Hello everyone, I am new to the site and not only the AR-15 platform but to shooting in general. My step father has always had a handful of guns, so I have shot here and there but by no means consider myself experienced but I really enjoyed shooting though. Well one day my step father called me up about a gun that has a red dot scope mounted on it along with 400 rounds that his friend was selling and asked me if I wanted to buy it for 700 bucks because if I didn't he was going to. I hesitated at first because I never grew up around guns and wasn't really comfortable with them. Well I ended up buying the gun and since then have shot it I would say 5 or 6 times in about the two months I have had it and now I am completely hooked and have been absorbing as much information as I can. At first I learned how the very basic mechanics of shooting the gun before going to the range. Then I looked in to taking it apart and taking proper care of it and the rifle really is a pretty awesome piece of machinery/tool. Anyhow, I stumbled upon this site and wanted to introduce myself and see what you guys thought of the gun. This is my first gun I have ever bought, so in case you guys are wondering what exactly I planned on doing with it, I plan on just making it an all purpose gun. I plan on shooting the crap out of it at the range to improve my accuracy and fundamentals (because I probably look like a fool at the range now), and i guess home defense if need be. As of now due to weather mostly I have only been able to shoot at a indoor range (25 yds. Max distance) but plan on looking up and trying an outdoor range to shoot at longer distances here in a few months. So I guess any guidance and tips are appreciated. And again my knowledge is next to nothing but trying to change that and absorb all I can.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn3/jevans20091/IMG_7853_zpswlkntqog.jpg Another picture closer up.

Looks good OP, nice and basic.

Make?

Welcome to the site!

OP, welcome to the site and to the BRD (Black Rifle Disease)! I hope you have many years of satisfaction.
Rock River seems to be a solid weapon. $700 for that gun, plus ammo, is a pretty good deal! How many magazines* do you have? I would suggest at least five; they can be had for pretty reasonable prices. 44MAG.COM is a reliable dealer. I've bought several magazines from them and they're pretty solid.




Good plan, however I strongly suggest that you get professional training. Go to AR15.com's Hometown subforum for your state and you can learn who is reliable. The reason I suggest this is that you have very few bad habits right now, and they don't need to be "unlearned." There are several bad practices which you can avoid if you get professional training, which aren't evident if you "self-train."




*NEVER call them "clips" here! If you do, people will say nasty things about you, the police will shoot your dog, they'll slash your tires and accuse you of unsavory sexual practices!

Seriously: it's a "magazine," not a "clip," for technical reasons which will become evident as you continue your study of the AR15 world.

welcome, and I strongly suggest posting in the hometown forum, there are some good dudes here.

Welcome...paragraphs...use them

You'll soon find out that an AR15 is merely a platform for carrying the accessories you will eventually buy.

Nice first gun!  What are you getting next?

I'm not kidding.  I bought one AR15 in 2008, thinking it would be the only one I would ever need.  I now have three, with plans in the works to build a fourth.

Visiting this site does NOT help.  But, talking with fellow addicts is good therapy...

+1000

If the Aimpoint and LaRue mount are genuine, you got a smoking deal on the package and you now owe your step Dad a huge favor.
The A2 stock with the carbine upper look too Clintonesque for my tastes, so I would recommend replacing the stock with a good collapsible stock when possible.

OP, welcome to the site and to the BRD (Black Rifle Disease)! I hope you have many years of satisfaction.
Rock River seems to be a solid weapon. $700 for that gun, plus ammo, is a pretty good deal! How many magazines* do you have? I would suggest at least five; they can be had for pretty reasonable prices. 44MAG.COM is a reliable dealer. I've bought several magazines from them and they're pretty solid.




Good plan, however I strongly suggest that you get professional training. Go to AR15.com's Hometown subforum for your state and you can learn who is reliable. The reason I suggest this is that you have very few bad habits right now, and they don't need to be "unlearned." There are several bad practices which you can avoid if you get professional training, which aren't evident if you "self-train."



Thanks for the replies guys and sorry about not having any paragraphs it was pretty late and was just being lazy

As far as the deal goes, my step father told me the guy that was selling was going through rough times and never really used it. But when I bought the gun it came with only 1 magazine and not really sure what ind it was. I just know it was metal.

