new gun

[exhumed07]

not sure how many people on here are hunters/shooters, but thought i would ask. I'm looking at buying my first AR15. I've grown up with guns but they have all been bolt action rifles or shotguns. the onyl semi autos we have are the 1187 12 gauge which is my moms and then my little ruger 1022. i don't have any friends who have owned anything like an AR or AK to ask about it. but right now i've got my eye on an olympic arms flat top. reviews seems good and i like that everything is made in house. not made in china and assembled here in the states. has anyone here ever owned one or known anyone who has? the one i'm looking at is only $700 vs say a bushmaster that runs between $1200 and $1800 I've even seen some for $2800. 700 is more my price range for a gun i plan to only use for coyotes. so any info would be great

 

[FishDad]

700 is a good deal. Real good deal. Have you looked into the cost of the ammo? What caliber?

 

[exhumed07]

this one is labled as .223, but from what i have read online they are accually chambered to 5.56mm in which case it will shoot both. and ammo cost aint to bad in bulk. i found 1000 rounds for $450. I also found a barrel of 12,500 rounds for 5k lol. if i could afford the 5k that would be the best deal as it equalls out to $2.50 per 20 rounds. local gun stores are wanting between 10-25 for a box of 20. one thing i like about this AR is it's got a chromolly steel barrel, brass deflector, and forward assist. things more commonly found in the higher end models. but the front grip will need to be replaced. it's just a cheap plastic hand grip. i'll replace that with a free floating quad rail. just need to decide if i want a carbine length or full length. then need to decide what to do with optics. plan on a scope ranged out to 200 yards, red dot sight for 100 yards and then on a 45 degree offset some backup iron sights for 50 yards or closer. then a fold up bi pod. thats the idea at least. I looked into bolt actions but they cost about the same as an AR. and if i have say 2-3 dogs in range the AR is a better option due to the more rapid fire.

 

[FishDad]

Sounds like you know what you're doing. I'm more of a home defense weapons guy.

 

[exhumed07]

i do alot of hunting and those guns are also home defence weapons. if anyone was to break into the house and heard me load one of the shotguns they would probably go running right then and there. the sound of a shotgun chambering is immediatly recognised and brings fear to anyone doing something illegal lol. we also have the .357 revolver. i keep my 870 12 gauge in my room with 3 inch 00 buck shot loads within reach. bought those loads for coyote hunting as well but they double as a home defence round. As far as me knowing what i'm doing, not really lol. I know nothing about AR15s but i know what i want. just know nothing about the brands and which ones are the most reliable. Some people say you get what you pay for. but alot of times thats not entirly true. my truck cost me 3.5k and it's the most reliable truck i've ever owned lol. got a friend who had a brand new king cab and it was a piece of crap and he paid close to 25k for it. I'm sure the same can be said for brands of guns. obviously u buy a bugatti it's going to be a hell of alot better then a cadilac just like a purdy is a hell of alot better then a remington. but I'm talking about average models.

 

[FishDad]

I've still got a 2001 ford focus that I paid 3k for and really haven't put much into. Plus it beats a car payment. Great on gas to since I work all over. Being in construction I'm sure you'd appreciate that.

 

[exhumed07]

i drive a 99 dakota with a 318 under the hood that with my driving style gets about 11mpg lol. it can get 17mpg if i drive nice though lol.

 

[FishDad]

Wow, that's bad.

 

[exhumed07]

I love my truck lol. everything i've done to it increases power or traction, not fuel economy. high flow intake, a free flowing exhaust, i replaced the differential gears with lower gears for more torque and running oversized off road tires. they are 35 inch **** cepek mud country tires. none of that helps for fuel economy lol.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

From my understanding the newer Olympic ARs are better than the old ones. But as far as ARs go, they aren't very high on the list. Its not top of the line, but it should work. I would suggest getting decent ammo for it, not necessarily expensive ammo....but good quality stuff, also decent magazines. Many times, firearm problems especially in the AR platform can be traced to the ammo or feeding problems. I just finished doing 6 years in the Marine Corps, had this platform in my hands many times (M16 though but same thing basically) and the amount of jams just makes you frustrated. I want an AR but its not my favorite platform in the world. Buy good magazines and decent ammo and you can help avoid these problems.

