My introduction to the AR platform

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medic joe

Well-known member
It has been around 20+ years now. Since one of my older bro's(Recon combat grunt in Viet Nam). Advised me to get rid of my bolt rifle & buy me an AR. I told him, "I do not like that design". He followed up, "They are an accurate rifle & have a very fast follow up shot". Yet I held off buying one for awhile anyway. Not long afterwards. I bought one & gave it a go. It was a 20" HB 1:9 twist .223 Bushmaster AR. I bought varying mfg ammo & bullet weights. Wanting to find the most accurate ammo. While testing those various bullets. I quickly realized how accurate my rifle was. Shooting the 45gr HP Win Varmint pack. It would print(no crosswind days). 1/2-3/4" groups consistently off of a bench rest or shooting prone. The 55gr Win Ballistic Tips. Were more accurate @ 100yrds in a crosswind vs the Win 45 gr HP Varmint Pack ammo. Which would drift 4" in a 10mph crosswind. I used both for hunting coyotes. Which ended up very similar in the kill shots. I've been hooked on AR's ever since. I still miss my 22-250 bolt rifle now & then. Because it was a tack driver shooting prone.
 
Even though I have killed pigs, coyotes, and deer with mine, I am still a bolt guy.

AR's are fun to shoot though. I am going to build a good long range AR one day.

I have an old NEF single shot with a 1:12 twist that loves those 45gr Winchesters.
 
My introduction to ARs. 55 years ago they handed me one when I landed in Chu Lai Vietnam, took us out in the jungle and we sighted them in. A week riding around in the dozer was enough and I went to the armory and traded it for a M-14 and a Stevens pump shotgun.

Fast forward a half century and I won the PM Egg Shoot and the first prize custom AR in 20P, beautiful rifle and very accurate, I just couldn't get comfortable with it, it was just awkward in my hands. I tried everything else including a shorter upper(it helped a little) the have a few different risers, I just can't get into it like bolt-actions or a combo gun. Yes I have it a chance and then some, killed some coyotes with it even, if it weren't a sentimental trophy I would have sent it down the road . Ive tried chassis and get the same vibes from them. I have four thumb hole stocks and two are laying on the stock shelf, one is on a rifle for my wife and the other is on my target 222 Rem, it works fine on a benchrest.
 
Shot bolt guns all my life hunting and 25 years in competition. Never paid any attention to the AR's until they started showing up and shooting well at matches. Picked up a Bushmaster Preditor and it was a tack driver. The AR pistol grip provides a straighter trigger pull, more natural position for my hunting style, sitting w/rifle shouldered on sticks for duration of stands in brush country.
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I own a beautiful Colt LE model AR. Problem is that I associate it with work. Now my bolt action rifles speak to me of relaxing days hunting.
 

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i had shot preban colts back in the day. wasnt real impressed, but we were just blastering with irons and surplus ammo.

fast forward years later... grandpa passed away and all of us grandkids got a small check out of the estate, his only requirement was spend it on something that will last.

so... i picked up a bushmaster ORC & a cheap bushnell, got my reloading press, fed it my first batch of handloads - and shot what still is likely one of the best groups of my life with some 55gr vmax over varget. holy sh!t i was hooked.

currently i have 11 calibers in the ar platform (including ar10), multiple of which are setup for 500yd+ usage. most of those will produce sub MOA accuracy, some of them capable of sub ½ MOA.

they've claimed multiple deer for the freezer, tore varmints of various types to pieces, and made a *lot* of holes in paper and splashed paint off steel.
 
I remember hearing all the stories, mostly from people who didn't have one. I was convinced they were not accurate until I was at 1980 Camp Pendleton Edsen range and hitting a 500 meter target with one using ball ammo and iron peep sights. And these were older m16A1's leftover from Vietnam. I have a few still.
 
We all have our own definition of accuracy. We have guys at the club that shoot our steel plate at 300yds and think they have accurate rifles. The plate is the size of a truck steering wheel, at least 18". I usually shoot at a 4" plate at 300yds. With my 308 its no problem keeping it swinging shot after shot. I've had several AR's and the only one I considered accurate was a Rock River with a 20" heavy barrel. It cut holes at 100yds consistently with handloads. I guess I set the bar to high after that rifle as none of the others came close to that one. But same as all the rest, it went to a new home.
 
