So I am looking to buy an ar in the near future   I am on a budget of no more than $600. I have been prowling buds and found a few deals plus they have the 3 month or 6 month layaway which will help out a lot. So the 2 I am looking at are the Smith and Wesson m&p15 sport and also looking very hard at the Adams arms piston gas carbine model and both are right at $600. So I will not have the money right off so I will not be able to gather parts to build. So I will have to use their layaway since I just ordered another gun already. Any input would be awesome. Thanks. I do realize there is a big difference between the 2 guns but for for the $600 which would you choose and why

The M&P 15 is a solid rifle, can't go wrong with it.  You could also buy a PSA upper for <$300 and a complete lower for ~$150 or get a stripped lower and parts kit for a little less.  You can spread it out over 2 or 3 orders so you don't have to pay the full amount at once, but they don't have layaway.

That might be an option but I am kinda leaning towards just buying the complete gun besides the Adams does not come with sights or any mags. Which is not an issue anyways since in colorado I can't order anything over a 15 round mag anyways   it will be just for plinking and if someone decides to come into my house uninvited

I went with the sport as my first. It's a solid gun. Doesn't have any bells and whistles but if your looking to just get into the AR world it's a good choice.

I've shot about 1200 rounds through it with no issues to speak of. I changed out the hand guards right away though, the factory ones weren't cutting it for me.

Just buy a bunch next time you visit another state.

That is exactly what I planned on doing.

I was originally looking very hard at the sport for sure and then I came across that Adams arms deal. Seams like the parts are an upgrade with the piston carbine minus the sights of course. So overall quality is it that close to even or no

I have no experience with the AA. Would you prefer gas or piston? They will operate a bit differently.

so that's the issue with never even shooting an ar before I think there will be a learning curve either way   not 100% sure what the actual difference is besides the piston is cleaner

Just ran a random search and came across this.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_118/479365_Gas_VS__Piston.html

For what you're using it for the differences really won't weigh one way or the other, it will come down to personal preference.

As far as it being cleaner, it won't matter if you're anal (like me) about cleaning your rifle. You won't find mine running dirty, ever.

And by the way, welcome to the AR world. I hope you're ready to open your wallet, these rifles are more expensive than a woman

Thanks for the link there.  SSo that might clear things up a bit. So now I am leaning back towards the m&p.  So the only one that they have in my price range has the bullet button on it. How much of a pain in the butt is this really

Is the one you're looking at a California compliant one? No collapsible stock?

If you are hard set on one of those two, and do not want to wait to save a little more money to get a Colt, BCM, etc., I would go for the M&P15 Sport.

my bad so they have 2, one with the non collapsible stock for 590 and then the one for 617 that has the bullet button(California model) and it does have the collapsible stock

I would stick with DI ARs (so the M&P), but then again I like tinkering and prefer standardized systems. The DI AR is just more modular. No proprietary parts to worry about. if something breaks, you can just replace it easily with one from another company. You also don't have to worry if rails fit your piston system

I agree with the suggestion to do the "makeshift PSA payment plan". PSA uses FN barrels for their "Premium" line. You might as well get a foward assist, a dust cover, and a chrome lined, cold hammer forged barrel if you're going to spend that much on a rifle anyway.
Spikes, BCM, and many others use FN barrels in theirs too.
If you absolutely don't want to spend more, go PSA. I'd say the next step up that is truly worth the while to save the extra cash is probably BCM.

Buy a CHF upper reciever group from Palmetto.
I have seen em' go for $359 including a bolt carrier group
and a charging handle. PSA built lowers can be bought for
around $150-200. You should have just enough for a back up iron
site, especially if you catch a free shipping sale.
Good luck with the ultimate decision

M&p 15 sport ALL DAY

Ok, so I have the adams arms blem in middy. It's a great gun. Don't get it if it's your first AR. If you already have an AR, it's a great, great gun, and adds flavor to your collection. For the price you can't beat it. However, in a SHTF, you don't want to have proprietary parts. You wanna be able to grab your gun and go shoot with anyone on this forum, have a part break, and they probably have a spare.

The Smith is a great rifle. It has zero drawbacks and I would love to own one. I've shot a few and they are all flawless.

The new PSA variation guns are better though. IMHO, just better. If you can stand PSA's customer service and wait time, you are golden.

