Anyone have experience w/ RUGER AR-556?

[XXXsilverXXX]

My spouse is really enjoying 300blk, wanted to see if anyone had experience and was enjoying the ruger AR-556, seems to have a good price, looks good, but compared to say PSA or just building a aero precision with a existing lower... house

[mmc45414]

https://ruger.com/products/ar556MPR/specSheets/8514.html

And it seems like a smoking deal. It has been shooting well (with 77g) and it was only like $675

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

https://ruger.com/products/ar556MPR/specSheets/8514.html

And it seems like a smoking deal. It has been shooting well (with 77g) and it was only like $675

I don't have experience personally, but from what I can tell I believe them to be a solid value for an entry level AR.

I have been considering one of these for myself as a backup when funds allowed for it, they pretty much tick off every box of what I like to see in an AR that is geared for general usage...

-MLOK Free Float 15" Rail
-Rifle Length Gas System (Reliable and soft)
-Magpul furniture
-1:8" Barrel
-Two Stage 4.5lb Trigger
-Milspec Bolt, Staked Gas Key
-Bonus, Ruger Customer Service is exceptional should you have an issue

I'd buy one here if it were me... $560 Shipped

https://www.tombstonetactical.com/catalog/ruger/8514-ar-556-mpr-18in-30rd-black/

[OlongJohnson]

My understanding is that the Sutherland Springs shooter used one, and as heroic as the people who ultimately stopped him were, the actual reason he stopped firing at the church was that it jammed, so he started to run away and was intercepted as he reached his vehicle.

Sample size of N=1 and all...

[XXXsilverXXX]

My understanding is that the Sutherland Springs shooter used one, and as heroic as the people who ultimately stopped him were, the actual reason he stopped firing at the church was that it jammed, so he started to run away and was intercepted as he reached his vehicle.

Sample size of N=1 and all...

Thanks but I didn’t want to know that...

[Duke]

Guns are cheap right now.


There’s no reason to buy a cheaper one. Stretch your dollars with a better brand.

[Rick62]

Guns are cheap right now.


There’s no reason to buy a cheaper one. Stretch your dollars with a better brand.

Absolutely. These are the days of $720 6920s, with Sionics and SOLGW just a bit over that. I’m not saying that everyone has to run out and buy a SR-15 (but with Brownells current 10% off, today wouldn’t necessarily be a bad day to do that) but there’s no real reason, in the current market,to buy ARs of questionable quality imho.


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[Doublestack45]

I worked for a NH based company (Green Mt. Rifle Barrel) that made thousands of Ruger barrels a week on the same machinery that was used to do barrels for BCM, Sig, and Colt before my employment stint. All barrels were button rifled, with each company specifying the steel used.
While the chrome and parkerizing were not done in house, the reaming, rifling, and oven time were, which resulted in a very consistent product based on the manufacturers specs.
It was interesting to learn the process.....length of raw bar stock to finished barrel.

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

I worked for a NH based company (Green Mt. Rifle Barrel) that made thousands of Ruger barrels a week on the same machinery that was used to do barrels for BCM, Sig, and Colt before my employment stint. All barrels were button rifled, with each company specifying the steel used.
While the chrome and parkerizing were not done in house, the reaming, rifling, and oven time were, which resulted in a very consistent product based on the manufacturers specs.
It was interesting to learn the process.....length of raw bar stock to finished barrel.

This is excellent, because in the world of AR... very little is made in house with many companies in the game. A lot of them are using the same suppliers for barrels, receivers, small parts, etc. The only makers I know of that do a lot in house are Primary Weapon Systems, LWRC & likely BCM.

[XXXsilverXXX]

So the budget she has set is $700, for the gun, so I can get a aero or use my existing lower and finish building it for her or get the ruger, I just don’t want to have to fiddle with something she will only shoot every so often.

[BehindBlueI's]

Aren't some of the Ruger's parts proprietary and not interchangeable with standard AR parts?

$700 can snag a nicer used Colt, S&W tactical, etc..

[XXXsilverXXX]

Aren't some of the Ruger's parts proprietary and not interchangeable with standard AR parts?

$700 can snag a nicer used Colt, S&W tactical, etc..

I mean I wouldn’t mind adding more 6920’s to the harem, but she enjoys the 8” aero I already have and wants something of her own sooo the dilemma...

[Rick62]

This is excellent, because in the world of AR... very little is made in house with many companies in the game. A lot of them are using the same suppliers for barrels, receivers, small parts, etc. The only makers I know of that do a lot in house are Primary Weapon Systems, LWRC & likely BCM.

