Man, you may only have 11 posts, but that was straight up solid! Nicely said.

Great info on the M4! I pulled mine out to compair features and it looks like I made a pretty good choice.

Thanks Macx.

One other note after browsing through GunStop the other day. CMMG also makes some models for distributors which don't match what goes out of their website. The one that crossed me up was a 16" carbine at GS marked 1/9 5.56 WASP on the barrel. The $769 price is what caught my eye.

After an email to CMMG, I learned about their WASP coating. It is not chrome but competes against it; apparently a coating similar to what Glock and other makers are using on pistol barrels. From what I can gather these rifles also run 4140 steel barrels and (I'm guessing) don't have the MP testing or shot peened bolts that they do with their other stuff.

Just mentioning it to point out that CMMG lowered rifles do come in a couple different grades. It was news to me.

Still debating myself if that matters...

Anyone look into the new Ruger AR yet? Any opinions?

I also have a DPMS AR and love it. I have a DPMS M4gery. I'm fighting the urge to buy an AR15 pistol.

As a matter of fact, the gun shop in Hutchinson has a Ruger SR556 in stock and I got to fondle it a bit last weekend. They also have an LCP at $299 if anybody is looking. That shop always has something interesting.

The SR556 is a nice looking item. Fit and finish was good and there are a lot of nice upgrades on there made by Troy (sights/rails) and Hogue. Just like you've probably read online. Felt lighter than a SIG556. Thing's a rail farm if that's your thing.

But at $1699, I'm sticking with my direct gas ARs for now. With all the goodies from the factory it's probably worth that money. Heck, rail forends are crazy expensive and those sights are $250 plus. I just don't like the idea of a Ruger specific part failing and having no other options. ARs are the erector set of rifles because everybody and their uncle can get you any given part.

Going with any piston upper today, or a Sig556, means lock in. I hate lock in (at least in fighting rifles).

"The Chart" doesn't really have anything to do with 'going into battle', rather it is focused on those folks who take multi-day, high round count classes. Much of what went into the actual rankings was based on information gleaned from both instructors & frequent participants of these types of classes and which makes of rifle stood up to the pounding of 1500+ rounds over 2 days and which more frequently had problems. If you are likely to take one or more courses of this type (or really are paranoid about ever needing to use it for self-defense), it makes perfect sense to buy the most reliable weapon possible, and I believe 'The Chart' does a pretty good job of ranking them.

Of course, the vast majority of us will never fire enough rounds through our ARs to ever know the difference between something from Olympic Arms & Colt, so it really doesn't matter. Especially since 'The Chart' doesn't really make any claims regarding the accuracy of the guns from any given company, just the long-term, overall reliability. If you read it with that in mind, you can use it effectively as another tool to help make the right decision for you.

With you 100% JGalt. Depends what you want the rifle for. My 6.5 Grendel build doesn't match up against "the chart" but that's not what it's for either.

To close the loop on some of my other posts, I went and picked up that CMMG M4LE I mentioned at Gun Stop. These rifles seem like a heck of a deal to me. I emailed with CMMG tech support and confirmed that these M4LE rifles have chrome lined bolt carriers, shot peened carrier/bolts, MP tested barrels, and mil spec buffer tubes. Basically, these are the same quality ARs that CMMG sells on their website except for a 1/9 twist barrel in the softer 4140 steel and with their WASP coating instead of chrome.

To JGalt's point, I won't ever put the kind of rounds down range that daily fighting rifles see. Even if I could take every class I wish I could. The barrel on the M4LE should hold up just fine for me, and for future generations. For $300 less, and a barrel twist that runs my 55 grain loads better, that's a deal I couldn't pass up.

Of course, a few changes are already in the works.