I'm in the market for an AR Pistol with it serving primarily for home defense. I've decided on 5.56 / .223 with a 10.3" to 11.5" barrel depending on what I can find around $600 to $800. So far I've been looking at Radical Firearms, Ruger, PSA and Andro Corp Industries. I have a Ruger 16" and it works fine but I've read that Ruger isn't compatible with common AR industry parts. I'm not a gunsmith so I honestly don't know. Radical Firearms and PSA have some solid reviews as well.

I'm satisfied with my PSA.  In the budget category, I don't think you can do better....

YMMV

Lon

Which Ruger do you have?  The mini-14 are compatible, but I’ve never heard that their AR platforms are not.

I have the AR-556 16" with M-LOK hand guard. It seems to shoot fine, only had a couple malfunctions in the first 100 rounds but fine since.

Bought a Combat Armory 7.5” kit several years ago.  Price was pretty cheap, like $299.

Already had a lower.  So, for the price, it was something to play around with.

Initially, had some cycling problems, so bought a Superlative Arms gas piston kit.  I’ve used piston kits for years without issue, but I don’t shoot millions of rounds a weekend.  Also put a Law folding kit it.

I probably could’ve fixed the problem with tweaking the gas port.  But, I like what a gas piston does for me, essentially the lack of carbon build up.  The thing I hate about the AR series is that it is inherently dirty.

Anyway, the SA kit fixed the problems.  I don’t care if the muzzle velocity drops a couple of hundred psi.  I don’t care if I hit someone with a tumbling round.  It works, and I carry it in the truck in a backpack.

I guess between the kit, the adjustable gas piston kit and the folder, I’ve got about a grand in it.

After all is said and done, it’s not the budget I started out building.

That's cool you're able to work on them like that. I don't have enough experience yet, nor do I have the tools needed. That is something I want to do at some point though because it would be a fun project. For now I need to go with something pre-built.

This is incorrect. Ruger AR's are compatible.

I've heard that Ruger is not mil spec, maybe its what he's talking about?

Three years ago, the PD I work for finally approved ARs for duty use. I used my Colt 16" for a while, then decided that I wanted something shorter. Our cruisers are Ford Interceptors (built on the Taurus) and the shotgun and rifle racks are mounted on the cage between the two front seats. As a result, when using a 16" carbine, the tip of the flash suppressor is only about 1/2" from the headliner, making it really hard to get out in a hurry. I lived with it for a year or so, just being overjoyed that we could now carry rifles.

A couple of years ago, I decided that it was time to do something about the issue. I wanted something really good, but was on a tight budget that wouldn't allow some of the higher quality manufacturers. I did some searching and found generally good reviews of PSA's kits, so I ordered a 10.5" nitrided barrel with front sight base pistol kit. Kit came with standard carbine handguards, A2 pistol grip and a Shockwave Blade brace. The kit was $299.99 on sale. I added an Anderson lower bought on sale at a local gun shop (Fin, Feather and Fur in Boardman, OH) for $39.99. Since the kit didn't come with a rear sight, I also bought a Magpul MBUS rear sight. Couldn't find one on sale, so I paid about $50.00. So far, the total cost was about $390.00. I also managed to find a FDE Primary Arms Advanced Red Dot sight on sale for $99.00, so I bought one of them, as well. Total now about $490.00.

After assembling the kit onto the lower and firing it for a bit, I splurged and ordered an SBA3 brace for the pistol. I managed to find it on sale for $109.00. Total cost was now about $599.00. The SBA3 is so much more comfortable than the Shockwave, however, that I'm glad I did it.

I managed to find a Magpul MS1 sling on sale somewhere, I can't even remember where or how much. It was about $20.00 or so. I already had some QD swivels and the other hardware.

After making sure it worked well and I qualified with it, I swapped the Magpul pistol grip and forearm from my Colt carbine onto this pistol, so no cost and much more comfortable to hold and shoot.

Here she is, in all her glory. About $600.00. I have about 1000 rds through it now. Quick and dirty, slow for precision, running and gunning a few times. Never any issues at all, even with some commercial reloads that choked some other rifles. Accuracy is better than my Colt at typical combat ranges, although I chalk that up to the red dot more than my abilities.




The only things I wish were different are the barrel and trigger assembly. I really wanted an 11.5" barrel for slightly better ballistics, but PSA only offered 10.5" in kits at the time. The trigger is pretty good and is smoother and more crisp than my Colt, but it is a little heavy. Not a real issue since it is so smooth and crisp and is, after, a mil-spec type of trigger, but lighter would be better.

Is it as good as some of the better quality guns? No, probably not. However, it has proven to be reliable and accurate and within my budget. As money allows, I plan on buying better quality parts and upgrading it a piece at a time. More expensive than buying quality the first time, but my budget wouldn't allow that. The upside is that this also allows reassembling the PSA parts onto another lower, so it would be available as a backup. I'm perfectly happy with it and it also serves as my "travel gun" (when the upper and lower are separated, it fits well into a gym bag with some spare mags and no ATF paperwork issues with taking it out of state) and as my primary home defense gun. I love it and wish I had done it before. While it is an example of one, based on my experience, I can recommend PSA for decent quality at a good price.

Ceratac .223 Wylde pistol kit for $340 in 2018. Super happy with this set up and all in all, I'm into this for about $700. I think it's completely possible to have a good, affordable build that's 100% reliable and functional, but not built up with nothing but high end products.