Though it’s interesting, I wouldn’t necessarily jump right to “excellent”. You’re correct, there are companies that produce components for a wide range of firearms companies. They’re made to the specifications of those companies. QA, finishing and then assembly is done in house. This is, often, where things go awry. As an example, FN makes barrels for PSA and Hodge. Should one assume that these barrels are equivalent? Are they necessarily even similar?
I know that people have put together inexpensive rifles from PSA deals and ended up with functioning rifles. I sure people have functioning Ruger, Bushmaster or Delton rifles too. If that’s the threshold one is trying to reach, then rock on. If someone is looking for a properly built rifle that’ll function how it should, when it absolutely needs to, then I would at least take the time to see why some brands are recommended, repeatedly, over others. We should always strive to be informed consumers, especially when there’s so much snake oil in the firearms marketplace.


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[Casual Friday]

This is excellent, because in the world of AR... very little is made in house with many companies in the game. A lot of them are using the same suppliers for barrels, receivers, small parts, etc.

This is one of the most misrepresented bits of info in the gun industry. There may be many companies using the same suppliers, but they are often made to the buyers specifications.


The only makers I know of that do a lot in house are Primary Weapon Systems, LWRC & likely BCM.

Daniel Defense and FN.

[Casual Friday]

As far as Ruger ARs go, I think it was Will Larson, RIP, who had a few come through his class with abysmal findings.

[willie]

If I could buy a used but like new one for $300 out the door, I would. But even at this price I would lose money if I traded or sold it to a dealer. For me one of these would be a beater rifle to knock around with and shoot stumps and dirt clod or any other similar imprecise targets. Serious shooters or those buying a weapon to keep would be wasting their money.

[Willard]

IMHO not a deal or bargin.

If you watch for sales, you can find a Colt for under or just over $800.

[Casual Friday]

If I could buy a used but like new one for $300 out the door, I would. But even at this price I would lose money if I traded or sold it to a dealer. For me one of these would be a beater rifle to knock around with and shoot stumps and dirt clod or any other similar imprecise targets. Serious shooters or those buying a weapon to keep would be wasting their money.

The FFL I use won't pay more than $125 for any of the bottom tier ARs that he takes in on trade.

[HCM]

This is excellent, because in the world of AR... very little is made in house with many companies in the game. A lot of them are using the same suppliers for barrels, receivers, small parts, etc. The only makers I know of that do a lot in house are Primary Weapon Systems, LWRC & likely BCM.

BCM designers and assembles but doesn’t manufacture much in house.

BCM uses many of the same premium suppliers as SIONICS, SOLGW and Colt.

KAC, LMT, FN and to a lesser extent DD make most things in house but what they don’t make comes from those same premium suppliers.

That doesn’t mean that “parts is parts.”

Some suppliers are better than others with many cheap AR parts coming from overseas. There is a reason many of the aforementioned companies all use the same suppliers.

[HCM]

Aren't some of the Ruger's parts proprietary and not interchangeable with standard AR parts?

$700 can snag a nicer used Colt, S&W tactical, etc..

This ^^^^

For $700 in today’s market you can find a good quality PD trade LMT, Colt, S&W (non sport) etc.

The P-F Long gun deals thread has a link to PD trade in LMT rifles for $700

[10mmfanboy]

I'd buy a palmetto before a ruger, I like ruger and all. Can't really go wrong with a m&p either. Rattle traps float my boat more though.

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

For the record, I was not trying to make the case that 'parts is parts' simply that if you don't do everything in house it's simply impossible to guarantee a working rifle 100% of the time.

If it were me in your situation, I would build the lower and buy PWS MK116 PRO 16" upper, unless you want to SBR go with the 11". https://www.primaryweapons.com/mk116-pro-upper

I believe they have actually succeeded in making a great piston AR rifle work like it should. Contrary to popular belief, their system is not a true closed system... it will function 100% with any Mil-Spec BCG parts should you have anything break in the field, just not ideal until you can get their parts sourced.

I know the piston craze has long since past, but PWS is the only piston-AR I would buy with the long stroke gas system. Just realize you would also want to build the lower with one of their buffer tubes where the extension goes well into the lower receiver. This will eliminate any carrier tilt issues along with the long stroke gas system.

I will also echo the sentiment of going a little higher in price if possible, if you want something that needs to work every time and hopefully not need a trip back to the mothership. If you are truly against piston systems and can get around to spending a bit more, their have already been some great recommendations for complete systems that are well proven.


Aren't some of the Ruger's parts proprietary and not interchangeable with standard AR parts?

$700 can snag a nicer used Colt, S&W tactical, etc..

Just for curiosities sake, which parts are you referring to?

