Opinions on North Star AR-15?

[lchorn61]

I used to own a standard Colt Sporter AR-15 many years ago. I had to sell the rifle when I got hurt at work and couldn't work anymore. I'm now retired, and I wanted to buy another AR-15 for disaster preparedness primarily. I went to my local gun shop, which specializes in building AR-15's. I ended up with a stock new North Star AR-15 (NS-15). The rifle cost me $1000, before I added some fold-down backup sights. There are so many options and accessories out there for AR-15's that it is bewildering, and hard to make a good, informed decision. I haven't taken my new AR-15 to the range yet, but I'm wondering if I made a big mistake buying this brand? Any thoughts or opinions on North Star Firearms? Or on good accessories for an AR-15? I'm feeling that I'm over my head here, with all of the choices available. My husband used to be an armorer in the army, but that was decades ago, and AR-15's have evolved a lot since then, so he isn't up to date on the latest AR-15 platform. Any advice for a complete newbie to modern AR-15's would be welcome! Also, I'm not going to get into reloading, so I'm sticking with factory ammunition.

[zukiphile]

There are so many options and accessories out there for AR-15's that it is bewildering, and hard to make a good, informed decision.

That's the correct reaction. There is a river of junk that fixes imaginary short-comings of your basic rifle.

I had never heard of this rifle, so I looked up Northstar. It uses a perfectly good barrel, an important part of any rifle.

Any advice for a complete newbie to modern AR-15's would be welcome!

Buy yourself 500 or 1,000 rounds. Don't buy any gadgets until you've gotten a few hundred rounds through it. None of the gadgets will change the basic function of the rifle or make you a better shooter, but the draw to get more stuff can be hard to resist and a lot of youtube is essentially a commercial telling you how amazing the featured new thing is.

Are you already a shooter of something else? Do you have a 22lr around on which you can practice? If not, you might consider the benefit of cheaper, less noisy practice.

If you are to the part of life that involves reading glasses, don't restrict yourself to iron sights unless you enjoy that. ARs have excellent iron sights and I enjoy trying to print small groups with them even when I don't print such small groups. However, a low power scope can be easier to use and can give older eyes a bit of help, and it doesn't need to cost a lot. Some people like red dot sights too.

Hope that helps.

[Shadow9mm]

Never heard of North Star. Looks like a great stock, good pistol grip, good rail, although its a touch long for my taste. They use a Ballistic advantage barrel, which in my opinion is a very good barrel. IMHO for whatever that is worth, looks like a good rifle.

Accessories!

trigger spring kit. Looks like this has a quality mil spec trigger, but mil spec triggers are not great. I highly recommend the JP enhanced reliability spring kit. Intended to take about 2lb off the pull weight but still have enough powder to set off hard military primers. Best part, its only $10.40. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1003366096?pid=698675

Vertical grip. I really like them. I tend to wrap my hand around the rail and use them as a hand stop. But you can also grab onto them, or push them up against a barracade to steady yourself. I like the magpul one. they are around $22. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2319353311?pid=755469

Aiming. I generally like a red dot. They are light, fast, and work well in low light condition. They are also relatively inexpesive compared to scopes and scope mounting systems. also you can still use your pop up sights during practice, or if your battery dies. Something like the sig romeo 5 is what I would choose.

Flashlight. Identifying targets in the dark is hard, flashlights let you find and identify your targets. Its really hard to shoot what you cant see. Flashlight number and ratings are confusing but basically lumens are how bright it is over all. Candella is how focused or tight the beam is, which effect how far you will be able to see. For reference, I am currently using a Olight Warrior 3x tactical. It is rated at 2500 lumens, and 78,000 candella. They state it has a 560meter range. In testing I have found it to be useable out to around 300yds,

Sling. I prefer a 2 point sling, but it can aid in aiming and stability, but more importantly in weapons retention. I hate the QD system. Really like the Magpul Paraclip system.


