New to rifles, looking for an AR.. Any help is appreciated

[Perseverance]

So... I'm still relatively new to the whole firearm scene. I made my first pistol purchase two years ago and have purchased two other pistol's since then. Recently I've really been wanting to get into the AR type platform rifles but I need some advice. I'm not a hunter and my rifle would be for mainly personal defense as well as a camping gun. I'm looking to get a well built reliable rifle that will last a long time and shoot accurately.

My friends have told me I can buy these guns in pieces and put them together myself and save money, is this a good option for a new person to the long gun scene, and if so what are your recommendations?

I would be happy also just buying a complete rifle, but there are so many options and manufacturers out there there it can be staggering. I like the look of two companies I saw, Bravo company, and Rock River, but honestly I'm not sure how good or what their reputation is.

I'd probably be willing to plop down 1k possibly up to 1500 but that would be a bit of a stretch, again I'm just trying to find the best possible set up for the money.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[husker]

My advise would be to buy new. So if their is any hiccups your covered. Once you do have 1 in your hands. DNT !! Go buying a bunch of steal cased ammo till you run a box or 2 threw your AR. & try to stay with a 62 + grain bullet. My Colt will not cycle Wolf or any steal case ammo under 62 grains. & even then it short cycles 2 or 3 times a mag. PMC Bronze GOOD,CHEAP, PLINKING AMMO!! & you can reload it sell the brass ect. The tighter the twist the bigger grain bullets shoot better. 1in7 is what my Ar has. It is not Chromed line bore either. The Chrome lined barrel will probably last longer. But some will say they arnt as accurate.

 

[FMJMIKE]

If you are new to AR-15s I would highly recommend getting a factory built rifle with a warranty. Spikes Tactical has a very nice rifle with a warranty. Armalite has a good warranty too. If you ever decide to sell the AR a factory built rifle will be easier to sell. I bought a Spikes and am very happy with it.

 

[cbrgator]

Basically, all of the major brands are fine rifles (DPMS, Bushmaster, S&W, RRA, CMMG, Stag, Armalite, etc.) Just stay away from vulcan/hesse. Bravo Company makes an excellent rifle. Rock River makes a fine rifle as well. In your price range I recommend the Colt 6920. It's generally the rifle against which others are measured.

For best bang for the buck, I recommend Stag Arms. The model 2 has a flattop so you can add optics and Stag offers a lifetime warranty.

 

[sprice]

Bravo, colt, rock river, stag, cmmg, or spikes- in that order.

 

[Sky]

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?81462-So-you-want-to-buy-an-AR-15-huh


I would read the above thread. Technical and well written.

 

[Perseverance]

Thanks for the info guys it's all helpful stuff. What do you consider a good barrel length? Also what are good sights for these guns for tactical purposes? Red dots are high on my list, any recommendations would be awesome.

 

[Quentin]

Of the two companies you mentioned Bravo Company is head and shoulders better than Rock River so spend a lot of time on BCM's website and compare their models. Handle as many ARs too so you get a feel for the different barrel profiles and balance. The M4 has great balance but the midlength is my favorite. 16" is the norm today for barrel length but there are different profiles and weights.

I built my first AR and did get a better rifle than I could find locally. Things are different today and you can get factory built guns very competitively. Overall you'll never be sorry if you put a lot of time into research and the more research you do the more you'll consider building the lower at least.

You might want to do a separate thread on optics or search for existing threads.

 

[MrCleanOK]

Aimpoint and EOTech are the standards for quality reflex/red dot optics. If you want 1x sights, and those are out of your price range I'd settle for a quality set of fixed irons (DD, Larue or LMT rear, standard FSB up front) and call it day. Avoid cheap optics like the plague unless this is just a plinking/target rifle.

 

[Sky]

Many people are satisfied with the Vortex Red dot for $150ish. It is a good company that stands behind their products. It is not an EOtech or Aimpoint but works for most users.

 

[Zerodefect]

BCM upper and BCG. Any decent lower will do.

The gun deosn't have to be complete to have a warranty and support. And BCM has just about every type of forarm configuration and 3 diffent barrel types to choose from.

 

[Tacbandit]

S&W 's are great AR's for the money....

 

[Perseverance]

Thanks for all the advice, I am thinking of buying upper and lower completes. It helps spread out the money so I can buy one and save for the other.

 

[Roastbeef]

Might I make one suggestion? I know that everyone here will disagree, however, you can get into a good personal home defense/camping gun without laying down big dollars for the AR platform. I have purchased a dozen guns over the last year due to the SHTF scenarios and have yet to buy into the AR market. I have considered it but after looking at budgets and many suggestions, I bought a Ruger Mini 30. I also own several other guns including Saiga .223, .308 and 7.62x39 calibers. I have a couple of tactical .22's and I bought a tactical 12 ga. shotgun for home defense. You can get a mini 30 for about $750. It's just a suggestion.

 

[Roastbeef]

Something else to think about is that a lever action gun will provide what you are looking for as a home defense or camping gun. A good truck gun, a Marlin 30-30 lever action will take anything down within 100 yards.

 

[Kwanger]

I hate to be "That guy"....but please do a search....this question gets asked at least every other day. In fact, I'd say it is probably THE most asked question on this forum. If you do a search, you'll find every little bit of info you need to know.

 

[TonyAngel]

Yeah, the question gets asked a lot, but this is a forum and I don't know about you guys, but I like talking about this stuff.

It's already been said. If this is your first, buy a complete rifle. The best bang for the buck going right now is probably the Spike's at around $800.

