My latest firearms purchase!

My Ruger AR 556.

As you may know I have been looking into buying a new gun for quite some time now. I had been waffling for a long time but I finally decided to pick one up. I ended up choosing a new AR. Today I purchased a Ruger AR-556, along with a couple of spare magazines, a rifle case and some ammo. I will be buying more accessories for the rifle later, but for now I will be waiting until my tax return comes back. 

Why did I go with an AR? I had initially wanted to buy a pistol caliber carbine in 9mm. The problem with that is that most of those are either expensive or hard to find, at least where I live. The only PCC I had been able to find in stores reliably was Ruger's PC Carbine, which I wasn't too much of a fan of. I had considered buying a CZ Scorpion, but they are pretty pricey (around $1000) plus you can never find them. The other options were either too rare (Beretta Cx4 Storm) or too cheap (High Points, the Kel Tech Sub-2000), and neither were ever found in stores around here. I know I could have ordered something and had it shipped, but I didn't want to go through that hassle.

I also wanted something much cheaper to shoot than my big bolt action guns. Both the .308 R-700 and the .303 Lee Enfield are fairly expensive to take to the range. Though .223/5.56 are both more expensive than 9mm, it's a lot cheaper to feed an AR than a big bolt gun. It will be nice to shoot something other than my handgun or my .22 rifles without mentally noting that I just spent 80 cents to a dollar after every trigger pull. 

I did also buy the gun for political reasons. AR's get a bad rap and when people tell me that they don't want me to have something I generally do just the opposite. I'm a huge supporter of gun rights and despise gun control advocates and I know nothing pisses them off more than another AR owner. However, these concerns were secondary, I really just wanted another gun.

I also went with a full size rifle over an AR pistol. AR pistols are cool and all but I don't like being forced to use a pistol brace. I know I could go the SBR route, but the wait time for that is fairly ridiculous.Why not just get a full size rifle?

So why did I go with Ruger's option over the other similar low-end AR's? Well, for one thing the AR-556 was on sale at my local store and the other options were not. I also read several reviews of the gun and most people seemed to love it. When compared to my other major option, the Smith and Wesson, M&P-15, I liked the barrel twist better. The M&P-15 has a 1-9 barrel twist while the 556 has a 1-8, which means it's more accurate. The M&P-15 does have a chrome barrel while the 556 does not, but I always clean my guns and won't be using it to the point where it matters. Plus, I can always replace the barrel.

I also could have spent some serious cash and got a piston AR instead of a gas impingement system. I know that piston AR's are a lot cleaner, but they are also quite a bit more expensive (and heavier). And I don't expect to be shooting my AR enough that it would matter. My budget was limited and I didn't want to exceed it, which would have happened if I went with a piston system.

I know the other option was to build my own, which could have saved a bit of money, but I always think your first AR rifle should be one that you get pre-assembled. Plus, I'm not the best mechanically and would rather learn how to modify an existing weapon than starting from scratch. 

And I probably will be modifying this rifle eventually. For now, I just have the flip up iron sights on that came with the rifle, but I probably will put a scope or an optic on it at some point. I also may replace the handguard at some point, but I want to actually shoot with the rifle first before I decide. 

I haven't had the chance to shoot the gun yet of course. It was pretty late before I got through all the paperwork and both the indoor ranges and outdoor ones around here. I'm hoping to try the gun out sometime this week, but who knows if I will have the time. When I do, I will write up another post on how it shoots. Until then, I am pretty happy with my purchase and am glad that all that overtime I worked last month was worth it.