Help looking for an AR

[ADT knights]

I have finally decided that my next gift to myself will be an AR. I'm wanting it to be a .223. My only problem is I don't really know whats "good". I don't want this to be a XD vs Glock debate but I just want to know what the reliable and good brands are so I can do some more specific searching. Not sure if I'd rather have a scope or red dot yet. I do know that I will be wanting to get a .22 conversion for it to do some cheap shooting.

 

[aclark]

Probably better suited for "Long Guns", but I'll try to answer here.

Some of the major players that people are going with right now seem to be Spike's Tactical, Daniel Defense, BCM, Colt, LMT, and Noveske. I'm not 100% sure because I haven't priced them all, but that's probably a good order of price as well.

I believe all those companies offer complete guns as well as just upper assemblies. Some people say buy your first and build the rest. While I can understand this concept, I gained a lot of knowledge by building the lower myself, and then buying a complete upper. Could I have built the upper myself as well? Probably, but it seemed to me that there are a lot more idiosyncrasies in the upper that could be problematic.

Figure out what exactly what you want the purpose of the gun to be, and then look at the best setups for that scenario. Then compare those setups with what each company offers and assess the price:value ratio.

 

[jd4320t]

What do you want to do with the rifle?

 

[sloughfoot]

Why do you assume that there is a "bad" AR manufacturer? Don't you think that if there was one, that they would be out of business by now?

OK, here is your answer....All AR's made by manufacturers in the US are "good". I would stake my life on any AR made by any manufacturer.

This will either kill the thread or fire it up....

 

[Titanium Man]

Do a long a hard search on ALL the various AR's out there. What I mean are makers, variations, etc., etc., etc. It can be quite addicting, but there are a lot of resources available to research exactly what you want. My first was a National Match Model, loved it, kept it, but I kept getting variation after variation, to fit my particular wants and needs. I tried to stay all 223, just to have one less thing to worry about. They are a lot of fun to mess with. Don't forget Armalite, Rock River, DPMS, Bushmaster, S&W, Ruger, etc., etc. You'll find all ranges of price points, and variations, so go on their websites, and then go into your dealer(s), and shop around. As with any side of the sport, there are AR snobs, just listen to what they have to say, and if you can use any of their information, good, otherwise, move on and keep shopping. DON'T buy the first thing that is thrown in front of you.

 

[esrice]

Reading this should give you some idea of what features to compare when looking at various options from different manufacturers.

So you want to buy an AR-15, huh?

 

[mvician]

Why do you assume that there is a "bad" AR manufacturer? Don't you think that if there was one, that they would be out of business by now?

OK, here is your answer....All AR's made by manufacturers in the US are "good". I would stake my life on any AR made by any manufacturer.

This will either kill the thread or fire it up....

 

[shooter521]

OK, here is your answer....All AR's made by manufacturers in the US are "good". I would stake my life on any AR made by any manufacturer.

Have you seen the garbage put out by the likes of Hesse/Vulcan/Blackthorne?

You're a dead man.

 

[sloughfoot]

Are they still in business? When they were in business, it was too obvious how crappy they were.

 

[gunman41mag]

Why do you assume that there is a "bad" AR manufacturer? Don't you think that if there was one, that they would be out of business by now?

OK, here is your answer....All AR's made by manufacturers in the US are "good". I would stake my life on any AR made by any manufacturer.

This will either kill the thread or fire it up....

Even an OLYMPIC AR-15

 

[billt]

If you are purchasing an AR-15 for fun at the range, along with the possibility of using it for personal defense around the house, you will be very well served by most any of the major manufacturers. A lot of guys will argue this, but for most shooters it still stands as fact.

Keeping the weapon clean, well lubricated, and attended to with general care and maintenance will have a lot more to do with it's reliable functioning than what brand it is. I would choose a clean, properly lubricated DPMS or Bushmaster over a filthy Colt or D.D. any day of the week. And even if something like a firing pin or extractor should fail during a range trip, spare parts are cheap, plentiful, and very easily obtained. I now always have a spare Bolt Carrier Group, along with a spare charging handle in my range box. That assures that I will be able to deal with 90% of most issues that could arise. It takes literally just seconds to change out these parts, should you have an issue with any of them.