As for optics, I've had both Eotechs (several) and Aimpoints (more than a few) and I prefer the Aimpoints. In the end, I settled on the ACOG TA44S-10, which is a compact model with 1.5X magnification. It never needs batteries (with both day and night illumination) and is built tank tough. Yes, it's expensive at between $900 and $1K for the scope and mount, but it's definitely one of those things that you'll only need to buy once.

 

[pro2]

For best bang for the $$$, complete rifle out of the box, I am partial to RRA. Solid quality and reputation, reasonable prices.

Do not drink the Colt Kool-Aid. Quality is run of the mill, far from premium.

I recommend an M4 profile with removable carry handle. 1/7 or 1/9 twist. For optics, I prefer the Eotech (based upon real world experience in Iraq and Afghanistan). If you want a powered optic and have the $$$, it is hard to beat an ACOG.

With so many options available, I recommend keeping things simple. Buy a solid rifle. Get comfy with your rifle and its iron sights. Once proficient, you will have a better idea what you want from the rifle, and which type of optic will suit your needs.

 

[TonyAngel]

I like the RRA too. I used more than a few of their parts and it's good stuff. If I were offered one, I'd certainly take it. If I had to choose between the RRA and a Spike's, I'd take the Spike's, for a few reasons.

The Spike's is closer to milspec with a MP test bolt. I believe the barrel is too, but don't remember. You get a milspec buffer tube and stock, rather than the commercial spec that you get with the RRA. You get a full auto bolt carrier with properly staked key screws, rather than the semi auto bolt carrier with the RRA, you get a Spike's ST-T2 heavy buffer, rather than the standard carbine buffer with the RRA and with the Spike's, you get that cool spider rollmark on the side of the lower. Assuming like prices, I'd PREFER to have the Spike's. This does not imply that RRA makes a substandard product, by any means.

 

[pro2]

I like the RRA too. I used more than a few of their parts and it's good stuff. If I were offered one, I'd certainly take it. If I had to choose between the RRA and a Spike's, I'd take the Spike's, for a few reasons.

The Spike's is closer to milspec with a MP test bolt. I believe the barrel is too, but don't remember. You get a milspec buffer tube and stock, rather than the commercial spec that you get with the RRA. You get a full auto bolt carrier with properly staked key screws, rather than the semi auto bolt carrier with the RRA, you get a Spike's ST-T2 heavy buffer, rather than the standard carbine buffer with the RRA and with the Spike's, you get that cool spider rollmark on the side of the lower. Assuming like prices, I'd PREFER to have the Spike's. This does not imply that RRA makes a substandard product, by any means.

For my next AR, I will have to give a Spike's a closer look.

 

[levsmith]

Hopefully I dont get bitten for this but I would recommend the Del-ton kits. My first and only (so far) AR is the Del-ton and it has definitely surpassed my expectations.

I bought a kit from them, which included the complete upper receiver and a lower parts kit. I got a stripped lower receiver locally and put the lower receiver together in about 45 minutes, slapped on the upper and was out shooting about an hour after i started.

I did LOTS of research before buying it since it was a pretty low price, but I have never heard anything bad about Del-tons. Customer service is great too!

Anyways, the total for the gun was about 650 bucks, which left me a good chunk of money left for magazines and an optic. The lower reciever isn't hard to assemble and as long as you have a basic knowledge of tools, you could do it. Plus the fact that I know exactly how the trigger and everything in the lower receiver works, if something were to break at a bad time, I am certain that I could fix it myself if I have the replacement part.

Good luck with your decision, once you get the AR infection, its hard to get rid of!!

 

[TonyAngel]

Hey, no flames on Del-ton here. They're no better or worse than most. If you are going to go this route, check out J&T Distributing too. Same deal. Pretty good stuff and low prices.

Has anyone mentioned the bargain bin rifles from CMMG.

 

[amprecon]

I went with a Rock River 6.8spc LAR-6 Mid-Length A4, I love it. It has been accurate and utterly reliable so far and I've been using the new improved stainless C-Products mags.

 

[taliv]

but I have never heard anything bad about Del-tons.

you must be blocking out my posts i say bad things about them all the time

btw, RRA makes an excellent National Match A2-style AR, but their "tactical" offerings range from sub-par (for the money) to downright goofy.

I built my first real AR (actually, i bought a colt sporter and an RRA and an essential arms before the bones in my head hardened). When I actually started SHOOTING, i quickly found the other guns weren't what i wanted, so i built what i wanted and it worked out great.

Then I built a couple more that worked even better. And then I decided I really couldn't build one as reliable as I could buy one, so I bought a 6920 and a KAC SR-15. The past two years, I've been building again (4 this year), but only because duracoat camo jobs look much better if you paint the parts before you assemble them. (and I never disassemble an AR once it's assembled)

Building is a lot of fun, and you can do it super-cheap (e.g. del-ton) or super-high-quality. (i've got >$2000 in parts on several of my builds). ($300 trigger, $300 quad-rail, $300 barrel, $300 stock... it adds up quick)

Like most things in life, there's more to assembly than the ar15.com picture guide. yeah, anybody with a pulse can put together an AR15 in 30 minutes that's 80% as good as colt or KAC, but that last 20% comes from decades of experience. I don't think I could come close to assembling one as well as they do, but for some guns 80% is good enough and, that's not as important as having fun.

 

[TonyAngel]

Building is fun. I haven't bought a built anything is a long while. The downside to being an inexperienced builder is when something goes wrong and you don't know if it's because you did something wrong or you bought a crap part.