Hey guys! This is going to be my first AR i have ever owned and would like some help from the more experienced crowd. I currently live by Westminster, CA, 92683 (commie state i know) and i am looking to get into the AR market. I am looking for a quality product i can grow into and modify/ upgrade as i go and i have a budget of around $750 give or take depending on the product. There are some pretty good deals at Turners Outdoorsman for S&W M&P 15s and also Del-ton dt sport rifles, however they both seem to lack at least some of the quality you would find on say a Colt Le6920. I would be very interested in building my own if i could, but i am not too familiar with the CA gun laws on doing so. Also, what would you expect on your AR in the long run?(IE 1/7 twist barrel, chrome lined bolt etc). Thanks for all the help folks!

Most people here will tell you to build your own as it can be much cheaper and obviously tailored to what you want. I'm not familiar with all the laws in California but others can help you with that. I will however say that I was steered away from the "budget" AR's like DPMS's $600 offerings, though I had the trade in to put towards my FN 15 which is a bit out of your budget. The guys could be wrong about DPMS but from what they were saying and explaining to me buying a higher entry or building your own were both good options. Just my opinions.

Welcome.

At that price point, you'll have to make some compromises, but not many. What are you looking for? A basic carbine, something for longer distance shooting?

You can get a Colt 6920 or 6720 for about 850 with a bullet button.  The extra hundred is in the noise compared to your annual ammo costs.  It never pays to try and save on the base rifle

I'm looking into plinking at the range and eventually further distances with my ar, say 300 yards or so eventually.  They have a Colt  CarA3 HBAR elite for $899 At turners which looks like a pretty good deal. Any thoughts on this Rifle?

Any idea where to pick up a colt 6920 for that price range?

does Walmart sell rifles in California?

No not in CA. My $.02, pick up a Colt, a Windham Weaponry, or the S&W. Pass up the deltons, bushmasters, ATI, Dpms, and the others. Ignore the sales people when they hand you one "better", their job anyways is to sell you something regardless. I would pass on the HBAR, a plain Jane 16" carbine is more than adequate for shooting paper and steel at 300 yards.

ETA: I'm just north of Ontario. My S&W sport is excellent, no issues in over 10k rounds. My buddy's delton has had a couple issues, and can't cycle steel ammo for shit, which imo is unacceptable in any AR. I don't own a colt, after I started building my own I refuse to buy complete rifles anymore, but never seen any problems with any in person. Just my sampling of 1 here

I was very much in your shoes a few years ago. Ended up going with the S&W MP-15 OR model. Since then I've customized it and have had no issues whatsoever with it. On top of that, when I asked a question about it in the SW forum on this website, they got back to me very fast.

Take a serious look at Stag, very good firearms. Go to the industry section and go to Legal Transfers the company
is a site sponsor + Pete is a great guy to deal with.

Thanks for the replies so far gents. After doing some research I have decided to up my budget to around 1100. And I am currently looking at some colt le6920mp and BCM rifles. I am also interested in building my own Ar, but I don't really know where to start with that in California. Also a quick question if anyone knows, is the colt HBAR lower compatible with upper receivers such as BCMs? I heard that some older colt models have larger pins on the lowers so they aren't always comparable.

Wait, when the hell did it become legal to buy Colt in California?  I thought Calguns said those lowers are banned by manufacturer name regardless of configuration.

These are the banned Colt models:

Colt
Law Enforcement (6920)
Match Target (all)
AR-15 (all) *
Sporter (all)


* Specifically named in the Robert-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 and required to be registered by March 31, 1992



Colt California Compliant Carbines  -
Model #'s:  LE6920CA; LE6920CMP-B; LE6920CMP-FDE; LE6940CA



The world renowned line of Colt rifles and carbines will now be available to residents of all 50 states. The premier model of this new family is the LE6940CA. This carbine offers a patented one-piece monolithic upper receiver that incorporates a continuous Mil-Spec M1913 Picatinny rail from the rear of the receiver to the folding front sight. This allows for endless mounting options for optics, lights or lasers. The 16.1” chrome lined barrel is completely full floating and produces exceptional accuracy thanks to this monolithic upper receiver. All models in this new family will come standard with nine round magazines and a factory installed Bullet Button®. Go ahead America, enjoy your Colt rifle!