Wife wants an AR

So my wife has decided she wants an AR-15 for her birthday this year. I know a little about them but not a lot. More about using and maintaining than anything else to be honest. Anyway one of the local shops have S&W M&P Sports on sale for 650+tax and in my area that appears from about twenty minutes of research to be a good deal. And from what I have read they are getting good reviews so my question is are there any other decent quality AR's in that price range +/- $100?

To be honest, in that price range is it very hard to beat an S&W Sport. Unless building your own is an option, I would take the Sport and go hit the range.

Neither you nor her would be disappointed with one.

Congrats you got a keeper.

For the price thats a good choice . you can pay more for better materials and quality but they pretty much all shoot the same. in the the $650 range they are pretty much all the same. Not sure how S&W are able to produce pretty decent ARs for that price i see tons of them at all the shops so they must be making money off of volume . You can't touch a Colt or BCM at that price but those would be higher quality rifles but another 250-350+ to get one of those. Even a RRA or bushmaster would cost another $200+

anything less like a kit gun might save you a $50-100 but at that price your better off with getting a factory built rifle with a factory warranty .

avoid the plastic lowers and upper receivers which are fine for truck rifle and budget builds

M&A has kits under $500, and lowers are less than $100. an afternoon putting an AR together with your wife is priceless.

Option #1 She could join the Marines and get a real M16.
Option #2 You could buy her a nice little S&W.

I like Option #2. The S&W would likely be an all around very good choice for her that comes in at a reasonable cost.

Ron

You are a lucky man sir

an afternoon putting an AR together with your wife is priceless.

I wholeheartedly concur here.

Looks like a win-win opportunity. :)

On the joining the Marines comment she plans to after finishing her degree but thats a little ways away. I actually like the idea of building one but am a little uncertain of all the required tools and as we are in the process of moving I have very few available at the moment. I think I will be surprising her with the S&W after she gets out of class on Thursday.

Buy the Smith, shoot and enjoy. Save the builds for after you learn the platform.

The S&W M&P 15 Sport is a great rifle. It will serve the propose of 95% of the people who shoot. I love the M&P15, I have the standard AR with carry handle and chrome lined barrel etc. it is a great performer. I also have a CMMG,Bushmaster, and Daniel Defense M4V4. If you didn't know by brands, you could not tell a difference in shooting them. She will love the Sport. Don't think you have to go spend $1000 or more to get a reliable good shooting AR. The Sport will do the job.

Buy the Smith, shoot and enjoy. Save the builds for after you learn the platform.
+1. It's a great place to start. After two Sports, I may buy a third myself. They refuse to quit.

If you dont want to spend the 900+ on a BCM or Colt then Id say the Sport is the best option.

If you don't know much about them and just want a good quality starter AR that you can buy off the shelf, you really can't do too much better than the S&W Sport.

The M&P Sport simply can't be beat for value in an assembled rifle.

That said, I think you'd do well to put one together for her, using a midlength upper. Middy rifles just plain recoil softer. Not that a 5.56 carbine is harsh, but the impulse is noticeably sharper in a rifle of equal weight.

My suggestion:

DSA stripped lower: $75 + Shipping & Transfer

DSA or Del-Ton Mid Length upper: Some variation here depending on exactly what you want, but lowest cost will be $384 for a DSA ZM4 Middy upper ($250), DSA Bolt Carrier Group ($120) and DSA standard charging handle ($14).

Stock kit: Standard 6-position M4 stock & extension kits are $50 & up for decent stuff. Or you can get just a receiver extension kit for $30 from DSA and put whatever stock you want on it.

PSA Lower Parts Kit: The kit with Magpul MOE grip and trigger guard is only $50 right now (or it was last week when I ordered 2).

Magazine: No brainer. Magpul P-mag 30, about $15.

So, you could build her a basic mid length rifle for as little as $575 plus shipping and transfer. Shipping should be about $30. FFL transfer varies but $20-$40 is normal. So $625-$645 all said and done; You won't beat that for an assembled middy rifle. (A Del-Ton rifle kit would come in about $30 lower, but they've been perpetually out of stock for months now)

If you can assemble a cabinet from Ikea, you can assemble an AR. It's fun, you gain a better understanding of what's going on in there, and you can say you built it for her. She may even want to participate (mine did).

Links:

https://www.dsarms.com/

http://www.del-ton.com/

http://Palmettostatearmory.com

Just a fair warning on DSarms and PSA, the wait times are extremely long right now. Might not be the best choice if you want an AR right away.

Buy her the M&P sport; she will be happy for sure.

M&P sport a great value.
She will love it. Doesn't even pay to build one at that price unless you already have the tools and time.

I think I will save the building for the rifle I want. I will be going to my FFl tonight to pick up a Marlin 60 I just ordered and see if he can match the price at the other store and if so when he can have it in by if not I will go and buy it at the other store.

Doesn't even pay to build one at that price unless you already have the tools and time.

Who doesn't have a small hammer, a ~1/8" punch and a free half hour?

(And if you don't like the idea of a punch on the lock ring, stock wrenches can be had for under $10)