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Posted: 3/26/2017 7:34:50 PM EDT
Hello all, after buying some handguns for fun that turned into ccw and home defense, then buying a shotgun, it seems I have all but a rifle. I realize I don't need it, but my primary use for it would Ben fun/range and of course home defense.
I have read a ton about ar15s, and my budget for a fully assembled (not interested in building) Ar15 is around $1000-1500. With my research, I found colt, FN, Daniel defense, and Bravo to be the most appealing to me. I love the idea of the colt le6920 but have read that accessories and the carbine length gzas system is less than desirable and that DD would be better, but I don't see quite as many sold or reviewed. FNs rifles are somewhat new to the market but I love colt/FN for their military ties.. so my question would be: what is the "best" ar15 for my price range? |
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Rock River Arms, Danials D, Colt all good. If your just going to plink around with it you will do fine with a Ruger or a Smith and wesson for half the price. $6-700 for the gun and some good optics make alot of sense.
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Quoted:
Hello all, after buying some handguns for fun that turned into ccw and home defense, then buying a shotgun, it seems I have all but a rifle. I realize I don't need it, but my primary use for it would Ben fun/range and of course home defense. I have read a ton about ar15s, and my budget for a fully assembled (not interested in building) Ar15 is around $1000-1500. With my research, I found colt, FN, Daniel defense, and Bravo to be the most appealing to me. I love the idea of the colt le6920 but have read that accessories and the carbine length gzas system is less than desirable and that DD would be better, but I don't see quite as many sold or reviewed. FNs rifles are somewhat new to the market but I love colt/FN for their military ties.. so my question would be: what is the "best" ar15 for my price range? View Quote View Quote |
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Like the poster above , don't cheap out. Lots of inexpensive AR's out there right now but you get what you pay for. What you're looking to spend for is reliability and you can get that for about 750. If you're looking for MOA or less accuracy you'll need to spend more. You may want to look for some value in a complete lower and put your real money into a well built upper.
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I suggest a "Pin Together" project would be equivalent to a complete rifle with the quality where it needs to be.
Complete PSA lower with MagPul MOE furniture $149 shipped to your FFL + BCM Midlength Upper Receiver Groups $750-$1000 Depending on URG, you'll have $ left over for a good optic |
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Quoted: View Quote |
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For the brand names you posted, there is no "best", they are all very good rifles. Carbine gas is fine, there are million and millions of carbine AR's that run perfectly. In my opinion DD and Bravo are overpriced, Colt is almost overpriced, but Colt is still the standard everybody measures from. I would suggest getting a Colt (or FN), and spending the rest of the budget on some training.
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Don't get hung up on the gas system length, or split hairs when it comes to the big AR manufacturers. Colt, FN, Daniel, BCM, they are all going to be good options, and it's mostly going to come down to buying something with the rail config that you want.
Same goes for barrel material, BCG coating, etc.. You can over-analyze individual components to death, but any of those big names will be fine. |
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It doesn't matter too much what you buy.... you'll eventually catch the disease and own several.
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If your concern with Colt is adding accessories (vertical grip, light, etc.), take a look at the LE6920 SOCOM, SOCOM II, or the LE6940. The SOCOMs will likely be a bit over your price point, but you should be able to find a NIB 6940 between $1,300 and $1,500, and you'll have a Colt.
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http://www.colt.com/Catalog/Rifles/Colt-Combat-Unit-Carbine
https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/mp-15-moe-sl-mid-magpul-spec-series DD makes good rifles but overpriced IMO. Most factory rifles are. Don't discount "building" by buying complete upper and lower halves, there are a lot more options in upper halves than complete rifles. Question for the OP, "best" at what? Best at prairie dog hunting will be radically different from best at bayou wild boar hunting. Best at 300 yard benchrest will be different than best at SHTF/home defense rifle. |
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Some great comments here, I wish this site has up votes. I totally agree with nvcapcop which is becoming a pattern along with unpleasant and gamma.
All those choices have smaller deviance than choosing between a Ford or a Chevy, it's more the equivalent of already having chosen a car model and selecting the sub-model or options. For home defense and occasional use, all work. You probably won't fine tune what you want until after you buy it and find for instance you have lugging around a quad rail or like a particular sling attachment point better. Then as bubalus said, you'll want more. |
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Start with bcm. End with bcm. I love their stuff. View Quote |
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Find a lgs where you can handle and fire some different ARs.
