Consider me 100% novice to them. I’ve never shot one I’ve never even held one to be honest. Up to this point I had zero interest in shooting or owning one. Nothing against them just didn’t do it for me. In search of low recoil adjustable length of pull and ambidextrous ability I now have an interest.

-How in depth is necessary cleaning and how often?
-From the little reading I have done they appear to have two main parts if you will, an upper and a lower. If I buy a complete upper and a complete lower do I have a complete rifle that just needs to be put together?
-Being a gas operated semi auto do they lend themselves to various power level loadings such as light loads or do you have to load them to where the action functions and limit to that?
-Most come with some form of muzzle device, is that same threading typically sufficient to support a suppressor?
-I’m not looking for record setting accuracy but enjoy a well shooting gun as much as the next guy. The intended purpose is a practice/first deer/hog rifle for my kids, what brands should I avoid? And good deals I should look at?

I’m sure there are tons more things I am not even aware to ask but would appreciate helpful thoughts or advice.

Thanks

1 I clean mine basically never. If it starts malfunctioning then I'll clean it, but it really depends on how much you shoot it. The system itself is pretty impervious to riding around in the truck and that sort of stuff

2 yes

3 there are limits to how light you can load them, but I've ran some fairly low power loads through mine with lead bullets without issue. If you load anything remotely close to out of a book, it'll probably work just fine

4 yes, half by 28 is standard

5 I wouldn't buy the world's cheapest one and expect great accuracy, but even things like palmetto State ones seem to be pretty accurate for what they are. Under 2 inch groups is pretty standard and better than that is pretty common. Buy one with a free float handguard and you'll probably be fine and it will probably be easy to find some ammo that will shoot around an inch. Of course like anything better barrels and better ammo will have better accuracy

Good luck

A couple of other things, the standard mil spec trigger basically sucks, and it's probably the first thing you'll want to change. If you go through PSA or something like that, I would spend extra money up front and get there two stage trigger at least.

It’d be good if you were close to our place. You could come shoot an AR, fiddle with it, take it apart (put it back together).

Yes, there’s an ‘upper’ and a ‘lower’, but I suggest you buy a complete rifle or have someone build you one.

Recoil is practically non-existent with a 223/556. Recoil is noticeable but rather mild with the 6.5 Grendel.

I don’t clean much. When I clean the bore, I’ll wipe down the BCG and oil it a bit.

Midway has a ton of AR-Stoner uppers available. Are they any good?

Little google on these sounds like not a great product

Wisdom - get one with a good trigger or put a good trigger on whatever you get. Accuracy from any decent factory barrel with a good trigger will likely be enough to suit your needs.

Get you a Ruger MPR and be done with it. Solid gun at a solid price point.

YouTube

This is what I have. Only complaint is it's a bit heavy for the kids. You can always stick a bipod on the front for bench shooting until they're older if you'd be in the same boat.

Otherwise it's a very accurate gun at a reasonable price. Love mine

Had looked at those always seen ruger as a decent brand but know they all make some lesser quality stuff.

They will be shooting supported heavy=less recoil

As your other questions have been pretty much answered, the way that I would answer them already, I will go straight to the last question. I have/do own DPMS, Palmetto State Armory (PSA), Wilson Combat, and one other that I can't recall the brand. PSA is great for a budget rifle. I would suggest getting a drop in trigger group. I went with the cheapest drop in on Midwayusa.com. Rise Armament. I have them in 2 rifles. Wilson Combat is clearly a more refined rifle. Better fit and finish, better quality components all around. But, for what you pay for them, you'd expect that. Accuracy difference between the two for me has been zero. DPMS was 'meh'.

For deer hunting, I would skip the traditional 5.56/.223 and get something bigger. Think 300blk, 300Hamr, 6.8SPC, 6.5 grendel. The semi-auto action does a great job of mitigating recoil, so none of those should be too much for most kids. A suppressor will help as I think most kids are as much afraid of the noise and concussion as the recoil itself. I know mine are.

If you're going to shoot a silencer on it, just get a piston gun to begin with.

