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As some of you may know there was much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth involved in my decision to buy a rifle. Not really from the perspective of buying a rifle, but really WHAT rifle to buy. I plan on buying others, but this was really going to be my first and it's always special the first time :)

After much debate and frankly just getting tired of trying to figure out the "right" answer as what I should buy I realized there was no right/wrong answer and instead opted to buy something that was easy to acquire, ubiquitous, served the general purpose I wanted (assault rifle) and had cheap ammo. That landed me very squarely on the AR15 (though could have just as easily landed me with an AK47 as well). To be specific I picked up a Bushmaster AR 15 - Mod XM15 E2S Cal 223 - 5.56MM Carbine 16' barrel. Detachable Carry Handle, Iron sites. Teflon Black Finish. Pictures can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdsangster/ ... directlink

My only reservation with the AR15 is that I feel the 223 round is a bit on the wimpy side. I really want something with a bit more heft/power. Ultimately I plan on getting another upper that will allow me to shoot 7.62x39 (AK rounds) which will be cheap and give me the power I want. I could have just opted for an AK as my gun, but i wouldn't have gotten all the bells and whistles and modularity available in the AR world... anyway, that's another discussion.

Eventually I plan on having an Eotech type red dot sight, but I can't justify dropping that kind of bling on a rifle right now after just dropping $1k on the bushmaster and probably another $200 on accessories so far.

Current additions / modifications from stock:

Scope: $59 - BSA Red Dot Reticle Rifle Scope 3-9x40 Illuminated Best of Both Worlds
Needed simply because my vision basically precludes me from effectively shooting out past about 75 yards. This scope was cheap, variable magnification, illuminated and has adjustment knobs for elevation and windage. Everything I need.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ItemDeta ... ku=SCP-213


$10 - Leapers/Rings to go with the above scope
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ItemDeta ... ku=SCP-607

Magazines - $16/each (bought 2 for now) Mag Magpul PMAG, 30 Rounds, MagLevel AR-15 .223 Black 30 Round Magazine with Window Pop Off Storage Dust Cover
These are awesome, plain and simple. Very rugged, work perfectly, come with dust covers, have a nice window to see the rounds. The window also has a gauge to tell round count and they look pretty easy to disassemble. The quality on these compared to the mag that came with the AR is just outstanding.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/MAG084-36.html


Cleaning Kit: $39 - AR-15, M-16 Field Kit Caliber .223 Wire Cable Cleaning System
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ItemDeta ... ku=CLN-425

I have a pretty extensive cleaning kit already for my other guns, but I needed the brushes and recently realized my cleaning rods from my current kit are too big to go down the bore of the AR. Figured I'd just buy a whole new kit.

Also added this to the above kit:
$10 - AR-15 and M16 Chamber Maid Swabs 20 Pack Clean Chamber Felt Swab
After trying to clean the AR without these I now see why they make these swabs. Cleaning that chamber without something like this to the level I like to keep my firearms is almost impossible without fully disassembling the weapon (not something I want to do too often).
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ItemDeta ... ku=ARR-036


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Planned additions / modifications:

Tri-rail riser - This will get my scope above the level of my front sight and generally raise the scope level making it easier to shoot.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ARR170-7.html


Bipod - $109 - AR-15 Mako Vertical Foregrip Converts to a Bipod Adjust from Six to Nine Inches No Slip Textured Feet
I really want a bipod to have a stable shooting platform for the range. The fact that this one is also a front grip is just a bonus. If you look at the reviews for the other bipods on CTD they're very hit/miss. This has a solid rating and appears to be made very well.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ARR278-7.html


Forearm replacement - $69 - AR-15 Leapers UTG Quad Rail, Extended M4 Carbine 10.7", Mil-Spec Forearm Replaces Original Handguards
I just dont really care for the current foregrip design. This looks much better and gives plenty of rails for adding other extras later. It also minimizes the profile of the front iron sight which I don't particularly care for.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ARR157-7.html


7.62x39 upper - $460 - AR-15 7.62x39 16" Pre-Ban A2 Barrel Assembly
This is one of the few completed uppers I've seen for the AR in the caliber I want. If anyone knows of any alternatives or potential issues I might have with this upper in conjunction with any of the other parts I've listed please feel free to point them out. I just realized myself that this upper may not work with the forearm replacement above, but if not that's no big deal since i plan on having 2 completed / hot-swapable uppers. Anyone have an opinion/experience with Del-ton as a retailer or DTI barrels? I will likely not buy this until next year so I have plenty of time to shop around.
http://www.del-ton.com/AR_15_Barrel_p/cv1034.htm

Other suggestions that might work well on this build? I'm not going for distance. I plan on buying a Savage 30.06 later for distance/hunting. This is purely an assault rifle. So long as I'm accurate to 100-200 yards I'm happy.

