Information on AR-15/Black Rifles

[Flintlock]

I concur on the 16" carbines. Take a look at Stag Arms. They offer a very good, quality product at reasonable price, if you can find one, that is. If not, take a look around at your local shops. Prices seem to be dramatically falling on AR's so just keep a sharp eye out and you can score a great deal.

[zsm]

Go with a 16'' mid-length, flattop.

That's my favorite configuration (and the way to go if you're going 16''). Go lightweight barrel if weight means much to you, but an HBAR with all the goodies hanging off the front will still balance ok. If you're going to put optics, get a freefloat rail with flip up sights. 10'' continuous rail is also my choice. This would be very similar to the M&P15T

[LPMan59]

drink the kool-aid and get a colt. the chart says it's the best.

[sloughfoot]

IMO, you can't go wrong with a standard A2 with a 20 inch barrel. It is already a carbine length and with iron sights, is very versatile. The 16 inch versions are kind of a super carbine.... They are cool too, but not real useful at rifleman ranges.

The beauty of the AR type rifle is that you can have one lower with many different uppers in different configurations for different purposes.

I own them all, from 20 inch Service rifle, to 26 inch match/varmint rifle, to 16 inch iron and red dot sighted CQB rifles.

A standard iron sighted 20 inch A2 will serve you well while you sort it out..

[SmileDocHill]

So you want to buy an AR-15, huh? - Police Forums & Law Enforcement Forums @ Officer.com
I am the least knowledgeable person that will respond to this but this link is to one of the most well rounded educational threads I have come across. It is written with verbiage anyone understands but explains all the options and why you would want one over another (depending on your purpose) to a fairly detailed degree.

[spartan933]

Originally Posted by SmileDocHill

So you want to buy an AR-15, huh? - Police Forums & Law Enforcement Forums @ Officer.com
I am the least knowledgeable person that will respond to this but this link is to one of the most well rounded educational threads I have come across. It is written with verbiage anyone understands but explains all the options and why you would want one over another (depending on your purpose) to a fairly detailed degree.

Damn dude, you are right. That is a great buyer's guide and very informative. What's interesting about the AR15/Black Rifle is that it looks so damn cool! It looks mean. My girlfriend, who says I don't need one, looked at a photo of one on that page and said,

We'll see what I get. I still have to do a lot of reading in the next few days. But, my brother is getting back from overseas this Saturday, he's finally being stationed stateside for a while. Anyways, I think I am going to drag his *** to the gun store to get a military opinion.

[shooter521]

Originally Posted by spartan933

Anyways, I think I am going to drag his *** to the gun store to get a military opinion.

No offense to your brother, but just like with cops, not all military guys are gun guys. In fact, there are plenty of .mil folks who have never fired a gun outside of basic training. Get his opinion, but take it with a grain of salt unless he was a gun guy (and specifically an AR guy) before joining the service.

[spartan933]

Originally Posted by shooter521

No offense to your brother, but just like with cops, not all military guys are gun guys. In fact, there are plenty of .mil folks who have never fired a gun outside of basic training. Get his opinion, but take it with a grain of salt unless he was a gun guy (and specifically an AR guy) before joining the service.

That's a good point. Yeah, my brother and I are VERY different from each other. He has been in for ten years and I didn't start getting into guns until about two to three years ago. I have never taken him shooting with me when he has been in for the holidays. But, I am going to take him anyways to see what he knows. We really don't talk that much but I am going to take him to see if we can bond a little bit. I know he has experience from his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, but maybe he will impress me or vice versa.

[cce1302]

Ignore the chart. It has information, but no intelligence. No processing of the information. Just because Colt has something, doesn't mean you need it on your rifle, or even that it needs to be on any rifle.
That being said, yeah, talk to your brother, also, most of the people that posted in the thread (above me) know an awful lot about ARs-Melensdad, 521, and Esrice I think.

[SmileDocHill]

I have a very unexperienced vantage point on this but I found an additional thread for the real beginner like me. You are probably way beyond this but I thought it was a good take home refresher of the most basic operations. A good home study followup after getting good instruction from someone who knows.
http://revver.com/video/865856/basic-ar-15-operation/