Hello from NY and questions

[wintermute]

I just want to say hi to everyone and I have to admit from lurking here that you bunch are mighty intimidating. I'm looking to buy an AR to use at the range (w/ quick target acquisition and traverse) and as a SHTF rifle. Since I live in NY, I can't have a collapsible stock, so collapsible-looking stocks don't interest me - I'd rather go w/ the stability of an A2 stock. I can't have a suppressor and any muzzle brake has to be pinned. So looking through a few of the local shops I found what might be what the doctor ordered - a Bushcrafter Shorty (16" HBAR barrel w/ no suppressor or brake, carbine fore end, A3 upper w/ carry handle, and an A2 stock). It seems like a lot of people here look down on the Bushies, but since I want to actually put my hands on a rifle before I buy it, it precludes alot of the smaller name brands. So what does everyone think?

[Ash Hess]

Upstate here. I went with the Smith and Wesson. Dont just buy a Bushy cause its there.
There are many places that can build legal stuff for us here stuck under communism. I am sure there are some AR owners around you here on the site that will let you get a feel for the gun. If you are upstate, let me know.
Grant at G and R can make most every thing legal.

[Treehopr]

Both Colt and Smith & Wesson make ban compliant versions of their rifles, you may have to get a dealer to order it or just buy it online and have it transferred through your local FFL.

Sometimes its cheaper that way since you don't pay sales tax as you would at a brick and mortar gun store.

[Irish]

Welcome. I highly suggest you read through the stickies on the top of each forum sub-section. Also, read Rob's infamous chart for a lot of good information http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pwswheghNQsEuEhjFwPrgTA.

Any experienced, well read person on this forum will not encourage you to go ahead with your purchase. At the most you can hope for a lot of people who will try to discourage you from making a poor decision.

Continue to lurk here and do some searches on Bushmaster, I'm sure you'll change your tune. Good luck!

[Ed L.]

The A2 stock is way long for most people.

You might want to outfit the gun with a shorter fixed stock like the Sully Stock:

http://prostores2.carrierzone.com/servlet/defensive-edgenet/-strse-Sully-Stocks/Categories

[newyork]

huge +1 for Sully Stocks. I have 2 rifles, both where Sully Stocks.

[Kazzy]

There are some fellow New Yorkers on here (like myself) that can help you. You can get whatever stock works for you as long as you have it pinned.. I would not settle on an A2 stock just because it isn't collapsible. Like some of the members have said, you can get whatever kind of AR you would like as long as it can be modified to NY AWB standards. There are some stores in NY that will do these modifications for you in house after they get your AR in that you order so don't stress out thinking that you will go to the big house for getting an illegal weapon

[R Moran]

I would look for a Colt MT M4, with the fixed collapsible stock and fake brake.

Change out the stock to a Sully or standard GI a1, or Colt "C" stock, if you can find one(I did:D)

Change out the crappy brake, for a fake flash hider.

Basically, its a 6920, between the crown and receiver end plate.

Ken Elmore suggested this to me, back during the ban, and he, or any smith could do the work for you.

Barring that, as others have suggested, get Grant, to build you a compliant gun, but don't get a BM.

Bob

[Treehopr]

I forgot to mention that LMT also offers factory ban-compliant AR's.

If you're going with the Sully stock then why not just contact Sully himself @ www.slr15.com (http://www.slr15.com) and have him build you a complete rifle?

I don't know if they still do it but they used to offer a free 2 Day training class with the purchase of a complete rifle.

[wintermute]

Wow, thanks for all the help. I live in Long Island and I have one more store (and it's a big one) to check out - Coliseum Guns. I've never ordered a rifle through a non-brick and mortar vendor before. I guess I just ask the B&M store for their FFL # and give that to the distributor? Should I expect to have to pay the MSRP if I go that route?

[LaVista]

Hey Wintermute, I'm also on Long Island. I have a couple AR15 carbines, If you wanted to get some time behind them before you buy, I could probably meet you over at calverton. I could also help you pick & choose a particular model, & dispel any myths you might have heard as gospel.

I am very biased towards 14.5"/carbine gas system "M4" type rifles, vs full length rifle systems, just as an FYI.