Since then I have bought three at the local gun store and it said they were P-Mags that held 30 rounds, and I have shot with the mags after buying them and the mags worked without a problem. I got them for I believe it was 13 bucks a pop which seemed reasonable but as far as that brand goes not really sure how the rest of the community feels about them. They are plastic/Polymer though.

And for training that was going to be my next step, to find someone who is way more knowledgeable than I to teach me the fundamentals, because aside from knowing how to load and shoot it I am brand new to shooting.

How would i know if the red dot and mount are genuine?

And thanks for the suggestion, although as of now I have refrained from buying anything else for it because to be honest I don't really know what to look for and what is actually needed to better the rifle vs fluff. But if you don't mind what stock would you reccomend and what advantages would it have?

Hmm well if I ever had to get another gun I don't think it would be an AR. Although I think the rifle is a joy to shoot and would love to get another one I think I am going to focus more on fundamentals and customizing the rifle to what would suit me best. And that is only going to come with me becoming more knowledgeable .

But as far as my next gun I think I am going to get a pistol and take conceal carry classes because buying both another AR and a pistol is unfortunately out of my budget as of now

Yup.  Exactly how I started.

ETA: I agree with the other poster.  For some reason, a carbine just looks right with a 5 position stock.  And a rifle looks good with a fixed A2 stock.  

My rifle:



My carbine (potato pic):



When you swap that A2 stock out for a 5 position, you'll have a stock left over.  Perfect starting point for building a 20" rifle...

Or not.  

I can quit any time I want.  Really, I can. Seriously.

I don't know this may be a dumb question but what exactly is the difference between a carbine and a rifle? I just googled it and it says (for the most part) is a carbine is a shorter model of any given rifle. Is that it?

Pretty much. In the AR world, Carbines usually have 16" barrel or shorter, carbine length gas system. M4 carbine, mil spec, has 14.5" barrel but that's a 'short barreled rifle' by gov standards and requires a tax stamp for private owners unless it's a pistol (which then can't have a shoulder stock).

Nice looking rifle! If it fits you, I'd just keep the A2 stock right now. Big thing to take away from a first AR is what you like about it and what you don't like - my first AR was issued by uncle sam, so I didn't have to pay for that experience. I've blown a bit of money trying out other stuff to find myself with a rifle very much like my service M4, only in a dissipator format. Learn your fundamentals (step dad could help maybe?) and practice with dry firing when you can't be shooting. It all becomes second nature if you work at it.

+1 with the Chuck. I like it as-is.

Welcome to the site.

About all I would add to your rifle is a back up iron sight (BUIS) and a place for a flashlight. My light is (currently) the same Surefire as I use on my handgun; I have it mounted on a 45 degree mount, at the front of the handguard, so I can use my thumb to turn it on/off. There's a rocker switch at the rear of the light for temporary on and permanent on.




45 degree mount:

Nice crewed served AR.

Welcome OP.  Train up.

Thanks for clearing that up And I think as of now I am going to keep the stock that is on there at least until I get the fundamentals down.

Thanks for touching up on the rear sight thing. That was one thing about the rifle that had me confused. I mean using a red dot is pretty self explanatory I would think. Just put the dot on what you want to shoot more or less. However when I was looking at the iron sight I was not sure how exactly how I should be aiming with it, because I didn't have rear site to line it up with unlike what I have experienced with pistols. And I would really like to get good with Iron sights instead of using the red dot all the time.

And one other thing too if you don't mind, I was looking into barrels and twist ratios how could i determine what twist ratio I have right now? I know it goes hand in hand for what you should be using ammo wise (grain loads). Right now I have just been shooting cheap 55 grain independence ammo. Thing is, I am not sure if that is optimal for my type of barrel because I am only shooting at 25 yards at a indoor range right now until I can find a outdoor one and any targets that have really bad groupings is probably me and my shooting.. lol.

