Hello fellow gun enthusiasts. Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm 49 years old, been hunting and shooting since the early 70's. Grew up loving patriots and American Hero's like Audie Murphy and wanting to be John Wayne. I'm Ultra Conservative but not a goose stepping Uber Nationalist. I love America but sometime I would love to pinch the heads off of a few politicians who make it hard to love my government. I've spent countless hours afield with all kinds of firearms of the "traditional variety". I've got bolt guns with wood so beautiful that I would literally cry if they were to be scratched or scarred up. No telling how many pre-64 winchester firearms I've let slip through my hands over the years. When I consider how highly I have regarded our military for my whole life, and how awesome I find our soldiers to be, It almost seems ludicrous to think that I have never, ever owned an AR type/MSR variant. With nothing but awe for the skills and determination exhibited by the American WarFighter, it seems crazy that I have never attempted to own the one tangible component of our vastly different skill sets.

Well, that all ends this Saturday 3/11/17. Having spent a lot of time looking into all the dark corners I could find regarding AR purchasing options, I've decided my first rifle will not be a build my own, nor would it be a mid tier compromise. Nope, for better or worse, the Ruger AR 556 suits my initial needs. I've looked at the M&P, and several Windham Models, Rock River, Colt, Delton, Bushmaster, DPMS and even a couple Daniel Defense models and one LWRCI Leo only model. Yep, the Ruger is going home with me. Then, I'm buying a Geissele SD-C trigger. After that, a low profile gas block and some 15" m-lock rails to omit the A-2 front sight and get the profile where I want it. I'll experiment with some red dot sights versus scopes but ultimately I like the idea of wide field of view, low mag optics and engagement distances withing 100 meters. Hell, if we ever get our act together as American Gun Owners and get that damned NFA abolished along with the Hughes Amendment, I'll have a nicely suppressed sbr in 300blackout with a proper safety that has all 3 appropriate fire modes that should be available to every God Fearing American Patriot. Until then, the Ruger will be my test bed foray into the D.I. world of Mr. Stoner. I'm sure that these hallowed forums and my own personal experience over the ensuing years will begin to shape my ideals for that next Black Rifle purchase that will surely be the final end-all answer to all my shooting desires, making those discussions with my wife regarding the need to spend another "couple hundred" bucks on a new rifle moot. See you at the Range boys....

Sorry, had to post in two parts to get by some abritrary word count filter.....after spending hours trying to find an email address from my past that didn't have google, hotmail or aol in it.  Lot's of bullets to dodge here.  Ya'll point out any quicksand or punji pits ya know about, won't ya fellas........yo fellas...........

Use paragraphs and plenty of spaces

Other than that, welcome to the black rifle disease

Welcome to the Black Rifle Disease!  Once you start modifying, then you'll start wanting to build.  Pretty soon you'll have a spare part here or there that suddenly becomes another rifle.  They don't call these adult legos for nothing.  

Welcome to the party pal.

thanks!

Welcome. I just got into flat tops and all the goodies three years ago, but have been hunting all my life. The members here helped me with optics and slings, things I knew nothing about. Lots of good people here.

Yeah, I've been lurking this site for years and know there is an overall good community spirit here.  Obviously well managed.  The depth of knowledge within this community is stunning.  Passion for the myriad of topics is palpable and even though I'm sure there are some real curmudgeons, I've not witnessed the overt hubris here that seems to dominate many forums.

Welcome, and enjoy your new rifle! Hopefully it is the first of many more!

Welcome to BRD.  

A few years ago I started shooting Service Rifle locally, and was routinely getting left behind by ARs.  So I decided, after much debate, to break down and get an AR, just so I could be competitive.  Three years later, my safe now holds three of them.  This black rifle disease is insidious. It just takes over your gun safe.    Enjoy.

Welcome

you picked a heck of a time to join the party: there has never been a better time to be a buyer of AR parts. The quantity and quality of the selection has never been better...and neither have prices (adjusted for inflation). We truly are in the golden age of the AR. Enjoy your new gun!

Welcome from another long time lurker! The wealth of knowledge here will definitely give you an education in all things AR.

Don't do it!   Here let me save you the time.   send me your AR!    Help yourself!