Teach me about the AR.

I know the following:

They scare the sheep

if you put on a grip and make them black, they for some reason scare people and become 'evil'. Weird.
Just a gas operated semi-auto mechanisism that can be put into various styles of stocks, etc. And depending upon how carried away one wants to get ... you can add more rails and more "STUFF" if you want to .... but none if changes that .. it's still the same semi-auto rifle. It's a semi-auto version made to look like the old 16's used by the military.

"stuff" includes anything from red-dot scopes, EO-Tech, normal scopes, lasers, etc. It can be different flashlight set ups, etc as well as different iron sights on it. Versatile to your use, need or desire.

Made to mil specs so that parts of one will fit on another, etc. One big advantage for after-market and other related items from different manufacturers.

Commonly use 5.56 , which is a NATO common ammo. But can use the .223. Some are .223 only & can't shoot 5.56 (different pressures involved). But you can put one together in different calibers.. such as the .308, 7.62, etc.

Barrels can be as varied in length and type as alligators in the swamp, but the most common is a 16" chrome lined barrel. I haven't seen any past 24". Twists ..... 1-12, 1-9, 1-7 .. most used is the 1-9. A 1-9 twist is the most common and good with .223 and smaller grain bullets like the .55 gr. The 1-7 twists are typically known to shoot the larger grains better 65-77 gr bullets, and for long range shooting. Smaller grains, higher velocities. They are fun to shoot and with the sliding butt, you can adjust to your situation/environment or your physical size when shooting it.

You can also make/get into the 'pistol' versions with a 7.5" barrel,etc.... but then are getting into NFA requirements as I understand it. Never gotten into them and don't know that much about them. Never messed with one and never saw the need for one, for me.

One big advantage is .. you can build or put one together and use different parts, quality of parts, types of triggers , etc. from different manufacturers  to make it unique to you ... and use higher or lower quality as well as higher / lower cost parts where you want to.    You can later switch parts, barrels, bolts, etc out with other brands, types, etc. if you want to ... again just adding to the versatility of them and the reason so many like them.


There's a ton more, but that's a simplified 101 explanation.

And sometimes I want to throw mine into the sagebrush and leave it there..... Between learning about the AR and my learning curve in reloading somedays I'm one frustrated dude.....lol

...add to eagle's post, they're plug-n-play. The theory being a common platform for specialization. You can have one lower receiver and X upper receivers in different configs(6x45, 6.5, 6.8SPC, 7x45, 300AAC, etc)...I've even seen an upper to make it a crossbow. There is even a configuration that mimics the operation of AK style gas systems(piston)...in theory more reliable and cleaner running.


Wanna know how to assemble/disassemble one? Check out Brownell's. They have a complete video series.