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Posted: 4/15/2014 2:51:48 PM EDT
| Hey guys I'm new here and I'm getting ready to buy an AR and I'm needing advice on which model to get. I know I want a flat top in 5.56, but I want a very reliable model. Looking to spend between $700-$1100 any suggestions on some to research? |
| So many to choose from in that price range. The Colt listed above seems to be a great bet. I don't have one but I haven't heard/read any complaints from people that own them. I have 2 rifles that I put together. One using PSA parts and the other using Spikes parts. Both have been great in the few years that I've owned them. The Spikes is my patrol rifle. Those are the only 2 I own. Daniel Defense is another name I hear good things about. Not sure of the price though. |
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I only have (1) AR and have only fired a few hundred rounds thru her but it's a Spikes ST-15 16' LE M4 Carbine from PA and it's all stock and one nice rifle for what I paid.
Spikes |
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Mentioned a couple times above. Check out Spike's Tactical. They make a solid AR and pay a lot of attention to detail. Customer service is top notch. And Primary Arms is an excellent vendor.
https://www.primaryarms.com/Spikes-Tactical-16-ST-15-M4-LE-Carbine-5-56x45-p/str-5025-m4s.htm |
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In your price range you have a lot of good choices. Their is much debate about who's AR is the best. Its really a hard question to answer because everyone has different desires and needs. While a $595 DPMS might be just fine for an occasion shooter who just wants an AR a serious user who uses their rifle in competition or training or other high usage applications may need more.
DTI (Delton) sells low priced kit that many build and are very happy with. Rock River has its fans, and its detractors. Armalite builds a great rifle but there will be those who will pick at them for some little something. (BTW The owner of the company was formerly in charge of the US Army precision shooting team and has patents on a better bolt design for example). The name Bushmaster comes up. Of course they got bought up by a holding company and now Bushmaster is just a name. Back up East the people who use to build Bushmasters before being sold out started up their own company and still make quality rifles just as before only with a different name on them. "Windham Weaponry" they are called now. Good rifles made by good people. Then there are the Bravo Company fans. They swear by them and won't accept anything less. Are they that much better? People will throw out all sorts of terms like 4140, 4150, Carpenter Steel, 1-7, 1-9, and so forth. You can go crazy reading all that stuff. I would bet that the average shooter would never be able to tell the difference between a rifle with a 4140 barrel and one with a 4150 barrel. Now, a soldier in combat running hundreds of rounds through the rifle in a firefight might, but likely it won't be you. Some rifles are certainly made of "better" materials and their price reflects that. Some barrels might be slightly more accurate than others. But honestly, will it make a difference to you if it one will group 1" at a hundred yards compared to a rifle that cost $500 more and will group at 3/4" ? Sometimes that is what it comes to. To get a little bit better rifle you may have to spend a LOT more money. I am a middle of the road guy. I won't buy the cheapest thing because it was made to be cheap and they cut corners. On the other hand, I won't give up next month's pay to just have a certain name on my receiver because that is what's in style this week. I look in the middle and compare my options. And, lucky for you there are a lot of very good choices out there. But you want names, and if you read posts on this site you will find many thrown about. Which ones are best? Depends on who you ask. Be careful however. Some guy will have a DPMS and swear its the best damn AR ever built. Turns out its the only one he ever had and he was lucky and got a good one. So, for him its great. Another guy will have had a Colt and tell you it had all sorts of problems. Turns out he used cheap Commie steel cased ammo in it and the ammo was bad, not the rifle. So, it swings both ways. Names people seem to like best in the price range you are looking at, in no particular order: Colt (barely in your price range) Rock River Amalite (will have to look hard to find one inside your price range) Windham Armory Spikes Smith and Wesson Sig Saur i(sn't on everyone's list but they make a good rifle) CMMG And others will add to the list with their favorites. I no longer own any 100% factory built rifles as I sort of roll my own out of quality parts. Some call that "building a rifle" but I prefer to use a more correct term, Assemble a rifle. I resisted AR's for years as I was a long range shooter who used bolt guns. But, once the AR market got to where there were just so many great parts available to customize the rifle I had to jump in. That was some years back and I have no regrets buying the "few" I have now. . |
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Quoted:
Mentioned a couple times above. Check out Spike's Tactical. They make a solid AR and pay a lot of attention to detail. Customer service is top notch. And Primary Arms is an excellent vendor. https://www.primaryarms.com/Spikes-Tactical-16-ST-15-M4-LE-Carbine-5-56x45-p/str-5025-m4s.htm Customer service IS great. I had an issue with my bolt carrier group. Shipped everything back to them and I had my stuff back quickly. I must add that I did not buy directly from Spikes. I feel that if I did I wouldn't have had an issue |
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Quoted: Customer service IS great. I had an issue with my bolt carrier group. Shipped everything back to them and I had my stuff back quickly. I must add that I did not buy directly from Spikes. I feel that if I did I wouldn't have had an issue Quoted: Quoted: Mentioned a couple times above. Check out Spike's Tactical. They make a solid AR and pay a lot of attention to detail. Customer service is top notch. And Primary Arms is an excellent vendor. https://www.primaryarms.com/Spikes-Tactical-16-ST-15-M4-LE-Carbine-5-56x45-p/str-5025-m4s.htm Customer service IS great. I had an issue with my bolt carrier group. Shipped everything back to them and I had my stuff back quickly. I must add that I did not buy directly from Spikes. I feel that if I did I wouldn't have had an issue |
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And this means what exactly? Quoted:
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Mentioned a couple times above. Check out Spike's Tactical. They make a solid AR and pay a lot of attention to detail. Customer service is top notch. And Primary Arms is an excellent vendor. https://www.primaryarms.com/Spikes-Tactical-16-ST-15-M4-LE-Carbine-5-56x45-p/str-5025-m4s.htm Customer service IS great. I had an issue with my bolt carrier group. Shipped everything back to them and I had my stuff back quickly. I must add that I did not buy directly from Spikes. I feel that if I did I wouldn't have had an issue It means that there is a good chance that the complete upper would not have been shipped out with the problem. The company I bought it from is no longer in business. And if they are, they are using some different name. |
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Quoted:
Hey guys I'm new here and I'm getting ready to buy an AR and I'm needing advice on which model to get. I know I want a flat top in 5.56, but I want a very reliable model. Looking to spend between $700-$1100 any suggestions on some to research? The 20" barreled rifle is the most reliable AR15 configuration. Also the most durable. Also less popular. |
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There will be haters here who tell you they are crap now but really out of the box this is the answer. |
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Quoted:
In your price range you have a lot of good choices. Their is much debate about who's AR is the best. Its really a hard question to answer because everyone has different desires and needs. While a $595 DPMS might be just fine for an occasion shooter who just wants an AR a serious user who uses their rifle in competition or training or other high usage applications may need more. DTI (Delton) sells low priced kit that many build and are very happy with. Rock River has its fans, and its detractors. Armalite builds a great rifle but there will be those who will pick at them for some little something. (BTW The owner of the company was formerly in charge of the US Army precision shooting team and has patents on a better bolt design for example). The name Bushmaster comes up. Of course they got bought up by a holding company and now Bushmaster is just a name. Back up East the people who use to build Bushmasters before being sold out started up their own company and still make quality rifles just as before only with a different name on them. "Windham Weaponry" they are called now. Good rifles made by good people. Then there are the Bravo Company fans. They swear by them and won't accept anything less. Are they that much better? People will throw out all sorts of terms like 4140, 4150, Carpenter Steel, 1-7, 1-9, and so forth. You can go crazy reading all that stuff. I would bet that the average shooter would never be able to tell the difference between a rifle with a 4140 barrel and one with a 4150 barrel. Now, a soldier in combat running hundreds of rounds through the rifle in a firefight might, but likely it won't be you. Some rifles are certainly made of "better" materials and their price reflects that. Some barrels might be slightly more accurate than others. But honestly, will it make a difference to you if it one will group 1" at a hundred yards compared to a rifle that cost $500 more and will group at 3/4" ? Sometimes that is what it comes to. To get a little bit better rifle you may have to spend a LOT more money. I am a middle of the road guy. I won't buy the cheapest thing because it was made to be cheap and they cut corners. On the other hand, I won't give up next month's pay to just have a certain name on my receiver because that is what's in style this week. I look in the middle and compare my options. And, lucky for you there are a lot of very good choices out there. But you want names, and if you read posts on this site you will find many thrown about. Which ones are best? Depends on who you ask. Be careful however. Some guy will have a DPMS and swear its the best damn AR ever built. Turns out its the only one he ever had and he was lucky and got a good one. So, for him its great. Another guy will have had a Colt and tell you it had all sorts of problems. Turns out he used cheap Commie steel cased ammo in it and the ammo was bad, not the rifle. So, it swings both ways. Names people seem to like best in the price range you are looking at, in no particular order: Colt (barely in your price range) Rock River Amalite (will have to look hard to find one inside your price range) Windham Armory Spikes Smith and Wesson Sig Saur i(sn't on everyone's list but they make a good rifle) CMMG And others will add to the list with their favorites. I no longer own any 100% factory built rifles as I sort of roll my own out of quality parts. Some call that "building a rifle" but I prefer to use a more correct term, Assemble a rifle. I resisted AR's for years as I was a long range shooter who used bolt guns. But, once the AR market got to where there were just so many great parts available to customize the rifle I had to jump in. That was some years back and I have no regrets buying the "few" I have now. . I like your list. I'd choose between Colt, Rock River, or a Windham. |
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Quoted:
In your price range you have a lot of good choices. Their is much debate about who's AR is the best. Its really a hard question to answer because everyone has different desires and needs. While a $595 DPMS might be just fine for an occasion shooter who just wants an AR a serious user who uses their rifle in competition or training or other high usage applications may need more. DTI (Delton) sells low priced kit that many build and are very happy with. Rock River has its fans, and its detractors. Armalite builds a great rifle but there will be those who will pick at them for some little something. (BTW The owner of the company was formerly in charge of the US Army precision shooting team and has patents on a better bolt design for example). The name Bushmaster comes up. Of course they got bought up by a holding company and now Bushmaster is just a name. Back up East the people who use to build Bushmasters before being sold out started up their own company and still make quality rifles just as before only with a different name on them. "Windham Weaponry" they are called now. Good rifles made by good people. Then there are the Bravo Company fans. They swear by them and won't accept anything less. Are they that much better? People will throw out all sorts of terms like 4140, 4150, Carpenter Steel, 1-7, 1-9, and so forth. You can go crazy reading all that stuff. I would bet that the average shooter would never be able to tell the difference between a rifle with a 4140 barrel and one with a 4150 barrel. Now, a soldier in combat running hundreds of rounds through the rifle in a firefight might, but likely it won't be you. Some rifles are certainly made of "better" materials and their price reflects that. Some barrels might be slightly more accurate than others. But honestly, will it make a difference to you if it one will group 1" at a hundred yards compared to a rifle that cost $500 more and will group at 3/4" ? Sometimes that is what it comes to. To get a little bit better rifle you may have to spend a LOT more money. I am a middle of the road guy. I won't buy the cheapest thing because it was made to be cheap and they cut corners. On the other hand, I won't give up next month's pay to just have a certain name on my receiver because that is what's in style this week. I look in the middle and compare my options. And, lucky for you there are a lot of very good choices out there. But you want names, and if you read posts on this site you will find many thrown about. Which ones are best? Depends on who you ask. Be careful however. Some guy will have a DPMS and swear its the best damn AR ever built. Turns out its the only one he ever had and he was lucky and got a good one. So, for him its great. Another guy will have had a Colt and tell you it had all sorts of problems. Turns out he used cheap Commie steel cased ammo in it and the ammo was bad, not the rifle. So, it swings both ways. Names people seem to like best in the price range you are looking at, in no particular order: Colt (barely in your price range) Rock River Amalite (will have to look hard to find one inside your price range) Windham Armory Spikes Smith and Wesson Sig Saur i(sn't on everyone's list but they make a good rifle) CMMG And others will add to the list with their favorites. I no longer own any 100% factory built rifles as I sort of roll my own out of quality parts. Some call that "building a rifle" but I prefer to use a more correct term, Assemble a rifle. I resisted AR's for years as I was a long range shooter who used bolt guns. But, once the AR market got to where there were just so many great parts available to customize the rifle I had to jump in. That was some years back and I have no regrets buying the "few" I have now. . This is a good post....lots of good info and makes the point that everyone has their own history and values that impact what they'll recommend. The list is good, but not complete. Stag Arms is a solid company that is highly regarded. I have a Del-ton kit that, with lower and carry handle sight was $600. I've been running imported xm193 ammo through it with zero issues. I can't say they're all great, but my experience has been very good. They also have solid specs, so they're not cutting corners on materials. I will say this. In your situation, if you don't want to build, the spikes mid-length at AIM Surplus for $799 is probably the best bang for the buck in the industry right now when you consider quality, reputation, specs and price. Also, there's a tax on a complete rifle, so frequently you can get a complete upper and complete lower and save a 100-200. If you can clean your rifle, you can pin it together. JP (a top tier competition manufacturer) offers their JP-15 for $2000, but you can buy the complete upper and lower for $1800. Good luck. Have fun, read around here for at least a month before you buy. I jumped right in and, while I love my Del-ton, I would have probably gone with the spikes had I researched more just for the better rep/resale should I ever want to sell. |
| All of the manufacturers mentioned make good gear. But I will chime in my +1 on the Colt 6920. I don't think anyone gives you as much for your money as the Colt. It has a very high feature/quality to dollar ratio, and it will keep its value better than many of the others. It is the gold standard of your basic AR carbine. |
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Quoted:
In your price range you have a lot of good choices. Their is much debate about who's AR is the best. Its really a hard question to answer because everyone has different desires and needs. While a $595 DPMS might be just fine for an occasion shooter who just wants an AR a serious user who uses their rifle in competition or training or other high usage applications may need more. DTI (Delton) sells low priced kit that many build and are very happy with. Rock River has its fans, and its detractors. Armalite builds a great rifle but there will be those who will pick at them for some little something. (BTW The owner of the company was formerly in charge of the US Army precision shooting team and has patents on a better bolt design for example). The name Bushmaster comes up. Of course they got bought up by a holding company and now Bushmaster is just a name. Back up East the people who use to build Bushmasters before being sold out started up their own company and still make quality rifles just as before only with a different name on them. "Windham Weaponry" they are called now. Good rifles made by good people. Then there are the Bravo Company fans. They swear by them and won't accept anything less. Are they that much better? People will throw out all sorts of terms like 4140, 4150, Carpenter Steel, 1-7, 1-9, and so forth. You can go crazy reading all that stuff. I would bet that the average shooter would never be able to tell the difference between a rifle with a 4140 barrel and one with a 4150 barrel. Now, a soldier in combat running hundreds of rounds through the rifle in a firefight might, but likely it won't be you. Some rifles are certainly made of "better" materials and their price reflects that. Some barrels might be slightly more accurate than others. But honestly, will it make a difference to you if it one will group 1" at a hundred yards compared to a rifle that cost $500 more and will group at 3/4" ? Sometimes that is what it comes to. To get a little bit better rifle you may have to spend a LOT more money. I am a middle of the road guy. I won't buy the cheapest thing because it was made to be cheap and they cut corners. On the other hand, I won't give up next month's pay to just have a certain name on my receiver because that is what's in style this week. I look in the middle and compare my options. And, lucky for you there are a lot of very good choices out there. But you want names, and if you read posts on this site you will find many thrown about. Which ones are best? Depends on who you ask. Be careful however. Some guy will have a DPMS and swear its the best damn AR ever built. Turns out its the only one he ever had and he was lucky and got a good one. So, for him its great. Another guy will have had a Colt and tell you it had all sorts of problems. Turns out he used cheap Commie steel cased ammo in it and the ammo was bad, not the rifle. So, it swings both ways. Names people seem to like best in the price range you are looking at, in no particular order: Colt (barely in your price range) Rock River Amalite (will have to look hard to find one inside your price range) Windham Armory Spikes Smith and Wesson Sig Saur i(sn't on everyone's list but they make a good rifle) CMMG And others will add to the list with their favorites. I no longer own any 100% factory built rifles as I sort of roll my own out of quality parts. Some call that "building a rifle" but I prefer to use a more correct term, Assemble a rifle. I resisted AR's for years as I was a long range shooter who used bolt guns. But, once the AR market got to where there were just so many great parts available to customize the rifle I had to jump in. That was some years back and I have no regrets buying the "few" I have now. . Right....I own one AR and due to limited funds and price gouging after newtown I stated with a: Aero Precision multi lower PSA LPK Ace Ldt. ARFX stock then purchased a complete upper from JSE Surplus which came with a Wilson Arms 18" SS Wylde Bull barrel, A MI SS freefloat tuble. Got that for 525.00 then replaced the stock semi bcg with a black nitride bcg and a new BCM mod4 CH. Ended up with a nice semi-custom rifle that topped out at about 1100.00. It should of come in a bit less but due to the Newtown aftermath. I digress ....anyway from the first round to 5-600 not even a hiccup with 3 weight different ammo. no FTF's or FTE's or short stroking or bcg's binding or bolt not locking back or any other damn problem I see people having problems with some of the big names....mentioned several posts above. I like name dropping as much as the next guy ...but not at the cost of the little annoying crap that seems to be occurring more frequently and would really piss me off for those kind of $$$. Give me the small guy with a good reputation. No...not Rguns. 
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There will be haters here who tell you they are crap now but really out of the box this is the answer. Quoted:
There will be haters here who tell you they are crap now but really out of the box this is the answer. +1 The 6920 is a great choice, Colt makes fine rifles (in spite of the derp you may read around here). 
I've purchased three Colts (a 6920 & 2 - 6940's) over the past five years. All of them are reliable, very accurate and the fit and finish was perfect on each. Good luck OP. Let us know what you decide. |
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OP, you didn't give much detail as to why you are buying or what you want this rifle to do.
I'll tell you that I didn't own a firearm a year ago. I've bought 7 in the last year: Ruger SR22 Glock 26 Colt Le6920 Windham M&P Colt LE 6920 Colt LE6920 x 2 I've given 4 of the AR's to family and kept one myself. I consider owning/having an AR15 to be insurance. If you want to own an AR [not build] the Colt is the way to go and prices have never been this attractive. There are others less expensive and others more expensive but this is the best firearm for the buck. If you have BRD then build. Define your desire, define your budget and then decide which weapon will fit your need. Let us know what you decide. |
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Quoted:
There will be haters here who tell you they are crap now but really out of the box this is the answer. Quoted:
There will be haters here who tell you they are crap now but really out of the box this is the answer. What he said. |
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