Help?? AR15 vs ACR vs SwissArms

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xopher

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Im planning on getting a rifle for my upcoming birthday however i can't decide which one to get. I was pretty much set on getting the upcoming $1000ish Canadian AR after one of the guys at my range let me try out some of his AR15s. Since then, ACR has arrived in Canada. I started thinking about getting it because i can slap on a questar barrel to get it classified as non restricted. However, ive heard you dont get the quality for the price. For that reason i started considering a swissarms....

Here are the pros and cons of each (please tell me if im missing anything crucial)

AR15

Pros:
-Light Weight
-Customization
-Cheaper compared to other choices

Cons
-Restricted


ACR

Pros
-Suppositely lighter due to polymer (dont quote me on this)
-Non restricted: I can shoot this anywhere with the questar barrel

Cons
-Price
-Was told i do not get the quality for the price

Swiss Arms

Pros
-Legendary Quality and reliability
-Non restricted
Cons
-Price
-HEAVY!!!


Let say i get the ACR classified as non restricted by the RCMP. If i go to an approved range to shoot my restricted, can i do a quick barrel swap on my ACR and make it shorter?
 
Illegal to put a barrel shorter than 18.5" on an unrestricted centerfire rifle. No exception on that... If you want to put a shorter barrel, you have to register the rifle as restricted first... If the rifle is already restricted, you can put any kind of barrel on it but have to report the change (if you keep the new barrel on)
 
If I'm not mistaken, the vanilla ACR is heavier than most vanilla AR variants.. and of course there is cost/classification to consider.
 
It depends... If you only ever shot it at the range, you can get 2 quality AR's for the same price as a Swiss Arms or ACR. But if you want to be able to grab your rifle and shoot a few yotes, or take it up to the cottage for some back woods plinking, than the Swiss Arms or ACR are your only (listed) options. If you're situation is the second of the two I listed, I'd go for the Swiss Arms. You can pick up an excellent condition used one off the EE (usually with extras) for around $3000. That's what I did when I got my Swiss, and I don't regret it. Sub MOA accuracy at 200 yards with my handloads too!
 
Some things to consider:

The Swiss arms and ACR are 3k rifles. The Swiss arms is however patterened after a true military rifle.

The AR15 based on the NEA specs is a heck of a rifle for the price. One option I would consider is buying the AR and a non restricted CZ858. $1700 before taxes. Half the price of one ACR or Swiss. The cz is also cheap to shoot and a lot of fun. Load up some hunting rounds and use it for deer especially in slash logging road areas. Add in a mini 14 target rifle with a mid grade scope and you have 3 decent rifles for less than one ACR.

Another option is the Tavor. It comes as non restricted uses AR mags and is based off a 21st century battle rifle. If you get the upgraded factory rail the M21 sight has quick release which allows you to use it on rifles with left side charging handles. The Eotech was designed for the AR and doesn't work well on some of these other rifles. You can now buy the Tavor with rail for $2700 without optic.

There are lots of options out there. If you're set on the ACR then go for it. Just be prepared to pay the early adopter price.
 
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ACR is actually heavier than an AR.

Swissarms and good quality AR15 are both mature technology. After some personal experience with buying brand new technology I prefer to wait a few years for 'debugging'.
 
Gundoggy said:
ACR is actually heavier than an AR.
Click to expand...
And the heavier-than-it-needs-to-be barrel makes it front-heavy, too. (and why does it have a M4 profile barrel?) I'm not crazy about the 1:9 twist either. It's too bad...I wanted to like the ACR but at $3k it's about $600-$800 more than it should be.
 
To the OP:

How much money do you have (or want) to spend???

The typical AR can be had for as little as $699 (Norc M4gery:p).

Typical price on an ACR is in the $3000+ range.

You'll never find a new Swiss Arms for under $3000.

If you haven't got buckets of money (if you do how's about sending some of it my way ?:D ), I'd go with the AR. The downside is you can only shoot it at an approved range.
 
