AR-15: Best Models - need advice

PS if anyone is aware of another firearm in civilian hands that has as much scrutiny and wide spread dispersal as the AR platform I would love to hear what it was. If there were mass failures causing injury or death due to failure by defect it would be widely promoted by those who dislike the gun.

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The only one I can think of is Glock. There have been a few failures (like you said, there are so many out there it's bound to happen occasionally) but thanks to the Internet everyone gets to hear about it.

Since what I want needs to look like the original colt I think I'll go with a colt unless I see something that hits the nail on the head.

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You can't really go wrong there, plus Colt is the original (well, Armalite was, but Colts seem to hold value best).
I'd suggest looking into CDNN, the email blasts they send out usually have some great deals on the Colts.

definitely what z-michigan said


all four are top notch companies/manufacturers
(daniel defense, LMT, Noveske, and BCM)

and in my opinion are way better than anything in there price range.

you can buy a killer bcm/ DD/ LMT build for right around the same general price that you can buy a colt LE6940 complete build for new.

noveske is a little more on the pricy side, but you get what you pay for
(from what i know, pac-nor barrels come stock on all their rifles)

just my two cents,
Kenny

well, Armalite was, but Colts seem to hold value best

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Although "Armalite" was the original, that's a different Armalite from the current company based in western Illinois. The current Armalite, Inc. of western Illinois, previously Eagle Arms, bought the name from its third (?) owner who really had no use for it any more. Great name, also a great company, but not the same company.

CDNN had the Colt 6920 at $1095 within the last week or so. You need to add shipping and FFL transfer fees, but that's still a great deal on it. Oh, you can get an equal quality DD or BCM in the same range or possibly a bit less, but there is some appeal to the Colt.

COLT, but

I love Colt and you know what your getting, but here is my history. I own a Colt, two bushmaster's and three DPMS, which two are LR 308C's and one Light. I've shot well over 10,000 rds through each rifle and never had any issue due to manufacturing. As I'm a retired Marine with 20 plus years in the infantry ( no DI or recruiting bull****, hell I got 12 years in one battalion alone)
I'm a firm believer in MIL SPEC for real world stuff and go with the chart. If your just banging out rounds and doing some friendly competition a Bushy will do you fine. If your planning on shooting matches or varmint hunting then your going to be more concerned with other things like SS bull barrels and match triggers and all the other stuff that's not MILSPEC or as reliable. I have a friend who's into 3 gun matches and he uses a bushy and replaced the bolt with a MILSPEC BCG, no problems.
Just my 2 cents.

Colt, BCM, DD, Noveske.

Wolfe - you have to download the PDF catalog, they don't list guns on the website itself nor can you order them over the web. The PDF has most of their inventory. You also need to get on their email weekly specials mailing list to know about everything. The $1095 Colt 6920 was in the weekly email a week or two ago.

I'm partial to BCM.

My Bushmaster has never failed me in any type of use. I pull the trigger and it always goes "BANG". I've used damn near every type of commercial ammo in it and I've never had a jamb or hang up with any of the ammo. I know a lot of people on here seem to bash the Bushmaster, but I have never had a problem with mine. I do however clean it everytime I use it. I've shot thousands of rounds through my "Patrolman's Carbine" and it has never had a FTF. It is accurate as I could expect any of my weapons to be; it will consistently shoot 3 shot clover leafs at a 100 yards with a 2 MOA red dot optic, when I do my part. I will with hold telling you what I think you should get, because I would expect that there are better AR's out there, but I did want to share my experience with my Bushmaster. Good Luck in picking yours!

Wolfe, there are lots of high quality ARs out there. But there is something to be said for building your own gun the way you want it.

However, should you buy off the shelf, you can't go wrong with Colt, Bushmaster, Armalite, etc.

I'd have to say Colt if for no other reason than resale value and initial quality.
That said, I just shot my new Bushmaster (looks just like a sixties M16) and after getting used to the trigger it delivered a five shot 5/8" group at 100 yards. First was 1 1/2, second was 1".
I can't get over how these things perform. I had a Savage 112V in 22-250 and never got a 5/8" group...even with eyes thirty five years younger than they are now.
Rock River, DPMS, heck, they're all good.

I have a Franken Rifle, I do not plan to fight with it, run many gun games, it works. Get one, shoot it and have fun.
Get good mags, lots of ammo, shoot it. When you get good enough that you have broken it, fixed it then get what you know you need.

i would go with LMT, Daniel Defense, Noveske, and (my favorite) JP Enterprises.

