Opinions on a Ruger SR-556 for $1,000

[Bladerunner]

I have a chance to pick up a good condition Ruger SR 556 for $1,000.

I have a Ruger AR556, which is a DI rifle, but am tempted by this offer for the piston version.

Reviews of the gun are very favorable but I think the only real advantage seems to be less frequent cleaning needed with a bit of extra weight penalty, which to me isn't much of a big deal given my towering physique and abundance of strength.

Any thoughts on this potential purchase?

Any owners here?

Price seems fair.

I have not thoroughly inspected this firearm at this point.

 

[Penniepup1]

If you have the itch, scratch it.

 

[one-eyed Jack]

Will you be able to test fire it? Jack.

 

[50wt]

You can piece together one for nearly the same price if it turns out to be a turd.

 

[Bladerunner]

Will you be able to test fire it? Jack.

Yes that will be possible.

 

[teamRR]

I have a chance to pick up a good condition Ruger SR 556 for $1,000.

I have a Ruger AR556, which is a DI rifle, but am tempted by this offer for the piston version.

Reviews of the gun are very favorable but I think the only real advantage seems to be less frequent cleaning needed with a bit of extra weight penalty, which to me isn't much of a big deal given my towering physique and abundance of strength.

Any thoughts on this potential purchase?

Any owners here?

Price seems fair.

I have not thoroughly inspected this firearm at this point.

Sorry to piss on your cheerios.. I say pass unless you just have a hard on for it.

I think piston AR's are kinda pointless, they are extremely reliable and serviceable if you stay in the pattern. Even a piston rifle needs cleaning, albeit less. Dirty AR's run fine until they are really bad, isn't a good practice but they are not one bit finicky in 5.56 - is an outstanding design.

I don't follow Ruger AR's but they aren't really the cream of the crop. For $1000 used you are getting into higher end AR price range (minus current panic and whatever that is doing to prices, ie say in February) - a used DD should be in the same price ballpark with a whole lot more value if you ask me - their uppers for instance commonly could be had w/ charging handle and BCG for $800.

Ruger AR's are not sought after, my impression is they are more of a newbie thing. Nobody really says if you want the best AR buy a Ruger, they sell by name recognition and typically a lower price for the features of a given model.

 

[SKumar]

I have a Ruger SR762. I kinda agree with the above in the sense that short piston doesn’t make the most sense for 556, however nothing wrong with it as it is pretty cool.
I do think this setup is appropriate for 308, in fact I wouldn’t do direct gas in 308 anyway.
For $1000 it’s not bad. They’re very good quality. Great finish, tight assembly. Of course you get Ruger support.
If you’re generally a fan of Ruger, I say go for it.

edit: forgot that you already have an AR556. Yeah then no point in another Ruger AR. You’re all set.

 

[drgrant]

Open it up and see if the bolt carrier has been crashing. I'm not sure if those models have carrier tilt issues or not I know a lot of piston AR clones suffer from that bullshit but at that price point it's almost a no-brainer....

SR-556 Carrier Tilt ?

Greetings Ruger Fans ! I am purchasing soon a Ruger SR-556. I will be my first gas piston opperated AR. People are telling me not to buy a piston operated AR because of the so called carrier tilt problem. I have tried to find out if this is a problem with currently produced SR-556's. Some...

www.rugerforum.net

.

If it was me I probably would still just press the button worst-case even if it is f***ed up Ruger will fix it for you....

 

[teamRR]

I have a Ruger SR762. I kinda agree with the above in the sense that short piston doesn’t make the most sense for 556, however nothing wrong with it as it is pretty cool.
I do think this setup is appropriate for 308, in fact I wouldn’t do direct gas in 308 anyway.
For $1000 it’s not bad. They’re very good quality. Great finish, tight assembly. Of course you get Ruger support.
If you’re generally a fan of Ruger, I say go for it.

edit: forgot that you already have an AR556. Yeah then no point in another Ruger AR. You’re all set.

When you look at higher end 7.62 rifles, ie Barret, DD for instance - they are DI, sometimes with adjustable gas blocks and dual ejector bolts.

There are piston examples, I think Sig maybe? But in short I don't think Barret is in the business of building inferior rifles.

My belief are the issues that tend to arise with commercial 7.62/.308 AR's are related to attempting to make them run across everything from underpowered versions of 7.62 to full power .308 loads. The problem is really civilians using untested ammo and manufacturers poorly testing/documenting their formula (ie tested with one ammo, then .308/7.62 is documented)..

Maybe a piston AR handles this a little better or maybe they just put more into them so you don't have very low end models. In a DI gun, sticking with the intended ammo or correct and/or adjustable gassing also prevents the same problems and they can be extremely reliable.

 

[Bladerunner]

Open it up and see if the bolt carrier has been crashing. I'm not sure if those models have carrier tilt issues or not I know a lot of piston AR clones suffer from that bullshit but at that price point it's almost a no-brainer....

SR-556 Carrier Tilt ?

Greetings Ruger Fans ! I am purchasing soon a Ruger SR-556. I will be my first gas piston opperated AR. People are telling me not to buy a piston operated AR because of the so called carrier tilt problem. I have tried to find out if this is a problem with currently produced SR-556's. Some...

www.rugerforum.net

.

If it was me I probably would still just press the button worst-case even if it is f***ed up Ruger will fix it for you....

Carrier tilt in that model was apparently more of an issue on the earlier models from what I gathered. Could still be an issue on this one, but fairly easy to check.

Biggest draw for me is to simply have a piston AR. I kind of want to see for myself the advantages/disadvanrages.

I have had excellent luck with my AR556, as that rifle has been rock solid since day one and I've put a shit ton of rounds through it. I love that thing. I think I paid around $500 for it.

I'm also a hard core Ruger fan boy. I Just really like the price point and value for the dollar I get with the company's firearms. And I've never had an issue that wasn't fully supported by the company.

 

[drgrant]

Carrier tilt in that model was apparently more of an issue on the earlier models from what I gathered. Could still be an issue on this one, but fairly easy to check.

Biggest draw for me is to simply have a piston AR. I kind of want to see for myself the advantages/disadvanrages.

I have had excellent luck with my AR556, as that rifle has been rock solid since day one and I've put a shit ton of rounds through it. I love that thing. I think I paid around $500 for it.

I'm also a hard core Ruger fan boy. I Just really like the price point and value for the dollar I get with the company's firearms. And I've never had an issue that wasn't fully supported by the company.

I wouldn't even care about it being a piston honestly... but if it's a serviceable rifle for a thousand bucks or less right now then you have a winner....

 

[teamRR]

I wouldn't even care about it being a piston honestly... but if it's a serviceable rifle for a thousand bucks or less right now then you have a winner....

When I first read that I was going to reference all the AR's available as we were recovering post covid but wow just recently they all were sucked up again due to BLM I guess - pretty much there isn't shit in stock except if you are into assembling them. Just a couple weeks ago I was getting emails about entry level AR's in stock at reasonable prices.

 

[Bladerunner]

Thanks for all the help you guys steered me in the right direction.

I got this instead and now with my funds drained I'm going to have to go talk to my sugar momma about an advance in order to make the SR556 purchase happen.

She's into some kinky shit but I always step up my game when it's go time.



I've had this on my radar for a while and by luck a new one arrived at my FFL that had my name on it.