DONT FORGET, ammo and mags to train, and something to carry your mags with.


Heres a couple good vids to watch.


Gear history kind of the progression of gear and equipment.
Navy SEAL “Coch’s” Career in SOPMOD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6nFcledZN0&t=4s

AR-15 Furniture with Navy SEALs "Coch" and Dorr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHkVURKrnz0


Slings
"There's no right way to run a sling" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOMBZ4VORtg

Training
The Quick 60....Rifle Training on the Range https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8NkLvJff2w

How to shoot faster (With Mojo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCFRWFh4Uyc

Using a vertical grip/technique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI0KGUIDCZk

REMEMBER, this is YOUR rifle and what is important is that it works well for YOU. If my advise or anyone else does not work well for you or make sense to you, ignore it and do what works for you.

[stagpanther]

There is a river of junk that fixes imaginary short-comings of your basic rifle.

LOL--the first commandment of the firearms industry.

[Ricklin]

You bought an AR 15 and it has sights. Assuming it also came with a magazine the only thing you NEED?
Ammunition. Given our home defense is with a high powered rifle give careful consideration to this aspect.
Now go out and shoot.

[lchorn61]

Thanks for all of the advice! I did buy a Trijicon ACOG 4x32 scope, because my eyes are definitely not what they used to be. Going to head to the range as soon as some more ammunition arrives that I ordered. Want to try out a variety of brands and bullet weights, to see if anything works better than the rest. Rifle will probably shoot better than I am capable of. Getting old is not for the faint of heart, lol.

[Shadow9mm]

55s are most common and will probablybe the least accurate . 69-77 will probably be most accurate as they generally use a match type bullet.

[Ricklin]

See how it shoots with frangible ammo. Esp. if you have neighbors.

[totaldla]

The AR platform is very mature today, it is hard to buy a truly bad rifle.
You can buy very good basic rifles for under $500.

I think you need to buy a case of 55gr 223 ammo, (should cost you no more than $450-$500 to your door - zidaho.com), a couple magazines ($13/ea or less), pull your bolt carrier group out and lube it, find a place to shoot, and don't post back until you've put at least 100rnds downrange.

IMO, the biggest problem with AR15s is that their owners like to spend more time&money playing dress up than learning to shoot.

Since you're in Southern Idaho, it isn't hard to find a place to shoot - pack it in, pack it out. But in a couple weeks you'll need to pay attention to bullets sparks causing fires.

Oh and have fun!

[lchorn61]

Originally Posted by Shadow9mm

55s are most common and will probablybe the least accurate . 69-77 will probably be most accurate as they generally use a match type bullet.

Thanks for the tip on ammunition. I'd heard the 55 gr. bullets didn't do well in a barrel with a 1 in 7 twist rate. I'll try a few of them, but most of the ammo I've purchased so far has been either 62 or 69 grains.

[lchorn61]

Originally Posted by totaldla

The AR platform is very mature today, it is hard to buy a truly bad rifle.
You can buy very good basic rifles for under $500.

I think you need to buy a case of 55gr 223 ammo, (should cost you no more than $450-$500 to your door - zidaho.com), a couple magazines ($13/ea or less), pull your bolt carrier group out and lube it, find a place to shoot, and don't post back until you've put at least 100rnds downrange.

IMO, the biggest problem with AR15s is that their owners like to spend more time&money playing dress up than learning to shoot.

Since you're in Southern Idaho, it isn't hard to find a place to shoot - pack it in, pack it out. But in a couple weeks you'll need to pay attention to bullets sparks causing fires.

Oh and have fun!

We have a local outdoor range, which I'm going to check out. Just waiting on some better weather, since it rained a lot today.

[Shadow9mm]

Originally Posted by lchorn61

Thanks for the tip on ammunition. I'd heard the 55 gr. bullets didn't do well in a barrel with a 1 in 7 twist rate. I'll try a few of them, but most of the ammo I've purchased so far has been either 62 or 69 grains.