[Old Man Winter]

If you have a lower and $700 budget, you could assemble a pretty solid rifle. There's some smoking deals on parts if you catch the sales from Primary Arms, Brownells, etc.

AAC has stripped uppers on clearance for $39. Primary Arms has great deals on SOLGW barrels, rails, and lower parts kits right now. Palmetto has decent BCG's for under $70. You should be able to put together a solid middy build with good parts for that budget.

[HCM]

http://www.midwest-distributors.com/Trade-ins_c_8.html

If you just want a basic blaster

PD trade in S&W M&P AR lowers. $155. - uppers $275. - gets you a decent gun for $430. $400 if you are ok with a bushmaster lower.

[BehindBlueI's]

Just for curiosities sake, which parts are you referring to?

When they came out people were complaining about the handguard attachment ring being threaded instead of spring loaded and something with the FSB and gas block.

[rcbusmc24]

If all you are gonna do is hobby shoot and all you are attaching is a optic then you should be okay.....ish. Gas blocks are different, slip rings are different... typical ruger being slightly different for the sake of being different issues so some things won't drop right in. Can't remember offhand but probably commercial spec reciever extension. It's built to a pricepoint... with all that entails.... and with the bottom having fallen out of tactical rifles you can get much better for the same price or just a little more....

[Nightvisionary]

I owned two. One had chatter marks on the crown, 4-8 MOA with a variety of ammo including 77 SMK, Plastic Delta Ring. The barrel is mounted using copious quantities of super strength thread locker that would not budge even after 24 hours in a deep freezer then multiple applications of a propane torch, front sight was bottomed out and still shot 10 inches low at 50 yards. I traded that in at a hefty loss and was glad to be rid of it. I sold the other one NIB to a friend for a very good price. He has 4K rounds through it, no problems, and loves the thing. Go figure.

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

I know that this Youtuber is very polarizing and probably not very well respected here, but I find his opinions to be honest and accurate for the most part. He found the AR-556 to be a solid value (in his opinion of value), based on his report I would agree with this statement for the most part.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-9JNCYSh1s


I owned two. One had chatter marks on the crown, 4-8 MOA with a variety of ammo including 77 SMK, Plastic Delta Ring. The barrel is mounted using copious quantities of super strength thread locker that would not budge even after 24 hours in a deep freezer then multiple applications of a propane torch, front sight was bottomed out and still shot 10 inches low at 50 yards. I traded that in at a hefty loss and was glad to be rid of it. I sold the other one NIB to a friend for a very good price. He has 4K rounds through it, no problems, and loves the thing. Go figure.

This is the kind of story that I see that just baffles me, did you contact the manufacturer at any point? I can almost guarantee Ruger would have paid to have you ship that to them so they could make it right (according to their specs, whatever that is). I am not one bit surprised the second one has worked fine, you cannot expect that one example is representative of all examples.

[Nightvisionary]

I know that this Youtuber is very polarizing and probably not very well respected here, but I find his opinions to be honest and accurate for the most part. He found the AR-556 to be a solid value (in his opinion of value), based on his report I would agree with this statement for the most part.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-9JNCYSh1s



This is the kind of story that I see that just baffles me, did you contact the manufacturer at any point? I can almost guarantee Ruger would have paid to have you ship that to them so they could make it right (according to their specs, whatever that is). I am not one bit surprised the second one has worked fine, you cannot expect that one example is representative of all examples.

I did not send it in. When I attempted to diagnose the poor accuracy and zeroing problems I learned of the threadlocker used in the barrel mounting process. A properly assembled AR does not call for threadlock on the barrel nut as a substitute for proper torque. Unless Ruger changed their assembly process I was never going to be satisfied with that rifle.

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

That's fair enough, it is certainly NOT a 'mil-spec' gun as it is build to compete at a certain price point... not for agency contracts. That being said, assuming they sent you a brand new rifle which shot 1 MOA and functioned... which is what the test rifle in the video I linked was claimed capable... I would be happy with this as a training weapon or duty weapon if I could only afford this much gun for what they sell for at $500 currently.

It is also entirely possible that Ruger did put quite a bit of testing into the thread locker and determined THEIR assembly method was sufficient, though it is definitely not 'mil-spec'. I am all for getting using the best equipment, but many folks literally have no choice but to buy at a certain price point. I doubt Ruger ever expected many people would be swapping barrels on a value AR. They likely did expect many would change the Handguard, hence the plastic delta ring which allows change in seconds literally.

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

Forgot about Aero Precision, if you want a complete rifle check Brownells... they have different options of complete or semi complete builds around your price point. I'd feel far better with an Aero Precision than Ruger at this point, but I wouldn't sweat too much with the Ruger even so.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghO7GEZjD1Y