That will decide for you. |
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Find a lgs where you can handle and fire some different ARs. That will decide for you. View Quote |
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Probably the worst advice. Gunshops are the worst places to go in uninformed and actually learn anything useful about firearms. Unless "hey I held an AR15!!1!" is the education you are looking for. View Quote Thought at one point I really wanted a Bushy ORC. Until I actually shot one of the turds. Same with the DB - 15. Research ahead of time is paramount, but hands on with that information is invaluable. I'm lucky enough to have a lgs that has a wide range of brands and an indoor range to try them out. Much better than buying based on half ass internet opinions. I will agree that most gun shops will not be the place to learn anything useful though. Way too many "experts". |
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Quoted:
Hello all, after buying some handguns for fun that turned into ccw and home defense, then buying a shotgun, it seems I have all but a rifle. I realize I don't need it, but my primary use for it would Ben fun/range and of course home defense. I have read a ton about ar15s, and my budget for a fully assembled (not interested in building) Ar15 is around $1000-1500. With my research, I found colt, FN, Daniel defense, and Bravo to be the most appealing to me. I love the idea of the colt le6920 but have read that accessories and the carbine length gzas system is less than desirable and that DD would be better, but I don't see quite as many sold or reviewed. FNs rifles are somewhat new to the market but I love colt/FN for their military ties.. so my question would be: what is the "best" ar15 for my price range? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Hello all, after buying some handguns for fun that turned into ccw and home defense, then buying a shotgun, it seems I have all but a rifle. I realize I don't need it, but my primary use for it would Ben fun/range and of course home defense. I have read a ton about ar15s, and my budget for a fully assembled (not interested in building) Ar15 is around $1000-1500. With my research, I found colt, FN, Daniel defense, and Bravo to be the most appealing to me. I love the idea of the colt le6920 but have read that accessories and the carbine length gzas system is less than desirable and that DD would be better, but I don't see quite as many sold or reviewed. FNs rifles are somewhat new to the market but I love colt/FN for their military ties.. so my question would be: what is the "best" ar15 for my price range? Quoted:
If your concern with Colt is adding accessories (vertical grip, light, etc.), take a look at the LE6920 SOCOM, SOCOM II, or the LE6940. The SOCOMs will likely be a bit over your price point, but you should be able to find a NIB 6940 between $1,300 and $1,500, and you'll have a Colt. Why is accessories such as hassle for the Colt LE6920? I am looking into purchasing one but this is the first I have heard of the accessory concerns. Are they hard to find? Are they over priced? Are their accessories all proprietary? |
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I suggest a "Pin Together" project would be equivalent to a complete rifle with the quality where it needs to be. Complete PSA lower with MagPul MOE furniture $149 shipped to your FFL + BCM Midlength Upper Receiver Groups $750-$1000 Depending on URG, you'll have $ left over for a good optic View Quote |
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I don't know why people justify an AR for home defense, it is my last choice. You'll own all rounds leaving your house and into your neighbor's. My HD is a bad dog and 13 little buddies in a Sig P224, love that little chubber.
Put some pattern controlling shells in your shotgun and consider yourself covered. I went through the same process, which AR? I hit all the gun stores, dry fired the snot out of them. I had a semi list of required features, not chrome lined barrel, decent trigger, longish barrel. Also I had to have held it and liked the ergonomics before I bought. That ruled out a lot of guns that are not normally stocked, like KAC and (surprisingly in my area) BCM. So look bro, I dropped my local Master Smith my Rem 700 .243, he sent that beauty back at 5.8 .lbs at only $2400. I have $3200 in my AR and counting, who cares I'm creating what I want. I didn't want to build a gun, yes it's more expensive, I'm happy with Mil Spec+ |
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Unless you have a brick house, any round that has adequate penetration for terminal effects will likely exit the house (if you miss), regardless of what caliber it is, even your suggested shotgun. A shotgun with buckshot will also be putting out numerous projectiles with each shot.
High velocity rounds like the 223 will generally fragment and present less of a hazard at a distance beyond such a barrier. The only safe backstop is your target. Use the firearm that you have the best chance of hitting the target with all rounds fired. |
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I'm not suggesting shotguns, but there are people who's nearest neighbors live miles away. No reason not to use a 458 socom or 556 or whatever else in that kind of situation. If you're in an urban apt, 556 prolly wouldn't be a good idea. I don't use a rifle for HD personally, I'm just saying that in some situations it would be a good choice with minimal downside.
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I don't know why people justify an AR for home defense, it is my last choice. You'll own all rounds leaving your house and into your neighbor's. My HD is a bad dog and 13 little buddies in a Sig P224, love that little chubber. Put some pattern controlling shells in your shotgun and consider yourself covered. View Quote |
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Ok back on topic.
I would go with BCM, or DD in your price range. |
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If you gotta go pre-built the colt combat unit with centurion rail and mid length barrel for 1100-1200 is pretty nice stuff.
