AR rifle confusion

Make it easy on yourself and just buy one that you like and is in your budget. I teach a whole course on this weapon system (see www.AlphaGroupLLC.Net) and the real beauty of it is that it is completely modular. If you buy a 16-inch .223 with a colapsible stock you can change it to a 20-inch 7.62x39 with a full stock. It is only as limited as your imagination. Don't overcomplicate it with the variables, just buy something you like at the right price range and you can customize it forever as your needs and likes change.

I hope this helps, and welcome aboard.

Thanks Big.

This will sound like Dorothy, "Twenty-twos too?"

Yes sir. From .22lr to .50 BMG. Your single receiver can be used for numerous calibers.

Big,

Can a single receiver take left-hand and right-hand actions?

They sure can Virgil. You can put a lefty (Stag Arms) upper on any lower. The only difference is the FA is on the left instead of right as well as ejection port. The bolt is rotated so it extracts and ejects from the new angle but evreything else is the same.

As modular as can be. Mag-fed, drum fed, belt fed, single shot, .22lr to .50BMG. Silenced or not, a 24-inch barrel or a 7-inch barrel. A rifle or a pistol. Semiautomatic or fully automatic. Great hunting rifles, competition rifles, plinkers, varmint rifles, teaching rifles for new shooters (the CAR stock can be locked in VERY short, a .22lr kit can be dropped in and a siencer takes away the noise factor), SWAT Entry Carbines, etc. Only as limited as yor imagination.

Just to help illustrate how serious I am, these are a few pics I have snapped over the years. Almost every single one can be made from the same receiver. The ONLY one that is a specialty recever is the .308 series. All others are the same. From top to bottom: .22lr SBR, .450 Bushmaster, .223 Valkyrie, .223 Colt/Ciener, .223 "D" Configuration, .308 DPMS AP4, .308 POF-USA P308 SBR, .223 P416, .223 P416 w/M203 40mm Grenade Launcher & 150-Rd Saw-Mag, .223 P416, etc, etc, etc. I thnk you get the idea. Aside from the 2 .308's you can make ALL these guns from the same lower receiver. How cool is that?

Wouldn't you know it. The only reason I would consider investing in a LH AR would be for the .308. Does anyone besides Stag Arms make LH uppers? Who makes LH for .308?

I'll do some homework for ya. To be perfectly honest with ya though, even my left-handed friends would rather have the traditional (right-handed" guns. Since many already have left-hand controls there is little reason to lock yourself into a lefty-specific gun. The brass deflector keeps the brass away from the shooter so the standard guns can be used by anyone with comfort. Since the bolt is different you will cut the modularity down a HUGE amount locking into a "left hand only" upper.

Have you fired a standard AR platform with a brass deflector? You may find it works fine for you.

Big,

I can probably count the times I've fired AR platform rifles on one hand-- (and one of those days was with you!), so I don't know if I've ever used a brass deflector or not. That probably means 'no'. Not even sure what it would look like. Do you have a pic?

Yes sir. When I get in my office this AM I will snap a pic and post it here. Just FYI, 99.9% of all the black rifles manufactured have them. They are part of the upper receiver and work great. As I may have mentioned before, all of my left-handed black rifle instructors shoot right-handed, standard rifles with great comfort and no problems with the ejection path, which is the only difference. Stay tuned. :-)

Ok Bigshooter since it is the receiver (or lower assembly) that is the 'guts' of the gun, let's talk about the lowers first, and the quality of the lowers versus the price(s) offered by various readily available to the average Maine buyer.

Is there any quality difference(s) between Stag, Bushmaster, Remington, Colt or POF?

I like POF-USA for my heavy use guns but to be completely honest I don't think you will find one that will not make you happy. They are all built to very tight specs these days and I have had great performance using them all. I may stay away from the Colt just because it is often more money and may use a front pin that is not compatible with most upper receivers. Whatever you get should be "the right one" for you.i

Big,

Is this what we're talking about?

It looks like a big, ugly aftermarket one. Look at the pics I posted above. The bottom 3 pics all have brass deflectors. It is just a "nub" behind the ejection port.

Ok, still confused.

One of the claims made about the AR platform is its versitility, but is that so???

There are several calibers that one can buy .223, .308/7.62, .270, .243, .450...etc. Bushmaster shows several of these calibers, Remington (.223/R-15) and (.308/R25) DMPS has several, etc., etc., etc.,

So... what is the truth?

If I buy a .308/R-25 Remington can I 'swap-out' the upper and put in the .223/R-15 upper? Or, vice, versa?

If I buy a Ar15 bushmaster in .223, can I also purchase a .308 upper? .450 upper and use them on the .223 lower???

Big...Bigshooterist video on this subject would be helpful...hint, hint.

As is said, "Seeing is believing."

And can I buy a Stag (just to be idioic) and put a Remington upper on it, and be safe shooting it???

As I said, still confused...

I'll make it very easy for you. As a general rule if you have a standard .223 lower receiver (the most common) you can make it the following calibers by just swapping a few parts with no tools required:

.22LR
5.45x39mm
5.56x45mm
5.7x28mm
7.62x25mm
7.62x39mm
9mm
10mm
.45acp
.40 S&W
.450 Bushmaster
.50AE
.50 Beowulf
.50BMG
& a few less common caliber choices.

If you have a .308 lower receiver you have a .308. (with a few less common caliber choices.)