. I'm sure that will change though.
I ended up with my first AR in similar circumstances, I target shoot monthly and have several .22 caliber plinking guns for doing so. Ammo became scarce and prices at one point shot up almost nearly the cost of .223 steel cased AR ammo, not to mention I couldn't get any .22 ammo.
The other reason, is the AR is produced to a set of specifications for the most part, and there are many manufacturers of parts and they all interchange with each other. The market is competitive, parts prices are cheap, for example an AR-15 kit is about half the cost of a Ruger Mini-14, the same round and semi-automatic function just built as a wood stock hunting rifle. The thing is, semi-automatic guns account for a majority of the weapons out there today, especially if you count all the handguns. Attempting to ban the AR, just shows the complete ignorance of those in support of doing so.
I got into the AR15 before it became a household name. What drew me to it was it's modularity and ability to be changed and customized to suit your need. You could attach different upper receivers with the ability to shoot different calibers, and with many manufacaturers making parts, it brought costs down and you had a wide variety of parts to suit your needs
For example, I have one upper receiver configuration for .22LR allowing me to shot cheap, plentiful .22 at the range without having to wear hearing protection. I free-float the barrel and use a bipod. Very light, and very accurate and fun to sit and just target shoot on the range with and shoot through the center of washers. I usually use a 10-rd mag with this setup for clearance on the bench.
For hunting (yes, you can hunt with the AR platform rifle) I have an upper dedicated to .300 Blackout since .223 is not legal to hunt deer with in many locations. No, you don't deerhunt with a 30-rd magazine and spray and pray. You are limited to a 5rd mag just like all other hunting rifles (depending on state), and you are taking an aimed shot...and hopefully only one. Such AR platform rifles are light than typical wooden stock hunting rifles which means you can confortable hold it for hours while stalking a deer. In this configuration, it's really no different than any other hunting rifle.
I also have a couple other configurations for both .223 and even 9mm. One rifle..but many uses. I don't know of any other rifle that allows such versatility.
For the above example, I own ONE rifle, but able to change it around to suit what I need to do with it. I do not use it for home defense.
Not everyone who owns an AR sets it up in tactical configuration with 100-rd drum mags, flashlights, lasers, etc. Yes, that is one possible configuration, but the general public, and media seem to think that every single AR15 is setup this way and therefore there is no legitimate use for it other than killing people.
Last edited by BostonMike7; 04-04-2018 at 10:26 AM..
The AR-15 has been sold to the US public since 1964. I probably shot my first one around 1975. Hardly a new item, in spite of what the ignorant like to promote. As a platform the AR has a lot going for it. It has a brilliant design of the bolt/barrel engagement-headspacing is determined by a couple of easily manufactured parts on the barrel and tolerances are easily held. It's not like an old-school bolt gun where headspacing is somewhat "trial and error" and requires a gunsmith and lathe. Most versions are very accurate-surpassing most mass-produced bolt-action rifles. You can change a barrel at home with simple hand tools if you want to go from a defensive, shorter-barreled gun to a long-range target rifle. You can readily change calibers. All AR-style rifles have excellent ergonomics that aid precision shooting and have excellent recoil management.
The AR-15 has a limitation, and that is that it is only capable of handling short, lower-powered cartridges. However, "long action" versions (often referred to as AR-10s) are readily available that take more powerful, more common big game cartridges (not that the .223 or other rounds the AR-15 is chambered in can't take big game). The beauty of the AR-10 "platform" is that with many designs, many standard AR-15 platform parts can be used, so you have accessories available and affordable.