I'm considering adding a light toward the front of the barrel eventually but that's low down on my priority list. It'll probably be one of the nice LED Lights / Laser combos I have on my shotgun currently. They're cheap, rugged and run on AAAs.

You do realize you did not buy an "assault rifle" but an auto loading sporter rifle. This rifle is neither select-fire or automatic. I have an XM-15 Bushmaster that is very near what you have explained and I assure you it cannot be defined as "assault" anything. I have used this rifle to take whitetail deer and hogs for years with little problem. With modern ammo I do not hesitate to take a shot up to 150 yards with deer and 300+ with wild hogs. So, if necessary the .223/5.56 can be used to put food on the table. I do use a .308 for most of my hunting now but also use an SKS or AK which is more effective at harvesting inside 300 yards.

I also have a $69 BSA on my Bushmaster which is fine for day hunting but not great for low light and especially when shooting into a rising or setting sun. I plan on upgrading to a better scope in time as well. I do think it is a good idea to have a 7.62x39 upper if you don't plan on getting an AK style rifle or other that will fire the round. You will most likely pay the same amount as you would for a decent AK for the upper and is why I chose to buy an AK instead. Relying on one lower in an extreme situation isn't attractive to me.

I plan on getting a .308 AR style autoloader in time but money is the key to that. Now that cheaper .308 is available than years ago I think it would be possible to shoot enough to justify the buy.

I think you are on track with the purchase though you may find you leave the add-on gadgets at home if you ever have to carry or shoot the rifle much. I have taken most of mine off realizing they may be good for certain things they simply get in the way most of the time. That is just my opinion and have fun.

I prefer the term "Military pattern rifle"

A rose by any other name would smell just as....gun powdery?

shootthesheet wrote:You do realize you did not buy an "assault rifle" but an auto loading sporter rifle. This rifle is neither select-fire or automatic. I have an XM-15 Bushmaster that is very near what you have explained and I assure you it cannot be defined as "assault" anything. I have used this rifle to take whitetail deer and hogs for years with little problem. With modern ammo I do not hesitate to take a shot up to 150 yards with deer and 300+ with wild hogs. So, if necessary the .223/5.56 can be used to put food on the table. I do use a .308 for most of my hunting now but also use an SKS or AK which is more effective at harvesting inside 300 yards.
etc ...

Howdy Shootthesheet,

Well, i guess that kinda depends on how you define "assault rifle". You are 100% correct in the truest sense of the term, I agree. Since this rifle does not allow for burst (selective fire) or full auto modes of fire it is not technically "assault" in what some folks would use the term as.

However IMO, in daily life, the term assault rifle does not necessarily require a burst or full auto mode, especially in terms of civilian use. I certainly wouldn't consider taking this into a firefight if i were in the USMC, but I'm not a professional soldier. This is as close as most civilians will get to a full auto assault rifle without a very expensive (and unconstitutional imo) permission letter from the ATF. Straight up, that sucks but that's the way the cookie (constitutional rights) crumbles.

Interesting that you've had good luck hunting with 223 ammo, especially hogs. To look at the size of that round it doesn't look like much more than an elongated .22. Of course there's a lot of powder in there :)

in any case, thanks for the input man. :)

LedJedi wrote:

shootthesheet wrote:You do realize you did not buy an "assault rifle" but an auto loading sporter rifle. This rifle is neither select-fire or automatic. I have an XM-15 Bushmaster that is very near what you have explained and I assure you it cannot be defined as "assault" anything. I have used this rifle to take whitetail deer and hogs for years with little problem. With modern ammo I do not hesitate to take a shot up to 150 yards with deer and 300+ with wild hogs. So, if necessary the .223/5.56 can be used to put food on the table. I do use a .308 for most of my hunting now but also use an SKS or AK which is more effective at harvesting inside 300 yards.
etc ...

Howdy Shootthesheet,

Well, i guess that kinda depends on how you define "assault rifle". You are 100% correct in the truest sense of the term, I agree. Since this rifle does not allow for burst (selective fire) or full auto modes of fire it is not technically "assault" in what some folks would use the term as.

However IMO, in daily life, the term assault rifle does not necessarily require a burst or full auto mode, especially in terms of civilian use. I certainly wouldn't consider taking this into a firefight if i were in the USMC, but I'm not a professional soldier. This is as close as most civilians will get to a full auto assault rifle without a very expensive (and unconstitutional imo) permission letter from the ATF. Straight up, that sucks but that's the way the cookie (constitutional rights) crumbles.

