Massad Ayoob on the Ruger SR 556

[Buckwheat McCoy]

I picked up my SR556 Friday the 17th.  Took it to the local gun club here in Roseburg, OR the next day.  I also own a Bushie M4.  I just love my SR556.  Being middle aged, half deaf, and half blind, shooting 1" groups at 100 yds was a real thrill for me.  The recoil felt more like a gental push, not at all like my Bushie.  More like shooting a Ruger 10/22 than an AR.  The trigger is what I would call a standard military trigger, heavy, but breaks crisp and clean.  Zero travel with just steady pressure until it breaks and goes boom.  At 25 yds rapid fire I was able to hold 2" groups.  After 20 rounds of rapid fire the bolt assembly was only warm and clean.  The only negative I have to say about this weapon is the Troy rail covers.  They're a semi-hard plastic.  I used some extra UTG rubberized rail covers instead.  The three MagPul P Mags (not Mag Level) are very nice.  The SR556 retails at Flying Cloud Trading Company, Roseburg, OR for $1450.  The Owner is an Uzi collector and I had an Action Arms 9mm in the orginal plastic box along with a 45ACP converstion kit; also in the original case.  The Uzi and accessories is worth about $2500; I paid $600 for it about six years ago.  We did a straight trade.  He's happy and I'm very happy.

I'm not and expert, but I truely believe that Ruger has hit on something here.  As far as I'm concerned the SR556 is the new bench mark for all second gen gas piston ARs.  Even at $1450 retail I thinks that it's one hell of a good buy.  I'm taking my back to the club next Saturday.  Mounting a Red Dot and co-witnessing it with the Troy Battle sights is next.

[Pathfinder]

Buckwheat - great report. Any pictures of the rifle (gun porn) or target (target porn)?

And what rounds were you shooting? And how many?

Enquiring minds want to know.

[Kid Shelleen]

Buckwheat - great report. Any pictures of the rifle (gun porn) or target (target porn)?

And what rounds were you shooting? And how many?

Enquiring minds want to know.

I second the motion. Like Path, I would really appreciate some gun porn.
Thanks for the range report. It's the first owner report that I have read.

[Ping]

Thanks Buckwheat McCoy. I am really liking what I have read about the piston AR's. Noticed a guy in Kentucky is selling a set of 3 DPMS AP4's starting at $2,400. If my wife would not boot me out of the house I would have bought them. 

[rhinorex]

Buckwheat - nice report.  I've ordered my SR556 but have not received it yet.  I'm seeing some evidence of carrier tilt issues with the SR556 on ar15.com with photos, but nobody has indicated any failures/stoppages that can be associated with this issue.  Can you tell if you have any excessive wear in buffer tube at the bottom?  If so, how many rounds and what ammo type did you get through your gun over the weekend?  Also what gas setting did you use?

I know I know - lots of questions but inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks

[Sponsor]

[Buckwheat McCoy]

I ran 6 mags (180 rnds) of Wolf 55Grn FMJ through the SR556.  I decided on Wolf simply because of all the reports of fouling and malfunction issues with non-piston ARs.  I have quite a bit of the Wolf for my Mini 14.  I wasn’t taking any chances with my Bushie M4.  I plan on running another 6 mags worth of ammo through it this coming weekend.  When it’s all said and done, I plan on putting about 1,000 rnds of the Wolf through the gun before I try some "good stuff" (personally I like the Wolf ammo).  UMC, Federal, Remington, etc.  Once I put another 3-400 rounds of reloadable through the weapon I’ll  see what Hornady Taps do.  I’ve got some match grade ammo squirreled away that I'll try after that.

I’m using six MagPul P Mags, three standard and three MagLevel.  The three standards come with the SR556 and I have a few of the MagLevel that I recently picked up.

Now I’ve only ran 180 rnds, but so far everything has ran just great.  I have no evidence of “carrier tilt”.  I just checked the buffer and everything appears to be perfectly aligned.  But I’ll report back after 500 rnds and then 1000 rnds.

Just to let everyone know, ammo availability here in Southwest Oregon is easing up quite a bit.  Prices are still high, but are starting to come down a little with the increased availability.  Wolf and UMC 200 rnd bricks are showing up more and more nowadays.

Please remember guys, I’m just a half deaf, half blind middle-aged small-town rural manufactured home living bitter-clinger.  I’m no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I do really like this weapon.  If I can rustle up some extra non-committed cash, I’m seriously thinking about buying a second SR556 and selling my Mini14 and Bushie.  Fortunately I’m not married, no children, and self-employed.  I don’t have to ask permission, just make sure that the mortgage and utilities get paid.

As I run this weapon more I’ll keep you all posted.  I'll be surprised if I find any negative issues the the SR556.

[Kid Shelleen]

Thanks again Buckwheat,

I'm looking forward to the updates.

[rhinorex]

Thanks for the update Buckwheat.  I too look foward to hearing more range reports on the SR 556 and that goes for anybody else that wants to share their reports.

Maybe this belongs somewhere else in the forum, but since Buckwheat mentioned Wolf I thought I would chime in.  For years I used Wolf 7.62 in Russian and Chinese SKS's and never had any problems. Of course these guns hardly have any issues anyway.  In my opinion, the early Wolf ammo (1990's) always ran a little dirty similar but not as bad as the cheap Chinese no-name ammo I bought before the weapons ban. 

Now I  believe Wolf is much cleaner than it used to be. 

Thanks

[Buckwheat McCoy]

The "setup" will be on one post and the targets on the second; I hope.

Here is today's Range Report.  11:30 AM, Roseburg Rod and Gun Club, 82 Deg, light breeze from my six o'clock.

Zeroing my TruGlo 2x 30mm Red Dot.  It's too low to co-witness without a 1/4" riser.  But the battle sights can still bee used without problem.  Using Wolf 55grn FMJ and Mag Pul MagLevel magazines.  120 rounds today.

[Buckwheat McCoy]

Now for the "results???".  All using the 2x 300 TruGlo Red Dot.  I'm going to try and attach the pictures in between the paragrahps, hope it works.

The first target is the beginning of zeroing the TruGlo.  I starte "off target" at the 2 o'clock.  Adjusted and then over-adjusted and then finally got the last five into the X ring.  This is at 100 yards bench rest.



The second target is also at 100 yards bench rest and "rapid fire"; about 2-3 seconds apart.



The third target (feeling cocky), I tried for a head shot and missed (about 10 o'clock).  The second shot got him in the chin and the third between the eyes.  100 yards.  Bench rest.



The same third target was "rapid fire" (2-3 seconds) at 100 yards aiming at center mass.  Bench rest.



The fourth target was at 25 yards "rapid fire" (1-2 seconds) standing off-hand.  I aimed at center mass.  As you can see at 25 yards the Red Dot shots low when zeroed at 100 yards.



I'm 54 years old and wear glasses but for my skill level (not very) I'm very happy with the results.  This weapon will outshoot me.  I have no doubt that in the hands of a younger and more practiced individual, the SR556 is a real winner.  I've now ran a total of 300 rounds through the weapon and I don't plan on cleaning it until I hit around 1500 rounds.  The bolt and carrier are only slightly dirty and I'm going to wait until round 500 before I run a clean patch down the barrel.  Oh, did I mention "zero" malfunctions?

If anyone is thinking about buying an AR, I strongly recommend the Ruger SR556.  You can get them in Roseburg, OR at Flying Cloud Trading Company for $1450.

I'm a very very happy boy.