One thing that I think is very helpful in the long term would be to buy a "preban" lower receiver. Doing this will let you get a collapsible stock setup on your rifle, and then you can buy "normal" upper receivers, without having to pay extra money for a shop to neuter them down to NY Specs. Later down the road if you want to change the configuration of your rifle, you will have an easier time selling the upper on the swap-meet here or arfcom's Equipment Exchange. Nobody outside of NY or other AWB stricken regions want that neutered shit; so you wont get much of a return on it, either. If you decide to sell your AR, I guarantee that you will get back every penny you spent getting the preban lower together. They are only going up in price.

I got my first preban lower for $200 (an Essential arms, crummy lower, but I replaced the lower parts kit with something a little more in-spec and it has never even hiccup'd on me), and just got a Colt Sporter lower for $600 w/ mil-spec receiver extension. Generally speaking Lower Receivers are lower receivers - They will work just fine unless the lower is grossly out of spec. Most of them aren't.

From there, you can buy whatever flavor of the month "gotta have it" upper best fits your needs.

[R Moran]

Long Island! that's where I grew up, what about Marty and T&T,he used to be the best for military type weapons. At least in selection, Marty himself is/was an ass, and you had to watch out for him tryin to screw ya.
But he had what we wanted.

Bob

[Ed L.]

I'm from Long Island also.

[Pathfinder Ops]

Hello, I'm NY also (Upstate) Oneonta/ Cooperstown area. If you are traveling up this way and are interested in running a few different versions let me know. I can set up a chance to rock some Bushmasters and Rock River Arms rilfes.

[Deputy91]

Nassau or Suffolk?

Try Classic Firearms in Mineola. I think they have a few in stock. Great guys.
I picked up 2 stripped lowers from LRB in Flora Park and Upper from G&R (picking up my second as soon as they are back inn stock.) and assembled my own.


-Mike.

[wintermute]

Long Island! that's where I grew up, what about Marty and T&T,he used to be the best for military type weapons. At least in selection, Marty himself is/was an ass, and you had to watch out for him tryin to screw ya.
But he had what we wanted.

Bob

I live right by there in Seaford. The guy was a jerk and trying to push cheap junk on me (Panther Lo-Pro), and "yeah-yeah-yeahing" me to death. He has a good selection, but I'll go elsewhere where I get a warmer reception - like Chester's, Coliseum, or American Oudoors (although they don't have any ARs on the rack). How hard is it to find a pre-ban lower and how would I go about doing it?

[BT2012]

If you go back to T&T at Seaford, ask for John, he is a better person to deal with than Marty. Coliseum is not bad but make sure you know what you want before you go in because they'll push whatever they have on the shelf. Have you tried L.I. Shooting Center in Islip? American Outdoor is more hunting gear than gun store.

[LaVista]

It isn't terribly hard to find a preban lower. Look at the www.ar15.com equipment exchange in the "Complete AR15 rifles and lower receiver" Section. If someone is selling a preban rifle or lower, they will probably state "PREBAN" in the Title for their ad.

Before you buy, make sure that it is indeed a preban by looking up the serial number. There are lists compiled for most major mfg's explaining what serial number ranges were produced, and when.

[wintermute]

Alright. I spoke to a couple of local stores about how to do a person-to-person sale through an FFL. they both said that they will only do transfers if the seller is also an FFL'ed store. Is that the law or the preference of the stores?

[Treehopr]

Alright. I spoke to a couple of local stores about how to do a person-to-person sale through an FFL. they both said that they will only do transfers if the seller is also an FFL'ed store. Is that the law or the preference of the stores?

Preference of the store; you can also do a search for local FFL's through Gunbroker's search engine. There are plenty of kitchen table FFL's that will do a long gun transfer for less than $50.

[seadevil]

You could always pin a 6 position stock into place so it's NY legal. That is what I did. Drill a few holes and tap some rods through.

[wintermute]

Preference of the store; you can also do a search for local FFL's through Gunbroker's search engine. There are plenty of kitchen table FFL's that will do a long gun transfer for less than $50.

Thanks. Now I have a few calls to make. I registered at ar15.com and gunbroker - between those two sites it seems like the easy part is finding the lower, the harder part is finding a place that's willing to do the sale. I'd assume they'd be more gun shy to do the transfer on a complete gun (burden of proving it's legal to have all the evil features) than just a lower.


You could always pin a 6 position stock into place so it's NY legal. That is what I did. Drill a few holes and tap some rods through.

Regarding the stock, I'd either want to get a true solid stock (A1, A2, Sully, etc.) unless I can hook myself up with a preban lower - then I'd go for a true collapsible stock.