Welcome to the site OP.
Great first rifle. Learn it, shoot it, love it.
Buy that rifle a good non-folding rear sight and it would a.perfect KISS rifle. (Keep It Simple)

Twist rate is something that people make a big deal out of but it does't matter much unless you are going for serious precision. My guess would be you have a 1/9 twist which is pretty common and tends to shoot most ammo from 55 to 70 grain much much better than most people can actually consistently shoot within 100 yards.
Congrats on the rifle. You will catch the black rifle bug before long, like others have said. I just did my first in Jan. and I am already planning another.
I also agree with above posters, go to the hometown forum and look for a good instructor, it can make all the difference for an inexperienced shooter.

I have this one on my rifle (see pic above):

http://www.amazon.com/UTG-Model-Complete-Match-grade-Sight/dp/B001BR4VQ0

Adjusts for windage and elevation and is solid.  Good option for not a lot of $$$.

Learning to shoot with irons is definitely a good plan. Dots are great until they run out of batteries, break, etc. I use a MBUS pro rear folding sight which I like pretty good. Note that ARs usually use peep sights, which are unlike pistol sights - peep sights have a small circular hole in the rear sight that you look through and line up the top of the front sight post in the middle, rather than the blade/groove of a typical pistol. You can get great accuracy out of them if you train! If you like the classic look and want to nix the red dot completely, a carrying handle rear sight might suit you.

Learning to shoot with irons is definitely a good plan. Dots are great until they run out of batteries, break, etc. I use a MBUS pro rear folding sight which I like pretty good. Note that ARs usually use peep sights, which are unlike pistol sights - peep sights have a small circular hole in the rear sight that you look through and line up the top of the front sight post in the middle, rather than the blade/groove of a typical pistol. You can get great accuracy out of them if you train! If you like the classic look and want to nix the red dot completely, a carrying handle rear sight might suit you.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and everything you guys have been helpful and I am just trying to absorb it all.

And I was just perplexed on the whole iron sight thing on this rifle. Because the owner said he bought the rifle new and the only thing he added was the red dot,which means that the rifle was sold without a rear iron sight, so my question is. Is that normal? Why would it a company make a rifle without a rear iron sight, and essentially not be able to aim at all with the rifle? Just seems a little unusual, unless the previous owner removed it?

Because unless I am mistaken after I was shooting my rifle one day at the range i was in the shop area looking at pistols but all had rear sights along with the little post in the front.

Not unusual at all.  The more ARs you look at online, or in stores, the more you will see with no rear iron.  People like to add their own, and there are many, many choices.  ORC models are very common, as red dots are so popular.

Pistols are very different.

+uno

OP, more uppers/rifles are sold without a rear sight than with. Keeps cost down and distributors know you're going to switch them out anyways.

Alright, thanks for the suggestions and guidance everyone I am sure I will see you guys around the forums. The help is appreciated.

Start with these
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_128/670464_Proper_Basic_Shooting_Positions_For_You_and_Your_New_AR15.html
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_128/670255_Guns_aren_t_accurate_.html
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_128/670481_Books__________________the_kind_you_read.html
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_128/670347_books.html
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_128/669790_Lets_talk_about_precise_accurate_shooting_and_the_combat_carbine.html

Haven't gotten to read all of it but read the first one on proper shooting positions and that was fantastic tutorial and something i was in desperate need of, the pictures really helped and now I am itching to get to the range to try shooting the right way.

The most interesting was the standing position, after looking at it my hands were nowhere near how the pictured showed lol. I was just grabbing the hand guard like a bag of groceries It looks a little unusual but def gonna practice till I can get it down. Cant wait to read the others. Again, thanks!

Remember that you don't need to go to the range to practice fundamentals - getting the muscle memory down can be done at home with a clear chamber. In OSUT our DS's had us lie in the prone on the floor of our barracks, pick an aiming point on the wall and practice trigger pulls with a penny sitting on top of the flash hider. That man could hear a penny hit the floor from a distance, I'll tell you. You're looking for the penny to stay put and the sights to still be lined up on target after the squeeze. Adjust for sitting positions or whatever you please.

Naturally, this isn't a substitute for range time and certainly shouldn't replace range time, but it helps get the ideas in place and you can do it whenever you want. Often with new shooters, excitement/shot anticipation takes over at the range and it can be difficult focusing on fundamentals. Lots of practice will help make it so you don't have to think about it.

Welcome aboard