AR-15???

[Guest dboonekilledabearhere]

My son mentioned the other day he would like to have an AR. I have done a little research but it would be safe to say that I do not know the first thing about these. I was thinking about getting him one for Christmas. Any advice would be appreciated. Is the AR-15 (.223) the most common? Price? I am sure the price varies with the gun, mfg, etc.

Thanks in advance for your input.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Rigth now S&W seems to have a pretty decent deal on their M&P 15's. They can be found for around $800-$900.

As long as the parts are milspec, which most are, then you shouldn't have any problems.

STAY AWAY FROM VULCAN, HESSEE, BLACKTHORNE. THEY ARE JUNK FROM TEH SAME COMPANY. THEIR PRICES ARE AMAZING BUT THEY ARE JUNK AND NOT WORTH THE MONEY EVEN IF IT IS CHEAP.

Dolomite

[Il Duce]

Price is usually 799 and up, but i HEARD you can make one yourself for a little lower and yes the .223 is the most common

[Dolomite_supafly]

Also, how old is your son? The reason I ask is if he is younger and just wanting an AR you may want to look at some of the 22lr versions. They make excellent training tools for anyone and are cheap to shoot.

Dolomite

[Garufa]

Actually 5.56mm is the most common but will fire the .223, not the other way around.

When shopping around make sure it is rated for 5.56 ammo.

[Warbird]

CMMG Bargain Bin guns, decent gun at a good price.

[Il Duce]

yeah if he doesnt care about caliber and just wants the look id suggest the s&w m&p 15-22. i love mine and i can shoot it all day long for the price of 20 .223 bullets. plus, it only costs $399

[saintsfanbrian]

I just picked up the MagPul M&P-15 from Classic Arms. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but my BIL has 2 other M&P 15's and they are great shooters.

Since this is for your son I would recommend purchasing a complete rifle as opposed to a parts kit or a home built. Having the manufacturer's warranty behind it is a little piece of mind.

Most go for less than $1000 as long as you aren't looking for anything too fancy.

.223 is the most common caliber SHOT through the AR-15 however I would look for one chambered for 5.56x45. The 5.56 is slightly larger than the .223. You can shoot .223 from a rifle chambered for 5.56 however you should not shoot 5.56 from a rifle chambered for .223. The pressures are different and it could cause a malfunction.

[Defender]

Seems like I read that the S&W ARs are actually made by someone else and branded S&W...is that true?

[Murgatroy]

I do know that the S&W MP15-22 is made partly of Walter parts, but I am not sure about the full caliber guns.

I have been thinking of picking up a MP15-22, as they are rather affordable (running at $430 at CCA and 500 rounds of .22LR is less than $20) however I am also considering a full caliber AR as well. I have been leaning toward Spikes Tactical, I keep hearing they are highly regarded, but I can't seem to find anything to substantiate this. Just random forum posts.

There is always the option with a full caliber AR of converting it with uppers or bolt conversions to .22LR. This is one of the main reasons I have been considering the Spikes Tactical. I am looking at the 9mm full rifle (granted $1200 is a chunk) but it has a full caliber lower meaning that any upper will fit. As such, converting it to 5.56 or .22LR down the road is nothing more than an upper swap.

The reason I am saying full caliber versus a dedicated .22LR is that most full build dedicated .22LR (MP15-22, Colt/Umarex) are made fractions of an inch smaller, so that swapping to a full caliber upper is not an option. Just something to consider if your son intends to 'grow' with the gun.

This is just self musing as opposed to actual advice. I am an AR noob as well. I have just been investigating and comparing options for a while.

[Guest Joey]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think AR 10 refers to a .223/5.56 caliber rifle and AR 15 refers to an AR type rifle in .308.

Is that right?

[Murgatroy]

Other way around.

The AR-10 is the .308, the AR-15 is 5.56/.223.

[Capbyrd]

I do know that the S&W MP15-22 is made partly of Walter parts, but I am not sure about the full caliber guns.

Are you sure about this? I have never heard this before and I know that the Colt is made by Umarex/Walther. The S&W is ALL S&W.

[Murgatroy]

Are you sure about this? I have never heard this before and I know that the Colt is made by Umarex/Walther. The S&W is ALL S&W.

I am pretty sure I had read that somewhere, I may have gotten it backwards then. I was investigating the two very closely before I made up my mind that the S&W was teh better choice.

