Live south of San Antonio, budget is not a set figure realy still trying figure out what I’m getting.

Upper
https://www.rockriverarms.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=160

Lower. Pick one with the stock you like. If there’s one with no trigger in it even better.
https://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-15/lowers/complete-lowers.html

Throw the trigger away from the lower you bought and stick in one of your choosing, Timney CMC, etc.

You’ll have a gun that will shoot under an inch with about anything you wanna feed it. I run 65 grain GKs with Varget through mine. It’s probably killed more critters than any gun in my safe. Aoudad, 2 mature bucks, countless pigs and predators.

I’m not an AR expert so weigh my comments accordingly. I have one AR and it is the only one I’ve owned. Had it about two years. It is a 16” 7 twist Armalite .556. Chamber is actually .223 Wylde. It weighs around 6 pounds. Price two years ago was around $700. I like it. After owning it I don’t know why I resisted getting one for so long. The rifle I have has been 100% reliable with bullets from 55 to 75 grains. I have not shot any factory ammunition in it but with my handloads it is shockingly accurate. With handloads it really likes it shoots around 1/2 MOA 5 shot groups which astounded me. It is a rifle I would have zero reservations recommending. Mine still has the factory trigger which took me about 100 rounds to learn. Trigger is about 4 1/2 pounds. After learning it I don’t feel it hinders what I do with the rifle. I have shot deer with it without issue. I know you are an experienced hunter and probably already have your own opinion whether a .556 is adequate or not and probably already know what caliber you want. I don’t want to derail your thread with that discussion. I do like the Armalite. I field strip and clean it every 100 or so rounds but don’t really know what is recommended for an AR. It will take you about 10 minutes to learn to field strip an AR.

The negatives I’ve found are the ergonomics of an AR are not as good as a conventional stocked rifle for me. Others may not have the same impression but the vertical grip well below the axis magnifies movement of the trigger hand. It is not as steady and does not point as intuitive for me but seems to work exceedingly well shooting prone. The configuration of the receiver and magazine on an AR also can get in the way shooting off some rests that work well with a bolt gun so there is a little bit of an adjustment coming from bolt actions. Adjustable stocks will have a little movement. The eye position in the ocular is not as consistent. That may not bother some but I notice it on targets 300 yards and beyond, it opens my groups up.

Good luck picking out an AR. If you are like me you will quickly warm up to the platform.

Picked one of these up this weekend in 300 blackout 1:7 twist, need to get a scope on it but looking forward to trying it out the kids are ready to shoot.

Excellent choice!

I've found 125gr SST performs excellent in 300blk.

I’ve got a box of 125 BT’s from prior projects to load and bought a few boxes of loaded ammo to get started with. Not sure what my long term choice will be, with availability what it is currently I suppose I’ll have to be patient.

Is it preferred to mount with a 0 moa or 20 moa base? Was thinking zero, but seems like the scope will be a little higher relative to the bore. Didn’t know if one would be better or not.

I've had good luck with 300MP and 125 gr SST's.


The only reason that you would want a 20MOA base is if you are trying to shoot long distance. I have 0 moa bases on all of my AR's. They are not long range guns.

Of the different 300 blk ammo I've tried on pigs, the best I've found and what I currently use is the 110 gr Barnes Tac-Tx. Accurate, great penetration, perfect mushroom.

Have thought about the Barnes also, but need to find me a set of dies first. Also Sierra supposedly makes a 135 grain HP that is suppose to be developed for and functions well as a supersonic hunting bullet.

Bummed a scope of another rifle till I figure out what I want to do long term. Got it zeroed the other day, recoil is minimal and as far as guns go it’s not too loud. Loaded up a few of the 125 bt’s and it put 3 in a ragged hole at 50 yards. Then the kiddo took over, was ready to go and put a few rounds through it too, said it was fun.

Now we just need to work on wether he is gonna shoot with his dominant eye or hand, he is left eye dominant but right handed. I can see he functions better on target acquisition and focus with his left eye but he keeps wanting to hold it on his left side but still shoot with his right hand.

