Choice paralysis is real and in the gun world, it is hard to choose an AR-15 rifle simply because there are too many choices. Once you have bit the bullet and got a rifle pinned down, selecting the appropriate accessories gets a little easier—a little.
Hitting the range and putting rounds through the rifle can quickly make clear where it excels and where it stands to improve. A rifle might be otherwise set up perfectly, but it takes too much mental energy to get a good trigger press on a GI trigger that comes on many ARs out of the box. Other times, your specific purpose will come into play. You might want a weapon-mounted light for a home defense firearm, but you might not need it for a pest control rifle you are most likely to use in daylight. The problem is that there are too many triggers on the market and enough light setups to lose count. It is easy to get carried away and just as easy to do nothing.
In a recent GunMag YouTube video, Jeremy Stone took a look at three AR-15 loadouts of magazines, ammunition, and accessories, individualized for their respective users—all of which costs under $1000.
For Traditional M4 Users
Many budget AR-style rifles come with a polymer M4 handguard. It does as it is intended: stops you from burning your hands on a hot barrel. But it does little else. There are some options to mount a rail on an M4 handguard, some work as advertised, and others do not. Jeremy avoids having useless rails in the parts drawer with his Colt CR 6920 by mounting a Nightstick USB rechargeable EDC flashlight to the handguard by wrapping it with athletic tape. You might opt for a larger, weapons-mounted flashlight with higher lumens, but the Nightstick has plenty of light for inside the home.
Jeremy keeps things simple with his sling arrangement on the Colt by using a Blackhawk Universal Tactical two-point sling that mounts on the existing sling studs. Although a two-point will make the rifle a bit more difficult to shoulder quickly, you will not have to fight to keep the rifle out of the dirt.
A bit more investment was put into the Holosun HS403C optic. This version has a 2 MOA dot and has a small solar panel to extend the life of the battery. In any event, if all goes south, you still have your iron sights. To finish the setup, Jeremy threw in six Duramag AR-15 aluminum 30-round magazines and 1000 rounds of Federal American Eagle .223 Remington 55-grain FMJ.
Three Loadouts for M-Lock Users
Using a no-name AR-15 with an M-Lock handguard as a test bed, the GunMag crew came up with three loadouts:
The first uses a Streamlight Protac light mounted directly on a provided rail section on the handguard. A true higher-lumen weapons light, the Streamlight can use CR 123 batteries or a single AA battery—an excellent option considering that not every store has those little 123s. Moving back to the action, the AR’s existing pistol grip is exchanged for a more hand-filling Magpul MOE grip while the Milspec charging handle is replaced by a Radian Raptor ambidextrous unit.
This setup does not come with a sling but is set up with two different sight arrangements. First is a Sig Sauer Tango MSR 1-8×24 variable rifle scope that can be flexed to fire quick, close shots but dialed up for plenty of magnification at 300 yards. In case the optic can’t be used, this setup comes with 45-degree offset MBUS sights. Once unfolded, just cant the rifle in your hands and get your sight picture.
This setup is rounded out with six Okay Surefire aluminum mags and enough PMC Bronze .223 Rem. 55 grain FMJ ammunition to fill them. The total price tag came out to
The second M-Lock setup using the same rifle uses a Surefire M340C weapon light mounted to an existing M-lock rail section as well as a Surefire remote switch for the light, whose wires are secured to the handguard with goon tape. (That athletic tape will probably work fine too!) For an optic, this setup uses an EO Tech 512 holographic sight. This big and somewhat old-fashioned sight has the advantage of using boring and available AA batteries that the Surefire light also uses. This setup goes in on an optic and light and goes light on magazines and ammo: three Magpul P-Mags for a plate carrier and enough Hornady Frontier .223 68 grain hollow points to fill them.
The third M-Lock setup borrows bits from the first and second AR-15 setups. The Nightstick rechargeable light is used on a rail section and a Radian Raptor ambidextrous charging handle replaces what comes stock on the rifle. A Blue Force Gear two-point sling is used on the existing studs.
Jeremy opts for a Holosun AEMS enclosed micro-sight with an included solar panel as his sighting arrangement as a substitute for iron sights and a larger optic. Although the handguard does just fine on its own to hold onto, Jeremy installed an M-Lock vertical grip as an added bonus. For magazines and ammunition, this setup comes with six Lancer 30-round magazines and enough PMC X-Tac 5.56 NATO 62-grain green tips to fill them.
One For Quad Rail Users and Mall Ninjas
Say what you want about quad rails, but you don’t have to do anything to them in order to mount accessories. In all seriousness, a light will suffice. But ever the showman, Jeremy mounted the most variable light out there: an Exothermic Pulsefire flame thrower. An excellent addition considering it gets in the way of the magazine if you need to reload. Jeremy feeds the AR-15 with five ETS magazines and enough Magtech 5.56mm 55-grain ball to feed them. To take aim, the rifle uses a Sig Sauer Romeo MSR 1x20mm sight. But with that flamethrower out front, there is no need to aim!