Interesting that you've had good luck hunting with 223 ammo, especially hogs. To look at the size of that round it doesn't look like much more than an elongated .22. Of course there's a lot of powder in there :)

in any case, thanks for the input man. :)

"Assault Rifle" is a military term not to be confused with "Assault Weapon" the anti-2A types have used for years. I don't use the terms because they have both been abused to confuse the ignorant and convince them that the autoloading or "type" rifles are select fire or automatic or "spray fire" or "killing machines". The Clinton AWB of 1994 was built on the terms that were used and I can not easily read or hear the propaganda without shuttering. That goes more to the point when it is a gun guy as I know you are that posted it. It is not a small thing and we cannot allow their language to infest the facts. Since those that are just getting into shooting and owning weapons are on this site a lot we need to control what and how we say things. I am guilty of not doing that and can't "preach" but I can try to make sure we don't hang ourselves again like we did pre-AWB. I hope you understand why I posted that.

Hogs are tough and it is true that the .223 isn't a "stopping power" round. But, the new bullets boost the rounds power from a wound round to a kill round inside that 150 or so yards. May do it beyond that but I don't take the shots on deer just to make sure I don't lose them. I don't care about the hogs because my goal is to kill them and if they run into the brush and die that keeps me from working to get them out of the field. I find most of the ones I shoot just inside the brush line because they stop when they reach the brush most times. That isn't true for FMJ and for all I know they don't die until much later because I don't usually find them. It is better to use a "larger round?" to hunt game animals. And, while the .223 is .22 the extra powder and expanding bullets make up for the small size. With a Mini-14 or AR or AK style rifle a shooter can get a 30+ round mag and that increases the chances of killing more than one. So, most guys around here either use the .233 or 7.62x39 because the guns, mags and ammo are cheap enough to do the job. Hope it helps.

shootthesheet wrote: "Assault Rifle" is a military term not to be confused with "Assault Weapon" the anti-2A types have used for years. I don't use the terms because they have both been abused to confuse the ignorant and convince them that the autoloading or "type" rifles are select fire or automatic or "spray fire" or "killing machines". The Clinton AWB of 1994 was built on the terms that were used and I can not easily read or hear the propaganda without shuttering. That goes more to the point when it is a gun guy as I know you are that posted it. It is not a small thing and we cannot allow their language to infest the facts. Since those that are just getting into shooting and owning weapons are on this site a lot we need to control what and how we say things. I am guilty of not doing that and can't "preach" but I can try to make sure we don't hang ourselves again like we did pre-AWB. I hope you understand why I posted that.
etc...

Hmmm, you know, I was aware of their use of the term "assault weapon/rifle" but honestly i had never really put 2 and 2 together from the political side. I completely agree with you now that I sit and think about it. I really appreciate you pointing that out. I think i'm going to find another term to describe this weapon.... someone suggested "military style rifle" or something similar but maybe I'll go with "zombie slaying rifle" maybe?

Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man and he will increase in learning.
-Proverbs 8:8-9

Maybe I am underestimating the potential of the .223 round, especially with expanding ammo. I wonder if there's something on "box o truth" about 223? Typically I don't shoot hollow points because I have feeding issues in my 24/7 with just about any HP ammo. I'm going to have to run some HP rounds through the 223 and see how it does.

Sweet rifle. 30 round mags are cool, but may get in the way unless you shoot standing or with quite a few sandbags. I'd recommend getting at least one of a smaller size. This is my decision after making the same "mistake". Not a bad thing, just easier on you at the range

I'm excited to see the end result.

karl wrote:Sweet rifle. 30 round mags are cool, but may get in the way unless you shoot standing or with quite a few sandbags. I'd recommend getting at least one of a smaller size. This is my decision after making the same "mistake". Not a bad thing, just easier on you at the range

I have a fair number of 30 round P-Mags, maybe 12 or 13 of them for "something arises" purposes, and they have ammo in them, but those aren't my range magazines. For the range, I use 20 round P-Mags. More time shooting and less time stuffing magazines, for one thing... ...but also, like you say, they're easier to use on a shooting bench.

Likewise, I have 4 or 5 20 round magazines for my M1A, but I often use the 10 round mag that came with it at the range because it is less cumbersome. A 20 round mag for .308 cartridges has got to be at least as long, if not longer than a 30 round .223 magazine.

The Annoyed Man wrote: I have a fair number of 30 round P-Mags, maybe 12 or 13 of them for "something arises" purposes, and they have ammo in them, but those aren't my range magazines. For the range, I use 20 round P-Mags. More time shooting and less time stuffing magazines, for one thing... ...but also, like you say, they're easier to use on a shooting bench.

When the dead rise from their graves I'll be stopping by your place first (zombies, that is).

I agree, drop the use of the term "Assault Weapon" or "Assault Rifle". Your new Bushmaster does not fit that catagory.

EBR has become a somewhat accepted term to describe your new rifle-

Evil Black Rifle

Or even UDF- Urban Defensive Rifle.

I think you can call the rifle whatever you want since it's yours.

