School me on AR's

[Elkaholic daWg]

I have wanted an AR for some time but know really nothing about them. Which is good, which is bad, what to look for and what to a void, etc....


All I know is, I want one I could take big game hunting (deer) if I want to, and I want it camo....

I know Olympic has some models that I can get in .243 WSSM and .25 WSSM.

Looking to yote hunt with it also and both .243 and .25 cal have small grained bullets that I can reload for it.


What do I need to Know 

 Me too. I will be watching this thread closely

[gasman]

This is great information. Thanks guys and keep it comming   

[CAMPMEAT]

OK, what do you guys think of starting a build with a polymer lower like, Plum Crazy or anyother brand ? I know a guy that built his AR with Plum Crazy and it works great. Thoughts for the newbies.............

[Huntbear]

Do you want a deer sized caliber???  You can get the WSSM calibers in the AR 15 platform from Olympic Arms... yes built right here in Washington.  So you can get the 243 or the 25 WSSM and be legal for deer...  You can buy factory ammo, or you can reload, your choice.  The 25 wssm has about .257 Roberts +P velocities, if not a little better.


My question is this for the experts... chromed barrel and bcg or not chromed???  especially if you are buying a tactical version in .223.

[Biggerhammer]

Chrome lined is a huge plus, almost a must for.223 or 5.56 if your going to use them/ run them hard. The bolt carrier group is up to you, I very seldom have used a chromed bolt carrier group but it could only enhance and prolong the function and life of the group. I will time and time again run 10 plus mags through a AR carbine with a chrome lined barrel, I'll run that AR until it's smoking and the barrel gets that white haze coating to it, gas tubes glowing red! If the barrel is chrome lined, I would never do that to a stainless or non lined barrel.

Remember the chrome lining is for extreme high usage, it was originally brought about to prolong barrel life under full auto fire rates. Also to protect the chamber and bore from harsh environments, moisture being the number one bore culprit.

I have owned plenty of AR barrels for Varmint shooting and target shooting that were non chromed. There was no reason for it, I wasnt shooting the heck out of them.

[Biggerhammer]

I am in no way affiliated with this Company but they have treated me great for year, they have some of the lowest prices for quality components you can find, they keep a huge inventory, shipping is fast and to top it off they don't screw you on shipping. No matter what you order or how much $7.00 shipped anywhere. Take a look through their site, you can completely order ever single part you need to build a quality AR and assemble it yourself or talk to them and have them assemble your desired parts for you. AR's are simple to build, I'm talking the actual hands on mechanics of it. Some may find the unknown intimidating, learning which parts are compatable, proper terms, part placement.

The after market parts selection for the AR 15 is mind blowing huge!!!! One of the simplest was to learn the assembly from top to bottom is to get Bushmasters AR assembly DVD.

http://www.rainierarms.com/

[demontang]

Hey biggerhammer have you played with any of the olmpic arms new lowers that have the lengthend magwell? I know they can fit the 22-250 in them which could be a nice starting point for the wssm so you could load the long bullets and not single feed them. Ive had my eye on a 25wssm or maybe a wildcat 338wssm

[Biggerhammer]

No I haven't, I have never owned anything by Olympic. I do find their WSSM line attractive though.

[JohnVH]

last year I built my first AR15, if you search on here there is alot of AR info. I went for the 6.5 Grendel, have taken a few coyotes at 200yds so far, and this deer season hope to get a deer with it. We were smoking rocks at 480yds with it in winthrop a couple months ago.

I love it, its as light as my tikka 7mag, and is pretty accurate.

I have a 16" barrel, I wanted to keep it light, and for me the small difference in FPS for the longer barrels didnt make it worth it for something I can fling around like this one. My lower is a cheap one, collapsable stock, cheap LPK, stock trigger I polished a little, I bought the upper from a guy in seattle and I think they lied to me on the barrel being an AA, but other than that, I love it!

[brokenvet]

AR10's has the larger calibers:  243Win;  260Rem;  308Win / 7.62 (difference in chambering, but not the case);  338 Federal
and maybe others.

I am not really fond of the AR flat form, even though I carried one for many years while serving and I owned a lower with a couple of uppers.  My oldest son owns them now. 

You really have to keep them clean or they will jam an awful lot.  They can be made more accurate than the M14's.

[Huntbear]

Chrome lined is a huge plus, almost a must for.223 or 5.56 if your going to use them/ run them hard. The bolt carrier group is up to you, I very seldom have used a chromed bolt carrier group but it could only enhance and prolong the function and life of the group. I will time and time again run 10 plus mags through a AR carbine with a chrome lined barrel, I'll run that AR until it's smoking and the barrel gets that white haze coating to it, gas tubes glowing red! If the barrel is chrome lined, I would never do that to a stainless or non lined barrel.

Remember the chrome lining is for extreme high usage, it was originally brought about to prolong barrel life under full auto fire rates. Also to protect the chamber and bore from harsh environments, moisture being the number one bore culprit.

I have owned plenty of AR barrels for Varmint shooting and target shooting that were non chromed. There was no reason for it, I wasnt shooting the heck out of them.

So unless I am doing rapid fire with multiple mag changes, the chrome lining is really not worth it??  Does it affect accuracy?  I really prefer stainless, but would like to have my ducks in a row.

[Biggerhammer]

The chrome lining doesn't effect accuracy, it's a durability issue. If you want to run a stainless barrel on a varmint AR that's great. They still take a considerable amount of heat, you just don't want to flat out abuse a non chrome lined barrel very often. I have run my share of non chrome lined barrels on ground squirrels and Prairie Dog towns. You just treat them like any other barrel, its just easier to warm them up being a semi auto and all.

I normally surf the different shooting forums for my AR parts and barrels, my top two are the classifieds on:

Snipershide.com
24hourcampfire.com

Most AR Barrels shoot, some REALLY SHOOT! I have had a 90.00 total cost shipped Mod1 stainless 16" carbine barrel out shoot a 400.00 Krieger, go figure. If one picks up parts when they see a smoking deal like I do after a while. The AR's start stacking up, it Barbi for guys!!! I'm constantly switching uppers, lowers, barrels etc.

You can build a good shooting AR on the cheap by shopping around or go all out it's up to you. This AR 5.56 bellow Shoots lights out! The barrel on it only ran me 90.00 shipped from a Dept Sherriff in Oregon.




Not to shabby for a 90.00 barrel! by the way that's my load that has shot lights out in many a 9 twist AR. shoots the same with the 50 gr V-Max. The V-Max definatly  being the most explosive. I o
Run V-Max's for Chucks and BT's for Yotes.

[carpsniperg2]

Chromatic lined is a plus like hammer said but not really need for the way most people shoot. I have had many of both over the years and never felt the chrome gave me much advantage. I really like the new nickel boron stuff. Very smooth and supposes to be the cats Meow. I have been using some of it in my builds. I think here in the future I am going to up grade a couple 223 with the nickel bcg.

[Huntbear]

I have been looking for uppers... seems everyone and their cousin is sold out, unless you want to spend 800-1000.00 on just the upper.... 

I really was thinking the RRA CAR kit was the way to go, then all I have to do is buy my lower and assemble it, and I would be done.. but they are sold out, as well..

Even Model 1 is sold out of everything..

 

[Miles]

What happened here?  I thought they were all supposed to still be touching at 200 yds?