User Panel
Posted: 7/13/2012 11:41:00 AM EDT
With a budget of $1,000 +/- $100 or so, what is the best overall purchase for an AR15? I'm talking accuracy, reliability, durability, and overall bulid quality/fit and finish. This will be a do it all AR which entails HD and plinking up to 200 yards. What AR15 is tried and trued to hand these tasks for around $1,000? I will be using iron sights for a few years and then upgrade to a nice optics set up down the road.
Currently, I'm thinking the Colt 6920 rifle is the go to. However, I am open to all suggestions. |
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I have a Colt LE6920 and couldn't be happier... Best choice for the money!!!
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Depends on the barrel you want. I'm running a Rainier Arms w/ DD CHF barrel that put me back $1100. You can also get a PSA CHF for that price.
Barring that, bravo company, spikes, lmt, etc and ammo is how I'd go |
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I'm a fan of BCM products and you can get into one their rifles for ~$1k.
You can also build your own, which is what I would recommend. It's cheaper to build yourself. You can buy higher quality parts this way. Just my .02... |
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I think your one the right track with the Colt. Colt. |
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I used a BCS upper (with a homebrew lower) for the same purpose (I wanted to go midlength, however) and it's been a gem in the same price range (pretty sure I was under $1000 all told, until I went full retard soon after).
The Colt is a fine choice as well. |
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Colts are good and if later you decide to sell you'll get most of your money back. It's hard to do with other ARs above $750. Also it's a Colt and most owners just tend to hang on to them. Of all the stuff that I owned, traded and sold; non of the Colts ever left.
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Another one for the Colt. Don't let the hammer forged crowd trick you. If your budget is around $1k, nothing is cooler than a rifle that is made by Colt Defense and says M4 CARBINE on it
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I just built my wife's for $618 total, mil spec, no crappy parts.
I went with a complete kit minus the lower receiver from Palmetto State Armory, though I think their sold out now. It was $530 shipped. I got a lower from spikes as a part of a group buy for $60 plus a few bucks of shipping. and then the FFL was like 20 bucks. If you followed that build, you'd be left with $400 for gadgets. Colts are very nice, but I'd take my build with a $150 Primary arms red dot, a dynacomp, and a light, leaving you still some cash for ammo. |
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I built mine for $1,063 including all shipping, tax, and background fee.
BCM 14.5" middy upper, MOE handguard, MVG ArmaLite lower, Palmetto MOE parts kit, BCM receiver extension assembly, freebie M4 stock from a buddy Daniel Defense A1.5 rear sight A budget of $1,000 is certainly doable, and as some said you can get a good quality rifle for substantially less and have more play money for ammo and mags, of which there is never enough. |
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I saw PSA Carbines on sale somewhere yesterday for @$650.
You can get one of those and an Aimpoint PRO and be set. |
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Might I be bold and suggest Bushmaster?
I have two main reasons, and I am being very open and honest right now. 1) I have never shot anything else so I have absolutely nothing else to compare it to, and therefore suggest. I have only "heard" things about other AR's, which brings me to my next point.. 2) I do not buy the whole "I heard" gossip that goes around about supposed bad quality control. I bought my Bushmaster about a year ago and have put a few hundred rounds through it, without incident. It fires every time I pull the trigger, if I do my part it hits what it's aiming at, never had it jam, never had a failure of any sort. I can get online and find all the hate/love comments I would ever need to, but I truly don't believe a product should be liked/disliked without real personal experience. My Bushmaster has been a great gun and I would rely on it for anything. The same thing has been said of many other AR's and I'm sure everyone has their own opinion. Just my .02 |
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for lower than $700 S&W or DPMS
for 700-800 Spikes or PSA for 1000-1200 build it yourself anything over that Larue. |
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Cannot go wrong with an Armalite. I bought a 20" A2 for my 1st AR and it was $850. Buy yourself 500 rounds to go with it for your $1,000
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I would go with the Colt or BCM to add my vote. I would stay away from Bushmaster and at the risk of sounding rude - A couple hundred rounds in a year is not even using an AR. Certainly it is not enough to be confident that there are no problems with your rifle and that all the gossip about Bushmaster is just internet waffle. I have seen bushmaster issues first hand on buddies rifles, like bolt failures barely 1000 rounds into the life of the rifle, failing go-no go tests out of the box and being unable to group 5 inches at 100 with decent ammo out of the box. So while I don't buy into everything I read online, I do think the odds favor getting a Colt, who also have excellent customer support, over a Bushmaster.