It is the largest selling rifle in the country. And because of that it has become something to demonize by the anti-gun movement. 25 years ago they were all over semi-auto versions of the AK-47s and were demanding bans on the importation, sale and possession of them. If it wasn't the AR, they would go after something else. It's all about a divide and conquer strategy, no different than the identity politics the left has played for decades. They go after the AR and claim they don't want to take away your "hunting rifle". Guess what-the 2nd amendment isn't about hunting. And when the AR is gone, they WILL be after your Remington 870 (a far more lethal weapon at short range BTW). And this time it's not working-far too many people own, and even more shoot, ARs on a regular basis. They are NOT ignorant enough to fall for the pablum coming from the MSM this time. Add to that-while hunting is declining and the number of guns purchased to hunt bambi has gone down, overall gun sales are at an all-time high. Most new buyers are looking for a couple things-guns to shoot at the range and personal defense firearms. Handgun sales have spiked as has the number of people with concealed carry permits. The number of women buying firearms has skyrocketed. All while violent crime has dropped.
The MSM is so much into "group think" and repeating the same lie time after time that I think they have deluded themselves into believing it. Reality is different.
Looking at this from the extremely rare "mass shooting" case-most of those cases (with the exception of Vegas) are very short range encounters. And the standard AR-15, while more powerful than most handguns, is still chambered for one of the least powerful centerfire cartridges available. If somehow you magically transported every AR-15 into outer space, you haven't done anything to address the basic problem-sick humans that want to slaughter others. All you have done is pushed him to use a different tool. Most likely-one that is far more deadly than a .223. The wounds from a 12ga shotgun at short range are truly gastly, and far more deadly than a .223 and it's tiny .22 bullet. A hunting rifle chambered in .30-30, .30-06 or .308 Winchester shoots a bullet 3x as heavy and much more damaging. That's not even mentioning the harm that a candle and a pipe wrench can do when someone unscrews a natural gas union at a school's heating system. It isn't the tool-it's the human behind it.
Last edited by Toyman at Jewel Lake; 04-04-2018 at 10:13 AM..
I didn't even want one until that stupid ban was on the horizon back in 94 so I bought a couple. Then I realized it was a wild cat and reloaders dream. I currently have a bunch of wild cat uppers and some that have recently turned mainstream like the .264 LBC or 6.5 Grendel. The new batch of short fat cases give the 15 a real boost for being a hunting platform. The 7 mm Valkary is a .270 lite with the only limitation being the heavier bullet weights. Since I reload I can keep the costs way down.
I also have some in the 10 platform but it is far heavier. My .45 Raptor upper can take any game on the planet. On my radar is a AR in .338 win mag or something in that range.
Well, as I said in my previous post, I think I understand people's fear: they are very efficient weapons that can do a lot of damage very quickly. It seems to me that the best course of action is to actually discuss the issue and address the fear.
I don't own any guns. It's not because I am opposed to them, although I used to be. I think actually meeting some people who hunt helped to change that, and if I ever got a gun, it would be to learn to hunt myself (I used to be against that, too, until I considered the fact that responsible hunting is probably far more humane than factory farming.)
Having a gun for home protection isn't much of a priority for me - I've just never felt the need, and I wouldn't even consider getting one without extensive training. On the other hand, I can understand those who do own them for that purpose. I just hope they don't get too zealous about what they protect. I'm pretty sure I could shoot if I thought my life, or the life of another innocent, was in danger, but I devoutly hope I would never chase someone down the street and gun them down for taking a TV or a case of beer. I don't think I could live with myself if I did that.
We have got to find some way to talk about guns reasonably. Some people shouldn't have them, and people who deny that make me mad. On the other hand, they are never going to go away entirely, and people who say they want that make me mad, too. Even if that was a desirable outcome, the ship has sailed: there are too many out there to do away with them without tremendous infringements on rights that go far beyond the Second.
Can we have a decent discussion on this ? Seems like it is a pretty political and controversial subject since a possible ban could effect 20 million owners.
I wish I could afford to buy one. It's a solid gun, great for home defense, great to hunt with, fun to simply go out and target shoot.
I wish I could afford to buy one. It's a solid gun, great for home defense, great to hunt with, fun to simply go out and target shoot.
I found a really cheap upper and built the lower for less than 300 bucks. 285 bucks for an AR15 is a smoking deal. They are out there if you keep your eyes peeled.
I used M-4 and M-16 when I was in the IDF. AR-15 is familiar and convenient for me. But I have AK-47 also.
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