Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles School me on my new AR

This is good to know as I've been digging around for a set of high Weaver style rings. I'll just buy a set of the ones mentioned above. Thanks for the info guys. We are really lucky to have such abundant resources to refer to in our members here.

The rest of my build came in today. A quick watch on YouTube on how to assemble the BCG and the charging handle, and I had the gun together in about 10 minutes. No scope for now, but am really looking forward to getting it running real soon. I've got 150 rnds of ammo set aside, and plan on building up a stash before the election. What bullet weights are best suited for a 20" 1 in 7 twist barrel?

anything 55 grs or heavier should be fine. the 1/7 twist is necessary for the heavier bullets in the 75gr+ weight.

congrats on your new rifle!

Just might sneak out to the range with it this morning.

Well done. Now get ready to spend the rest of your income building your "next" AR. There always seems to be a next. LOL

I haven't even fired it yet and I'm all ready thinking about the next one. This one's entry level, the next one will be built for long range varmint sniping.

First trip to the range with the new AR today. I had hoped to do it outside where I could stretch it out a bit, but it's raining cats and dogs, so we'll be indoors at 50 yards. Going to make a day of it and take good care to break the barrel in slowly. Should be a good time!

I have had a few scopes on my ARs, but currently I'm running a Bushnell 4200 2.5-10x50 on my 6x45, a 1.75-6x32 VX3 on my 7.62x39, a 1.5-5x20 VX3 on my BCM Mid-Length and a 3-9x40 VX1 on a heavy barrel 5.56.

The two VX3s are my favorites on the AR because they are smaller and don't throw off the balance as much as the heavier scopes, also their profile is just a bit lower than the others which is helpful with the higher mounting systems found on ARs.

Three of those are in cantilever mounts, my favorite being the DNZ Freedom Reaper. I have the Nikon P223 mount but it's not nearly as well finished or thought out as the DNZ.

The other is in a set of Burris Extreme X-High rings, which work, but are bulky and heavy and frankly very ugly.

The lower powered and lighter Leupolds would be my choice simply because they don't effect the balance as much as a heavier scope will.

Aero Precision makes some really nice AR scope mounts. Mine are the "right" heights and are pretty much bullet proof.

http://aeroprecisionusa.com/scope-mounts.html

kwg

I'm starting out with the open sights, but will be mounting a scope eventually. I can see why the raised mounts are necessary. What's everyon'e opinion on QD bases? I was thinking it would be nice to drop the scope in a hurry, but just about anything from a coin to a screwdriver, to the back edge of a knife will fit in the slot of most mounting screws. Will they stay locked up tight (the QD's) and will the scope and ring assembly hold point of impact?

I put QD rings on my in line ML to make cleaning easier, and on my AR for the reasons you mention. Have had one 8 years the other 11, never took either off yet.

It was rainy up here all morning, so I went to an indoor range which goes out to 50 yards. At 25 yards it prints one little hole, all touching. At 50 yards it's about 1/2" group. I need to adjust the elevation, but just chose not to mess with it today. One glitch identified it's self. The first round out of the magazine into the chamber via the charging handle was an FTF. It did it three times. I tried slamming the charging handle, and pushed the forward assist but it still did it. I was working with 5 rnds in the mag. Any thoughts or suggestions? Looks like an extremely light primer hit. Barely a little scratch on the primer. I'm shooting factory ammo.

if you get that dent tiny, and it doesn't go bang, IMHO you were never chambered. Especially if the rest of the rounds went bang.

Not sure why... but the charge handle ain't going to help. FA will if you pound it generally.. just pushing it generally does nothing.

I'd get a brush and clean the chamber out really well first thing... that may well eliminate it in the futuer.

Thanks for the suggestion Rost. I'm on 6 days this week at work, so don't know when I'll get a chance to shoot again, but I'll see how that works.

The little dent is from the free floating firing pin coming forward and hitting the primer during chambering. Inertia causes it to come forward and tap the primer.

You cannot "slam" the charging handle forward.

To properly load the first round into the chamber: Make sure the carrier is locked to the rear and the charging handle is pushed forward until it is latched. Insert the mag, then pull on it to ensure the magazine is locked in. If the mag comes out, it's not locked in. If it's not locked insert and again pull. Do not slap the bottom of the mag. Slapping the mag can drive it too deep in the magwell and cause you problems. Then, simply hit the bolt release.

While you're at it, place a few drops of lube in the exhaust ports of the carrier. This is the most important point on an AR. Then, lube your trigger hammer assembly, especially the pivot points and sear engagement points

Okay, so bear with me as I'm just learning my way around this gun. I want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. I would use the charging handle to lock the BCG back, and then push the charging handle all the way forward? I'm sure I was starting with the BCG forward, and cycling a shell up into the chamber with the charging handle. I'll try it the way your instructing and hopefully that solves this little mystery. I really doubt that there's anything wrong with gun, as it cycled every single round besides the first one in the mag just fine. I'm pretty sure this was pilot error from not knowing any better.

Thanks for everyone's input here. Man, this gun's gonna be fun.

I may have misunderstood what you meant by slamming the charging handle forward. To me, it sounded like you were using your hand to quickly push it forward while attempting the chamber a round. Perhaps you meant something else.

The other method you can use is what is called the "Slingshot" method. To use the slingshot method, insert and lock in a loaded magazine. Then, pull the charging handle to the rear and let it fly. Do it right and your hand will snap backward a bit.

The biggest problem slingshoting the charging handle like that is the tendency to let your hand creep forward before the release, or not drawing the charging handle all the way back. Both can lead to the round not being fully chambered.

I hope this clears up any misunderstanding

In a properly working gun, there is no worry about letting the charge handle creep forward a bit before releasing. Or not drawing it all the way back either.