need help with my big AR-15 purchase.

[TexasComputerDude]

I'm finally doing it. I'm about to plunk down the money on a good ar-15. The problem is I have no idea what brand is the best.

I don't want to spend over 1000$ and I'd prefer to keep it around 700. but I also want a quality AR that works.


can anyone recommend any good brands and where I might find them? all I have localy are academy and bills gun trader, I am going to look there first as soon as I find some free time.

I plan on tricking it out with all kinds of different cool "toys." I may mod a computer onto it that records video, accesses the internet and plays mp3's or something. who knows. lol.

[KaiserB]

I'm finally doing it. I'm about to plunk down the money on a good ar-15. The problem is I have no idea what brand is the best.

I don't want to spend over 1000$ and I'd prefer to keep it around 700. but I also want a quality AR that works.


can anyone recommend any good brands and where I might find them? all I have localy are academy and bills gun trader, I am going to look there first as soon as I find some free time.

I plan on tricking it out with all kinds of different cool "toys." I may mod a computer onto it that records video, accesses the internet and plays mp3's or something. who knows. lol.

Rock River Arms is a good brand. You could get one at one of the Dallas gun shows from Lone Star Wholesale. They had about 5 fully assembled ones and 10 uppers at the gun show this weekend.

[tboesche]

Be sure and visit AR-15.com.

I "built" my AR for under 650.00 CMMG lower, DPMS LPk and a fire-for-effect upper(made by CMMG) So far it has cycled every thing I have pu thru it. Building the Lower is a no brainer and a complete upper just "pins" on. Be sure and check ou t the Equipment Exchange. you can find some really good deals. I bought my Lower form Cheaper Than Dirt and got the upper form the EE. PM me your E mail address and I will send you a couple pictures. I have no way to post them on here.

[Jungle Work]

No matter which AR you get, if you're not getting a Stainless Steel Barrel, get a Chrome Lined Barrel.
I would not buy an Olympic AR under any circumstances......

Jungle Work

[Velocity]

I'm finally doing it. I'm about to plunk down the money on a good ar-15. The problem is I have no idea what brand is the best.

I don't want to spend over 1000$ and I'd prefer to keep it around 700. but I also want a quality AR that works.

[you might get a better response in the rifle forum]

Bushmaster and Rock River are well known and widely accepted. I just picked up my first AR, a Bushmaster, and am pretty pleased with it so far. I've put around 400 rounds thru it, and the only issues were two failure-to-eject - and best I can tell, that was due to bad ammo not the rifle itself.

Here's a great link for reading before purchasing an AR - http://forums.officer.com/showthread.php?t=81462. If I had to do it again, I'd probably go with CMMG with a flat-top (mine has a permanent carry handle) for the best options with optics.

While it's easiest to buy a complete rifle, there is something to be said (sometime price, and definitely the level of customization you want) for buying a separate lower (via a show or a FFL) and upper. If you get each of these complete, it's a 60 second job to connect the two. AIMsurplus.com has a great deal on a CMMG upper right now - http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/CMMG ... _Half.html.

[Daltex1]

Smith Wesson MP15T

[HankB]

I have a Bushmaster standard rifle and have been happy with it. It initially came with a barrel that wasn't indexed properly - it took 17 clicks of windage to get on target. I contacted Bushmaster, they issued a call tag and had UPS pick up the upper at my house, and a couple of weeks later it was returned, repaired properly. Now I'm only about 2-3 clicks off center.

Repaired, promptly, repaired properly, at no cost to me.

I like dealing with that kind of company.

Other than a few burps traced precisely to one specific magazine ("Refinished" . . . my mistake buying it. ) the rifle has been extremely reliable, with zero malfunctions otherwise over a couple of thousand rounds. I put in a Jewell trigger . . . nice!

Rock River arms makes good rifles, too . . . you can buy a stripped RR lower for about $155, and complete RR kits (with 2-stage RR NM trigger & chrome lined barrel) go for about $645, and include everything you need to put together the complete rifle on your stripped lower . . . a quality "All Rock River" CAR-type rifle for around $800.