The time is right for AR-15 purchases. Many of the larger dealers and manufacturers are overstocked with them from the panic buying along with over production that ensued after the election of Hussein. They can be had for very good sale prices. In fact AR-15's are currently at the lowest price levels since the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban back in 2004. Bill T.

 

[unforgiven1203]

I've had my Olympic arms m4gery for a few years now and I have found it to be very accurate and reliable. I form this opinion after about 2500 rds, in all kinds of weather.
I hear all this talk online about how crappy they are and I am suprised it hasn't disintigrated by now! Instead, it seems to keep getting better.
I know there are a lot of nicer rifles out there but there is nothing wrong with my oly at all. I would take this rifle to combat vs a more expensive (but unproven) rifle.

 

[ADT knights]

What do you want to do with the rifle?

coyote hunting, target shooting, another home defense tool, just to have if the shtf

 

[esrice]

coyote hunting, target shooting, another home defense tool, just to have if the shtf

What's your budget?

 

[U.S. Patriot]

If you can do without a forward assist and dust cover. S&W has a M&P15 Sport. The local shop quoted me $599. It comes with a flat top receiver with BUIS (back up iron sight), collapsable stock, flash hider, and 30 round mag. Just something to consider. If I was to buy one now. That's what I would buy personally. Again, that's just my opinion.

 

[FordMan79]

That was a great thread! Very detailed and I only got about half way through it so far. Definitely bookmarking....

Reading this should give you some idea of what features to compare when looking at various options from different manufacturers.

So you want to buy an AR-15, huh?

 

[thompal]

I've had my Olympic arms m4gery for a few years now and I have found it to be very accurate and reliable. I form this opinion after about 2500 rds, in all kinds of weather.
I hear all this talk online about how crappy they are and I am suprised it hasn't disintigrated by now! Instead, it seems to keep getting better.
I know there are a lot of nicer rifles out there but there is nothing wrong with my oly at all. I would take this rifle to combat vs a more expensive (but unproven) rifle.

This pretty much sums up how I feel. I have an Oly now. I've owned two Colts, an Eagle, and a Bushmaster. None of them were inherently worse than any other, and none of them were really standouts either. The Colts were probably the prettiest, but then they were about twice the price, as well.

Everyone talks about how, when you get a new handgun for EDC, that you must take it to the range and put many hundred rounds of ammo through it to make sure it's reliable. Popular wisdom is that with some new handguns, you first have to "fluff and buff" to make them reliable, yet those pistols are still popular.

Yet, if you own an Olympic or Bushmaster AR-15, even if it's been 100% reliable, everyone still considers it junk. Why is a 1MOA S&W that's been 100% accurate better than a 1MOA Oly that's also been 100% reliable. Is the S&W's 1MOA a SMALLER MOA? Or the Oly's 100% reliability LESS reliable than anything else?

People complain that a $600 Oly with 16" barrel isn't as accurate as a $2000 Colt with 20" target barrel. So what? They were built for two different things, and you probably should get SOMETHING for paying over triple the price for a firearm.

If parts break, then replace them. They are standard parts. I just don't see what the big deal is.

What it boils down to is, buy what you can afford that has the features you would like. Go shoot it.

 

[ADT knights]

What's your budget?

Around $1000 and $1200 would be the most I would want to spend right now.
Some things I know I want are a midlength barrel chrome-Lined 4150 steel or 4140 as long as it's chrome-lined (as suggested in the posted article), the a3 style upper, and adjustable stock

 

[thompal]

Around $1000 and $1200 would be the most I would want to spend right now.
Some things I know I want are a midlength barrel chrome-Lined 4150 steel or 4140 as long as it's chrome-lined (as suggested in the posted article), the a3 style upper, and adjustable stock

With that budget, you have quite a few choices.

It's funny though, years ago (late 80s) when I was looking to buy my first AR-15, popular wisdom was to avoid the chrome barrels because they were "inaccurate."

 

[loony1]

For $799 this is what i would buy.

ST-15 M4 LE Carbine [STR5025-M4S] - $799.95 : Spikes Tactical