AR advice needed

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  • sheltowee

    Marksman
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Aug 18, 2013
    262
    18
    Seymour
    I have a entry level Ar, a ruger ar556. I'm happy with it. It shoots straight and and I haven't had any issues.
    But sometimes I see that 5 to 600 dollar ARs should not be trusted for personal defense. That they may not be as rugged as something more expensive.
    My uses for my Ar are plinking, self defense and possible zombie apocalypse .
    My question is should I buy a bit more AR or should I just continue being happy with mine?
    And if you think I should upgrade any suggestions would be welcome. I probably wouldn't want to go much more than 1500.

    Thanks in advance for your advice.
     

    jd4320t

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    23   0   0
    Oct 20, 2009
    22,891
    83
    South Putnam County
    You don't need anything more expensive until you prove that Ruger isn't reliable enough for what you do with it.

    Upgrades depend on what you want to do. Just remember an upgraded $600 AR is still just a $600 AR.
     

    seedubs1

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    24   0   0
    Jan 17, 2013
    4,623
    48
    Take it to a class. Run it hard. Find out what breaks. Replace what breaks with good quality parts that won't break.

    I'd start by buying a solid mil spec BCG - Toolcraft and PSA mil-spec BCG's can be picked up for $70ish right now. Throw it in your bag. Your BCG is likely your weak link in your Ruger. And it doesn't hurt to have a spare BCG anyway.

    Personally, I'd disassemble the upper and make sure everything is torqued properly when I reassemble. Depending on how everything else was functioning and how it looks when inspecting, I may replace some springs, etc...

    Or buy a Colt, BCM, Larue, Sionics, etc... the options are endless right now and lots of good buys.

    I wouldn't sell the Ruger AR unless you just happen to find someone that'll pay good money for it. The market is soft and you likely won't get much money out of it. Hold onto it and sell it when market demand is higher.
     

    pblanc

    Plinker
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Dec 12, 2014
    81
    8
    Evansville
    I have a Ruger AR556. I also have more expensive AR rifles.

    As for self-defense, I do not anticipate the need to spend days outdoors in the rain, or crawl through rice paddies, nor do I anticipate that I will become embroiled in a fire-fight in which I need to shoot several hundred rounds. I doubt you do either.

    Shoot a couple thousand rounds of FMJ ammunition through your Ruger and maybe a hundred or so rounds of whatever ammunition you might plan to use for self defense, using any and all magazines that you might plan to use in an SD scenario. If it goes bang every time I see no reason to believe that it would not function properly and continue to do so for the duration of time you needed it in a civilian self-defense scenario.
     

    Sniper 79

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    19   0   0
    Oct 7, 2012
    2,939
    48
    I was in the same boat as you. Sold my current rig and put together a new PSA. So glad I didn't get the 1800 dollar ADM rifle I was looking at. :nuts::nuts:With the money I saved will be putting together another soon. Great deals to be had right now! I won't care if it gets beat up or stolen. If I had bought the ADM or Novesky I would be sweating every time I bring it out to use it and would not want to leave it in a vehicle at all anywhere. The PSA is lagit quality and I couldn't care less about it.

    Another thing to always keep in mind it resale. A cheap PSA rifle will sell in minutes of you posting it anything quality will sit forever and may never sell unless you take a huge hit on it.
     

    Hohn

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jul 5, 2012
    4,444
    63
    USA
    What Seedubs said.

    What EXACTLY about the Ruger do you want to upgrade? You said it's accurate enough, so the barrel must be OK.

    I'll go out on a limb here and say that your Ruger, after following Seedubs approach will be *more* reliable than many rifles that are more expensive. Why?

    Those other rifles are *potentially* more reliable. But after running it hard and finding what breaks (and repairing/upgrading) you will KNOW your rifle is reliable. And you'll have ruled out potential defects and such.

    Think of what happens when they HPT/MPI a barrel. That is "running hard" and then finding if it broke.

    One acid test you can do is alternate magazine between steel case and brass case and see when you get an FTE. If it doesn't happen in several hundred rounds, you're probably fine with mostly brass case. The steel case tends to let more crud back into the rifle, and then the brass will stick.


    Anyway, a Ruger with a spare BCG or two is almost certainly more reliable (and cheaper!) than buying another gun.
     

