Considering the purchase of an AR15 before The One makes them illegal in his last months of office on account of how evil they look. Never shot one. Heck, only long guns I've ever shot are various shotguns (up to 10 gauge) and a .22 rifle. Appreciate any advice anyone may have to offer. Purpose would be home defense, Mad Max with plinking as a hobby. Pretty sold on 5.56. Which brings up another question. Do springs in mags get old? I mean, you have some mag sitting around fully loaded for 5 years, is it going to chamber rounds well?
For an answer to your "springs in mags" inquiry, I would say go to a gun forum and throw that out there. Sure to get some good responses. Definitely wouldn't want to risk a failure in an emergency.
I agree Preferably one with a crimson trace on it If you want an entry level ar to play with check out the S&W m&p 15 or dpms
According to many spring experts (like the guys at Wolff Springs) it's not the compression of the springs that wear them out, it's the repeated expansion/compression that does them in. Fully loaded magazines from WWII (that were not rusted) have been found and worked fine. Most firearm trainers recommend you keep your magazines fully loaded as that causes no more wear than keeping them unloaded.
You rotate your clips periodically, not leaving them loaded for more than two months or so. Based on experience, I disagree with the folks at Wolff. I've seen clips loaded for a long time and the gun will jam as the pressure of the spring isn't enough to feed the round. Marines who have field tested rifles/pistols will tell you to rotate or risk a jam. You can always get the springs replaced, but that doesn't make you feel better when a round jams at a bad time. You should have no problems rotating your clips. As for which AR, what are you looking to spend? That's really the key to determining what hardware you should get. Additionally, remember that with long rifle the optics are actually more important than the rifle in many cases - though you said you'd be using this for close range. Finally, if you're going to use it for home defense, I wouldn't be looking at an AR 15 at all, but a pistol or a shotgun. Indoors, close quarters, they are your best best. I prefer a pistol, but that's only because I've trained hard on them. A shotgun is probably the best. If you would prefer the AR, let's discuss the price you're looking to spend, first. You should know that many AR's in the low price range aren't 5.56, they are 2.23. Sure, you can put 5.56 through them, but they're not meant for it and you could easily damage them or hurt yourself.
This is not intended to fuel an argument with Tsing Tao as I have great respect for his firearms knowledge. But the conclusion regarding springs rages on between the traditionalists and modern spring theory. The engineers at Wolff Gunsprings, makers of some of the finest springs in the gun world, know a thing or two about the physics of the situation. And people such as James Yeager, former cop and veteran of the sandbox, who owns Tactical Response and has trained many thousands of people firing millions of rounds, is also a proponent of the modern view. That is, the traditionalists say rotate your magazines at regular intervals, while modern theory says it's the repeated expansion/contraction that wears out springs, not leaving them compressed or uncompressed. Anyway, here's a discussion of the issue at a gun forum and I'd pay attention to what user Kevin M says as he is one of the sharpest and most knowledgeable people there for years. In short, you will have to read up and make your own decision as the "spring battle" rages on similar to "9mm vs .40 S&W vs .45 ACP", and "AK vs AR". Personally I rotated my pistol/rifle magazines for years but no longer do so, YMMV.
Personally, I think an AR15 is too powerful for home defense. In my state, you can only shoot someone who is encroaching into your home.... not somebody in the yard or "across the way". I like carbines for home defense. In 9mm, they can pack the punch nearly equal to 357 Magnum. Also, Henry makes a 357 Magnum carbine... about which one review writer said, "everybody should have one of these behind the kitchen door".
No argument will be fueled by the posting, Magna. As far as I'm concerned, firearm knowledge is all about the search for wisdom, with the caveat that a great deal of behavior comes from experience in the field. As I said, I've personally experienced/witnessed clips that did not feed properly because they were kept loaded for a long period of time - not unloaded and reloaded - just loaded. If there are people out there who - through science or claims - wish to do differently because they have a supposed study on the subject, then they are welcome to do as they wish. I, however, will continue to rotate because I have had better success doing so. Most of the SOCOM folks here in Tampa I train with regularly swear by rotating clips. Since I received most of my advanced training from them, I tend to adopt all of their superstitions as well. Typically, from what I've seen, springs under compression for a long period of time are simply shorter than springs not (auto shocks, mattresses, etc). To my unscientific mind, that denotes risk in the spring. Of course, removing one or two rounds (not storing at capacity) might alleviate the "creep" of the metal and allow for longer life. I always store to capacity. If the point is to use the weapon in a pinch, I'd rather not be 1-3 rounds down at the start of the engagement. I would also point out that I have had some problems with recoil springs in the past that have had to be replaced - when the weapon was not used as much as other similar weapons used more frequently. This would imply that a recoil spring not in use tends to degrade faster than one used and maintained consistently. Coincidence? Perhaps. But if the physics is in question, then I would expect one spring to behave like another. Now if it is a question of the quality of one spring vs. another, then I'm afraid the question may never be answered sufficiently.
Home defense against what? One or two intruders? A shotgun and a .45 will suffice. Brings anyone down with one shot wherever you hit them at close range and inside your home it's all close range. Now if you're talking about defending against the jihad mob assaulting your neighborhood, get the AR15. Gun'em down as they come into range. That's a war and frankly if it comes to that you'll need more than you and your AR15 all by your lonesome defending things, but you can take a few with you before you get over run. Buy high quality mags and spring compression failure shouldn't be an issue.