Take a look at DSA and their nitrided barrels. Very neat bit of tech there. Modest price and excellent fit, finish and function. I have two. They give 10% off to active and retired military if you call in your order. Call me a happy owner. In the interest of full disclosure, only my uppers are DSA. I consider the upper the important part of the platform. My lowers are a Charles Daley from before they went bankrupt and a Plum Crazy! Both function perfect.
Dressed it up in Magpul FG.
This 16" one has a regular 1-9 barrel twist. At the indoor Marine range I use I regularly hit fingernail sized targets at 25 yards with that red dot sight. Three shot cloverleafs more often than not. 1.5" groups of five shots at 100 yards when I do my part. Its been flawless for me. That is something I love about the AR is the laser like accuracy at close range.
I later picked up a 20" one with a 1-7 barrel for heavier ammo. Perfect function at 25 yards. Very soft shooter. But haven't had it out at 100 yards yet. I have a number of mags loaded up with different weights of ammo set aside just for that trip.
It's not as accurate at 25 yards as the 1-9 barrel. I'm told that is too short a range for the faster spin on the bullet to stabilize it. I really need to take it to a longer range to try it out.
ETA: I have had a number of the modestly priced AR platforms. Even my Olympic shot more accurately than my Colt did. The Colt was the only one I didn't care for. Scratchy trigger and not as accurate at 100 yards as the Oly, BM and DSA were. Thankfully they hold their value and I got my money back trading it. The funny part? The cheap Oly and PC lowers had the best triggers! Excellent crisp feel.
My own bottom line has been you can have a lot of fun with the middle level AR's.