The AR-15 as a shooting platform has relatively more manageable recoil compared to other rifle platforms, particularly so when chambered in its intended 5.56x45mm round. That’s how readily available AR-15 aftermarket parts and accessories are. To really put this into perspective, Brownell’s has a catalog of AR-15 parts that rivals the Yellow Pages in size, and Brownell’s is just one of many. You can pick up practically any gun-related magazine and you will see ad after ad of aftermarket AR-15 accessories and parts. It is customizable for any purpose and has readily swappable parts, aka “ furniture.” One of the best things about the AR-15 is that it can be tailored to suit aesthetic taste and home/personal defense needs. In real-life home defense scenarios where most of us only have to deal with one or two people, the ballistic performance of the 5.56×45mm caliber should be plenty powerful - a single shot should be enough to repel, maim or even kill a bad guy if needed. When doing target practice, I get to focus on each shot and don’t end up wasting bullets. Personally, I prefer firing any gun in semi-auto. This makes the AR-15 significantly slower to shoot compared to the military version of the rifle, the M4, which fires has a 3-shot burst option (three rounds are fired with a single pull of the trigger) and a full auto option (the gun will empty the entire mag if the user doesn’t let go of the trigger). In a nutshell, semi-auto means with each pull of the gun’s trigger, only a single round is fired. This differs from the automatic/select fire capabilities of the military variety. The US military uses the M4 whereas civilians are legally allowed to only use the semi-auto AR-15.

Here is a list of the top five reasons why I think they are so popular: They Are Used by the U.S. There are many reasons why the AR-15 has remained the most popular of all civilian rifles. We will go into depth on the AR-15 and each AR we suggest throughout this article, but if you want to jump right into pricing and shopping here is a quick table of our best AR picks.

10 Our Top Picks for AR-15 Rifles (Updated: 2021).

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