I have shot plenty of 55g in 1:7 twist guns without issue.

Trying not to go too far down the rabbit hole. The idea is that 1:7 twist over stabilizes 55g bullets. A better explanation would be that, the faster you spin a bullet the more it accentuates or exaggerates any imperfections in the bullet. Bulk 55g fmj bullets are not known for high quality control or uniform jackets. Totally safe, just expect approximately 2 to 4in groups at 100yds. But id definitely try some just to see how it shoots in your gun. I expect you will be pleasantly surprised.

[Nathan]

Might look at a Holosun, rise armament trigger and ammo!

[Shadow9mm]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Might look at a Holosun, rise armament trigger and ammo!

Holosun does make a good red dot, i like the sig Romeo series better personally. But it would be hard to go wrong either way.

[georgehwbush]

as to the over stabilization issue; my psa ar-15 with 7inch twist will shoot dimes at 100 with 55gr. hornady vmax pills it's more about bullet quality than over stability, not saying that there is no such thing as over stabilized; just that most people don't find it, most people try a 55gr. fmj (that might or might not be good quality) in a factory load that is not tuned to their gun and claim over stabilized when it's not. at least that is what i have seen.

anyway; i'm with the idea put more rounds through it before you make any decision about adding/changing any part of your gun.
they have a tendency to shoot better after a few hundred rounds (whether it is the weapon or the operator, it's hard to tell)

i also like the sig romeo sights, and the romeo-msr although they are discontinuing(so i hear) it is still my favorite. add that and a juliet magnifer with flip to the side mount along with the standard irons, and ba-bing you have basicly three coexisting sights. IMO a great combo.

just a note to anyone that wants to try the combo from sig, get at least the 4x mag.

[Webleymkv]

I can't comment on North Star in particular as I have no experience with them, but on AR-15's in general it sounds like you've got it pretty well set up with most of what you'd really want/need on a defensive/prepper rifle. As has been noted, there is a plethora of doo-dads, gadgets, gizmos, and widgets that you can hang on an AR, but for the majority of people all you really need is a good set of sights, good magazines, and ammunition. I personally don't see a problem with iron-sights only if your eyes agree with them but I can see why many would want an optic and the Trijicon ACOG you bought is certainly a quality optic. About the only other accessory that I think might be worth adding is some sort of white light of which there are many good ones. Were I to recommend a light for a rifle, this one from Streamlight would seem to be a good one at a reasonable price.

https://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-8...50&sr=8-2&th=1

Also, in my experience a key factor in the reliability of an AR is the magazines. I've seen a rifles go from boringly reliable to not being able to make it through 5 rounds without malfunction just by switching the brand of magazine. IMHO, I really see no reason to buy anything other than Magpul PMAG magazines as they are boringly reliable in my experience and can be had for less than $10 each when found on sale (you can buy them all day for $15 each at regular price). Since your intended use for your rifle is as disaster preparedness, it might be worth it to sign up for Palmetto State Armory's email list as they semi-regularly run specials on Magpul magazines at very reasonable prices if you buy in quantity (usually 10 or more). I think the last time I ordered magazines I got them for about $8 each.

As far as ammunition goes, different people have different preferences but all my rifles are zeroed with standard 55 gr FMJ and that is also what I choose to stock in quantity. While perhaps not as accurate off the bench as some other bullet weights, 55 gr bullets have given me more than satisfactory practical accuracy in rifles with 1/12, 1/9, and 1/7 twist rate barrels. 55 gr FMJ ammunition is also the most affordable and it's terminal performance is surprisingly good for a FMJ bullet.

[lchorn61]

Weather is still not cooperating, so I haven’t been to the local outdoor range yet. Some desert SE Idaho is, lol! I appreciate everyone’s advice. Did a good cleaning on my new rifle yesterday, and I have plenty of ammo and Magpul magazines, so I’m ready to go, once it stops raining.