Hello, I am getting my first AR-15 friday! I am getting a Bushmaster XM15 E2S A2 20in Stainless Steel. I would like your input on any do's and dont's. This is my first AR and any tips would me great. Thanks jared

Do's
-get lot's of ammo
-A good cleaning kit
-USGI mags

Dont's
-run out of ammo
-fail to clean your AR
-use cheap mags

do break in the barrel
get a good bore guide made for the AR15
do use Break Free with CLP to lubricate it.
do not use Wolf ammo.

read [url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=7&t=108277[/url]

-yes, get the very best magazines
-then test them
-get a good mil spec pouch to store/carry the mags
-clean rifle after every use
-keep coming to ar15.com and cruise all the topic threads, just when you think you got it all down, you WILL learn something else.

Do: Prepare to become obsessed with searching for another upper assembly, then another lower, then another complete rifle, optics, slings, more magazines, etc., etc.

Don't: Fight it; give in and enjoy the ride.

Congratulations! I got the same thing on layaway. Beautiful things aren't they?

How exactly do we break in the stainless steel barrel?

Ive got 7 green follower USGI mags and all my gun cleaning supplies are ample and correct. I need to start stocking up on ammo. Is it best to get that Winchester 55 gr FMJ's for $4 for 20 rounds? What other ammo is cheap and abundant? Thanks in advance.

Have fun!

Start saving up for your second AR!

"get a good bore guide made for the AR15"

I must admit I dont know what a bore guide is, please tell me. Also who makes one for a AR and who sells it? Thanks for all the help, Jared

bear with me.  a barrel is a tube of steel that is grooved, it has a chamber cut into one end and it is "crowned" on the other.  crowning is just a fancy way of saying the tube was cut off perfectly square and then beveled on the inside to protect the lands from damage.  if you damage the lands the gun will not shoot right until you get it recrowned.  one of the tricks to accuracy is to make the bullet leave the barrel exactly the same every time and if there is a tiny nick on the crown it will cause the bullet to skew as it leaves the barrel, hot gasses jet out and the barrel grips the bullet unevenly at the last microsecond.  anyway you get wobble and a loss of accuracy.  it's kind of hard to nick the crown unless you do something like drop the rifle on gravel or scrape it with a piece of steel.  the same loss of accuracy can come from nicking the edge of the lands at the very inside edge of the chamber.  the bullet will get a bad start and the barrel will never perform well.  you can't rechamber so you get a rifle that will never shoot to it's maximum potential.      

most AR guys clean their rifles from the chamber and if you use a high quality steel cleaning rod it is possible to nick the chamber.  the cleaning jag and brushes work very well to try to keep the rod centered but it is still possible to scratch the start of the lands.  a bore guide fit's in the rifles chamber and removes any possibility of the rod damaging the chamber.  

they make a special bore guide just for the AR-15.  it looks like an 8" long 1" Dia plastic tube with a long skinny nipple on the end.
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=166[/img]

there are lot's of good bore guides on the market.  i can't say if one is better than the next.

Thanks for that info. Can you or anyone tell me who sells it online? I do not think my gun shop will have it, I will try him first. But if not I will have to go online to get it. Thanks Jared

Madmaxx congrat's on the new weapon. I'm not sure if you are aware of the up coming wisconsin shoot on Jan 19,2003 look in the Hometown Forum for details. Hope to see you there.


[sniper2]

You can get good boreguides from www.brownells.com or www.georgiaprecision.com

Remember, you do NOT want a 3 section "screw it together" cleaning rod, the kind that come in those cheesy plastic-box cleaning kits.  You want a quality single-piece rod, preferably coated as this provides extra insurance against any barrel damage.