WEll...After spending a fair amount of time on this and other forums, I let myself be convinced that I "needed" an AR. (Doom on you,
Edmund Rowe and
Don Rearic!
)
As far as ergonomics, size, reliability...bah. A few months ago, I was thinking (again)" I should have bought an M1 Carbine." Then I realized: I still can!
So, Edmund is buying that darn AR from me. Yeah, it's ergonomics aren't bad, but no better than my Carbine- which lives besides my bed. Right next to the .45-70.
Incidentally, I have had:
AK's
SKS's
Garands (M1 and M1A)
Mausers
Remington and Mossberg shotguns
And other shoulder arms, such as my Sub-9. I have fired other widespread arms, such as the UZI and Benelli, not to mention various Glocks, 1911's and other sidearms.
I trust my AR less than any of the other arms, except (perhaps) my Sub-9. (In fairness, my Sub-9's SN is less than 150. If it were a similarly numbered AR, I wouldn't expect it to work at all.
)