I bought a Diamondback AR for my first. Seems ok, trigger feels good. Have a lower build kit with an aftermarket drop in trigger from PSA I haven’t put together yet. I’d also go with larger caliber beside .223/.556 for deer.

unclebubba brought up caliber, which is good at this point. I’ve had the 223/556 for a few years. It works great on coyotes and works Ok on pigs if you’re a good shot and get a good shot opportunity, but truthfully it leaves a bit to be desired. So, I acquired a 6.5 Grendel, which should do the job but hasn’t had much of a chance to do the job (yet). There are, as you have heard discussed and argued about, lots of other calibers to choose from. I reload for the 6.5 caliber and have useable powders, so that was an easy choice for me. If a person doesn’t reload, then the deciding factor might be the availability of factory ammo, and I don’t know which round is most available. Whatever it is, it won’t be as cheap as 223 ammo though.

For me, I was sorely tempted by the 300 H’mr, but had zero useable reloading bits and pieces.

If you just want to plink and have a little fun, the 223/556 is hard to beat. Ammo is cheap again and easy to find. Wife and I go through 3-400 rounds just farting away at the lease. Those little 1lb propane bottles make great plinking targets.

Unclebubba nailed it. My youngest daughter was 7 last year when she fired a centerfire rifle for the first time (had only shot bb guns, 22's, and a 4-10). 6.5 Grendel from a Bog Pod, first 3 rounds she put through the heart on a deer/vitals target at 100 yrds. Tried other rifles that weren't set up for a little kid, and of course struggled to get a clear sight picture and didn't do well. Once she tried that AR with low rings, it was game on. That's the beauty of kids hunting with AR's, that adjustable stock is a game changer when they're little. I didn't go the AR route with my youngest Son because that baby giraffe has longer arms, but I wish I had because he still struggled with my rifles when he took his first deer at 7. Made a perfect shot, but wasn't comfortable at all for him.

I am today in the process of buying my little girl a slightly used custom built Wilson Combat 6.8 SPC from a member on this forum, and I can't wait for her to get behind it and kill her first deer this year. She will shoot this thing until she grows up, and then I will buy her a "proper" wood stock deer rifle that hopefully she will keep for life and pass down to her kids. I'll keep this 6.8 for my Grandkids. Even though my only grandchild is 2 yrs old, it'll be cleaned & right here waiting for him when the time comes.

Redchevy

where do you live? What part of Texas?
what's your budget?

yeah, 5.56 nato or .223 wylde to plink and for varmints, 6.5 grendel for larger stuff. you also might want to look at the 6mm arc for the ar 15 platform, ballistics sure look good on paper

All depends on the shooter and the circumstance. My Brother In Law that I have hunted with for 30 yrs only uses a .223 that was passed down from is Dad. All S Texas bucks and all shot under 150 yrds. in the neck, most under 100 yrds and all dropped dead except for 1 in 30 yrs. Shot the shoulder on a big buck running chasing a doe, hit lower leg. Bad shot. There are a lot more S Texas deer killed with a .223 & 22-250 than you would think. Doesn't take much to kill a deer.

On that note, I started 3 of my kids on a 243 and about to start my baby girl on a 6.8.

Caliber is beaten to death here. Just focus on a good bullet that they can shoot accurately within a given distance and they will kill animals.

If she's like my kids, she's gonna love that 6.8 I've shared here before that I started my kids on a suppressed 6.8 AR platform and I think it's the perfect setup for getting kids on deer and hogs. Best of luck to her, amigo, and please post those pics when she draws her first blood (blood stripes on cheeks preferred!).

The tools necessary to build one are about $100. If you really want to learn that's the way to go. You'll be better assured of accuracy because you can put more money into a better barrel with the same total cost as buying factory built. Building them is easy.

Also there are partson ARs that break which you don't get upgraded versions of in factory rifles unless you spend twice the price of a Ruger, etc. You can upgrade these parts relatively inexpensively when you build yourself. A prime example is a heavy duty buffer retainer for $15. You'd expect to buy something like H&K to get that in a factory rifle.

Re: cartridge. Get a 22lr like CMMG or Tippman for a trainer. No difference in 22lr and 223 recoil really due to the bolt carrier group slamming around. The 22lr trainer pays for itself in ammo savings. Now for deer, we have both 223 and 6.5 Grendel here. Performance on deer with identical shot placement is close. 223 deer shot deer seem the same as 243 shot deer to me, which is shy of 6.5G but close enough. I have seen 6.5G kills where shot placement was marginal and the animal was recovered. These are shots which would not work near as well with 243. Haven't seen any marginal hits with 223. So, I wouldn't go out of my way for 6.5G if the shooter can shoot. Use a good deer bullet through the shoulder blades and they only go straight down. (And I do mean through both shoulder blades and out the other side, btw.)