Good choice for a first AR.
$825 BM A3 isn't the best price I've seen, but it's not the worst. There were some folks at the last Mesquite show selling them for around $750, I believe, but before the big Y2K scare, I saw them for as much as $1100.
Since this is your first AR, one thing you might want to do, to help you better understand how the thing works, is to get a U.S. Marine Corps M-16 manual (usually $8-10). There are many places that carry them, but one that comes to mind is
www.cheaperthandirt.com in Fort Worth.
As far as the elevation setting goes, assuming you were only screwing with the rear elevation knob, your zero should be okay, as long as it's in the same postion in which you zeroed it.
Thermold magazines are okay. The Canadian government used them for their M16s, but they later opted to go with standard USGI (U.S. Government Issue) magazines due to some reliability/durability issues.
30 round magazines, or any high-capacity magazines for that matter, are perfectly legal to use as long as they were manufactured prior to 9/13/94. If they don't have a date stamp after that date, or if they aren't marked "Law "Enforcement/Government/Export only," they should be okay. (This stuff applies to U.S.-made firearms - It's another story when talking about things like AK-47s and the like.)
For more magazines (You
do want more don't you?), I can only recommend USGI surplus magazines that have base-plate markings such as Colt, Center Industries, O-Kay, Sanchez, Universal Industries, and Adventureline. You can shop around and find them at surplus stores, pawn shops, and gun shows. New or like-new USGI 30-rounders will usually cost you around $20-25, but the 30-rounders made by USA Magazines are generally crap. Deals can be found, however: I found 8 USGI 20-round magazines at a pawn shop in Durant, Oklahoma for $10 a piece, but I got lucky on that one. I've never paid more than $18 for a decent (sometimes new) 30-rounder at a gun show.
For ammo, I usually go to Cheaper Than Dirt (an advantage of living pretty close to them - their shipping is pretty high from what I hear). They usually have Sellier & Bellot .223 for around $174 per case of 1000 rounds ($135/case this month only though). A lot of folks get their ammo from
www.ammoman.com ,
www.natchezss.com , or
www.cole-distributing.com , and they are generally happy from what I have heard.
Since you got a flat-top model, you might want to top it off with a nice optical sight. If so, I'd recommend
www.swfa.com for Trijicon's Reflex or ACOG, or an Aimpoint red-dot sight.
And finally, an owner of a brand-spankin' new AR-15
must pay a visit to
www.ar15.com . They have just about everything you'd want to know about ARs there. While you're there, make sure to check out the topics relating to legal issues so you'll know how to stay legal should you decide to alter/modify your rifle. They also have sections pertaining to building, stripping, and sighting in, as well as discussion forums (similar to TFL) so you can discuss various aspects of the AR-15.
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Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page
[This message has been edited by Bulldog (edited February 21, 2000).]