Oh, boy, can oh worms
My $0.02:
For a plinker/range toy, just about any of them will work fine. However, some are better than others at a given price point.
The lowest cost way to get into the AR game with a complete rifle is the S&W M&P sport. They're well made, just very basic and missing the dust cover and forward assist to cut costs. AFAIK, the sport is still available for ~$650 these days.
In the $750-$900 range, you have almost too many options to list. And again, some are better than others at the same price point. In this price range, you can get a quality, no frills AR from a reputable manufacturer. Del-Ton, DSA, Palmetto, RRA to name a few. Even Armalite has a basic offering in here. The kind of thing that may be missing in this arena is stuff like chrome lined barrels, various types of friction and corrosion resistant coatings, etc.
$900-$1,200 opens the door to some very good ARs. This is the mid-tier range today (it was top teir a few years back, before the high end stuff emerged) Armalite, Colt, BCM, CMMG, Stag, S&W and a host of others offer basic and some enhanced models to meet this budget.
$1,200-$1,800 is getting you into some of the more basic guns from higher end manufacturers like LMT, Noveske, Daniel Defense. Very, very good rifles.
North of $1,800, you're really starting to pay more for factory customization. IMO, not really much quality to be gained, just more goodies.
Now, if you build your own, you can get a bit more rifle for your money in most cases, but you won't have any warranty. For instance, you can build a Del-Ton or DSA rifle identical to what you'd buy assembled for about $150-$200 less. On the other hand, trying to assemble a Colt or Armalite will actually cost you more than just buying the rifle.
I would trust my life to many rifles in the sub-$1k mark, and in fact, do: My go-to is an Armalite M15A2C, which currently retail for about $950. But there are plenty that I wouldn't count on, like Olympic Arms or DPMS.
You just need to figure out what your requirements and budget are, then we can narrow it down a bit more.