Got my first chance to deploy my personally owned ar last night.  Responded to what was aired as a possible strongarm robbery in-progress at one of our (closed) grocery stores.  Recieved this soon after getting info about a local problem child packing.

Lessons learned:
I need one of those buttstock mag holder things.  My original plan to grab an extra mag and stick it in my pocket just didn't happen.
Need a dedicated weapon-mount light.  My current system works, but is not the best.
Still need to figure out a better way to setup the gun in the car.  Its been locked to the cage between the passengers seat and console, but its  a little hard to get to.

But, all in all, I was glad to have it, vs. just the issue shotgun.

And, we determined that there was no problem at the store, but one of the stockers was deaf, and one of the other employees had grabbed her sholder at one point to get her attention.
Comments?  Suggestions?

dp

I just picked up the Magcinch, seems to work very well, I plan on getting a couple more.

[url]http://www.buffertech.com/magcinch.htm[/url]

Whats your current light system?

seems to me like a little overkill,an ar for a missunderstanding ,a grabbed shoulder=strongarm robbery?

doesn't strong arm mean no firearm,if that is the case wouldn't your issue side arm be enough?

Good ideas on the mag-cinch, I might try that.  Does it make the gun front-heavy at all?
Current light system (I'm embarresed to admit) is a mounting bracket for brooms and such that is attached to the front sight on my AR.  As such, it allows for me to put my 6Z into it, and it actually works fairly well.  That will (hopefully) soon be upgraded.  As for the sling, I have a one-point mounted on it.  Made it real nice once we were secure to put the rifle behind my back, where it was more or less out of view.

Sure, we found out later that it was a misunderstanding, but didn't know in the begining exactly what it was.  My training has always been, if there's a violent felony in progress (which this initally sounded like) a longgun is a good idea.  Also, something like that could turn into something where you would need to make a precision shot, and I would much rather have a rifle for that.  The manager and all the employees were actually rather appriciative that we had gone to the lengths we did to make sure everyone was OK.

Thanks to all that responded!

if money is an issue, check out the maryland ar-15 shooter's page for a 6p or 6z mount that works wonderfully, i have put about 1,000 rounds tyhrough one i made from the plans on the page and no problems, it'also to tako on and off and returns to center when remounted (using q.d. scope rings)

One thing we have noted on the mag cinch for AR/M16s is that the recoil from firing the first magazine can knock the first round of the second magazine loose so that it protrudes from the front of the magazine, blocking or hindering reloads (especially on full auto).

The mag cinches for the 9mm Colts and MP5s work fine. Anyone have a similar experience or know a fix?

I seem to remember seeing an add in POLICE MAGAZINE several months ago of an AR15 mounting system that was attached to the top of the patrol vehicle cage, positioning the weapon parallel with the roof. It appeared that this offered easy and quick access coming out of the car with business end ready. It also kept the weapon out of sight of the general public.

Has anyone else seen this add or know the name of the system?

yes, not sure of the name, but both gall's and streicher's have them, gall's websit is www.gallsinc.com

A team buddy and myself had ordered mag cinches and thought they would be a good idea.  Went to
our tac rifle school and shot the crap out of our rifles.  Found that for one, rifle is very heavy.  Two, mag cinch makes getting to your mag release and bolt release difficult.  On a range setting that's fine but in a fluid high adrenalin enviroment, remember your fine motor skills go to absolute crap.  Third, we set up our light pressure switch on the exterior of the mag well.  With a mag cinch it nearly covered it completely, thus making any manipulations a fine motor skill.  So we went back to the single mag.  I'm looking into a stock mag pouch, anybody used them yet?

Someone is going to ask, why put the pressure switch on the mag well exterior instead of the handguards?  We felt that it allowed a more stable position and a less stresfull position.  If having to hold in the ready position for extended periods of time, the arm will tire out from the weight and being unsupported.  The arm can rest on the body and also it helps pull the weapon in closer to the body.  Thus making a more stable platform.

This will go hand in hand with the deployement topic.  Houston had their first shooting with their new approved patrol level AR's.

This is about three weeks ago now.  Officer pulls over BEM.  BEM rolls out and starts shooting at officer.  Officer returns fire with his pistol hitting BEM in leg.  BEM does not go down instead starts chasing officer around patrol car with each exchanging rounds at each other over and around patrol car.  

First assist officer arrives, happens to be a Sgt.  SGT deploys AR.  Fires one round, striking BEM in the mouth.  Round exits rear of BEM's head, taking a large portion of the rear of his head with it.  BEM is no longer a viable member of society.

AR's have at least proved themselves down in this part of the country.  

Thanks quietshoez.
Hope this was helpful to dpcop.

I appreciate all the feedback from everyone on here.  The suggestion on the Maryland AR site is really good, they've got some great stuff.  I think I'm going to just go ahead and buy a dedicated SureFire for my rifle soon.  (Especially considering that I'm on Graveyards for the foreseeable future!)  I'm probably going to try both the mag-cinch and a butt-stock mag pouch and play with them and see which one works better.

Pakrat:  good to here that patrol rifles are starting to save lives.  Shows the importance of being able to quickly and effectively deploy your rifle, and the importance of having one to begin with.  I also like the idea of putting the pressure pad back on the mag-well... can you hit it with your strong-hand?  I'll have to practice, and see what works when I get mine.

Thanks again to all that responded!
dp