Black guns

[mold maker]

/\ /\ Facts well stated. /\ /\

[charlie b]

I like to go visit PSA when visiting the daughter. They have a nice place. I just don't have the AR 'bug". Carried one many years ago in service and didn't like it much. Tried an AK for a while but got tired of it and sold it a few months later (prices had spiked ).

IF I ever went that way I'd need at least two One for close quarters (SBR or pistol) and one for long range.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I agree with the buy the trigger and barrel , and I have ar platforms of various makes and calibers , most are about the same , you have that much disposable income for buying who has the most expensive ar , pay off your mortgage and cars .

Bragging rights , reminds me of ex father in law with all his high end shotguns and safari double rifles , nice dont get shot much or at all , sit in safe but can be bragged about .

And I suppose it is a matter of need , maybe you need a ar that is built top of the line , can you shoot it that much better , some can some cant , happy enough to buy the parts assemble and tune myself , more satisfaction that way , same as loading instead of buying.

[Texas by God]

I'd rather have three $500 ARs than one $1500 AR.
Oh wait, I do. They are fun to build!

[gnostic]

The $300 AR isn't mil spec. Once you get to mil spec, like Spikes Tactical $1300, I don't think there is a difference. Almost all top brands, are made with Aero Precision parts. A guy on youtube fired a Spikes Tactical 3500 times on full auto, until the upper caught on fire without a stoppage. The day of the $4k AR is over...

[Lloyd Smale]

psa advertises mil spec stuff. That said who cares. I saw lots in the military they specked out that sure isn't any better because some general decided it was. Id bet any soldier in viet nam would have gladly swapped those first *** milspec guns for a 400 dollar psa built today with a rock and roll switch. Heck for around 80 bucks more you can have a coated bolt that's better then milspec. so what do you get for the 1000 dollars more. Maybe a chrome lined barrel and chamber. Might be a slight advantage to someone shooting 3500 rounds of full auto till an upper caught on fire but my guess is that barrel was absolute trash anyway. I think a severe beating for most of us here is 500 rounds of causal blasting on a Saturday with a mag dump or two sprinkled in. I shoot my ars ALOT. But I sure cant afford to shoot 3500 rounds and wear out a barrel just to say I can do it. your talking 350 bucks just in ball bullets. Add to that the price of powder primers brass and a barrel and possibly even a bolt after that abuse. Well north of 500 bucks. Heck for that I can shoot 500 rounds of reloads have fun and pick up another new gun on the way home. Even in a stuff hit the fan situation id rather have 3 500 dollar ars that I could rob parts off of one to keep the others running then one 1500 dollar gun and no parts. Im not a combat soldier and never again will be in that situation so ill leave all the fantasy of full auto gun battles to the walter middy types. All that said I do own two 1000 dollar level ars. One colt and one stag. both I got on trade deals when I first got into ars. Would I sell them and buy cheaper ones. Nope. but I don't have to. Would I go out and spend over a grand on a new one today. NOT A CHANCE.

[lefty o]

none of them are mil-spec. plain and simple. they may meet the specifications, but that doesnt make them mil-spec. personally, mil-spec is just the lowest common denominator of acceptable.

[Texas by God]

Mine are ME-SPEC.

[gnostic]

My take on 'mil spec' is, the parts are non proprietary or they're interchangeable...

[mikwat]

none of them are mil-spec. plain and simple. they may meet the specifications, but that doesnt make them mil-spec. personally, mil-spec is just the lowest common denominator of acceptable.

Mine are much nicer

[FLINTNFIRE]

I watched a few of those blast on full auto and it is funny how the guy I watched did some things different to get his desired results , kind of like reading the latest and greatest in a gun magazine , who pays the money or gives the parts gets the best press it seems like .

I do not have helicopters or trucks delivering the ammo either it is buy cheap or load with best buys you can find to shoot , and I do not see the advantage to overheat a barrel , and wear parts out or stress them so they fail later, as has been said most of the parts are interchangeable and fit one to the next , spend your money on a good barrel , try some of the other brands , you may be surprised and then you may just have a blasting barrel , have fun time to go shoot.

