AM radio show “Shooting the Infamous AR15”

[CLT65]

I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning, Armstrong and Getty, I think. One of them starts talking about how a friend took him to the range to shoot the dreaded AR15.

What is it with non-gun people shooting the AR15, and going on about how special it is. I remember some journalist a while back saying he was traumatized or something, just from shooting one. This guy on the radio didn't say that, but he went on about how loud and powerful it was, how light, accurate, and easy to shoot, and how he couldn't help but think of school kids gunned down when he looked at it.

He said his buddy, who he hinted was LE or military, was a "second amendment guy" but even he wasn't quite comfortable with just anybody having the mighty AR.

My question is: when did the AR become so special? So different, superior, and more lethal than all other rifles? The public as a whole has seemingly bought into this lie.

In reality, it's a good rifle platform, the 60 year evolution of an excellent design, but otherwise it's really nothing special. The 5.56 cartridge is powerful compared to pistols and .22s, but downright wimpy compared to the average deer rifle. Accuracy is typically very good, but this guy on the radio was bragging about saucer sized groups at 75 feet. My old M1 Carbine can do that.

I don't mean to denigrate the AR or upset AR fans; that's not my intent at all. I'm not talking about the finer points of firearm superiority that an experienced rifleman or professional soldier would notice. Is there something in a general sense that somehow sets the AR apart from other rifles? Only in the minds of people who don't know guns.

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[Kruel J]

The one time it's ok to judge on looks alone.

 

[Stomper]

I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning, Armstrong and Getty, I think. One of them starts talking about how a friend took him to the range to shoot the dreaded AR15.

What is it with non-gun people shooting the AR15, and going on about how special it is. I remember some journalist a while back saying he was traumatized or something, just from shooting one. This guy on the radio didn't say that, but he went on about how loud and powerful it was, how light, accurate, and easy to shoot, and how he couldn't help but think of school kids gunned down when he looked at it.

He said his buddy, who he hinted was LE or military, was a "second amendment guy" but even he wasn't quite comfortable with just anybody having the mighty AR.

My question is: when did the AR become so special? So different, superior, and more lethal than all other rifles? The public as a whole has seemingly bought into this lie.

In reality, it's a good rifle platform, the 60 year evolution of an excellent design, but otherwise it's really nothing special. The 5.56 cartridge is powerful compared to pistols and .22s, but downright wimpy compared to the average deer rifle. Accuracy is typically very good, but this guy on the radio was bragging about saucer sized groups at 75 feet. My old M1 Carbine can do that.

I don't mean to denigrate the AR or upset AR fans; that's not my intent at all. I'm not talking about the finer points of firearm superiority that an experienced rifleman or professional soldier would notice. Is there something in a general sense that somehow sets the AR apart from other rifles? Only in the minds of people who don't know guns.

It's because less than 2% of the population (actually closer to 1%) raise their hand and serve in the armed forces where EVERYONE is exposed to basic training in the use & care of basic infantry small arms.... even your Special Forces Scout/Cook/Supply Clerk/Sniper...

Of the 98%-99% who've never served, the VAST majority of those have never seen an AR15(style) outside of the BS in movies, or how the MSM presents them as evil human hunting/killing machines.


People are captivated by the hype behind ANYTHING more than the actual subject/item.

 

[308]

I got wood as a teenager whenever I saw pics of the AR platform....and it was a life goal to own one of them hot black babes!

 

[Stomper]

I got wood as a teenager whenever I saw pics of the AR platform....and it was a life goal to own one of them hot black babes!

Once you do, you'll never go back!

 

[FireArm]

how he couldn't help but think of school kids gunned down when he looked at it.

clearly mentally disturbed, why would an AR15 make someone who knows little about firearms, automatically start thinking about children shooting other children at school?!
I always think about how it(M16) secured American freedoms in a unsafe world.
Anti-Gun rhetoric is lamer and lamer.

 

[etrain16]

I really don't get the fear of the AR15. Other than the looks, it's really no different than any other small caliber semi-automatic rifle. I mean if I wanted to make someone dread shooting a gun, it wouldn't be an AR15, maybe plop an old Mosin or .300 Win Mag in their hands - let them see what big recoil and loud really mean. I know it's worthless trying to explain these things to a hard-core anti, but come on, it's just so damn disingenuous to lie about what these guns really are. And when they make public statements like those above, they just really sound like uneducated buffoons. Hard to take folks like that seriously, which I wouldn't, save for the fact that they influence so many anti's to vote against us.

 

[FireArm]

DONT SHOW AN ANTI A SAIGA12 WITH A 20RD DRUM FULL OF BUCKSHOT! THEY MIGHT JUST FALL OVER DEAD FROM FEAR.

 

[Vendor Hidden]

Once you do, you'll never go back!

That has GOT to be on a T-shirt somewhere.

 

[CLT65]

I don't listen to that radio show often, but I got the feeling that the guy wasn't particularly anti-gun. He actually sounded on the fence but open to learning, as far as I could tell, but I didn't listen long. My commute is short and I turned it off when I got to work.

He clearly bought into the "AR15 is a death ray" lie, that's what bugged me.

 

[CLT65]

UPDATE: Jack Armstrong's Experience with an AR-15 | Armstrong and Getty | iHeartRadio

 

[bolus]

yellow snowflake?

I would use "infamous" if I shot something like a Chauchat with its curved and open sided magazine below the gun that got clogged with mud. So poorly made parts were not interchangeable between any two guns.

Or the type 94 Nambu which had the sear on the outside of the firearm where you could get it to fire just by squeezing the frame a little. It would go off if you laid it down on it's side.

or any taurus.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I own an AR15...its fun , shoots well and I like that the fact that I put it together myself...
( Do need a new picture of it as it now , I have changed the stock , grips , handguards and sights... )
Mine is indeed , a light , handy and accurate Carbine....
For me , what is special about my AR Carbine is , who made it possible for me to own one and his generosity.

What makes the AR15 "special" to me in general is that I owned a Colt SP-1 at one time...then traded it off for a Flintlock Rifle....after awhile some folks got to saying just what guns I should be able to have and what guns I shouldn't be able to have....

Well that kinda got my dander up ...as I have always thought of the AR series as just rifles of the Semi-Auto variety...no different than say a Remington model 8 or 742...
And to tell me ...Just what I can own and even at times give me their version "why" it needs to be this way...
Just sits with me wrong...so now I have a AR again.

It should be simple....
You don't want a gun or a particular type of gun...then don't buy one , or one of that type.
Nothing says that you have to own a gun...
But don't go and try to force your choices on me.
Andy

 

[Goosebrown]

Once you do, you'll never go back!

That's black "guns" not black rifles...

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

 

[JRuby]

I consider the AR15 a tool and though I own several to me it is not as good as a decent 308. It has its purpose like any tool. To me inside 200 yards in a somewhat open area such as around most urban area the ar15 does excellent inside 30 yards or so I will take a shotgun. It's all about tradeoffs. An ar15 has its purpose but it is nothing special it is a good dependable tool

 

[Stomper]

That has GOT to be on a T-shirt somewhere.

Or underwear....

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

Thanks for posting, I just deleted the iHeart Radio app off my phone.

 

[Caveman Jim]

OMG, what a Puthy!!!!

 

[Coloradocat]

Are you sure that's not a young Hilary in that video