So, you finally got one of the evil black rifles. Congratulations. Whether it was a Christmas gift from someone or from you to yourself, you’ve got one. And you’re probably asking yourself, “now what do I do with it?” Well relax, we’re here to help. We’ll tell you what to do, and more importantly, what not to do.
Now on to that new AR. Is it a rifle or a carbine? The way to tell whether a firearm is a carbine or a rifle is a fluid one. A twenty-inch barrel has been the informal boundary for years. Anything shorter than twenty inches is a carbine, and anything longer is a rifle. The vast majority of ARs sold are carbines with sixteen-inch barrels.
Before we get into what you should do now that you have one of America’s most popular guns, let me tell you what you shouldn’t do. Ars are called Barbie Dolls for men. This is because of the incredibly vast array of accessories available for the platform. And I mean incredibly vast. And I’ve seen quite a few guns that the owners felt obligated to cram as many of these accessories as possible on. Let me address this quickly; just don’t do it. Close the MagPul, LaRue, Midway, Brownell, and other parts and accessories browser tabs and take a breath.
I’m saving you from the cult of tacticool. This is the belief that any AR part that has the word “tactical” either in the name or description is required by the laws of the cult to be installed on your gun. Don’t take your accessory cues from Call of Duty. Before you start loading your gun down with a bunch of crap, take time to think. If whatever you’re looking at doesn’t, most importantly, directly improve your ability to put rounds on target or, less important, facilitate ease of manipulation, don’t buy it and move on.
Even the most base model of AR comes with a serviceable set of iron sights and a trigger that will make the gun go bang. If this is what you have, it means you have an AR that will easily accomplish ninety percent of the tasks you would use it for. My recommendation for the first things you need to do with your new gun? Clean it and buy ammunition and learn how to shoot it.
Yes, clean it first. We’re not going to get into the mechanics of cleaning a gun here as there are almost more websites and videos on the subject than there are Joe Biden invited illegal immigrants pouring across the border. But clean it. Lots of manufacturers ship their guns with way too much lube in them. By cleaning it you become familiar with the parts and their operation, ensure all the parts are in fact there and installed correctly, and that there’s no obstruction in the barrel.
Some of the more important but overlooked or missing parts to be on the lookout for are the firing pin retaining pin and the gas rings at the rear of the bolt. The firing pin retaining pin is a small usually cotter pin that keeps the firing pin positioned in the bolt. Ensure that it’s there and properly installed.
At the rear of the bolt you should see three gas rings. Make sure they are there, and that none of them are warped or cracked. You may have heard people tell you that you have to ensure that the splits in the gas rings have to be staggered or the gun won’t work. These people are idiots. These rings move on their own, and if the splits are lined up it won’t matter. Whenever you clean your gun, prior to reassembling, reassemble the bolt carrier group, extend the bolt from the front of the bolt carrier, and stand it upright on a level surface with the bolt at the bottom. The carrier shouldn’t slide down. If it does, your gas rings may be worn beyond tolerance and need replacing.
Next, shoot the gun. You may find that right out of the box it puts bullets exactly where you want them to go. If it does that, buy more ammo and really learn how to shoot it. “But John”, you’re saying, “all my friends guns look so much cooler than mine.” So what? Would you rather spend the money on accessories that give you no real advantage and be a poor or mediocre shot, or would you rather have a plain rifle and outshoot your friends? Accessories or practice ammo. The more you spend on one, the less you can afford on the other.
To give you an example, my AR is a Sig Model Four Hundred Classic that I got for defensive use. I put a red dot sight with a three-power magnifier and a flashlight on it. That’s it. That’s all it needed. The red dot lets me acquire and engage targets rapidly at close range and the flashlight helps me identify targets in the dark. Straight out of the box with the factory irons I was able to dial in and shoot half inch groups. Could the reset on the trigger be a little better? Sure. Did I need to put a three-hundred-dollar Geissele trigger in to replace it? Nope, just learned to shoot it as is.
Straight from the factory, with rare exception any quality AR is going to perform to the standard you need it to. I believe I can safely say that, again other than the rare exception, the guns are far more accurate than we shooters are. There are very few parts that offer any true advantage.
What I do see a lot of are aftermarket parts causing problems. Malfunctions that weren’t there when the gun was factory new have cropped up after the “improvements” were made by replacing or adding parts. And I get to hear all the reasons. “The website said the trigger was more accurate.” Yeah, nah. If you’re benchrest shooting a lighter trigger pull can help you shoot more accurately, but doesn’t really make the gun more accurate. The perfect trigger pull allows the gun to remain motionless throughout the firing cycle, until after the bullet has left the gun and can no longer be influenced by a jerk on the trigger, both figuratively and literally.