The new Freedom line in stainless is, by most accounts, running Wilson blanks for barrels. On the 4th I bought a whole gun plus optics and trigger for 600. I've shot it twice. It is as accurate as it gets. Even better, the Premium and CHF lines, both are available for that price with not only excellent barrels but also with MI or other excellent light free float handguards that cost you 200 bucks and a headache to install on a M4 type rifle. If you build at all, you can also pick up a much better trigger as your "stock" trigger. Like the ALG QMS with JP springs(use competition for reliability).

So, with PSA, you don't get a better barrel and probably a better trigger. Those are the two big parts. What you don't get is the smith name, but I believe PSA does have a solid warranty.

So you won't go wrong with any gun. The AA is running the best bang for the buck with its melonited barrel and high dollar BCG/piston system, but the problem is, it's a piston. I wouldn't recommend that for a first gun. The PSA Premium CHF with a SSG12, when available in the price range, is a hell of a great shooter, better than most big brands and very cheap.

The smith would be a workhorse.

On "holding value" one of the best guns out there, Colt, has always been touted as holding its value well. They are 850 new now. Mine didn't hold it well, since I paid 1400+. Anyway, I digress. You aren't gonna lose money on any of these guns, most likely, they will increase in value in a few years as the laws change, and if they change bigtime, any AR will be worth quite a bit. I don't think that should be a factor since it's unknowable.

Look on the piston forum for tons of reviews on the AA(including mine), and buds has a ton of glowing reviews for it as well.

tldr; If it's your first AR, go with the Smith. Adams Arms is a GREAT gun for the value, and probably dollar for dollar, a much higher value....it has a melonited barrel as well. However, everyone's first AR should be a DI standard SHTF M4 AR15, imho. Vanilla is a great flavor to start with.

wow. Well thanks for the help there. I started reading last night and finally finished your post this morning. Lol. Just playing thank you. So I am going to go with the Smith and if needed do a few upgrades later on.

Exactly this.  

No need to build if you don't want to OP.  Get yourself a premium mid-length complete upper and MOE complete lower.  You're in business.

M&P is great but I'd consider spending a little extra for the better bolt, forward assist and dust cover.

Why?

I am not sure on the bolt but from what I have searched the forward assist and dust cover are nothing that is missed. I could be wrong but if it is rarely even used in combat I would imagine me at the range would not be needed

I'm not really trying to be argumentative or a dick here but you truly do NOT need either of those options.  Stone didn't even want a FA on the rifle, and if your gun malfunctions at the range jamming the round into the chamber should not be on your list of things to do.  And the dust cover?  Really?  You gonna crawl through the dirt/swamp with your gun?

 

I prefer a FA and dustcover but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Get the S&W, stick to DI if you're only going to have one AR.

You can get a real nice AR for $600.

My setup: (most of these are just purchased, and not shipped yet)
Blemished PSA Premium Upper kit without BCG or CH - $240 (FN Barrel, 7075 Upper, F-marked FSB)
PSA Nickel Boron Bolt Carrier MPI/HPT Shot Peened Bolt - $120
PSA Premium Milspec Buffer Tube Kit - $50 (Comes with Milspec 7075 Tube, Spring, Buffer, and M4 Style Stock)
PSA Blem Lower - $50
Daniel Defense Lower Kit - $100 (Comes with Lower Parts Kit, Magpul MOE Trigger Guard, and A2 Grip)
--
$600. ($35 FFL Fee if you want to count that).

Of course I got some extra parts...
KAC Quad Rail - $115
Magpul MBUS Rear - $35
Magpul ASAP Plate - $28
Surefire G2X - $48
Daniel Defense Light Mount - $30
12x PMags - $100

So I think for a fully functional milspec-or-so gun + all those accessories for $1000 altogether, it's not a bad price. But for the baregun, it's only $600 or so, ($635 or $670 with FFL and MBUS Rear Sight) You can get a Spikes or different lower kit to save money though.

I'm glad you're happy with your purchase but that right there is more of a reason to get the m&p IMO.  It comes with the magpul rear sight, is not blemmed, and you can get it for ~580 in gun shops (at least around here and back in Ohio).

 

Well, I guess I paid little bit more the hard aesthetics... I did want a M4 Profile Barrel that's chrome-lined, the nickel boron BCG is cool (never had that before or even considered it but I thought what the heck). A lot of the processing, etc (which probably won't matter to 99% of people) like shot peened bolt, etc was interesting to me so I got it. Basically, I paid the extra labor and about $30-50 to get this gun. M&P Sport is $599 here, and after tax, it'll be $640. (or buy online + $35 FFL Transfer).

