Are you considering adding an AR-15 to arsenal?
Whether you’re a veteran gun owner or a first-time shooter, this rifle should be a part of your collection. It’s a powerful rifle that works for continuous shooting and is a great option for protecting yourself.
But before you buy an AR-15, you want to know about them in greater detail.
This will help you understand this rather intimidating gun before you buy one. It’ll also help you learn how to use the gun responsibly.
Here’s what you need to know before purchasing an AR-15:
1. What You Can Do With an AR-15
The main benefit of an AR-15 is to protect yourself and your family. It’s a great choice for stopping an intruder who trespasses onto your property.
An AR-15 is less likely to break through walls in comparison to a shotgun which is also used for home defense. AR-15s require a 5.56 caliber that works well at firing at moving targets.
Apart from home defense, one can also rely on an AR-15 for target practice and hunting.
It’s great for catching several moving prey in the wild. It’s also great for practicing at the gun range. It’s also a great choice to teach others how to shoot with rifles.
2. Check Your Laws
The AR-15 is a controversial gun in the United States. It’s sadly been used for many tragic shootings.
As such, in recent years, there’s been a heightened awareness of the damage that can get brought upon by an AR-15. With such knowledge becoming prevalent, laws have followed to limit the use of the AR-15.
You want to check the legality of owning an AR-15 in your state. You’ll also have to study if you’ll need to obtain a special permit to own the gun. You’ll also want to see how readily available the ammunition for an AR-15 is in your state.
Laws regarding firearm ownership are often changing in each state. As a result, you have to consider how “pro-gun” your state is before buying your AR-15. It’s always possible that your AR-15 can become a banned firearm and might get confiscated.
You also want to check if AR-15 accessories and AR-15 parts are legal in your state.
In some states, the gun is legal but certain accessories and parts will still be illegal.
This is often because there are laws to prevent gun owners from creating a custom AR-15 based on their technical expertise.
For example, you might want to alter your AR 15 trigger at any given time. You want to make sure that you’re able to do so.
While most AR-15s are rifles, there is also a less popular AR-15 pistol. In some states, this latter type of gun might be legal while the rifle might be illegal. In other states, one might be able to own the rifle but not the handgun!
3. Check the Quality Control
As the AR-15 is one of the most popular types of guns available, one has to be skeptical of the quality control.
There are some gun manufacturers who mass-produce AR-15s. As such, little importance is given to quality control. Your AR-15 might be defective and therefore, ineffective.
You want to take the time to assess the quality of an AR-15 before you buy one. You should go to your local gun shop to ask about which brands and manufacturers they recommend.
You can also contact the gun manufacturer themselves. You can ask them about how they assess quality control when creating an AR-15.
You should also ask about warranties and how you can get a replacement if your AR-15 if there are defects.
If you own other guns, you may wish to check if these brands also sell AR-15s. If you’re pleased with a brand, it’s likely that they’ll produce an AR-15 that you’ll be satisfied with.
4. Be Prepared to Shell Out
One has to expect to spend a lot of money to buy an AR-15. This is to be expected with any gun purchase.
As such, many first-time gun owners make the mistake of looking for discounts or cheaper guns. But looking for cheap guns will lead to buying poor quality guns.
When you buy an AR-15, expect to pay close to $1,000 and above for a good quality gun. It’s also best to buy a brand new gun or one in mint condition.
While you might wish to customize your AR-15, you should still buy one that’s in good condition.
You can’t buy a poor condition AR-15 at a cheap price and then customize it to your liking. It’ll still be a mediocre gun that won’t have the power you’d hope for.
However, you also want to make sure you aren’t overcharged when buying an AR-15.
As a general rule, you can find a new AR-15 between $900 to $1,200. If it costs more than this amount, it should have added customizations or accessories. Otherwise, you’re being overcharged!
5. Choosing Your Magazine
You want to look around for magazines before buying your AR-15. You should consider speaking to your local gun shop owner on which magazines they recommend.
Your AR-15 will likely come with 1 magazine included. However, there’ll be some that come with none. Depending on your needs, you’ll want to stock up on several magazines at once.
The industry standard for AR-15s has been the P-Mag. These are affordable magazines and are even used within the American Military.
You can also buy clear-window magazines that let you keep track of how many rounds are in the magazine.
As these magazines are quite affordable, you can buy them over time rather than stocking up all at once!
6. Choosing Your Barrel
When it comes to an AR-15, your barrel is crucial to the impact you wish to make when you fire.
The longer the barrel, the greater the impact will be. Your bullet will get fired at a greater velocity with a long barrel.
For most shooters, a barrel ranging between 16 to 18 inches is ideal. A 20-inch barrel works well for shooting stable targets.
You also have to consider the weight of the barrel. A heavy barrel works well for shooting at longer distances. A lighter barrel works well for improving your accuracy.
The barrel will also have a twist rate. This helps you adjust your barrel to fire your bullets as needed. A loose twist works well for shooting a lighter bullet. A tighter twist works well for shooting heavier bullets.
As with your magazine, it’s best to ask your local gun shop owner what are the best barrels for an AR-15. You might also want to own several barrels to experiment with when shooting your AR-15.
7. Care for Your AR-15
You want to also do your research on how to care for your AR-15.
When you go to your local gun shop, ask the owner about which materials are best to clean your AR-15. If you neglect to clean your AR-15, you can expect it to malfunction.
You should also ask the gun shop owner to teach you how to take apart the AR-15. When you take apart the AR-15, you’ll be able to clean the barrel, action, stock, and other parts of the gun.
You’ll also learn how to notice any defects or issues within the gun. If you notice any issues, take them to a gunsmith for repair. Never try to repair your AR-15 on your own!
8. Be Responsible
In the introduction to this guide, we mentioned how the AR-15 is an intimidating gun. It’s because of this that it’s become the subject of controversy.
As such, we urge you to be responsible when you buy an AR-15. Even if you’re an expert shooter, you’ll need to learn how to shoot an AR-15.
It’s best to shoot this gun under the guidance of a trained expert. If you feel you can handle it on your own, make sure you first practice in a closed or isolated range.
An AR-15 fires with greater intensity than most other assault rifles. It’s especially crucial that you invest in a case and safe when you buy an AR-15. You want to make sure it’s kept away from a child or anyone who isn’t skilled with shooting an AR-15.
While most gun deaths haven’t been caused by an AR-15, the few mass shootings that have occurred have led to discussions to ban the gun.
If we wish to protect our 2nd Amendment Rights, we have to also teach responsible gun ownership.
Buy Your AR-15
Now you’re ready to go to your local gun shop to buy your AR-15. Make sure you take time to research the best manufacturer for an AR-15.
Look around for the right accessories and parts that’ll work with your AR-15. Make sure you also educate yourself on the laws and regulations in your state before you buy an AR-15.
Once you get your AR-15, take the time to learn how it works. You also want to take your AR-15 to a gun range to practice your shooting.
Please share this guide with any fellow gun enthusiast who wishes to own an AR-15. You can find more great content relating to gun ownership on our website!