[Love Life]

Mil-spec is not just a word to throw around.

[Wis Tom]

I can only speak for myself, for I was one of those old guys, that just didn't need that AR, all through the Obama scare, prices and all. I had my Mini 14's, had a Saiga in a 223, and just thought that was for the others. But once I picked up that first Ruger 556, and the price was under $600, the bug has bitten, and I was hooked. Next came the PSA site, and from there, the fun began. I enjoy shooting them, I enjoy putting on different parts, different triggers, and any spare parts, to me, are just a plus, for the future. I don't have the high dollar AR, but have shot many, at the range. I don't buy those, as I save that money, for the revolvers, that I am always looking for. The nice thing about an AR of today, is the low priced AR, can be added to, with your different parts, in time, and levels, to become a pretty decent shooter, with each added part, but with most of mine, I only shoot at 100 yds. and I just don't have to add much, to mine, to be very happy, in my results. Put an AR together for under $400, was unheard of 10 years ago.

[JSnover]

Mil-Spec as a standard for a serviceable, functional rifle (assuming a trained rifleman gives it proper care): good enough for most infantry, good enough for most of us. As far as I know the standard-issue rifle still meets an accuracy requirement of 3 MOA.
If you never clean your Mil-Spec rifle you'll have stoppages, if you fill it with mud it won't run. That doesn't mean you bought junk, it means you need to take better care of your equipment.
If your rifle has to be indestructible or match-quality or if you have to pimp it out with all the latest gadgets, you'll have to spend more. That doesn't necessarily mean you bought a better rifle.

[Bill*B]

Black rifles - to me - are utility items, pure and simple. They are butt ugly and I don't like their ergonomics, but I bought one just to have something that chambers the current military caliber, and will work first time, every time, all the time. I have absolutely no interest in "upgrading". My inexpensive, "entry level" choice is tough as nails and will wear me out. When I want to pet something pretty, I will take my Remington 721 out of the rack.

[DDriller]

May be ugly but a very versatile platform. I have uppers from .22 to .458

[JSnover]

Black rifles - to me - are utility items, pure and simple. They are butt ugly and I don't like their ergonomics, but I bought one just to have something that chambers the current military caliber, and will work first time, every time, all the time.

Agreed. There's no magic in them, Uncle Sam wasn't looking to build priceless family heirlooms or works of art; they're tools.

[Love Life]

Black rifles - to me - are utility items, pure and simple. They are butt ugly and I don't like their ergonomics, but I bought one just to have something that chambers the current military caliber, and will work first time, every time, all the time. I have absolutely no interest in "upgrading". My inexpensive, "entry level" choice is tough as nails and will wear me out. When I want to pet something pretty, I will take my Remington 721 out of the rack.

Agreed. My AR-15 M4 wannabe is bare bones. Pencil barrel, slick hand guards, with iron sights, and I keep a 20 rd mag in it. The AR-10 has a 16.5 in barrel, collapsible stock, and an optic to take advantage of the added range. All the mags are loaded with Nosler partitions for the AR-10.

[Divedigger]

Thanks for everyones replys about the Black Rifle! Tech and quility have came a long way in the last fews yrs and from reading everyones replys I now see that with the right knowledge of parts and howto this can be a very accurate and nice rifle without hundreds or thousands of dollars of investment. The Timex and Rolex anology makes sense, what does it really take to make a good shooter, do you want go shoot your rifle or talk about it? Again Thanks Divedigger

[Bazoo]

Cheaper ARs normally don't have chrome lined barrels is one aspect, also quality of the barrel, fit and finish, quality of the internals and care during assembly are others. The receivers can be made out of different alloys of aluminum, some are "better" than others.

Between 3 ARs I've owned I don't recall ever having a malfunction much less a problem. 2 bushmasters and a cheap dpms. The dpms wasn't chrome lined but the bushmasters were, both old bushys.

I'm not big on the tricked out ones, but those old A2 rifles are fine weapons, accurate and reliable. The balance is right and that long gas system runs better in my opinion. Kinda like the difference between a 5" 1911 and a compact.