I'm right handed but left eye dominant, and I shoot right-handed. It can be done, and don't let anyone tell you it can't. Doesn't mean it's right for everyone, but it is for me...and may be (or not) for your boy. I just cannot stand some hard fast rule that if you're left eye dominate, you must shoot left handed. I think that's a crap rule. Figure out what works for them, and do it. Maybe it's shooting right, or left handed.

Good luck, sir.

I appreciate your experience. I’m trying to let him see what is best for him, he says it’s easier for him to use the dominant eye at this point. One of my buddies is right handed and left eye dominant, he says he struggled to shoot well for years till someone suggested shooting with his dominant eye. Once he started shooting with the dominant eye his shooting greatly improved.

Bases that carry a Minute of Angle (MOA) create a starting point where the scope is tilted down relative to the axis of the bore. As Unclebubba noted, this allows you to zero the rifle and scope for greater distance WITHOUT running out of elevation adjustment on the scope. Ideally, a scope's windage and elevation adjustment should never be more than one complete turn from the factory settings. That's because scopes leave the factory with these set to the middle of their adjustment range, which is considered the optical "sweet spot" of the scope. If it takes more than one turn of the scope's settings, it's best to find bases and rings that allow you to change the position of the scope to minimize the adjustment away from the scope's mid-point settings.

I suspect some of my rifles have scopes that required more than one turn of the settings, but never to the point where they were set close to their maximum range. It's when the adjustments are maxed out or close to it that the scope's internals become suspect in being able to hold zero. For this reason, maxed out windage and elevation settings are the first thing manufacturers look for when someone sends them a scope for warranty repairs.

The photo below shows a scope base with a ridiculous MOA needed for a ridiculously long shot. It's easy to see how the scope is tilted down relative to the axis of the bore. Using a basic understanding of geometry and how bullets always travel in an arc, it makes it easy to see how scope bases with MOA work.

On a rifle it won't matter much but on stuff where both eyes are open he will struggle if you don't move toward the dominant eye...shotgun, pistol and bow are the three that will be the hardest for him. I agree with kry226 that it can be done but if he's young enough for it not to be a big deal, do it now. He won't ever be a great two eyes open shot without using his dominant eye.

Good luck, that stuff SUCKS!!!!

I told my wife (the lefty) this was all her fault lol no idea if it really is or not but damn it it sucks. As he kept trying to use his left eye and shoulder but still pull the trigger with his right hand.

All in all life is good, my boy wants to shoot and wants to kill a deer with dad so I’m still floating on cloud 9.

I have a lot of ambidextrous-ism... left eye dominate, write left, eat/drink left, shoot right, bat right, throw right, kick right. Can hammer a nail or throw darts with both hands. You could say, I'm all screwed up.

But I have shot right since I was a kid and never had a problem with it. My shooting was never so bad or problematic that we had to figure something out. Heck, I never learned that I was left eye dominate until well into adulthood. The Army helped me hone my shooting skillz and I have no problem scanning for targets on a qualification range with both eyes open, then closing the left to knock down the target that popped up. I consistently outshoot my troops.

I will say that when shooting pistol, I will keep both eyes open and sight in on the target with my left eye. It's just a natural tendency for me and the target still goes down. All my brain sees is sight alignment. It doesn't care which eye it comes through.

Right handed/left eye. Makes no difference when using a scope. Loaded some 145gr PB over some red dot yesterday, for giggles. V110, 125 SST or even 160gr FTX work fine. For deer I'd go with the 125 SST, good weight and fps. V110 shoot fast and flat but aim is more important, got to get the right spot. I've a carbine, pistol and CVA SS in BO, most shot guns. Full load 170gr cast in the pistol is a handfull.

Look at the Windham Weaponry or Aero Precision lines for good quality mid priced ARs.
I have a few ARs, from custom match rifles to beater truck guns.
Get a 1/8 twist, it will shoot anything. I like an 18” barrel as a good compromise.
Get a good one piece mount and LPVO scope and you will be good to go.
Use good lube and it will take several hundred rounds before it will need cleaning.
It’s hard to stop buying ARs once you start.