Armalite has a good reputation, as do the Colt LEO rifles, but the good Colts are only "gray market" guns and carry a premium. (Plus, from personal experience, Colt's does not actually honor their warranty.)

Other brands - LMT, Noveske, Sabre Defence, etc., also are highly regarded, but they are noticeably more expensive. Some variations, ridiculously so.

Right now, I'm putting together a lightweight mid-length, and am looking at uppers from CMMG . . . I've found that there are a lot of options for the AR15 platform out there.

If you contact Brownell's, they'll send you a free AR15 parts and accessories catalog.

[TexasComputerDude]

thanks for the tips. decisions decisions decisions lol.

I am tempted to get a student loan to help pay for a better ar-15 because I'm scared they will be banned in the near future. I don't normally do things like that but it may be worth it.

[KaiserB]

thanks for the tips. decisions decisions decisions lol.

I am tempted to get a student loan to help pay for a better ar-15 because I'm scared they will be banned in the near future. I don't normally do things like that but it may be worth it.

Not a good idea... that type of fraud could be a Felony; that would mean no guns. Go down to your local bank and get a signature loan for $1500 or use a credit card.

For an some inexpensive insurance go buy a stripped receiver They range from $110 - $250 and build a gun a piece at a time.

[TexasComputerDude]

felony? I'mma have to read the papers. good to know though. I think it said I could use the money for whatever I want to but idk.

[drw]

For an some inexpensive insurance go buy a stripped receiver They range from $110 - $250 and build a gun a piece at a time.

That is super advice. The lower receiver is what will be banned and you can always go buy anything else you need later.

In fact, buy 3 or 4 (or 10) lower receivers. At the very least, they sure won't go down in price.

[G.A. Heath]

There are people who will tell you to buy nothing but a Colt, others will tell you nothing but an Armalite, or maybe a Bushmaster, or maybe this brand or that. Others will tell you to stay away from Olympic Arms. Some may tell you to stay away from this brand or that. But here's the deal every manufacturer has produced a Lemon. Every manufacturer has produced an exceptional super quality gun. On average they all produce guns that fall closer to the median than the extremes. My DPMS 6.8 has been nothing but a problem until I got it back from them for the second time. My friend has the exact same rifle that has never had an issue using the same exact ammo. I have owned an Olympic Arms rifle, I traded it to a friend who wanted it far worse than I did. Later he traded it to another friend of ours for another rifle he wanted even worse. If our other friend decided he wanted to sell it I would snap it back up today. My friend I traded it to recently acquired its EXACT duplicate. Out of 7 AR15 rifles we own between us there are two Olympic Arms, 1 Bush master, 1 Factory DPMS, 2 rifles I assembled on DPMS lowers. So here is my advice:

Disregard brand names for now. Make a list of what you want this rifle to do (Carbine house clearing, long range varmits, fun gun, ect). Make 2 lists of features you are looking for: the first list is for features that you must have to make the rifle do what you want, the second is for features you like. You can always add features from the second list (or even the first) onto the gun after you buy it. Now sit down and price 4 rifles: 2 from different manufacturers that meet just the first list and 2 from different manufacturers that meet both lists. Now you can consider brand names, research their warranties, look at the experience from people who owned them (not people who had a friend who's cousin dated someone who shot a friends rifle from that company).

Now for some general scoped rifle advice: If you put a scope on the rifle buy a GOOD scope and GOOD rings or you will not be happy for the gun. Remember if you spend $700 on a gun, $350 on a scope, and $15 on rings you will have an $1065 gun that is as accurate as a set of $15 rings will allow it to be.

[TexasComputerDude]

thanks for the excellent advice yall.

also thanks for the "insurance" idea. I didn't even think about that.


basically I want a long range varmit hunter, fun gun, SnakeHTF gun.


I am leaning towards the bushmaster from academy. I guess I can always change out parts and customize it later and once I learn what I'm doing I can really go to town and do my thing.

[M9FAN]

I am leaning towards the bushmaster from academy.

This is exactly what I did, and the rifle cost me just under $900 before taxes. Here's a pic:

[TexasComputerDude]

nice, lol

and I guess if it turns out its not what I want after learning more about them, I can resell it lol