Armalite are good, Colts have the Colt name, Ruger's AR has a carrier tilt problem (i am usually a ruger fan, especially on SA revolvers), i have had problems with poor machining on parts with Rock River.

the top two companies in my opinion that make the best ARs are Noveske and JP rifles.

here is a picture of a JP upper (tactical upper not their standard competition uppers) on a Mega Machine Shop billet lower
(i highly recommend you build your own from parts... you can build a really high end gun, much better than Colt, DPMS, RRA, Armalite... ect...)

i started to build it trying to save money but have dropped way more than a standard rifle costs. right now, w/o optics it is costing more than a noveske...

i wouldn't change a thing, i LOVE my rifle and especially the way it looks...
build one to your liking, a webstore called
RAINIER ARMS is a good place to look if you want to build a custom gun on a billet lower.
all of their stuff is top of the line!
http://www.rainierarms.com/
no, i dont work for them but i was able to find stuff there that i haven't been able to find anywhere else


MIL SPEC
if you want MIL SPEC, just make sure the one you are looking at is MIL SPEC, mine is not Mil Spec, but it is by far not a POS.
MIL SPEC means MIL SPEC, not "BEST", but it is built to a specific standard. some stuff that isnt Mil Spec is bad, other stuff is better. MIL SPEC is kind of like piece of mind i think for most consumers...
personally, i could care less

if you are not looking to build, i would look at the companies i mentioned here (NOVESKE, JP, and (oh yeah, forgot) Knight Armament (which is the company that Stoner went to after he left Armalite, but these things cost so much that it will make your head spin and are perhaps the premier AR company); second choice after those are Daniel Defense, Patriot Arms (good stuff), LMT, Colt (starting to make better guns, quality control is getting better); third choices are Armalite, then RRA, Spikes Tactical (something about them i like and something about them i dont and i cant place it, just a gut feeling), Yankee Hill (a good company too), DPMS, Stag Arms, CMMG, S&W, and Bushmaster.

honestly though, all AR companies are pretty good, just avoid Olympic!!!!

check out this link to AR15.com's AR manufacture list/forum:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/board.html?b=2

GOOD LUCK!
any questoins just message me, i dont check in here often but i have the same handle on ARFCOM, GRM, RUGERFORUM (both), and a few others...
always up to giving advice and what i know....
most my time is on ARFCOM and Rugerforum.

anyway, my 2 cents, here is my pic of my JP upper (i highly recommend them, expensive but worth the price)
JP's website... http://www.jprifles.com/

Personally, I like my Stag L-1. When I decided I wanted to buy an EBR, they were the only company I found that makes a left-handed option. After years of hot brass flying down under my collar, shooting the Stag is a true joy.

Of all the brands out there, Olympic wouldn't even make the top 10 of brands to avoid.

Planned use should drive all decisions. Real world, for anything other than a fighting rifle there are only 3 major components where mil-spec matters: upper, lower and BCG. With everything else you're better off finding something suited to your needs rather than just going with mil-spec. Even for a fighting rifle, mil-spec should only be considered the minimum for the other components and certain aspects of mil-spec are more important than others.

Do research, decide what matters to you, plan your purchase accordingly rather than blindly following some brand, mil-spec or "the Chart."

The absolute best bang for your buck AR right now has to be a basic model M&P AR15. I paid $800 for my MOE edition through Buds Gun shop.

seriously avoid Vulcan

i think Olympic is bad, as i said earlier, but Helotaxi does not seem to agree,
maybe he would agree that Vulcan is surely one to avoid.

i am talking about the big AR manufactures, not the smaller outfits

Vulcan, Blackthorne and Hesse are the top of the list.

Oly wouldn't be my choice for an M4-gery but their more specialized rifles are of good quality.

Colt, BCM, Daniel Defense, Noveske and LMT are about as good as it gets. I'm very pleased with my latest build with a DD upper. To be honest though, my first build with an ArmaLite upper has been flawless however I can see better quality in the DD.

i absolutely love my armalite, i would put it up against any AR, just my .02

the best:
JP Enterprise, Noveske, Knight Armament

THEE Top three
they are more like luxury ARs....
all are outstanding performers..

of these three, JP (i own) and Knight are the only two i would spend money on if i wanted a Cadillac AR

for a Chevy AR, i would get an Armalite, Rock River, S&W, LMT, Daniel Defense, Stag, CMMG, DPMS, Bushmaster (of these i consider Daniel Def. and LMT the best, but none are bad guns at all, all good!)

i am just saying that a lot of folks seem to forget about Knight and JP

Oly wouldn't be my choice for an M4-gery but their more specialized rifles are of good quality.
-helotaxi

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what more specialized rifles are you referring to?
the pistol caliber carbines?

If it aint Barrett. They are all junk.


The Barrett is the hands down best of the best. Just Sayin.

http://www.barrett.net/firearms/rec7




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