Need first-hand advice on buying a somewhat high-end AR-15

[CaribouLou45]

Have limit of around $2000 as I am a freshman in college. The two I have been looking at the most are the KAC SR-15 and Noveske 16" Light Recce Lo-Pro. I have also considered the Colt 6940, LMT DI, and Robinson XCR. Any advice? Please no suggesting short-stroke piston ARs. I want to buy something superior, not inferior. :banghead:

Thank you

 

[Pony Express]

+1 Noveske

I have a colt HBAR and in short, I love it. Prancing ponies on the side of the receiver is a good sign.

With that being said, if I had $2000 to drop on an AR, I would probably go with the noveske. I have heard negative things about Kings CS and nothing but great things about Noveske rifles. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I had the money.

 

[Jaybird78]

Noveske, Colt, BCM, LMT, Daniel Defence......all would be good choices.

Have fun and watch your wallet.

 

[LeonCarr]

I wish I would have had a 2000 dollar limit when I was a freshman in college...6601 Colts were going for 670 bucks each back then .

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[taliv]

welcome to THR

I assume you already realize the "other" 3 guns you listed are not in the same league as the first two.

You will be happy with either of the first two choices, but I will say I bought the noveske first (which was actually one of the first 50 of the magpul lower limited edition ones from 2 years ago) and then the KAC. I have since sold the noveske/magpul and am planning to buy another KAC.

Honestly, you will really like either of them.


(edit to add: if $2k is your TOTAL budget, get a cheaper good gun (6920, BCM, LMT) and an aimpoint)

 

[Hatterasguy]

LWRC are pretty nice, look at them to.

 

[MrCleanOK]

if $2k is your TOTAL budget, get a cheaper good gun (6920, BCM, LMT) and an aimpoint

This. It took more than $2k to turn a homemade Recce lo-pro (upper, free blem lower, & parts kit) into the configuration I wanted.

A little something to motivate you

 

[FlyinBryan]

i would say knights, noveske, colt, and bushmaster.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I think the Knights SR15 is the best of the rifles you mentioned; but it is a small advantage and it achieves it through a lot of proprietary parts. So what is more important to you - performance or modularity/easy parts availability. Not that the other ARs are poor performers by any means.

 

[FlyinBryan]

honestly, if i could get any new AR, of the ones you listed, it would have to be the knights.

 

[janobles14]

primary weapons system, lmt, lwrc, knights

 

[G27RR]

Have you looked at the LaRue OBR in 5.56? This is mine...



It's right at your limit but you get guaranteed sub-MOA performance, a Geisselle trigger, etc etc. Mine's an 18" but you can get 16" or 20" models, too.

 

[FlyinBryan]

i like that

 

[TonyAngel]

PeaceWalker, all of the ARs mentioned here are good. If you have to have that Rolls Royce name, go for it. I just haven't seen any advantages to spending that much money on a single rifle. I don't think that you can say that a Noveske, KAC or whatever is going to be more reliable than half a dozen other well built ARs. Most of what makes a good, reliable AR is attention to detail in assembly. I've built enough with inexpensive parts to know that to be true.

The only problems I've ever seen with the likes of Rock River, DPMS or Bushmaster was that they must have been built on either a Friday or a Monday and they didn't have anything wrong with them that couldn't be fixed with a little TLC.

My point is that getting the rifle is only a part of getting into shooting it. Once you have, you'll need sights/optics (and mount), magazines, sling, maintenance supplies (including replacement parts) and AMMUNITION.

You can find a really nice rifle in the $1K to $1500 range and that would leave you a little for some accessories.

Just as an example, on my last build, I have almost $2K in the trigger, stock and scope alone.

 

[HorseSoldier]

If you're serious about being able to run a rifle well, I'd recommend looking at spending around half your $2000 range on your actual rifle (+/- a bit), which can get you a reputable weapon, and then consider ammo and a defensive carbine course. A $1000 rifle plus three days with Larry Vickers or someone at that level will serve you a whole lot better than a $2000 rifle and occasional plinking at the range.

 

[ny32182]

Nothing wrong with paying for a name, because a name will retain value based on the name.

If you want bang for the buck, the LMT, BCM, 6920 will do the job as well as anything on the market.

