low end black rifle recommendations

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groovemastergreg

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Howdy! I'd appreciate all input into making this decision. I have under $1k to spend on a ar-15 or m4 or whatever you want to call them now.

The rifles I have looked at and the prices are as follows:

Colt Gov't Carbine $950

DPMS Panther chrome bbl $777

Olympic Arms GI $707

S&W M&P 15 Sport (plastic upper) $599

If you have opinions and more importantly personal experiences owning these guns, and I'm sure most of you do, I'd really appreciate knowing them and helping me make this decision. Suggestions as to any other guns is welcome.

I'm inclined to go with the Colt, simply because all of my Colt's have been great weapons, but the last black rifle I owned was a clone by IMI and it worked flawlessly for many years and cost $750 new back in 1993. I stupidly sold it to a friend who fell in love with it and had a trade I was enamored with so here I am in the market.
 
Look seriously at the Spikes Tactical ST-15. You get a Mil-Spec rifle with a chrome-lined chamber and chrome lined bore with a 1:7 twist 16 inch barrel for $799. This is probably the best option going in the AR-15 world right now in terms of what you get for your money.

www.spikestactical.com

Stay away from Olympic Arms. You'll be regretting that choice.
DPMS isn't bad at all.
Colt, why not?
S&W, seems to offer some decent rifles.
 
The Colt and DPMS are both likely to be good. Avoid Olympic. No real opinion on the S&W with a plastic upper, though some of those sorts of guns have a tendency to wear out where the charging handle latch grabs.
 
Spikes makes some good rifles, also check out CMMG for good budget AR's. Another option to save some coin would be to build it yourself.
 
Of the ones you listed I'd probably chose the colt.

Spikes makes a decent rifle for 800$ but the colt would hold its value if you ever wanted to sell it. Also some people have a grudge against spikes but they're a pretty good AR for the money imo. You will have to wait at least 6-8 weeks for spikes if its something your wanting now.
 
I hate to say it, but of the ones you listed, the Colt is probably the best choice. I personally would just build one by myself for about $500 but I know that some people just don't want to venture into that ground.
 
The Colt blows away the others on your list. It's also priced higher.

Spike's would be another good option.

Are you sure that the M&P "Sport" has a plastic upper? The upper is supposed to be forged aluminum just like on 99% of other AR-15s. But I haven't seen one in person yet.

There are non-Sport M&P15 models that would run in the $800 range and would also be good. The DPMS you list is likely OK, definitely not in the same league as the Colt or even the Spike's.
 
If the CMMG Bargin Bin Rifles are still around they are a great deal.
I don't know about building one for $500.00. You have to do a lot of digging for parts to build one for that amount.
 
I think CMMG is sold out of them at the moment.
Still, they generally weren't chrome-lined, were they?
With AK's I've found that more money doesn't always equal more gun, but with an AR I would tend to think that price is at least somewhat linked with quality (unless you just get lucky).
 
Avoid Oly, Avoid DPMS. Of the ones listed the Colt is the best option. The S&W is an inexpensive offering. Although I am confused as to why you think it has a plastic upper?
 
I thought I had read that the low end smith and wesson Sport model had a plastic receiver. I'll double check on that.

I'll add one other gun, the Bushmaster M4A1 selling for 799.

Thanks for the info so far. It's very useful and I know folks here know their guns.

I don't know why I'm apprehensive about the Smith. It's a bargain at cabela's at $599. This gun will be for plinking and you know, hopefully never but also self defense. I've had great luck with Glock pistols since 1992 and got over the polymer pistol thing years ago.
 
You're right about the SW MP sport. I don't know where I read that the receiver was polymer but it's aluminum. The sport, for $599 now on sale at cabelas, is probably more bottom end than I want. No forward assist or dust cover but those are not essential for me, although the dust cover is nice to have.
 
What is your intended use? Plinking? Hunting? SD/HD?
For plinking any of those will work. DPMS makes nice plinkers, so does OLY.
If you intend to run 3 gun competition or take some carbine courses or rely on this for Self Defense / Home Defense then go with the Colt.
 
You may be able to go onto Bravo Company (BCM) website and order a blemished lower (generally still in good condition) to mate to a M4-type upper and get a very good AR for under $1k. If that doesn't work out, check out S&W M&P-15.
 
I don't know about building one for $500.00. You have to do a lot of digging for parts to build one for that amount.
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Oh it can be done pretty easily. You just have to know where to look and you can't expect to have amazing hand rails and whatnot.
 
My intended use is multi-purpose, plinking mostly, occasional hog hunting on my bosses place (they come in very close and head shots are easy, even with a subcompact pistol like a Glock 36). I usually take a larger caliber rifle but all my friends have no problems making fatal head shots on hogs with iron sights, and neither do I at the distances we're shooting at. Or at least until a few shots are fired and them hogs start moving...

And since this is Texas, we do have plenty of varmits around for hunting that a gun like this would work on.

As with any weapon I own, it could become a SD/HD weapon, but have other weapons more suited to home defense because I live in the city with close neighbors. But you never know when you might pick a gun for an emergency, so yes, as you astutely suggest exiledtoIA, it's supremely important to have reliability. That's why I stopped carrying 1911's in 1992 when the Glock M21 came out. Now I carry the M36 most days. Uber-reliable.

And I had not thought about competition, but I have shot various combat pistol comps before so it's a good consideration.

I keep going back to the Colt, although I'd love to spend less money, because I do know you get what you pay for and the five Colts I have owned and still own have been exceptional right out of the box. So while I'm tempted to look at the Bushmaster or some of the other brands mentioned, and I'm sure they are great guns, I think this one will go to the Colt.

I do plan to check out both building my own (I could see justifying this to wife as a hobby for Jr. and myself to build our own guns) and the Spikes gun. I asked around today and several friends confirmed the highly positive comments about Spikes.

Thanks for the help and any more opinions, well, I'd love to hear them.
 
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You won't be upset at all with the colt like you say. If you do want to save some $ tho I think I spikes rifle will be more then adequate for what your wanting and about 150$ cheaper. In the end the 150$ may not be worth you getting the rifle your most comfortable with.

I dont think you can lose either way though.

I chose to assemble my own from various parts to get it exactly how I wanted and save so I didnt have to pay for stuff I was going to upgrade asap.
 
if you actually want quality, but low end, build one yourself, buy a cmmg bargain bin gun, or a doublestar. It doesn't sound like you're going to run it hard, so I doubt you will ever be able to see a difference between a 700 and 900 dollar gun. if you want to step up a bit, bravo co. and spikes make a nice gun.

heck, everybody makes a pretty nice gun. There's not much to them and most of the main components come from the same few actual manufacturers. For instance, remington, bushmaster and dpms are owned cerberus, and I guarantee you the all use the same supplier, if not the same parts bin for the most part. Don't get too hung up on the rollmark. I'd save a few bucks on the actual gun and buy a better trigger or some ammo.
 
greyling22
if you actually want quality, but low end, build one yourself, buy a cmmg bargain bin gun, or a doublestar. It doesn't sound like you're going to run it hard, so I doubt you will ever be able to see a difference between a 700 and 900 dollar gun. if you want to step up a bit, bravo co. and spikes make a nice gun.

heck, everybody makes a pretty nice gun. There's not much to them and most of the main components come from the same few actual manufacturers.
For instance, remington, bushmaster and dpms are owned cerberus, and I guarantee you the all use the same supplier, if not the same parts bin for the most part. Don't get too hung up on the rollmark. I'd save a few bucks on the actual gun and buy a better trigger or some ammo
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That right there says it all ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Thanks greyling22.




o
 
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