I'm more into the old wood rifles myself but once I have disposable income will be building an AR. Contrary to the BS the media feeds us, AR's make EXCELLENT home defense guns....especially the small carbine size. Can really move around corners and such much easier than full length weapons like shotguns and rifles lol

I love guns. This is the rig I carried in Iraq

Have a small collection of WWII rifles, my M1 Garands and 1903a3 springfields

I even have bayonets for all of them!

 

[exhumed07]

I've got 12 shotguns from 410 to 12ga (double barrels, single shots, 2 semi auto, couple model 12s and 870s, 2 high power rifles, a remington 700 30-06 and a lee enfield, vietnam era not ww2. and got the 357 revolver. and my most recent purchase was an old hawken muzzel loader i picked up off a friends dad for 75 bucks including bullet mold. i've been around guns my whole life. my dad bought me my 870 for my first gun when i was 13. this is the first time i really looked in an AR but realy don't want to spend a grand. also one thing i like about olympic is they make everything in house. they don't out source and there are no chinese parts in it like colt or bushmaster. thats kinda a big selling point. I've also heard of the problems with the cast recevers on the older models but now it's higher quality forged. also like that everything is mil spec, and i know thats best quality for the money. it's not the best out there but at least being all mil spec i know it's not the worst. also for now i'm just going to buy federal surplus ammo. I can get 1000 rounds of 5.56 or 223 for 500 bucks right now. then i got a friend who will reload them for me and the guy is meticulus like a marine sniper loading his own rounds. he weighs the bullets, the powder, he mics the brass and then mics the bullet in place and weighs the final product to get everything as colse to perfect as possible. the reloads for my 303 are be far the most consistant rounds i've ever shot through that gun. and his accelerator round for the 06 are impressive as well. thats been our coyote gun for years. but it still blows away the hide. figured a 223 woudl be better. also bolt actions are more accurate but same price and less customisable. i like how i can put about anything on an AR, from flashlights for night hunting or home defence to a bipod, lasers, multiple optics, things that are harder to do with a traditional bolt action. I do apreciat the input though cichlid man. oh and just curius. did u ever use the vertical front grip? i've used an AR before and seems just as easy to me to hold the mag well, the vertical grip just seems like a waste of space and weight to me.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

I used it a good bit but it took some getting used to. You'll notice I put it close to the magazine well because I like to hold that as well. Even though the Marines teach you to grip more forward. I prefer the tighter stance. Problem with holding the magazine well is sometimes you put pressure on the magazine which causes a feeding problem. Keep in mind these were with the military issue old metal magazines. So to stop that chance of it happening I put on a broomstick just ahead of the magazine well. It does feel a bit smaller in your hand than the magazine well but once you get used to it you shouldn't have a problem.

If you can grip the magazine well without messing with the magazine go for it. That's part of why I said get some higher quality magazines, so they won't move much when inserted.

This broomstick is hardly noticeable in weight, it's all light plastic.

 

[exhumed07]

the forward grip is more accurate at longer ranges but moving the hand back to the mag well or the handle in your case u can pivot the gun much faster for better room clearing and tight quarters. also gives a slightly smaller profile. I do alot of mil sim paintball and have picked things up from former marines I've played with. paintball guns like the tippman A5 and bob long are very close to real military style weapons and ar15. so they naturally move with them like if they were in real combat situations. it really is rather impressive to see as i was in the navy and never seen any combat zones or anything like that. some of the guys take the paintball just as serious as real combat and they move and act as such. so i am in a sense taking a bit of info they have given me with regards to the paintball and applying it to the ar15 i'm going to get. I know i'm going to get a bipod, free floating front quad rail. leaning towards full length and not carbine. also a scope and red dot sight and backup iron sights. all ranged for different yardages. there are times walking through the woods and i only got a 50 yard shot and the coyote is moving. iron sights would be pretty much perfect in that area. other times i'm on a field edge and got 100 yards, again moving target. red dot is about perfect for that. and other times i'm baiting or calling in and i got a shot at about 200 yards. a good 12X scope is perfect for that. thats my idea at least. and it will deffinatly be a work in progress for some time.