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Might I be bold and suggest Bushmaster? I have two main reasons, and I am being very open and honest right now. 1) I have never shot anything else so I have absolutely nothing else to compare it to, and therefore suggest. I have only "heard" things about other AR's, which brings me to my next point.. 2) I do not buy the whole "I heard" gossip that goes around about supposed bad quality control. I bought my Bushmaster about a year ago and have put a few hundred rounds through it, without incident. It fires every time I pull the trigger, if I do my part it hits what it's aiming at, never had it jam, never had a failure of any sort. I can get online and find all the hate/love comments I would ever need to, but I truly don't believe a product should be liked/disliked without real personal experience. My Bushmaster has been a great gun and I would rely on it for anything. The same thing has been said of many other AR's and I'm sure everyone has their own opinion. Just my .02 A few hundred rounds is not indicative of quality......at all. Quality starts coming into play when you start ACTUALLY using it, as in firing those few hundred rounds in one range trip, and then doing that once or twice a week. On top of that he relayed he has plans for HD as well as plinking. It is well known and documented that they don't use the same quality of materials for manufacturing and don't use the same amount of QC that other manufacturers use. If it is something I may have to depend on to save my life, I want every measure of high quality and QC that can be provided. Any less would be insane, especially when you can buy something of a lot higher quality for about the same price |
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With a budget of $1,000 +/- $100 or so, what is the best overall purchase for an AR15? I'm talking accuracy, reliability, durability, and overall bulid quality/fit and finish. This will be a do it all AR which entails HD and plinking up to 200 yards. What AR15 is tried and trued to hand these tasks for around $1,000? I will be using iron sights for a few years and then upgrade to a nice optics set up down the road. Currently, I'm thinking the Colt 6920 rifle is the go to. However, I am open to all suggestions. Colt !! tried and trued since the 60/s !! that's why you see so many copies today. and is right around 1000 !! go with your instinct, search is over !! show us pix !! |
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With a budget of $1,000 +/- $100 or so, what is the best overall purchase for an AR15? I'm talking accuracy, reliability, durability, and overall bulid quality/fit and finish. This will be a do it all AR which entails HD and plinking up to 200 yards. What AR15 is tried and trued to hand these tasks for around $1,000? I will be using iron sights for a few years and then upgrade to a nice optics set up down the road. Currently, I'm thinking the Colt 6920 rifle is the go to. However, I am open to all suggestions. It really depends. Over the years, I have purchased many AR-15s, but recently reduced my collection and currently own only several....BCM, Colt, BM, Del-ton, Daniel Defense, Noveske and a few rifles from lesser-known builders. None of these manufacturers' weapons can be guaranteed to function 100% reliably in a home defense situation, because any weapon can fail at any time. I won't mention specific manufacturers, but I have on several occasions spent much more than I should have on a weapon that completely failed to pass even basic function checks..I did have to return these for warranty replacements..And some of these were purchased from very well-known companies. On the other hand, I have bought cheap uppers that I have put over 5000 rounds through without a single issue. For example, I have an $800 BCM upper that is absolutely outstanding, but I also have a $375 JSE Surplus upper that works equally as well, is just as reliable and groups the same. Nowadays, I just buy all the components I need and build it myself. This saves lots of money and allows you to have the rifle you really want.. |
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I paid 890 bucks for my brand new CMMG 9mm AR. Then 400 for an Aimpoint PRO. Damn good gun.
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FIFY
for lower than $700 S&W or DPMS for 700-800 Spikes or PSA for 1000-1200 build it yourself anything over that Larue or Noveske. pretty much on the money |
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I'd assemble my own.
You can handpick parts so it's exactly what you want and hunt around for great deals and get a really really nice rifle for the money you'd spend on a decent complete rifle |
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i paid $940 out the door for my RRA 16" carbine it had a nice carry handle. the RRA 2 stage trigger. anytime you can get that under a grand i consider that good.
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Having owned a few AR15's now and pieced them all together I would say buy a whole rifle and spend the extra money on quality. Colt, BCM, Stag are all fine choices, if you want a midlength gas system BCM has a few to choose from. If you want a standard Carbine get the Colt, resale will be higher if you want to get rid of it later and its a Colt. I dont own a Colt... yet.
Invest in quality magazines, a sling and some ammo and worry about all the fancy dodads later. |
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God almighty those new Colt stocks are hideous. Yeah, it looks like they commissioned Tapco to make a CTR knock off. I would build one myself. You can put together a top quality weapon to your specs for that price range. Colt is good but I have zero interest in a 16" carbine gas M4 profile barrel. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Check out Core 15. Very well made at a MSRP of $899 for the base DGI model and about $1100 for the piston version. I picked one up, DGI model, about 6 weeks ago and have about 900 rounds through it with zero issues. I compared it to equivalent Colt, S&W and a few other brands and chose it first for quality, second for price. The company is very helpful and willing to answer any questions that you may have. Core 15 is another option to consider. Good luck.
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I paid $890 for a Sig M400 at wal mart, of all places, I about fell over whe I saw ARs on the shelf...
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I just cant jump on the colt bandwagon. My entire adult life has been spent repairing military M16 variants of all shapes and sizes and I have seen way more broken Colt products than we ever saw when FN was making the A2.
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I have a Colt LE6920 and couldn't be happier... Best choice for the money!!! +1 as much as I hate to say it Colt will be the best rifle you can buy at that price range |
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I just cant jump on the colt bandwagon. My entire adult life has been spent repairing military M16 variants of all shapes and sizes and I have seen way more broken Colt products than we ever saw when FN was making the A2. this is too funny, are there more than one specs for military A2? The fact is FN is required by contract to use Colt's TDP. So technically it’s a Colt with FN name on lt. |
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If you can find a Colt within your budget I'd say grab it. Where I am the Colts are going for 1299.
So I bought the Sig Sauer M400 instead. |
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I went with Colt, but that new Troy a couple of threads up looks impressive for that price range - the Colt will cost a lot more in the end if you end up adding on a lot of what the Troy comes with.
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you dont need to spend 1,000 dollars you can do just as good for less I have 1,100 in mine and that includes a match barrel rails optics and mags...
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ABC, Anything But Colt
Seriously, for $1,000 plus a possible $100 more, I'd be looking at a PSA kit for around $650, a quality lower for around $75, and the balance toward an Aimpoint Pro. The 6920 is a fine rifle, but I think you can get as much in terms of quality for less money. YMMV. Here toy go! |
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If you want a factory rifle safe a few more dollars up and buy a Larue Predator. Very nice rifle for the money.
Colt is a good gun and has good resale, but most people want to deck there rifles out with fancy parts. The Colt is a good choice if you don't want to change anything on the gun. Normally I just build my own, then I can pick my own parts so I know exactly what is being used and get the features I want. My AR's normally focus more on a niche than a do it all gun.
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