Help understand AR-15s

O

okshooter

Member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
BC
I noticed that owning an AR-15 of some sort is almost a rite of passage for gun enthusiasts in Canada. I understand that they look cool, and that you can easily customize them.

I wonder however what are the technical advantages of the platform over other non restricted semi-automatic rifles (tactical or hunting ones, even SKS).

My understanding is that the restricted status is simply there due to the way that they look (they look scary, so they are "assault rifles"). But, especially with magazines limited to 5 rounds, are there any practical advantages to AR-15s?

I'm just trying to understand the appeal as I'm very ignorant about the subject.
 
AR-15 mags aren't limited to 5 rounds in practice, since AR-15s accept the LAR-15 pistol mags (10 rounds) or the 50 Beowulf mags (14 rounds or more, depending on the manufacturer).
 
okshooter said:
I noticed that owning an AR-15 of some sort is almost a rite of passage for gun enthusiasts in Canada. I understand that they look cool, and that you can easily customize them.

I wonder however what are the technical advantages of the platform over other non restricted semi-automatic rifles (tactical or hunting ones, even SKS).

My understanding is that the restricted status is simply there due to the way that they look (they look scary, so they are "assault rifles"). But, especially with magazines limited to 5 rounds, are there any practical advantages to AR-15s?

I'm just trying to understand the appeal as I'm very ignorant about the subject.
Click to expand...

If your a competitive shooter they are very practical and not all mags are limited too 5 rds as well as they can be had from a variety of price ranges from $500-many many thousands so they are affordable for people with different budgets.
 
Light weight, low recoil, decently accurate out of the box, a blank canvas that you can build anything out of - PDW, DMR, hunting rifle, IPSC race gun, the sky's the limit... Like Honda Civic of semiauto centerfire rifles but the kind that you can also convert into a truck or a 4x4 :cool: Quick-change uppers also make those conversions very fast and easy, so you can have one lower and just match the right upper for the application.
 
Stocks, barrel lengths, handguards, rails, accessories, triggers, calibers. List goes on to what you can do to them.

If you want 22LR, 9mm, 45, 223/556, 762x39, 300 Blkout. I dunno of any other gun that so diverse.
 
It's hard to explain...you just have to shoot one to really figure it out.

As to the question about what is so great about ARs, here are a few things that stand out in my mind:
A stock that is adjustable to different shooters or even to your clothing (think T-shirt in summer vs. 3 layers and a parka in the winter) is a pretty cool feature.
The ability to swap calibers and barrel lengths with just the push of 2 pins (swapping uppers) is pretty awesome.
A wide variety from down and dirty chinese ARs that won't quit to $4K veritable engineering works of art!
Many ARs are light, balanced, and practically all are immensely pointable and easy to shoot.
They have been know to make Lieberals wet their pants on occasion *

* reason enough to own them
 
You can not discount their popularity with front line Armies, in terms of the US and Canada among others using the platform. If there were a better all around platform for thaf purpose, it would have risen to the top by now, but there isn't one.

They eventually admitted the M60 was junk and replaced it. If there were a better option than the AR, the Army would use it.

That same familiarity is part of its appeal. There are millions of soldiers on the continent, either serving or released, who are familiar with the platform and want to have their own.
 
okshooter said:
I noticed that owning an AR-15 of some sort is almost a rite of passage for gun enthusiasts in Canada. I understand that they look cool, and that you can easily customize them.

I wonder however what are the technical advantages of the platform over other non restricted semi-automatic rifles (tactical or hunting ones, even SKS).

My understanding is that the restricted status is simply there due to the way that they look (they look scary, so they are "assault rifles"). But, especially with magazines limited to 5 rounds, are there any practical advantages to AR-15s?

I'm just trying to understand the appeal as I'm very ignorant about the subject.
Click to expand...

If you want to understand the appeal of an AR-15, you really must handle and shoot one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom