AR Sponsor
Posted: 11/28/2012 7:12:21 PM EDT
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Hey guys. I've always been a gun guy and have just been recently been bitten by the AR bug. I've been reading your forum for a couple weeks now and have been keeping my eyes peeled in search of my first AR. I'm not looking to drop a grand on one of the high end rifles, but instead build one on a college student's budget. Searching around on the internet I've found a complete 16" HBAR upper with an upgraded M16 Full Auto BCG and charging handle for $459. The only thing that concerns me with it is a 1:10 twist rate which doesn't appear to be real common to me but it may not be a big deal? On top of that I've been looking at the New Frontier polymer lowers for about $110, which would give me a full build for under $600... I've also seen a new DPMS Oracle for $650, but the seem to have a pretty poor reputation on most AR sites. That's why I was thinking the upgraded BCG may serve me better over time... Anyways, I'm just looking for a little guidance from some of you guys on here as to whether or not this seems like a decent build, or just any suggestions for a budget AR build. I'm new to the game and am not ready to go all in on a Colt or anything like that just yet, but instead am hoping to build one for under $700 to leave me a little room for optics and other accessories. Please feel free to leave any suggestions or personal experiences that may help me out. Thanks.
*EDIT* Also forgot to mention, this gun will be used for short range applications. 99% of it's use will be within 200 yards. |
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I've recently finished building an AR on limited funds myself. My advice, shoot for a build with a 1:7 twist barrel. It will allow you to stabilize heavier bullets if you decide to use them. I'd also avoid the HBAR unless I was making a precision build, and if that were the case, I'd want at least an 18" barrel for the increased velocity. A good bit of your perceived weight is in the barrel so I like personally like to keep that down. I opted to buy Palmetto State Armory. The shipping is slow on complete rifles and uppers but the component quality is good. As the saying goes, you can choose two: low price, quality components, great customer service. With PSA you get the low price and quality components for sure. I have more patience to exercise than money to spend so PSA's two out of those three works for me. If I were in your shoes, I'd get a PSA stripped lower and basic lower build kit for $224 shipped + FFL transfer fee. Shop around for a good deal on a rear BUIS you like(I went with a Troy folding for less than $100). Then watch PSA for a sale on a barreled upper you like. I went with a lightweight mid-length myself. Looks like PSA has a couple of Mid-length uppers for $335 shipped, just add charging handle(about $20) and BCG. Good BCG's seem hard to find right now but expect to spend upwards of $175 shipped on a good one like a BCM. You can take your time and save up. Buy once cry once as another saying goes. That's one of the great things about the AR platform. You don't have to buy it all at once. You can buy the exact components you want when you can afford them and when they are offered at a favorable price. Anyway, good luck with your build and have fun. Edit: Oh yeah, be sure to spend some time reading and researching on this site, lots to learn and some good info around here. |
Palmettos's blemished stripped lowers are out of stock, but I'd rather go with their regular lower @ $99 than the New Frontier. I just don't trust that plastic, and am not that concerned with weight. Palmetto seems to have good bargains, and is what I was going to go with, but found one of their complete rifles at an lgs I'm thinking about just getting instead. Read on here as much as you can and any other source you feel is respectable. I've been reading nonstop AR posts and articles for weeks now, and just now feel like I have a grasp of what is going on  . Good luck with your build.
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Quoted:
Hey guys. I've always been a gun guy and have just been recently been bitten by the AR bug. I've been reading your forum for a couple weeks now and have been keeping my eyes peeled in search of my first AR. I'm not looking to drop a grand on one of the high end rifles, but instead build one on a college student's budget. Searching around on the internet I've found a complete 16" HBAR upper with an upgraded M16 Full Auto BCG and charging handle for $459. The only thing that concerns me with it is a 1:10 twist rate which doesn't appear to be real common to me but it may not be a big deal? On top of that I've been looking at the New Frontier polymer lowers for about $110, which would give me a full build for under $600... I've also seen a new DPMS Oracle for $650, but the seem to have a pretty poor reputation on most AR sites. That's why I was thinking the upgraded BCG may serve me better over time... Anyways, I'm just looking for a little guidance from some of you guys on here as to whether or not this seems like a decent build, or just any suggestions for a budget AR build. I'm new to the game and am not ready to go all in on a Colt or anything like that just yet, but instead am hoping to build one for under $700 to leave me a little room for optics and other accessories. Please feel free to leave any suggestions or personal experiences that may help me out. Thanks. *EDIT* Also forgot to mention, this gun will be used for short range applications. 99% of it's use will be within 200 yards. First AR? Your best bet is to start with a complete rifle. Typically, for a first and only AR I would recommend going to a nearby Walmart with a gun counter and picking up a Colt LE6920 for about $1090. IMHO, it's well worth saving for an extra couple months to make up the difference in price from your proposed budget. If you are firm on your ~$700 budget, I would shy away from the DPMS Oracle and instead look into a Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport for about $625-$650 or better yet I would look at getting a PSA 16'' M4 Premium Carbine for $719 when they are back in stock. |
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Hey guys. I've always been a gun guy and have just been recently been bitten by the AR bug. I've been reading your forum for a couple weeks now and have been keeping my eyes peeled in search of my first AR. I'm not looking to drop a grand on one of the high end rifles, but instead build one on a college student's budget. Searching around on the internet I've found a complete 16" HBAR upper with an upgraded M16 Full Auto BCG and charging handle for $459. The only thing that concerns me with it is a 1:10 twist rate which doesn't appear to be real common to me but it may not be a big deal? On top of that I've been looking at the New Frontier polymer lowers for about $110, which would give me a full build for under $600... I've also seen a new DPMS Oracle for $650, but the seem to have a pretty poor reputation on most AR sites. That's why I was thinking the upgraded BCG may serve me better over time... Anyways, I'm just looking for a little guidance from some of you guys on here as to whether or not this seems like a decent build, or just any suggestions for a budget AR build. I'm new to the game and am not ready to go all in on a Colt or anything like that just yet, but instead am hoping to build one for under $700 to leave me a little room for optics and other accessories. Please feel free to leave any suggestions or personal experiences that may help me out. Thanks. *EDIT* Also forgot to mention, this gun will be used for short range applications. 99% of it's use will be within 200 yards. First AR? Your best bet is to start with a complete rifle. Typically, for a first and only AR I would recommend going to a nearby Walmart with a gun counter and picking up a Colt LE6920 for about $1090. IMHO, it's well worth saving for an extra couple months to make up the difference in price from your proposed budget. If you are firm on your ~$700 budget, I would shy away from the DPMS Oracle and instead look into a Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport for about $625-$650 or better yet I would look at getting a PSA 16'' M4 Premium Carbine for $719 when they are back in stock. I appreciate the help guys. I guess I hadn't looked hard enough because I didn't realize I could pick up a complete PSA for $720. That seems like the route I will most likely take then... If you don't mind me asking another newbie question, what separates the Colt from say the PSA? I did check Walmart out today and saw that they had a Colt for $1070, but I guess I don't fully understand where the difference comes from? Now like I said, I've always been a gun guy and I own some great hunting rifles and I own some that I'm not as proud of, so I'm assuming the AR's kind of fit that same trend. If the Colt is truly worth the extra $300 bucks then I would rather bite the bullet and spend it once than be working on my gun all day when I should be shooting. However, when I look at the components of each gun they all seem to be very similar. Is it accuracy or reliability or some other factor that puts Colt ahead of some of the other manufacturers? |
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Quoted: Colts tend to be consistently reliable and you are to a degree paying for the name. While not the end all be all of ARs by any means they are a solid brand. PSA does high volume with high quality parts but hasn't been around long enough to have as good of a reputation. They tend to have slow shipping and have a few minor issues every now and then they quickly make right. Some other brands on the market use parts that are different from the military pattern and they may not have quality control as thorough as some of better manufacturers(not pressure testing and mag particle inspecting each bolt for example). That doesn't make them "bad" rifles for casual users, but they may fail under hard use sooner than another brand. Is it accuracy or reliability or some other factor that puts Colt ahead of some of the other manufacturers? Here is my PSA upper based rifle. I bought the upper due to the FN made 1/7 twist chrome lined barrel:  |
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Hey guys. I've always been a gun guy and have just been recently been bitten by the AR bug. I've been reading your forum for a couple weeks now and have been keeping my eyes peeled in search of my first AR. I'm not looking to drop a grand on one of the high end rifles, but instead build one on a college student's budget. Searching around on the internet I've found a complete 16" HBAR upper with an upgraded M16 Full Auto BCG and charging handle for $459. The only thing that concerns me with it is a 1:10 twist rate which doesn't appear to be real common to me but it may not be a big deal? On top of that I've been looking at the New Frontier polymer lowers for about $110, which would give me a full build for under $600... I've also seen a new DPMS Oracle for $650, but the seem to have a pretty poor reputation on most AR sites. That's why I was thinking the upgraded BCG may serve me better over time... Anyways, I'm just looking for a little guidance from some of you guys on here as to whether or not this seems like a decent build, or just any suggestions for a budget AR build. I'm new to the game and am not ready to go all in on a Colt or anything like that just yet, but instead am hoping to build one for under $700 to leave me a little room for optics and other accessories. Please feel free to leave any suggestions or personal experiences that may help me out. Thanks. *EDIT* Also forgot to mention, this gun will be used for short range applications. 99% of it's use will be within 200 yards. First AR? Your best bet is to start with a complete rifle. Typically, for a first and only AR I would recommend going to a nearby Walmart with a gun counter and picking up a Colt LE6920 for about $1090. IMHO, it's well worth saving for an extra couple months to make up the difference in price from your proposed budget. If you are firm on your ~$700 budget, I would shy away from the DPMS Oracle and instead look into a Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport for about $625-$650 or better yet I would look at getting a PSA 16'' M4 Premium Carbine for $719 when they are back in stock. I appreciate the help guys. I guess I hadn't looked hard enough because I didn't realize I could pick up a complete PSA for $720. That seems like the route I will most likely take then... If you don't mind me asking another newbie question, what separates the Colt from say the PSA? I did check Walmart out today and saw that they had a Colt for $1070, but I guess I don't fully understand where the difference comes from? Now like I said, I've always been a gun guy and I own some great hunting rifles and I own some that I'm not as proud of, so I'm assuming the AR's kind of fit that same trend. If the Colt is truly worth the extra $300 bucks then I would rather bite the bullet and spend it once than be working on my gun all day when I should be shooting. However, when I look at the components of each gun they all seem to be very similar. Is it accuracy or reliability or some other factor that puts Colt ahead of some of the other manufacturers? PSA makes a fine carbine, I have 6 rifles built using some PSA parts and 4 of them have PSA uppers. Everything I've gotten from PSA has been GTG. Wait times for PSA can be difficult for the impatient though. While the specs on paper show the PSA offering to be the equal of the Colt (and it may be), the Colt has a proven history of reliability under hard use. PSA has not been around long enough to know if their offerings are as durable and reliable as Colt's. If you are willing to save the extra $300 for the Colt it would be a smart move for your first and what will probably be your only AR for a while. You know what you are getting with the Colt and aside from the "boutique" brands it is the standard that all others compare themselves to. You know the old saying, "Buy once, cry once.". After you have a good reliable AR and you learn the weapon inside out, when you get the itch to acquire another one (and you will) you will know more of what you want in the next one. Then looking for something different or a little less expensive like a PSA or building your own is fine, as you'll always have that Colt to fall back on. |
| Once again I greatly appreciate the help guys. All this AR stuff is like a foreign language to me, although I have learned a lot already just in my past couple weeks of research. Even with what i've learned though there is still so much I don't know. I'm much more used to dealing with names like Remington and Winchester, so once I started looking around at AR's the only name that I really recognized was Colt and it was no surprise that they are the golden standard... Now I just have to make up my mind if I want to go straight to the top of get a mid-level AR to start out. It does seem a little strange to me that I can buy a top of the line AR rifle at WalMart though haha. |
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Quoted: Once again I greatly appreciate the help guys. All this AR stuff is like a foreign language to me, although I have learned a lot already just in my past couple weeks of research. Even with what i've learned though there is still so much I don't know. I'm much more used to dealing with names like Remington and Winchester, so once I started looking around at AR's the only name that I really recognized was Colt and it was no surprise that they are the golden standard... Now I just have to make up my mind if I want to go straight to the top of get a mid-level AR to start out. It does seem a little strange to me that I can buy a top of the line AR rifle at WalMart though haha. There are also some "boutique" manufacturers that build stuff in house to amazingly high standards. They cost money but everyone that owns one tends to believe they are worth every penny. Here is an example of a model offered by one of our great sponsors: http://www.laruetactical.com/larue-tactical-161-inch-predatobr%E2%84%A2-556 |
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If you have the luxury of waiting get on the notify list for one of The Aim Surplus uppers. $499 for a complete upper with hammer forged barrel and NIB BCG. Best deal going and they have excellent customer service.
Otherwise save and buy a BCM. Honestly if your budget is that tight how will you buy ammo? |
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If you have the luxury of waiting get on the notify list for one of The Aim Surplus uppers. $499 for a complete upper with hammer forged barrel and NIB BCG. Best deal going and they have excellent customer service. Otherwise save and buy a BCM. Honestly if your budget is that tight how will you buy ammo? I understand that it's not a cheap hobby. I've been shooting my whole life and as with anything else the cost of doing it continues to rise. However, I set a relatively low budget so that I could afford to buy accessories and ammo for it. If I spent $2,500 right off the bat, it would probably be a while before I could afford to shoot the thing. |
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