tealboy

Never really cinsidered one of these but saw a feature on youtube by hickoff45 and started to get the bug. Originally wanted a cheap beater bold or semi gun for my hunting buggy, something i can knock around but found min prices of $300 and nothing that got me excited. Since i was able to fix my daughters gun by changing the stock vs buying a new gun, i am thinking about a AR15. I belong to a club that is a cattle ranch and we are required to harvest as many hogs and coyotes as we can find. The other day i ran into 12 of them, got one shot off and killed one hog. This gun would be fun and allow me to take out more.

I know some dont care for these guns, which is respectable, but i am not really looking for a vote of approval but rather thoughts from those who have the ruger or other moderately priced guns that fit the category, recommendations, etc. i plan to stick w open sights and 223 caliber. The lop is only 13.5 which is short for me but maybe it is ok or a slip on pad can be added.

stalkingbear

There's things that are more fun than hunting coyotes or feral hogs with an AR, but I wouldn't have a clue what they are, and not likely to ever find out! I have LOVED using my finely accurate bull barreled AR-15 to hunt coyotes with ever since I was able to bust 3 out of a pack several years ago! With the right bullet/load the AR is extremely effective against coyotes. It is on hogs too but we don't have feral hogs where I live in Ky yet. Or at least they're not widespread enough for me to see any or evidence of them where I hunt.

Nomercy448

"A Rose by any other Name would smell as Sweet..." - Wild Bill Shakespeare

Like most AR-15's, if I covered the branding with tape and handed you 10 of them, you'd likely never be able to identify ONE of the manufacturers by feel, quality, or appearance. There are a few proprietary or unique parts that certain makers use, but largely, AR's are AR's.

The Ruger AR-556 runs under $600 street price. The ONLY thing that I know is different for the AR-556 vs. a DPMS, Bushmaster, RRA, Stag, Sig, Windham, etc etc is the way they mount their front sight/gas block. It's a taper pin set up, some people seemed to have problems removing it - for the life of me, I can't figure out why?

Otherwise, it's just another mil-spec "M4 style" AR-15. Ruger seems to do very well with hammer forged barrels, but I've seen DPMS barrels shoot incredibly well also.

Just being a Ruger fan and having been down the DPMS/Bushmaster road many times before, if I had $600, needed an AR Carbine, and had a DPMS/Bushmaster sitting on a shelf beside a Ruger, I'd take the Ruger, but I'd fully recognize that there wouldn't be any real difference between the two. I've built lots and lots of AR's on Bushmaster frames, but just to have the stability of Ruger's business, and their second-to-none customer service, I'd buy the Ruger AR-556 over a DPMS/Bushmaster today.

Nomercy448

I did forget to mention - the 60grn Nosler Partition is the best bullet I've ever seen for hogs out of the 223/5.56. I shoot hogs behind the ear as often as possible, but I've punched the partition through the tough stuff on several hogs of reasonable size in the last few years with no issue. I've killed dozens of hogs with 50grn V-max's behind the ear, but for anything over 150lbs, it's nice to have a little tougher bullet to punch through the hide. Hogs aren't hard to kill, but big animals are big animals, and penetration isn't a high priority for 22cal varmint bullets like the V-max.

I'd also recommend throwing an open red-dot sight on top of your AR, if you don't want a telescopic sight (scope). It'll offer a lot more precision sighting than the standard iron sights, but still give you a more heads-up, run-and-gun feel. Standard AR sights can suck in the dark. I've been incredibly happy with Burris FastFire's for many years, and the III is definitely worth the extra $50 over the II.

Sheridan

Ruger IMO is out front right now producing high quality entry level firearms.

Their entry level guns now have been engineered to include upgrades previously only found on semi custom guns (adjustable triggers, free-floated barrels & bedding).

Their reputation has always been as a producer of over built, reliable, quality firearms.

You get a lot for your money nowadays !

tealboy

Thx for the feedback, very interesting comments. I have not even held one but saw a post regarding the ruger for $559 w free shipping. The smith wesson sport was 539. Watched a few reviews and thought it might be fun to have one of these at the ranch. I almost ordered on for the 559$ but realized it is a florida distributor so w tax i was back to 600$ which is a fairly regular price so i havent purchased one yet, but think i will.

jeepkid

Ruger makes good stuff for sure. I'd get one over the S&W.

stalkingbear

The Ruger for that price is an AR556 and not SR556. The AR556 is DI while the more expensive SR556 is piston driven that's adjustable.

tealboy

Yes it is, ar556. Problem is, they are hard to find in stock. Has me looking at the smith wesson sport for $529 shipped. About 35$ less than the ruger but ruger is backorder. I can wait another coupke of weeks and get one but the m and p sport platform is highly rated but doesnt have dust cover or forward assist, two things i prob dont need to have i guess