It's looking good so far. One thing I didn't see was a sling...any plans there?

karl wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote: I have a fair number of 30 round P-Mags, maybe 12 or 13 of them for "something arises" purposes, and they have ammo in them, but those aren't my range magazines. For the range, I use 20 round P-Mags. More time shooting and less time stuffing magazines, for one thing... ...but also, like you say, they're easier to use on a shooting bench.

When the dead rise from their graves I'll be stopping by your place first (zombies, that is).

And you'll be welcome. There is safety in numbers. That's why I have so many magazines — because of that zombie principle that you don't have to be the fastest runner.. ...just faster than the slowest runner. I am the slowest runner.

But bring a .308 too if you have one. It has the advantage of being able to go through 2 or 3 or more of them at a time if you line your shot up right, depending on their state of decay. We have two M1As and 3 bolt rifles in .308 and are working on building up the ammo inventory.



Led Jedi, the one thing I would advise you to do differently has to do with your optics choice.

There is more to scope choice than just magnification. What you're going to find with a $60 scope is that image clarity will suffer, and light gathering capability at dawn and dusk will be compromised. Here is BSA's web page for that scope: http://www.bsaoptics.com/scope.aspx?productID=77. Parallax is not adjustable and is set for 100 yards, which means that, regardless of magnification, objects closer or further than 100 yards will be very slightly out of focus — and that effect will be increasingly pronounced the closer or further from 100 yards the target is. Also, although the reticle has that red dot, it has no graduations on it to use as both a ranging tool and for bullet drop compensation and windage offset.

If 100 yards is the maximum distance you are likely to use this rifle, and if you're thinking primarily of plinking and range sessions during good daylight, then those things will not matter so much. But if you plan to also use it for hunting (a legitimate use), then you ought to give some serious consideration down the road to buying better optics. Most game animals are going to be taken at dawn or dusk, so optical clarity is a major factor, and shots of over 100 yards would be not at all uncommon, so the ability to range a target and see it clearly under poor light conditions would be very important.

It is obviously not something you need to do to get started. But when you are ready to step up to a higher quality scope, I would be glad to help you figure that one out. We have rifles with scopes from Leupold, Super Sniper, Burris, Horus, and Bushnell, representing a reasonable price range with better clarity and better reticles than you'll find on cheap scopes, all bought for prices from the $400 to $800 range. Given that you could easily spend $1,200 or more on a scope, that is a relatively economical price range.

Otherwise, it sounds like you're on the right track with this rifle. Well done.

The Annoyed Man wrote:
If 100 yards is the maximum distance you are likely to use this rifle, and if you're thinking primarily of plinking and range sessions during good daylight, then those things will not matter so much. But if you plan to also use it for hunting (a legitimate use), then you ought to give some serious consideration down the road to buying better optics. Most game animals are going to be taken at dawn or dusk, so optical clarity is a major factor, and shots of over 100 yards would be not at all uncommon, so the ability to range a target and see it clearly under poor light conditions would be very important.

It is obviously not something you need to do to get started. But when you are ready to step up to a higher quality scope, I would be glad to help you figure that one out. We have rifles with scopes from Leupold, Super Sniper, Burris, Horus, and Bushnell, representing a reasonable price range with better clarity and better reticles than you'll find on cheap scopes, all bought for prices from the $400 to $800 range. Given that you could easily spend $1,200 or more on a scope, that is a relatively economical price range.

Otherwise, it sounds like you're on the right track with this rifle. Well done.

Hey Annoyed,

yep I 100% agree. If/when I decide to take this hunting I'm going to need to upgrade that scope. The one I picked up was strictly for plinking at the range so that I could SEE the target.

My tentative plan is to make this weapon a close-quarters < 100 yards type weapon and get a good red dot tactical scope like the eotechs. Unfortunately I blew almost my whole immediate budget on this project on the gun itself. I'm happy with that choice because I got an excellent platform to build on but I'm having to cut corners right now on things like optics and extras. Eventually when I get a decent 30.06 that will be my hunting rifle and I can easily see dropping $800 on a scope for that. I could hunt with the AR15 if I had to, but that's not what i bought it for. If i didn't have such bad eyesight right now I probably wouldn't have put a scope on it at all given the range I'm using it for.

I will absolutely pick your brain on the optics for the 30.06 when I get one. A buddy of mine picked up 2 30.06 rifles from some local retailer that was selling a bolt action remington 30.06 with synthetic stocks for $299 each. I'd love to have picked up one of those just to have one, but the wife's birthday is coming up and she really really wants a netbook. After i dropped a cool grand on this Bushmaster it's hard for me to veto a $199 for a netbook. well, unless i wanna sleep on the couch for a few nights.

The good news is she really likes the AR because it has very little kick so she's all about getting it built out the way I want. :) She even liked my buddy's SKS she shot this weekend so I think she'll be happy when we look at picking up an AK later.