The blem on PSAs aren't that bad, all of my friends PSA blems have literally one mark that I would put on after a month of use.

I agree with that

 

You'll get a complete rifle warranty on the S&W.

I'll throw one build option in the mix, might be a tad over budget, but you can get a DD M4 for 389 free ship, sans handguard, from brownells right now. CHF barrel. DD stripped uppers

There's a coupon code floating around out there that will give you 7.5% off or the like, bringing the cost down. You can also get a BCM blemmed upper for 399 with one of their flash hiders(sorry no link), which you could sell for 80 bucks, bringing the cost down significantly.

I know because I ordered one of the DDs today. The DD upper plus an anderson stripped lower, and LPK from palmetto brings you a nice gun. USGI manf BCG with great specs. DD upper, anderson and palmetto lower(get the QMS ALG trigger kit), plus handguards brings the gun in at about $650. That would be a hell of a rifle for the price.

Does the S&W have the Melonite process done in the bore and chamber or just on the outside of the barrel?

OP here's your complete PSA lower for $160:

http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/1213/category/4282/

There'll be a complete PSA cold hammer forged midlength upper with BCG and CH that comes in stock for $350 - $400 at some point too.  If I see it I'll post it.

Slap em together you're all set.

Where in Colorado?

denver or lowry   I work in greenwood village

Okay so I ordered the smith and Wesson m&p ar15 sport and ended up getting it for $580 so not too shabby I think. Anyways now I need to get some 30 round mags and of course start looking at some other upgrades. There goes the wallet lol

I think you made a wise choice.

Thanks I think I did but I will know soon enough I suppose

I agree, The M&P is the better choice. DI is the way to go, opposed to piston for a first gun. Take your time upgrading it at your leisure, and as budget allows.

I picked up my M&P15 Sport a few oaths ago and have not had a problem with it yet... I've ran 1000rds through it via run and gun in the dusty desert and just normal plinking and guess what no problems... I have the "California" model but swapped out the bullet button for a RADDLOCK when I go out of state shooting....

All you see was purchased for less than $1,000...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/o-townFLA/AR15/5D3DE330-6245-44E5-A72B-F0E7CC96354D.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/o-townFLA/AR15/017D8C12-B9CC-47B0-8E78-209D68822C6C.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/o-townFLA/AR15/1F480377-A1D8-403E-88A9-B5342DF461DF.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/o-townFLA/AR15/40A19A22-6690-4642-84F9-C9877C239B56.jpg


Great for kids too...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/o-townFLA/AR15/A3469A74-3D9C-4AD1-91D1-ACA730AD483E.jpg

I just ordered all the parts to build a complete BCM uppered (bcg, barrel, etc) rifle on a PSA Lower with all Magpul furniture (ncluding buis) for $625 shipped.  Don't think you can beat that combo for the price.

very nice. I can see most of the part numbers   but what are all the accessories you put on it.

If you are going to upgrade the rifle why not just save a bit more and buy a rifle that has the features you wanted in the first place??

 

S&W MP15 Sport 2500+ rds, no jams and gone through hell in the woods and swamps of south GA. Replaced handgaurd, added foregrip, light and single point sling. This thing comes everywhere with me.

most likely I will not do anything to it. But just in case I was interested in what is available  but I am pretty darn stoked about the stock rifle either way

- Bushnell TRS-25 red dot w/ UTG .83 mid-riser
- Magpul FDE CTR stock
- Magpul FDE BUS
- Magpul FDE MS3 QD sling
- UTG FDE quad rail
- RADDLOCK mag release

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/o-townFLA/AR15/AD5EB55D-CE86-4036-9073-736B9DF15B09.jpg

I like it alot. I will get some rounds through it see where that leads I suppose. But I love the way your gun looks fo sho

After the last panic I wanted to buy a "cheap" AR to have around in case pricing went crazy again. Well, the m&p sport has been an awesome rifle, all around. Great fit/finish, extremely accurate, and 100% reliable will all ammo. If something happened today and I could only keep one AR it would probably be the sport.

Very nice to hear. Making me feel alot better about my decision. Which I was okay with anyways but still

Nice looking rig.