    Brad69

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jul 16, 2016
    5,104
    77
    Perry county
    I would back up the suggestion to spend money on classes, the Ruger AR’s I have witnessed in classes have survived just fine alongside AR’s that cost twice to four times as much. I have watched people on the firing line with a $1,500 rifle and a $1,500 ACOG shi&$# the bed because they couldn’t shoot worth a crap and a guy with a entry level AR and a basic red dot do very well. I consider the Ruger AR one of the best values around.

    AR proficiency according to Brad!

    1. Training - Can you shoot the AR, clear malfunctions, engage targets from 5 yards to 300, rapid reload ect. ?

    2. Optics - Whatever you choose to employ, research and spend the most money you can afford.

    3. Lights- Have one on your AR

    4. Slings - Have one on your AR

    5. Gimmicks - Beware crap that doesn’t work and cost $$$ (note all the cool extended charging handles I have witnessed broken during classes)

    No amount of high dollar rifle or gear will make up for training!

    I would rather have a Ruger AR and a big pile of spent brass than a DD,BCM ect. that I have not shot.
     

    Usmccookie

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Jan 28, 2017
    5,838
    113
    nwi
    Its sounds like there is some good advice here. No need to spend big money on big money rifles if the one you have works. Now, if you want a high end ar to have a high end ar that's a different story. Itll feel better and shoot better, imo.
    Just like 1911's a r.i a. Will work well, but it wont be close to some of the creations brought to live by certain ingoers.
    A uberti shoots nice but it's not a colt s.a.a...
    So.. do you need a nice ar or do you need an excuse to buy a nice ar?
     

    Usmccookie

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Jan 28, 2017
    5,838
    113
    nwi
    I have had an itch for a Ruger mini 30 for some time look into one of those.

    I have one, I put a sparc 2 on top and wow it's fun. American made so use brass, boxer primed ammo. I get 2-3 light strike per mag. Totally worth it the money, I wouldn't take it over an ar for a shtf rifle though.
     

    cosermann

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    14   0   0
    Aug 15, 2008
    8,372
    113
    ... I get 2-3 light strike per mag. ....

    I'm often surprised by what people will tolerate. I'd have dumped that (and have) as fast as I could if it couldn't be fixed.

    Went through FOUR (yes, 4) NEW (at that time) Ruger mini-14/30 platform rifles back in the late 90s. None were worth 2 cents. Two were returned to the store (and they took them, that tells you how bad they were). The other two were sold with full disclosure. Didn't meet any of my standards for reliability or accuracy. If it doesn't go "bang" darn near every time you pull the trigger, what's the point? Went to the AR platform and have never looked back.

    In fairness, I've heard Ruger has improved the mini platform since then. Too little too late for me. Never again. Too bad, because I like Ruger and really wanted to like that platform, but could not get there.
     

    indygunguy

    Expert
    Emeritus
    Rating - 100%
    110   0   0
    Dec 12, 2010
    1,338
    48
    NE Side of Indy
    I'm often surprised by what people will tolerate. I'd have dumped that (and have) as fast as I could if it couldn't be fixed.

    Went through FOUR (yes, 4) NEW (at that time) Ruger mini-14/30 platform rifles back in the late 90s. None were worth 2 cents. Two were returned to the store (and they took them, that tells you how bad they were). The other two were sold with full disclosure. Didn't meet any of my standards for reliability or accuracy. If it doesn't go "bang" darn near every time you pull the trigger, what's the point? Went to the AR platform and have never looked back.

    In fairness, I've heard Ruger has improved the mini platform since then. Too little too late for me. Never again. Too bad, because I like Ruger and really wanted to like that platform, but could not get there.

    I've owned 3 mini-14s over the years and I've always really wanted to like them. But all 3 were unreliable, and inaccurate - Especially compared to any mid-grade modern AR15.

    And now that I think about it, I've had the same experience with M1 Carbines. I've owned a few, but never gotten one to work reliably.

    Hard to beat an AR15 in 556, in my experience.
     

    JHB

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Oct 7, 2016
    502
    18
    Columbus
    I've owned 3 mini-14s over the years and I've always really wanted to like them. But all 3 were unreliable, and inaccurate - Especially compared to any mid-grade modern AR15.

    And now that I think about it, I've had the same experience with M1 Carbines. I've owned a few, but never gotten one to work reliably.

    Hard to beat an AR15 in 556, in my experience.

    This has been at the back of my mind every time I looked at them. Guess it may be the reason I still don't have either.
     
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