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You start with an AR15. Which is well explained in this video. Watch it and come back.
We choose AR15 because its ammunition is widely available and stockpiled. Its parts are widely available and sharable in case of need of repairs. And finally your partner more than likely correctly chose AR15. So you can share ammunition and magazines with them.
Now that you have correctly decided to purchase an AR15. Which one do I get? The way I see it there are only two options. The good one and the budget one.
The good one. If you have the money to buy it, this is what you get.
MSR - Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC
Thats the colt CR6920. Their civilian version of the M4. A semi automatic rifle firing 5.56 or .223 (the two most commonly available and generally cheap ammo types).
You will not change anything on it. No trigger upgrades, not stock changes. Just leave it factory and it will work.
Colt has an in house factory making hammer forged barrels. In my opinion the barrel is the most important part of a weapon system and Colt quality is undisputed. A colt barrel will give you accurate rounds on target well beyond that of other barrels.
We love Colt because Colt weapon systems are battle tested. Colt factory’s have been making AR15’s for the Military for decades if not centuries. The military trusts Colt to make weapons to put in the hands of its soldiers, and that speaks a lot.
There is a lot more room to upgrade here. But those little upgrades won’t do you any good if you are using this article to decide what to buy first. Get the Colt. Get good with it. And one day when you want a free floating barrel. You can upgrade and spend more money with more knowledge.
Next you buy a Trijicon Acog. Model M193 100288
This one:
The ACOG is also battle tested, can take an absolute beating while still holding zero and was mentioned by General “Mad Dog” Maddis, Commandant of the Marine Corps as the “biggest increase in Marine lethality since the M1 Garand in WW2”.
We choose this model because it is calibrated for a 16” barrel firing 55 grain 5.56 ammunition. Our rifle. And lets face it, we will probably end up with the cheaper 55 grain ammo. But even if you do end up with 62 grain “green tips”. The difference of bullet impact at 200m is less than half an inch. Meaning our ACOG still works just fine.
We have a red chevron, because looking at red light allows us to regain night vision in 15 minutes rather than the 30 minutes of other colors. (The horseshoe reticle on other models functions the same and is viable) We have an integrated range finder. It is not battery powered meaning we can never find ourselves in a situation where our sites are out of batteries like all of our red dot buddies. And it can take an absolute beating while maintaining zero.
next you buy 500 rounds of .223 / 55 grain 5.56 / 62 grain 5.56, 3 extra magazines and go to the range to expend the ammo. Getting used to your rifle and learning the scope.
This set up runs you about 2500 dollars. But when those fancy $3,000 Tavor x95’s with iron sights next to you get their barrels a little hot, they’ll start missing a 1 foot steel gong at 100 meters. You’ll ping that gong repeatedly at 200m for 20,000 rounds.
There really is no better set up for a first time buyer.
Are you on a budget and need something cheaper? Check out this post: