I wouldn't go so far as to say they are very accurate at long range. They can be accurate shooting, but so can many guns and for less money as well. They tend to be pretty decent guns, but not the perfect gun. They are a grown man's erector set. They are nice because of the ease of changing the uppers out. The piston driven uppers to me, are more desirable. I don't buy into the gas impingement system. Sure the 5.56 has little recoil, but it isn't all because of the gas system. It's almost as silly as the guy I heard at a sporting goods store, talking about the heavy recoil of his AR15, and how it beat him up. Yes, I verified, 223 ammo,lol. I like the AR platform, but I don't love it. I like it for its unique traits, but I think too many drink the black rifle koolaid and don't really understand what is good about them, and what isn't. They probably play Call of Duty, and wear full tacticool gear while they play it,lol.