Gear

It is the "Black Rifle," the gun that crawled out of the jungles of Vietnam to become our ubiquitous service rifle.

One that has captured the hearts and minds of three generations of shooters in the United States.

While not universally loved, it has become just as iconic as the M1 rifle or the 1911 pistol.

Over the next several pages, we present what we hope will prove a useful reference tool for current and future owners of the AR-style rifle.

IRONS IN THE FIRE
With the attention given to new AR-15 optical sights these days, it's easy to forget that there are also many extremely useful and high-quality AR iron sight systems on the market, both for stand-alone use and in conjunction with optics. Just do an Internet search for "AR-15 iron sights" and you'll see what I mean. If you want to maximize your AR-15's iron sight utility, here are a few things you should know.

First, if you have an original AR-15 or AR15A1-type gun with fixed carrying handle, you're pretty much screwed. The integral peep sights are crude, with limited and difficult adjustability, and they do not allow aftermarket replacement. The improved rear sight on the AR-15A2 design is much more usable, but there's still the fixed carrying handle that prohibits aftermarket sights and makes optical sight mounting/cowitnessing difficult.

The civilian AR-15A3 (not to be confused with the military M16A3) and current AR-15A4 designs having removable carry handles and flattop receivers with Picatinny rail changed everything and opened the door to tremendous sighting versatility. With a flattop receiver you can install any of a wide variety of true precision rear sights that mate either with an integral pyramid-type front sight or with a matching aftermarket front sight on "tactical"-format guns having flat, rail-topped gas blocks. The best designed aftermarket sights of this type have a fold-down feature that allows them to be completely out of the way if you want to use a high-magnification scope or be folded up to co-witness with tactical optics.

My favorites are the Folding Battle Sights from Troy Industries, or the Samson MFG Flip Sight, which are standard accessories for such production AR-15s as the S&W M&P15A and M&P15T and the Stag 15 and Stag 15L series.

And don't worry if you want to mount a high-magnification predator/varmint optic on a flattop AR-15 with a pyramid front sight. Even though the sight is directly in front of the scope, it's so close it will be effectively invisible to your eye and will not interfere at all with the scope's utility. 

KICK OUT THE JAMS
Immediate action drills are the steps you take if your gun malfunctions. They follow the same pattern for most stoppages and should be practiced so they can be done rapidly. These drills address the three types of failures type 1, a failure to fire that might be caused by a bad primer, light firing-pin strike, the bolt not fully in battery or an improperly seated magazine that results in an inability of the bolt to strip a round; type 2, a failure to eject a fired case, which might be caused by a broken or weak extractor or ejector, bad ammunition or a dirty chamber; and type 3, a failure to properly feed a round into the chamber, usually caused by a poorly seated or broken magazine.

Although each of the three types of stoppages is different, the steps to get the AR-15 running again are the same, so don't waste time diagnosing the problem. When performing these steps, always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.

FIRST STEPS

• Firmly push—read, slam—the magazine into the magazine well, then give it a tug to make sure it is seated.
• Tilt the gun slightly to the right so that any loose cases or debris will fall out of the ejection port. While holding the gun this way, cycle the action rapidly—being sure to retract the charging handle all the way and let it go so it slams home under spring pressure.
• Hit the forward assist (if your rifle is so equipped).

IF THAT DOESN'T WORK

• Lock the bolt to the rear.
• Remove the magazine.
• Reach up inside the magazine well into the receiver and physically remove any debris or stuck cartridges.
• Roll the gun to the right side so the ejection port is facing down.
• Cycle the action rapidly three times to clear a cartridge or case that may be stuck in the chamber.
• Insert a fresh magazine. The old one may be what caused the problem. Cycle the action to feed a fresh round into the chamber. Hit the forward assist (if your rifle is so equipped).

FOR THE DO-IT-YOURSELFER
Whether you want to learn more about the AR, build one from a kit or work on an AR trigger, a three-volume set of videos  from American Gunsmithing Institute has got you covered. The overview video, "AR-15 Armorer's Course," is an excellent, well-rounded look at the rifle's operating system—complete with assembly/disassembly, maintenance tips and a lot more.

"Building The AR-15 Rifle" guides you through the steps of creating a gun out of a kit, showing you not only how it's done but also providing the secrets that will make the gun go together easier and better. The trigger course video is a little more complicated, and if you (like our reviewer) are not mechanically minded or intimately familiar with how the AR trigger functions, you may have to run through it a few times, but savvy do-it-yourselfers should find it a good guide to making an AR trigger that's crisp, clean and, above all, safe.