If you had one minute (or so) to go through a rack of used AR’s, what would you look for to increase your odds of picking a “good one”?
I was just wondering if there are dead give-aways of being poorly maintained, abused, or some other “things” that just jump out at you. OR things to ignore that don’t amount to much, like finish, rust, etc.
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I would look at the roll marks and take the Colt, Noveske, BCM, and so on…
Look for the top 5 or 6 names, avoid the Shrubmasters and similar names, pop the takedown pin, break it open, pull the BCG, inspect the inside of the upper for wear or damage, inspect the chamber and bore. Check the trigger/hammer and safety for correct operation. Close it up, cycle a few times to check for normal operation. Gone in 60 seconds. (This is all assuming no obvious external damage.)
You forgot to name it Eleanor.
Without sounding like a smart alec…
As long as the Lower was good and within spec, I can replace just about anything else later.
My main concern would be that the FCG appeared in decent order, the gas keys were properly staked, the gas rings were in working order, bcg appeared serviceable, and the barrel not pitted, obstructed, etc. and the FSB wasn’t canted.
Color, cute designs, neat looking rollmarks et. al. wouldn’t even register on my concern-meter.
That’s just me, of course.
I look for the prancing pony. Guess work instantly removed.
“Meh, I’ve had better” to continue the movie quote theme 
I first look for something that started with “L”.
I guess the real question is a rack of what? Are we talking a rack of various AR’s somewhere or are we talking about a rack of Colt AR’s that are in an armory or depot?
If we are talking random I would look for the name that is known to be quality. I.E.- not Del-ton, DPMS, Bushamster, Oly Arms or that similar crap.
So I guess that question is what are we talking about?
I think he’s talking about a rack of random, beat-up AR’s. At least that’s the way I read it.
I agree with IG, what are we really talking about?
Is this for real or a fictional scenario just to see what people’s preferences are?
In any case, sounds like fun so I’ll play.
I’d ignore everything else and focus purely on the lowers. I’d grab the best maintained class 3 lower I could find.
I’d look for the one’s with the teeth marks in the buttstock…
Only a minute, if it’s a matter of me surviving an encounter of some kind guess i’d look for the one that has a full magazine in it. if you are saying you found a rack some where and you only have a minute to snag and leave look for the one that has (SAFE,SEMI,AUTO) on the fire control group.
I would look for the one with 3 pins in the trigger group and start some paper work…
Make sure the rack of AR’s was sitting at a carbine class ie…EAG etc…Pretty sure most the people attending that class are squared away on gear so your chances of finding a running gun are good :D.
If said rack was at FUDS are us ehh…I would look for an unmolested Colt. Pop it open and make sure it still had a Colt BCG, check the barrel for the correct stamps and grab and go.
If it was a millitary armory I would pick one up and check the BCGroups to find the one that had the most finish remaining and was the wetest upon opening due to the higher likely round counts then one would find on a civie gun. This would tell me it wasn’t excessively cleaned and someone knew to keep it wet.
Thank y’all for “playing”.
This scenario was fictional but I was just wondering what guys would look for to pick out a good gun. I was thinking of a rack of used guns like in an armory or a used gun rack in a store or maybe a “stash” somewhere and you had to have a gun “right now”.
Along this same imaginary scenario, after you pick a gun, I guess the next problem would be finding out if the sights where “on”. If firing the gun wasn’t possible (in the city, give away position, etc) I would think when I had the time I would remove the BCG and do a “boresight”. I boresighted an M&P15 yesterday and ended up about 2" low & 2" to the right at 50 yards when I fired the gun.
Any other ways to verify sight alignments?
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ucrt wants to know, if you were to select a good AR from a rack of various ARs, what do you look for to narrow down your choices without wasting time.
I look for overall quality. If the rifle looks like it wasn’t built with an eye towards quality, it usually isn’t.
Configuration. If I don’t like how it’s set up it’s going to cost money to make it right.
Price. If this is a personal purchase I check the price tag to see if it’s a good deal. If it’s too pricey it gets a pass. If it’s too good to be true, I dig deeper to find out why.
What type and level of wear the rifle has. If it’s simply abused and shows signs of being cared for poorly, it’s not worth the time messing with. If it’s honest wear from being carried much and shot a little or even shot much and well cared for, that’s a good sign and a way to get a good rifle at a bargain.
Bore condition. Rifles with bad bores get a pass, although this isn’t a real problem if it’s priced right. Barrel changes are easy with an AR.
Cycle the action. How does it feel? Smooth? Gritty? Does something feel unusual?
Inspect the internals. Check to see if they’re packed with gunk, sand, dust bunnies and for obvious signs of excessive wear and missing or broken parts.
I also check my gut. I pass on a firearm when my gut tells me something is not right. This usually means I found something I don’t consciously realize is wrong. I have never gone wrong buying a firearm that I’ve had a good gut feeling about
I like to take the BCG out. Extend the bolt, place the whole BCG on the bolt face on a table. If the bolt holds up the whole BCG, then we know the gas rings are good. If it compresses, then gas rings need to be replaced.
When I’m doing a rapid check of a weapon that is an unknown, I check the rollmark on the lower, then the barrel, staking, and BCG. If they all appear to be the same, and are of decent name, it answers a lot of questions.
I’m not interested in many of the slap together component AR15s that are floating around on the market, nor do I recommend them to friends or fellow Officers. The above seems to weed most of the junk out pretty quickly.
Check for a known quality rollmark, confirm same manufacturer barrel markings.
Check BCG for staking, extractor for tension.
Check lower for GI trigger and proper buffer.
if you needed a gun ‘right now’, then lets assume the SHTF: zombies are beating on the door, a gang of raiders are carting off your loved ones…
do you plan to look at some fancy manufacturer mark, field strip it, check the bore/BCG etc? or are you going to grab A gun, load it, and fire at whatever you need a gun ‘right now’ for?
if youve ever read any publication about self defense, then you’ve heard of the phrase ‘the perfect weapon is the one you have on you RIGHT NOW’.
are you really going to tell a zombie ‘hold on a second, i’m still looking for a noveske with more finish on the BCG then this other one’