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I am thinking about buying my first AR-15. I have narrowed my search down to 2 choices. Rock River Arms Entry Tactical and DPMS Pather AP4. Both have 16" barrels, detachable carry handles, and 6-position stocks. Both would be purchased from local dealers, so tax would be charged on both, but neither would incur shipping or FFL fees.

Would you buy the DPMS Panther AP4 for $827 + tax or the Rock River Arms Entry Tactical for $925 + tax. Is the RRA worth the extra C-note, and why, in your opinion?

You know what opinions are like.... I think either one would be a good choice. I've got tons of friends with AR's of all shapes, sizes and brands. I haven't seen anything to cause alarm in any of them. Between just a few of us there's 1 Colt, a few Bushy's, a few Armalite's, many DMPS, 1 Stag lefty which is pretty cool, and 1 LMT. I think the Lewis Machine and Tool has the best looking finish of all of them, but it was also the most pricey of the bunch. The Colt, LMT, Stag, 1 DPMS and 1 Bushy all belong to the same LEO friend. We've played "switch the upper" a million times and they all fit together very well on different lowers. The Colt is a bit loose, but an Accu-Wedge buffer takes care of it.

As long as it's a quality manufacturer, I say go with the cheapest. I'd quickly ditch the A2 pistol grip for something like an Ergo grip though. 100 time more comfortable. There are about a million choices there too.

Bushmaster, and DPMS are owned by the same parent company now, along with Remington. I bet their quality standards are pretty good.

The only difference that I can think of is that the RRA has a two-stage trigger that's awesome.

Also, make sure that price quote that you have has the same bbl for both of them. You'll want to get a chrome lined bbl.

Congrats on your upcoming purchase!

I have a DPMS 16" AP4. I've shot several hundred rounds through it with no problems, and the finish is top notch. Keep in mind that mine did not come with a chrome-lined barrel. Although the chrome/moly barrel is supposedly more accurate (not that it matters for me...), chrome-lining makes cleanup much easier. If the RRA comes with a 2-stage trigger and a chrome-lined barrel, that'd definitely be worth the extra $100.

You may want to consider building your own, though. You can get the same for $2-300 less.

mdek wrote:
You may want to consider building your own, though. You can get the same for $2-300 less.

I have found this, in my case, to not be true(cheaper), as I tend to trick them out with more options. When building my own.

Anygun

I have a DPMS and an RRA and except for the trigger in the RRA, I can't tell any difference in quality, accuracy, etc. I think the match trigger makes the RRA worth the extra $ but the DPMS trigger in mine is good, just not as good as the RRA's.

I have built all my wn ar-15's and put RRA match triggers in all of them including my AR-10,with the match triggers in them i put the AR-15's all together for around 700.00 each

go with cheapest, chances are you wont shoot it as much as you do your handguns.

DPMS isn't that good. RRA is better. LMT and Colt are best.

You probably won't notice any difference between any of them if you're just plinking with it. However if you put a lot of rounds through the gun in a short amount of time (like in a training class) or you plan on using it as a defensive firearm, then I'd buy the higher quality firearm. DPMS (and RRA to some extent) skip the proof testing and magnetic particle testing on bolts/barrels that LMT and Colt do, use the wrong height for the front sight base, don't stake the gas key or castle nut correctly, etc. A lot of these things aren't visible to the naked eye or you won't notice them unless you really know what you're looking for.

If I were you I'd buy a complete LMT lower then a complete LMT upper later, for about $1000-$1100 total. You'll save a little over buying a complete gun because the 11% Pittman-Roberson excise tax isn't charged on incomplete guns.

At the price of an AR, shipping and FFL fees are typically much less than what you'd be charged for sales tax.