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xopher said:
Im planning on getting a rifle...
Click to expand...

Weight (heaviest to lightest): Swiss Arms, ACR, AR15
* ACR with Questar barrel and AR15 with quad rail will be very comparable
* The Swiss Arms is a tank (even without the B&T quad rail).

Classification: ACR, Swiss Arms, AR15
* AR15 will always be restricted... :(
* While you can swap the barrel assemblies out on the ACR, we lack the
piston/release assembly from Bushmaster for the second barrel. And the
upper of the ACR is the 'firearm' component (unlike the AR15), so the non-
restricted/restricted barrel thing is a definite no-no (as was pointed out).

Price (most to least $$): Swiss Arms, ACR, AR15
* You can easily spend more on a premium/customized AR15!
* Even with the Questar barrel and folding stock, the ACR is going to be
about $1k less than the Swiss Arms with quad rail, stock and mount.

Quality: Swiss Arms - AR15 (tie), ACR
* This one is a bit of an unknown, but a premium AR is easily on par or
superior to a Swiss Arms. The ACR is still relatively new, but it's largely a
Magpul design so you have the durable/ruggedness aspect - and the barrel
from Questar is match-grade.

Features (from greatest to least): AR15, ACR, Swiss Arms
* AR15 - the ultimate in customization and modification. Nuff said.
* ACR - folding/collapsible stock, aluminum rail or polymer hand guard
(bonus is that most of the ACR is Magpul already to one extent or another;
it's also the only rifle fully ambidextrous out-of-the-box).
* Swiss Arms - folding/collapsible stock, quad rail, top/hand rail mounts.
 
Master-G said:
And the heavier-than-it-needs-to-be barrel makes it front-heavy, too. (and why does it have a M4 profile barrel?) I'm not crazy about the 1:9 twist either. It's too bad...I wanted to like the ACR but at $3k it's about $600-$800 more than it should be.
Click to expand...

The Questar match-grade barrel is *substantially* lighter, so I suspect that with the folding/collapsible stock (slightly heavier) it may balance out really nicely. This barrel is also chambered in .223 Wylde with 1/8 twist. More than an ACR, but much less than a comparable Swiss Arms.

trekstor said:
I would consider mr1 or tavor. Swiss Is nice, maybe one day for me.
Click to expand...

The Benelli MR1 isn't in the same league, and the Tavor, FS2000 and PS90 are all bullpups (different style, and they don't necessarily offer the same kind of real estate for accessories).
 
blaxsun said:
The Questar match-grade barrel is *substantially* lighter, so I suspect that with the folding/collapsible stock (slightly heavier) it may balance out really nicely. This barrel is also chambered in .223 Wylde with 1/8 twist. More than an ACR, but much less than a comparable Swiss Arms.
Click to expand...
That's the ticket....it's what Bushmaster/Remington should've done in the first place!
 
Shrapnel said:
Plus tax... more than 3000$!
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Base ACR is $3,125 plus taxes; you need at least the low-profile mount (+$125) for any Swiss Arms (unless it's the flat top, but you'll pay a lot more for those) which puts them both at around the same price for the restricted versions of each.

Non-restricted you're probably looking at $400-$500 more for either (NR barrel for the ACR), so again - very similar. A direct comparison with the aluminium hand rail on the ACR would add about +$650-$800 to the price of the Swiss Arms (and if you thought it was heavy *before* the quad rail...)

The folding/collapsible stock is similar ($425 and $550), but again - this is optional. Honestly, having owned several Swiss Arms I am not at all concerned about the weight of the ACR. :D
 
Shrapnel said:
Illegal to put a barrel shorter than 18.5" on an unrestricted centerfire rifle. No exception on that... If you want to put a shorter barrel, you have to register the rifle as restricted first... If the rifle is already restricted, you can put any kind of barrel on it but have to report the change (if you keep the new barrel on)
Click to expand...

Not true. You have 30 days to report the change to the CFC. It does instantly become restricted though.
 
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