it seems to me

that there should be a "one gun to cover all"...but it ain't so...I've bought at least three of them that were supposed to "cover it all".

the current national craze is the AR (hybrid development of the M-16 rifle)

some now have developed what may very well be the 'perfect' all-in-one rifle built on the AR platform in spite of what i said above.

i read a recent news header about how an anti-gun person believes the AR is in it's "final year".

by that, i think he means he believes that the AR will be legislated out...not outdated or outmoded...OUTLAWED is more like it.

you see, legislators fear that which they feel might threaten them...oh, they'll use the old "it's for the good of all"...but you know that most legislators are lying when their lips are moving. or, at least you should know by now.

their main concern is having to face an angry nation of citizens armed with AR's. what the people want is secondary to them.

anyway...

many of today's AR's claim to have pinpoint accuracy out to 1000 yards and reliability beyond belief.

i had the opportunity to watch a soldier with an M4 carbine; i was NOT impressed.

on rapid fire, NOT full automatic, groups measured in FEET...not inches or even center of mass and that was from 25 yards! out of a full magazine of 20 rounds, there was only 2 center of mass hits!the rest were a minimum of 20" from center of mass.

I've also witnessed a civilian marksman use a semi-auto, 9mm, Ruger Carbine to shoot 10 rounds into a 4" group from 25 yards on semi-auto fire.

this type of performance was NOT what one likes to see from soldiers and their weapons. i would certainly like to believe that this one particular soldier and his weapon were NOT our average. if it is...we've got BIG problems. it's no wonder that big ordinance is required to take out enemy troops.

my personal opinion is that the military has put so much faith in the 5.56 cartridge since it's shockingly horrible appearance in Vietnam that they really haven't known what to do up until recently. they placed all their faith in "look, see how light the rifle is? see how much more ammo can be carried over the 7.62/30-06? see how many more can be produced for less cost?" when they should have been looking how woefully inadequate the 5.56 is as a combat round. I've seen AR's that weigh in at a staggering 13 pounds, too. the M-1 Garand i trained with weighed in at 10 pounds fully loaded...and that's with the venerable 30-06 cartridge.

"COMBAT" being the operative verb being spoken about. oh, sure at ranges of out to about 100 yards, it has lethality. but when one considers that General Petraeus himself was shot in the chest at point blank range in a training mishap and survived it gives me pause to think...had that been a 7.62 or an '06...I'm certain the outcome would have been a military burial instead of a hospitalization.

all that being said...i would like to have one of today's fine AR's for sporting purposes but i don't think I'd want to bet my life on the 5.56. the AR-10? now that's a different story.

the AR is here to stay whether legislators like it or not.