Why did AR-15 become so popular?

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Interesting. I was able to hit a 6" plate every time at 100 yards with my buddy's Mini.

There was the odd good one; one guy I hunted with had an early one with a walnut stock; 1 1/2 groups with it consistently; it was that rifle that inspired me to buy mine. What a let down. Swore I would never buy another Ruger; now I own a GP100, and love it BTW.

 

[chilehed]

Swore I would never buy another Ruger...

Yeah, they've never been a favorite of mine. Every Ruger I've ever shot felt like it had sand in it compared to the S&W K-22 my dad gave me when I was fifteen.

 

[Darkhorse]

That's odd. I own several Rugers and have no complaints with them.

Maybe different quality control at different times?

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Yeah, they've never been a favorite of mine. Every Ruger I've ever shot felt like it had sand in it compared to the S&W K-22 my dad gave me when I was fifteen.

K-22 are as nice as they come; particularly the older ones.

Fit and finish was actually quite nice on my Mini-14; the action was smooth, it handled and balanced really well; the only Issue was abysmal accuracy. If it shot beeter, I would still own it.

The smoothness of operation was the primary reason I bought a GP100; I would have bought a S & W if I had found one before the GP100 at my price. From a design and engineering stand point, the GP100 is stronger, and easier to clean and maintain.

There are lots of good 1022s out there (and the last few years more than a few dogs among them though); their .22 pistols from the Standard right up to the MK IV are good quality and very popular; their .2245, not so much. I know of a couple MKIIIs that have had the bolt knob break off due to inferior welds, but they have been easy to fix. Ruger had the safety issue with the MK IV that they have fixed for everyone. I shoot High Standard pistols, because I can shoot them better than I can shoot Rugers; they fit me better.

Ruger is still a north american company, they still have a huge share of the market, so they must be doing something right.

 

[Sabertooth]

I think the word you mean is arsinal, or arsanal (both spelled wrong on purpose). Correct?

"Ar$enal" works, too.