TexasCHLforum.com

Hi guys. Been looking at ARs a little more closely after the latest push to ban them seems to have Trump and even the NRA softening on the issue. Long story short, we have acquaintances in law enforcement, and on the topic of "my first AR", the consensus among them was that if we wanted an AR that we wouldn't easily outshoot or otherwise want to upgrade out of the box (besides the usual bolt-ons like an optic), we wanted the Savage MSR 15 Recon. A little more expensive than the entry-levels like the S&W M&P15 Sport or Ruger AR556, but the money went to the right places. Most common complaint is the trigger isn't that much better than mil-spec, but as one review said, much easier and cheaper to replace that than to swap out the forend of your average M16-type or quadrail AR for the M-LOK this one has stock.

However, after a fairly extensive search, I'd have settled for the Patrol, if I could just find either of them. CTD, Bud's, GaG, Bass, Cabela's, all of them list the thing, none of them have any and don't know when they're getting any. I managed to find one, maybe a bit more expensive than online but it saves me FFL transfer fees, supports an FLGS, and, hey, they actually had it where all the sites pricing it cheaper couldn't actually put one on a truck for me.

Is this a common experience among other AR-seekers? Any other problematic models along the same lines as the Savages? What seems to be the cause? I'm thinking the combination of the "Trump slump" followed by Parkland and new calls for a ban are the major factors at play; most AR manufacturers were ramping down through 2017, calling the market saturated.