Cast 165gr, 2400 fps, 200 yds from DPMS AR10 308W carbine. Yup, they just work OK. Unmarked was buddy who never shot an AR before. He did good too. Just a front (hornady 3 sided plastic stand), sitting on a water cooler at his makeshift bench in the sunflower patch. Oh, old Nikon scope.
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Some years back. My brother bought me an 24" HB Olympic 243WSSM upper for my 223 lower. I shot factory 95gr Win SBT. I could shoot 1" groups @ 100yrds either prone or off of a bench. So I viewed both the rifle & factory bullet as accurate. The big difference between the 243 wssm vs the 55gr .223. Was wind drift bucking ability. So I stuck with the wssm for many yrs. As I liked shooting coyotes at long range. It didn't kill any/much better than the 223(well it sorta did). But due to the heavier rd cutting wind much better. Is what I liked most about the wssm rd. Most coyotes I killed with it. Were around the 300yrd to 1/4 mile range. Nothing like a long range thumper. Unfortunately the wssm rd was eventually discontinued. Seems like when there is a good thing invented. The brainiacs in the ammo industry. Take it away. WTH?...go fish.
 
medic joe said:
Some years back. My brother bought me an 24" HB Olympic 243WSSM upper for my 223 lower. I shot factory 95gr Win SBT. I could shoot 1" groups @ 100yrds either prone or off of a bench. So I viewed both the rifle & factory bullet as accurate. The big difference between the 243 wssm vs the 55gr .223. Was wind drift bucking ability. So I stuck with the wssm for many yrs. As I liked shooting coyotes at long range. It didn't kill any/much better than the 223(well it sorta did). But due to the heavier rd cutting wind much better. Is what I liked most about the wssm rd. Most coyotes I killed with it. Were around the 300yrd to 1/4 mile range. Nothing like a long range thumper. Unfortunately the wssm rd was eventually discontinued. Seems like when there is a good thing invented. The brainiacs in the ammo industry. Take it away. WTH?...go fish.
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I'm not sure about the WSSM line, but the WSM line was discontinued because Winchester lost a lawsuit.
 
Coming from a Benchrest background, I avoided AR's for years, but finally bought a Ruger MPR on principle.

After taking up thermal coyote hunting, it's now my preferred weapon of choice, having now built 3 to suit those needs.

And they will rival my bolt guns for accuracy, win/win.
 
It is hard for me to transition between the AR and the Bolt. Right now, I am shooting my 22-250. It has an 18" barrel and is threaded for my suppressor. My problem is that I have used the AR (223 with 16" barrel suppressed) so much over the past 4 years that I'm having difficulty remembering to work the bolt after the shot. The second part of that is when I do work the bolt, I'm not doing it with authority. I'm trying to catch the brass which ends up sometimes bouncing back into the action. I need to remember to fully eject the brass and pick it up off the ground rather than trying to catch it to keep from losing some. I do enjoy the cleaner brass and flatter shooting with the 22-250, but I'm not convinced that the AR isn't a better night calling outfit just for the follow up shots.
 
DoubleUp said:
It is hard for me to transition between the AR and the Bolt. Right now, I am shooting my 22-250. It has an 18" barrel and is threaded for my suppressor. My problem is that I have used the AR (223 with 16" barrel suppressed) so much over the past 4 years that I'm having difficulty remembering to work the bolt after the shot. The second part of that is when I do work the bolt, I'm not doing it with authority. I'm trying to catch the brass which ends up sometimes bouncing back into the action. I need to remember to fully eject the brass and pick it up off the ground rather than trying to catch it to keep from losing some. I do enjoy the cleaner brass and flatter shooting with the 22-250, but I'm not convinced that the AR isn't a better night calling outfit just for the follow up shots.
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Boy, do I know your dilema, Owen. I had hunted exclusively w/Dtech 243WSSM when landowner banned AR's on his property. I first switched to a savage scout, as it was short, like the AR; can't tell you how many times I completely failed to chamber a round or short shucked it and missed an opportunity for second shot. That and the pistol grip fit my hunting position much better than conventional stock. Only SA I could find to fill the void was a BAR, which barely fulfills my accuracy requirements for a calling rifle and I still haven't found a way to straighten out the pistol grip shortfall.

May have to alter the BAR stock like I did the Scout, but hoping to get used to the straighter stock at this point in time.
 
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