You could do worse than something likeThis orThis, with a lower from same company. Would have $$ left for a quality red dot and light and sling. Barrels made by FN, milspec forged receivers and bcgs. They work. |
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Hello all, after buying some handguns for fun that turned into ccw and home defense, then buying a shotgun, it seems I have all but a rifle. I realize I don't need it, but my primary use for it would Ben fun/range and of course home defense. I have read a ton about ar15s, and my budget for a fully assembled (not interested in building) Ar15 is around $1000-1500. With my research, I found colt, FN, Daniel defense, and Bravo to be the most appealing to me. I love the idea of the colt le6920 but have read that accessories and the carbine length gzas system is less than desirable and that DD would be better, but I don't see quite as many sold or reviewed. FNs rifles are somewhat new to the market but I love colt/FN for their military ties.. so my question would be: what is the "best" ar15 for my price range? View Quote Buy any Colt. They are the best and most reliable AR rifles in the world. All others are just wannabes. |
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I am confused here. Why is accessories such as hassle for the Colt LE6920? I am looking into purchasing one but this is the first I have heard of the accessory concerns. Are they hard to find? Are they over priced? Are their accessories all proprietary? View Quote With the OEM models you add yhe.jandguard and buttstock. Typically this crowd changes them out from the stock parts, hence having extra parts lying around. |
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So look bro, I dropped my local Master Smith my Rem 700 .243, he sent that beauty back at 5.8 .lbs at only $2400. I have $3200 in my AR and counting, who cares I'm creating what I want. I didn't want to build a gun, yes it's more expensive, I'm happy with Mil Spec+ View Quote |
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Quoted:I have $3200 in my AR and counting, who cares I'm creating what I want. View Quote |
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DD is the best fit and finish if thats your thing. Colts are good and cheaper but quality control is bad. No experience with FN. I own 5 colts and 4 DDs if that helps.
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DD is going to win the beauty contest
Colt/FN is a true milspec rifle manufacture and hold their value when the grabbers threaten our 2A rights BCM is a solid assembler/company and builds great rifles from milspec parts. Which is best for a static range to show off to everyone DD. Which is the closest thing to a issued AR Colt or FN Which is best for quality for the money BCM Which would I grab if the sky was falling and all 4 where in front of me? What ever was loaded and closest to me because there isn't that big of a difference in quality in all of the companies listed. |
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The best deal for the money right now is the LWRC-DI for ~$1000 (OP's budget).
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Fuck Rock River Arm & Springfield. Get anything but those two corrupt political sellouts.
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Colt LE6920 OEM 2 for $660
Centurion CMR MLOK 13" for $170 Larue MBT FOR $99 Aimpoint PRO for around $430 Total: $1,359 (leaves you some money left over for grips, sling, mags, etc.) |
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Which adds up to almost the cost of the Colt Combat Unit Carbine. View Quote |
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Don't overlook the S&W M&P 15 MOE Mid Magpul. It retains the fixed front base for ruggedness. The barrel has a midlength gas port location, 4150 CMV and the very desirable 5r rifling. 1:8 twist. Nitride treated. Nice upgraded Magpul furniture. Easy to further upgrade. About $950 last time I checked. Superb customer service with local dealers everywhere
Add a drop in Daniel Defense Omega 9.0 drop in midlength free float rail. No need to remove anything except to snap out the handguard. Two piece Omega slips in between the delta ring and front cap. Yes, it is free float. |
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For that it better have some combination of night vision, silencer, and grenade launcher...because you can get a truly 'operator ready' life-depends-on-it AR without such things for half that. I'm firmly in the "run whatever ya want" camp...but when it comes to helping out people new to the platform, I'm not sure how much "just give your 'smith $3200 and call it good" helps. View Quote |
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Colt 6920 OEM-1/OEM-2. Add the furniture you desire (aka save $$ not buying what you will replace). Use extra $$ for your optic/sling/light.
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I just cannot believe you want to end the thread on that. Surely we should extol the virtues of PSA. And Condor while we're at it. Gee golly Gotu what on earth are you thinking?? Gosh Dangit!!!
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Hey - New to this fourm. Check this out:
https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/40019/Firearms/Rifles/Colt/Colt+Mfg+LE6920-R+LE6920+Trooper+Semi-Automatic+223+Remington%2F5.56+NATO+16.1+3 |
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/thread View Quote You can do tailor more things to your preferences and budget with a build, but you end up with an unsellable partsmaster in this market with no warranty. Colts retain value better than most, have a warranty, and OEM gets you in on a budget for to tailor the weapon to your needs. It's like taking many advantages of building without losing the advantages of buying a complete rifle. |
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