[Guest The Cat]

S&W's parts, at least the uppers and lowers, are made by Continental Machine and Tool. (LMT may make some but I haven't seen any.)

This kind of thing happens all the time and it's not a bad thing - CMT makes parts for several different gun companies, same as Lewis Machine and Tool - sometimes even Bushmaster uses LMT parts. You can tell the difference on those by the serial numbers - Lewis-made ones start with L, and Bushies start with BFI.

Happens with handguns too - some Springfield pistols are made by Imbel.... and the XD's are made in Croatia.

What you do get though, is S&W's name, reputation, and QUALITY

[chunkee]

SO the deal at CDNN for the AR15-SW...they say .223...will they not shoot the 5.56..was going to pull trigger (haha) on one for 799 and 18 free mags with it...seems like a great deal but did not know if they could shoot both? anyone clarify if the smith and wesson MP rifles are able to shoot both?

[JeffL]

According to Smith's site that rifle has a 5.56 chamber. That's a great deal, he's going to need some sights on it though.

[Guest (BH)]

Seems like I read that the S&W ARs are actually made by someone else and branded S&W...is that true?

\

Nope, not true. When they first offered the M&P15, I believe many components were made by Stag, but this is no longer the case.

Either way, the M&P15 is about the best deal going in the AR game. I bought an M&P15X w/ an Eotech 512, Tango Down battle grip, a Solarforce L2 (and mount), and ten P mags all new for around $1400 about 9 months ago. They may have gone up a bit since then as things were crazy cheap when I got mine.

Mine has been absolutely awesome and I won't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. I got a great AR and fully customized it to my tastes for around the price of a base model Colt, and I feel that mine is equal in quality. Plus, I always know S&W has my back if I ever do have a problem with it.

[Hozzie]

To the original question, there are a lot of manufacturers that produce AR-15 rifles, and as you can tell there are a lot of opinions, and this is just mine.

Assuming this isn't specifically for hunting (if it is I would by a custom upper), and I was to buy one and only one AR-15, it would be a Colt Match Target HBAR. It can be found for $1000 (Yes, you may have to look around a bit) and 1 month from now or 5 years from now, it is still going to be worth at least $1000. You don't have to worry about quality, parts, or functionality.

If you just want something to that looks like an AR-15, then there are ton of products out there. As with every gun, ask yourself what you (or your son in this case) wants to do with it and based on your budget, find what fits the bill. As always, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

[Guest dboonekilledabearhere]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. From the info I have now it looks like I will be looking toward the 5.56AR that shoots the .223 as well. My son is a LEO so I would like for it to be a decent firearm. It will not be the most expensive by any means. Probably something he can add on to as he likes. Thanks again ya'll TGO rocks!!

[Kenstaroni]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. From the info I have now it looks like I will be looking toward the 5.56AR that shoots the .223 as well. My son is a LEO so I would like for it to be a decent firearm. It will not be the most expensive by any means. Probably something he can add on to as he likes. Thanks again ya'll TGO rocks!!

If he's a LEO, then a .22 AR would just be a toy...lol I would definately agree with everyone in getting a 5.56 chambered AR. That way he can shoot XM193 and other 5.56 ammo which run a little hotter, however the best reason is that it will shoot .223 just fine as well.

M&P's are great. Don't hesitate to buy one. Check out Bud's gun shop, they have some pretty good deals. I've heard about the 18 free mag deal on here but I don't know who has that. Last I heard S&W had a 5 free mag promotion with purchase from any dealer.

If you can swing the cheddar, the S&W M&P15T is just awesome. It's a midlength carbine. Another option if you can float the 1k-1.2k price range is a Stag Piston carbine. If you need to be in the 800-900 range then a basic M&P15 would be great. He could always add the custom parts he wants later.

Either way, awesome idea. If my parents gave me an AR15 for Christmas it would be the best thing since my first BMX bike when I was 12 years old...lol

[Guest mac_05evo]

Spike's Tactical M4 LE. Use coupon code "ARFCOM". Comes to about $790 shipped. This is the best deal out there at the moment as far as the parts and Spike's customer service goes. They also have a mid-length LE rifle (which is what I'd go with) if it were for me.

ST-15 M4 LE Carbine [sTR5LE1] - $799.95 : Spikes Tactical

Edited May 18, 2010 by mac_05evo