99% of your Budget AR problems, explained in one article.

[Boz1911]

Solid info, thanks

 

[sambo77]

Agreed that it should be a sticky, but I doubt that it would make a difference. Just like every single "What scope should I get" thread that pops up every week.

hey now I've posted one of those but the scope wasn't for me, and it was a market pf high dollar scopes I've never ventured into haha. But seriously I doubt it would too. Couldn't hurt for them to make it one though just in case someone out there might actually read it.

 

[fattboyzz]

 

[mtdawg169]

So, with so many AR's on the market, what is a good AR for a newbie to get to avoid all the pitfalls which the author warns about?

If you actually want to avoid all of the pitfalls, remove "budget AR" from your vocabulary. You're better served to look for a *quality* gun at a good price. Save for a couple more weeks / months and spend $800-1,000 on a solid carbine. It may require waiting for sale and buying a lower & upper separately.

BCM, Sionics, Sons of Liberty Gun Works, Colt, all offer excellent guns in that range, just to name a few. All of those will be assembled fully to the correct spec, with true milspec quality parts or better. There are other manufacturers that I'd recommend, but many of them are north of the $1k mark.

With that being said, let's try to not turn this into a "my favorite brand" or budget vs xxx brand discussion. I think we'd all be better served discussing the article and its specific points.

 

[haymons22]

I've had good luck with all but one "budget ar" thus far. That being said, I would recommend buying a good factory build like mtdawg169 said.

Getting back on topic, the budget AR I had problems with was with the gas system. Specifically the gas block. It was a cheap aluminum gas block like the article described and I had to replace it. The rifle worked perfect for about the first 200 rounds and then wouldn't cycle for anything. I started noticing that I was getting carbon all over my support hand when shooting it and that's about when it crapped out on me.

 

[mtdawg169]

I've had good luck with all but one "budget ar" thus far. That being said, I would recommend buying a good factory build like mtdawg169 said.

Getting back on topic, the budget AR I had problems with was with the gas system. Specifically the gas block. It was a cheap aluminum gas block like the article described and I had to replace it. The rifle worked perfect for about the first 200 rounds and then wouldn't cycle for anything. I started noticing that I was getting carbon all over my support hand when shooting it and that's about when it crapped out on me.

^^^A perfect example of why aluminum gas blocks are never a good idea.

 

[haymons22]

^^^A perfect example of why aluminum gas blocks are never a good idea.

I wish I had taken pictures of the one I had but it was pretty similar to that.

 

[Duce4trey]

Good article.
Digging the gas rings test on the bolt. First time i have heard that.

 

[mtdawg169]

Good article.
Digging the gas rings test on the bolt. First time i have heard that.

Really?

 

[Duce4trey]

Really?

clearly I dont operate.......