 

[Lakedaemonian]

I would personally build it myself... Thats what I did. The up-side is you can take the best from each company and combine it into a nail driver. The down-side is that a custom build wont bring squat in re-sale. Not saying that you intend on selling it down the road, but its just food for thought. Its nice to build it just the way you want it, but when something else comes along and screams "trade the AR for it!!!!" you may want to have something a gunshop will look at and say "hey, this is a (colt, bushmaster, noveske, BCM, ect)"

 

[CaribouLou45]

No $2000 is about my budget for the rifle itself. I'm really torn between the SR-15 and N4. I have time to decide. Don't plan to buy rifle until about a year from now when I have a certain amount saved for other things to.

Would like to hear good factual comparisons. From what I understand, KAC is more reliable but N4 is more accurate.

Thanks

Edit: And this is not my first rifle by any means. Just my first AR chambered in traditional .223. I got my CX4 Storm first cause it was not very expensive (plus got a great deal on it for $630 new and added Streamlight TL-1) and I knew that when I purchase an AR, it would be a nice one that will hold me. In the handgun world, I'll take my Colt Combat Commander over anything cause I know it will fire every time I want it to, however I don't know who try the domination Colt has when it comes to ARs. I should specify what I want is not something to tinker with (I put Aimpoint or Eotech on it and that is all for my tinkering) and reliability comes first. No, I don't want the reliability for home protection or anything like that, I'll take a shotgun instead thank you very much. I just can't stand guns that don't do what I want them to do when I want them to do it. It's not a good gun if it jams once in 100 rounds in my opinion. Colt or KAC may be my best option. I never really heard Noveske's being raved about their reliability. Just barrel so I am not sure. I do like the KAC's long rail since I am pretty long and hold an AFG toward the front of the rail.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

None of the rifles you mentioned are going to have a failure rate anywhere near 1% even in hard use if they are properly lubed. Heck, even the plain-jane M4 right out of Army armory did 98.4% for 6,000 rounds with cleaning every 1,200 rounds in a 2.5 hour sandstorm.

Reliability wise, I don't think you'll see any practical difference between any of the rifles you mentioned. Accuracy wise the Noveske N4 may have a tiny advantage over the SR15; but the number of shooters who are good enough to show it to you are few and far between. Long-term the Knight's will probably have the longest service life because of the barrel, redesigned bolt and barrel extension. However when you do need to replace those parts, Knights will be the only place to get them and they won't be cheap.

HorseSoldier made a good point about training though. Owning a Stradivarius won't make you a better violinist unless the skills are there. Same with many of these rifles here.

 

[CaribouLou45]

Thanks guys. I'm going with the Noveske Light Recce LO-PRO and adding an Aimpoint CompM4 and Magpul AFG to it. Thanks again

 

[kwelz]

Thanks guys. I'm going with the Noveske Light Recce LO-PRO and adding an Aimpoint CompM4 and Magpul AFG to it. Thanks again

Excellent choice. Although a Recce gun begs for a magnified optic. For about that cost of that CompM4 you could get a good Trijicon 1-4 TR24.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

My choice would be a Colt Monolithic, at least for the upper. It is a carbine. The upper runs about $900-1000 and then you could buy any number of lowers to go with it and still have some left for optics, ammo, or other gear.

At the gun shows here, I have seem the complete Colt Monolithic for $1300 though I think normal retail is $1500-1600.

 

[kwelz]

DNS, I used to have a 6940. It has a few shortcomings. The biggest being the proprietary barrel nut which cuts down on the ability to change out the barrel. The next is that you are stuck with that Rail. I am not opposed to a Monolithic platform, my SBR is built off one in fact. however 7 inches is far to short for a rail these days.

 

[Zerodefect]

Thanks guys. I'm going with the Noveske Light Recce LO-PRO and adding an Aimpoint CompM4 and Magpul AFG to it. Thanks again

I'd recommend the smaller T1 Aimpoint. They have a 2moa dot version now I think? This setup seems to be the king of our run and guns in my area.
http://stores.homestead.com/Laruetactical/Detail.bok?no=399

Allthough I use a old ML3.

Try some Magpul XTM panels for those rails, the AFG isn't much to grip by itsself. You'll need to surround it with panels.

 

[DonRon]

I like Yankee Hill Machine and DSA myself