Blade Brace
Edgar Sherman sling
JE Machine Tech AR-15 Pistol Buffer Tube
Sprinco Orange buffer spring
UTG ACCU-SYNC Spring-Loaded Flip-Up Rear Sight
Leapers UTG AR15 Super Slim Fixed Low Profile Front Sight
SightMark Ultra Shot R-Spec
Ceratac complete upper assembly
Knock-off off B5 Handstop
PROTAC 2L-X 500 lumen
Palmetto State Lower
RTB Enhanced Nickel TEFLON™ Plated Trigger Assembly- you can flame me for this but it's really smooth, almost 0 discernable creep, crisp break each time, $49.99
UTG Ambidextrous Extended Magazine Release- again, flame me if you like as UTG is hated by many here, but mags drop free very time with ridiculously smooth and effortless actuatation.
Strike Ind. Bolt Catch
BCM Mod 3 Grip
***Sponge painted using Krylon

pametto was good until they became the gougers

Ruger AR's are conventional and parts compatible with a couple of exceptions, namely the front sight base/pin location and the delta ring assembly, assuming we are talking about a model that has those. Otherwise they're like any other AR. Non Mil Spec could just mean they used a different steel alloy for the bolt.

I believe that their warranty does not cover the use of aftermarket parts though, so that could be considered a compatibility issue by some.

In terms of quality & service I usually recommend PSA, but yea, lately their prices are up there. I can think of a few items that are listing for double what they used to be. Some of it is greed, but a lot of it is the difference between their sale prices & their MSRP.
Currently their prices aren’t what I’d call entry level. Still good quality, but not necessarily the best bang for the buck like they used to be. If you’re talking the same $$$ as a brand like Aero Precision, I’d opt for AP over PSA. The PSA uppers with FN barrels are great but no idea what money they go for nowadays.

Anderson, Radical Firearms & Bear Creek Arsenal are budget brands I can recommend, based on my 10” 5.56 Anderson upper & various Anderson lowers, my Radical Firearms 7.62x39 10” upper & my BCA 20” 6.5 Grendel upper.

My only reservation with RF is based on stories I’ve heard regarding their customer service, if there’s issues. Mine was bought not long after the stories about loose barrel extensions eventually died down, while prices were still cheap. That’s been years ago and the only thing I found wrong was the screws for the handguard loosened up after a year of use but a dab of Loctite fixed that.

My top choice for King of the Bottom is BCA. Cheap prices, great choices, and while their barrels can be hit or miss, they seem to stand behind them with good CS. I’ve heard rumors that Midway USA’s Stoner brand uppers are now made by BCA but that’s just a rumor. But I’ve seem some good sales on Stoners and overall reviews look good.

I bought the PSA nitrided pistol kit in Summer of 2019 for $259. Got the PSA lower for $49 I think. It has the Shockwave Blade, which I'm fine with and I put a Romeo 5 on it, I think another $149.  I did put a tango down grip and an MOE handguard on it that I had laying around. Not bad for about $450 - $500. Never had an issue and should have bout 2 more. Those were the days. That same kit is $600 today.

Wow, thanks for all of the feedback. I had to buy an optic too and PSA was a little out of my budget. I found a Radical Firearms 10.5" 5.56 on Primary Arms and went with that. I read some more recent reviews and Mr GunsNGear on YouTube seemed to think favorably of them, so I went with it. Unfortunately the site that I found the Ruger on was a scam site and all I could find in my price range was the Radical Firearms.

I understand having a budget but building a self defense weapon using the cheapest parts you can find, just makes me cringe a little.

I've heard that about RF, too but a while ago I had issues with my JPSCS because, unbeknownst to me, the buffer tube, inside, was short so, suffice it to say, the I think the JP rod ended up running into my BCG and I ended up with a cracked bolt. Yeah, it was a mess for a bit but it's all sorted now. Anyway, I emailed Radical, sent pics, and they got back to right away and had a free replacement on the way within a 2 days so I can't complain. Perhaps they've improved.

If the parts are made with the same or comparable metals and are within spec, what difference does it make?

Just finished adding a QD mount to my Shockwave Blade.

https://i.postimg.cc/T1jHDqtk/20210312-170506.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/nrMCs0Vx/20210312-170524.jpg

I have two PSA builds, one in .223 and a new one in .300 BO.  I haven't shot the .300 yet due to winter but will soon. Pic is of my .223.
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Budget and home defense don't belong in the same category. Especially if you don't know the build components. I'm confident Radical won't disclose that information.

I hope it runs well but wouldnt trust it (or any other for that matter) until I had a few hundred flawless rounds down range. I hope Radical is building better stuff these days.

PSA kits are GTG - $289 10" kit (pre-panic of 2020) and Anderson lower bought with Cabela's points.  Added a UTG fixed rear from EE for ~$20.

Its a good theory but that doesn't always play out in practice. Tolerances and things like that can get out of whack for various reasons. Budget companies probably rely on their CNCs to put out consistent parts, but they dont always do the QC on them to make sure because that costs more money to do. They may not check all the torque specs on everything, or even make sure everything is put together properly, who knows really. Companies like BCM, at least in theory again, check everything that goes out the door to be sure its in spec. That's the difference and that's why something like a BCM upper cost more than a BCA or PSA. Everyone is capable of putting out a bad part but its far less likely if you actually QC your stuff before it leaves the factory.

I just ordered the PSA 10.5" Battlelink pistol kit. It was $519. I know that is a lot, but they seem to be the only game in town with all the unrest going on.
I have their 7" Marauder and a 7.5" M Lok Flat top. I have no complaints.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kPWKnS]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51082028416_02e22c6060_z.jpg

Gougers you say? There prices have gone up because the parts they buy have gone up. They still have pretty good deals, but PSA just like all manufactures on the competitive end tend to fluctuate with the market prices of things.

If you're considering Andro you really can't go wrong.

Jason is a member here and will get you set up.

I really like my masdefense uppers.

Radical firearms doesn't always have a great reputation.

Most of their issues were with 7.62x39 AR's and soft flash hiders.

May want to keep an eye on the charging handle.