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Posted: 7/9/2016 1:36:22 AM EDT
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New here so bear with me please and yes I have searched the forum to the best of my ability.
Not looking to build at this time. Budget is around $800. 20 year combat vet guy with infantry background. Looking for a good first AR for HD/very limited hunting/maybe some 3 Gun. Current choices I have are between a Core 15 Scout Keymod and a Colt Competition model made for Cabelas. Both are same price. I like the Colt simply because it is what I have shot for the past 20 plus years and the sub moa gurentee. I have no prior knowledge of the Core rifles. Upgrades will be a Magpul UBR stock, AFG front grip, light for certain situations and bipod for other situations. I will put some type of optic on top and probably run 45• offset BUIS. Also some form of sling, not a single point. Pros/cons and/or likes/dislikes. Any help is appreciated. Thanks, Gryph |
First, welcome to ARFCOM and thank you for your service! 
May I humbly suggest you consider other options? For example, you can do a complete PSA lower and one of their Premium/CHF uppers for less than $800, and all the assembly required is closing two pins. This would give you a wide range of uppers to choose from, like carbine or midlength gas system, 14.5" or 16" bbl, ultra lightweight, std or heavy bbl, etc. (I'm a fan of 16" lightweight middys myself). Pick the lower you want (currently from $159 shipped and up, I like their lowers w/the Magpul MOE grip/buttstock): http://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-15-05/lowers/complete-lowers.html?dir=asc&order=price And an upper for $239 plus shipping: http://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-16-5-56-nato-1-7-melonite-pencil-profile-freedom-upper-w-out-bcg-or-ch.html Throw in their Premium bcg & ch for $119: http://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-5-56-premium-hpt-mpi-full-auto-bolt-carrier-group-with-charging-handle-1.html For a total of appx $545 shipped for a decent AR (more if you wait for one of their Premium/CHF uppers to be back in stock again) that only needs a rear sight and/or optic to be fully functional (then add sling, light, better trigger, etc later on as funds allow). I've helped several friends put together PSA builds nearly identical to the components listed above and so far all have been 100% w/no complaints. HTH... Tomac |
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My suggestion for a off the rack rifle would be this
http://grabagun.com/spike-s-tactical-556nato-m4-le-16-carb-30rd.html It's close to your price range, in stock and Spikes has a great rep for quality. |
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Grab a smith Wesson mp15 or a colt 6920.
Or you can build. But I'd rather have a smith or a colt for my first AR than a built one. You can always build later and fine tune and get what you actually want and set it up perfect for you. If you did do the pin together and shoot, I'd get a BCM 16" upper and a spikes or stag lower. But now your over your budget. |
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Quoted:
My suggestion for a off the rack rifle would be this http://grabagun.com/spike-s-tactical-556nato-m4-le-16-carb-30rd.html It's close to your price range, in stock and Spikes has a great rep for quality. This or keep an eye out for a Colt 6920. Keep your first one simple, then progressively go crazy on the next few. It will not stop with 1 gun either!! |
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Quoted:
Grab a smith Wesson mp15 or a colt 6920. Or you can build. But I'd rather have a smith or a colt for my first AR than a built one. You can always build later and fine tune and get what you actually want and set it up perfect for you. If you did do the pin together and shoot, I'd get a BCM 16" upper and a spikes or stag lower. But now your over your budget. I second your advice....... |
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You obviously want a railed gun with offset buis for 3-gun, and everyone is recommending an FSB rifle.
Buy this $559: http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/receiver-parts/receivers/lower-receivers/oem-mid-length-16-rifle-prod81838.aspx?avs%7cManufacturer_1=AERO+PRECISION Add your own rail, furniture, accessories |
Gryphon, first let me say thank you for your service. Putting up with 20 years of Infantry service was probably a lot less fun than my 23 years of Air Force service. Which is saying something! 
Anyway, there are a lot of choices out there, and while you're familiar with the Colt label, it's kind of important to note that there are a huge number of other makers who produce quality guns. And there are a bunch that make poo on a stick and call their stuff "precision weapons for the special warrior" or other such bull. The first bit of advice I'd give is to ask here if "Brand ZYX" rifles are worth bothering with. And I'll save you some time: if it's labeled "Hesse" or "Vulcan" or "Blackthorne," smile nicely and RUN away! From all reports and from my personal inspection of some of them, these are essentially a commie plot to maim Godfearing American shooters poorly made and poorly finished products. In my personal opinion, they're crap, without the stick. 
For a basic rifle, it's hard to beat Colt - except when the vendor decides Colt guns need a premium price, of course. I'm not up on the model numbers, but there are a bunch with various features, and some of those models have features that fit what you want. As others have said, there are a bunch of very good choices. I've built a number of rifles, and I've bought complete uppers and lowers to make the configuration I wanted. Starting with a complete lower and buying an upper with features you like is easier than trying to find "the perfect" complete rifle, but it's also like having a 45 page menu; so many choices makes it harder to decide. My advice would be to start out with a basic complete lower like those sold by Palmetto State Armory. This one is a great choice, especially if you are thinking of this as a tool instead of a "work of art".  As long as you plan on shooting it, a "blem" lower isn't a problem. And saving $40 because it's not cosmetically perfect is a good deal.
Next, find an upper with the rail you want, or without a rail at all. This is a nice upper with a nice barrel and a serviceable handguard. No rail, but you can find the one you want later. The one thing on this upper I'm not keen on is the "Dragon's Head" brake/linear compensator, but you can change that for an A2 flash hider for $10 more... Don't let the enormous number of choices make you shy away from getting a separate upper and lower. Go with something simple for each, and then customize them later. |
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Quoted:
You obviously want a railed gun with offset buis for 3-gun, and everyone is recommending an FSB rifle. Buy this $559: http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/receiver-parts/receivers/lower-receivers/oem-mid-length-16-rifle-prod81838.aspx?avs%7cManufacturer_1=AERO+PRECISION Add your own rail, furniture, accessories Hell, I forgot about this one!!! |
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Looked at a Armalite M15 today, just something about it that didn't sit well. Also looked at an Adams Arms but it was a piston model. Found a 6920 with Magpul furniture but a) had the FSB and b) just felt clunky.
LGS is shipping a Colt CBA-16H in for me to look at. It seems to have most of what I am looking for and the pieces I want to replace are stock pieces anyway. We will see. I agree with the save money and get what you want, good news is, this will probably become the wife's rifle once I narrow down what I truely want and am in a position to build and resource the higher end parts. Keep the choices coming, still open for ideas. Thanks, Gryph |
| You can get a Colt OEM model that has a shaved front sight post, it's a bare bones rifle as in no stock no rail and I think no trigger guard. But other than that it's the same as every other 6920. You can easily get that rifle buy say a Troy rail because they use standard GI barrel nuts your UBR stock and be good. These Rifles since they're newer for Colt also should use standard size trigger pins so you can drop in whatever aftermarket trigger you want. |
Honest opinion here, I would build. You can get far superior parts for the $$ vs buying a complete rifle and getting scammed because of the panic going on right now. You say you wan't something FF, good for HD and maybe some 3 gun. Here is EXACTLY what I would build if I were in your shoes. (I'll provide links to give you good places to buy from  )
Lower Parts: $179 - PSA Blem MOE lower. It's just a lower, no need for anything fancy, I have the exact same one and it works great. Link Upper Parts: $200 Aero Precision M4E1 enhanced upper/handguard combo. 15" MLOK rail Link Here $260 Larue PredatAR 5.56 16" midlength barrel with m4 feedramp and gas tube (This is a screaming deal and you should buy a million of these barrels at this price  ) BUY THIS
$75 AIM BCG Link Here $11 Anderson Milspec Charging Handle Link Here $10 Radical Firearms Gas block Link here Total: $735 Hell, spend the leftovers to get a nicer BCG if you want. Not that the AIM is bad, but you could spend the extra on a BCM. I forgot a muzzle device, but just snag an A2 flashhider. You can find them for like $10 bucks on sale from Aero from time to time. Here's a picture of what it would look similar to. I don't have a Larue barrel on this one but it's the same lower/upper/handguard as what I linked. I just went with a ballistic advantage barrel which would save you about $160 but I think for the money you will enjoy the larue a lot more. 
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