What you really need to do is address YOUR deficiencies before you go a-tinkering with the rifle. If you’re not shooting half-inch or smaller groups at twenty-five yards, keep practicing or get instruction until you can. Once you’ve overcome your own problems and have mastered the gun then you can start realistically looking at additions to it.
All that about accessories being said, there are valid reasons to add some things to your AR. My goal is to keep you focused on necessary, beneficial changes.
Having carried M4s in foreign lands on three separate occasions, I knew that a red dot optic was beneficial in getting snap sight pictures on close in targets, but not so great at distance. Having been issued an ACOG for one deployment, I learned that powered optics are great for identifying and shooting targets at distance, but were horrible for close in. So my personal gun has a red dot and a flip up three power magnifier giving me the best of both worlds. And, since things with batteries die and things with glass in them break, in the event the optics go down I can still use the iron sights. Depending on what the purpose of your AR is, you may benefit from a red dot or a magnified optic. Do the research and see what’s best for you.
My carbine is also equipped with a flashlight. It’s the same one I had mounted on my M4 on all three of my deployments. A simple SureFire G2X in a Picatinny mount, it gives me the ability to discern targets in the dark. There are other dedicated weapons lights out there. I opted for the setup I have because the mount slides off the rail easily allowing me to use the flashlight as a handheld. Sure a lot safer than pointing a gun at what I want to illuminate.
Having lugged that M4 in foreign lands I learned that a good sling is invaluable. So if you’re going to carry your rifle farther than from the trunk of your car to your lane, get a sling. I personally run a MagPul MS3® Single QD Sling. This sling has a quick-detach connection on one end and clip on the other. There is a polymer connector that allows the user to quickly change from a two-point to a single point configuration. For comfort, durability, and ease of use I can’t recommend this sling strongly enough.
If you’re going to be doing a lot of long-distance shooting in the field where there isn’t a benchrest available, consider a bipod. I have a Harris bipod that attaches to the front sling swivel of my carbine. It’s spring loaded so it stays tucked under the barrel when not in use. The legs are independently adjustable for height so you can level your gun even on uneven surfaces. It weighs less than a pound, and attaches and detaches quickly. I carried mine in a backpack and attached it when I got in a position to do overwatch. Harris has newer models available that allow the rifle to be swiveled on the bipod, Picatinny and M-Lock mounts, and other features.
If you’re looking for a handy storage solution, MagPul makes a pistol grip that takes different cores. This way you can have spare lubricant, batteries, or even a spare bolt and firing pin in the gun’s grip. I’m currently running the lubricant insert with a bottle of CLP quickly available should I need it.
One of the things I’m currently researching is a muzzle brake. Muzzle brakes mitigate the rise of the muzzle of the gun when firing. Makes quick follow up shots much faster as the rifle tends to come more straight back into your shoulder while keeping the sights more lined up on the target under recoil. I’m looking for the most effective one out there. You know, buy once, cry once. Brakes also have the unintended side effect of making you decidedly unpopular with your fellow shooters as brakes tend to be loud. Diverting the muzzle blast up and to the sides it’s really unpleasant standing near someone shooting a gun with a brake installed.
When adding accessories to your AR, keep this phrase in mind: “Ounces make pounds, and pounds equal pain.” It’s an old infantry saying. Modern ARs clock in at around six or seven pounds. The more crap you bolt onto the gun, the heavier it gets. While six or seven pounds doesn’t sound like a lot, carry it around for a few hours.
Hopefully this discussion will save you from adding needless expense and weight to your AR. Starting from a baseline gun that you are consistently shooting accurately, give each accessory a careful evaluation as to what it will help you improve. Optics are a no brainer. Regardless of how good your vision is, it can always be improved with a good optic. As I said, if you’re going to be carrying your rifle for any distance, a sling is invaluable. Other than these two things, be extremely critical in your evaluation of any accessory.
Remember, if it doesn’t directly improve your ability to put rounds on target or, less important, facilitate ease of manipulation, don’t buy it. Any frivolous accessory you refrain from buying frees up money for more practice ammo. And more than anything that’s going to help you improve.
What are some of the dumbest AR15 accessories I’ve seen? You do mean aside from the California mandated bullet button or the non-pistol grip stock, right? Because the whack jobs in California come up with new breathtaking levels of stupid every day. So just sticking to normal stupid? How about a buttstock that holds a Glock 19? Saw one of those. Or a “tactical” bottle opener? Yep, Picatinny rail mounted, for when you need that cool brew while you’re pulling security. But beyond a doubt the dumbest, most useless thing I have seen on an AR is a tomahawk buttstock. Yes, should you find yourself sucked through a black hole and into the Walking Dead universe, once out of ammo you can use your buttstock as a melee weapon. While I admit, it could have been kind of cool, but the tomahawk head was made out of aluminum, so not really useful.
Until next time, shoot safe.
