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Posted: 7/24/2021 5:44:22 PM EDT
[#1]
Kinda relative on what you consider mid tier. There isn't a huge difference in price between mid tier and top tier.
You can get a BCM for under a grand but you can get a DD for 1200 if you catch one on sale. I'd just save a bit more and get a DD or LaRue, or the like. Depends on what barrel tech you are looking for. |
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Posted: 7/24/2021 5:51:41 PM EDT
[#2]
Entry-level BCM is sort of my personal benchmark for "mid-range" but the line gets really blurry at/past the $1000-mark. DD and Larue can be had in that range too.
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Posted: 7/24/2021 7:31:55 PM EDT
[#3]
Right now, the ones that are on my radar are:
FN 15 SRP G2 for around $1200 Springfield Saint Victor B5 for around $900 IWI Zion for about $750 Springfield Saint Edge for around $1050 |
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Posted: 7/24/2021 7:47:19 PM EDT
[#4]
Daniel Defense DDM4
And yes as a base rifle, is a pretty well categorized middle road factory rifle with an awesome barrel. Smooth rifling and lining, cold hammer forged. |
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Posted: 7/24/2021 7:48:07 PM EDT
[#5]
I've been pleased with my IWI Zion.
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Posted: 7/24/2021 8:15:21 PM EDT
[#6]
This coupled with a $200 Aero complete lower: https://www.larue.com/products/larue-ultimate-ar-15-upper/
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Posted: 7/24/2021 9:48:49 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Daniel Defense DDM4 And yes as a base rifle, is a pretty well categorized middle road factory rifle with an awesome barrel. Smooth rifling and lining, cold hammer forged. Those DDM4 rifles are getting up around the $1500 and I was hoping the "middle of the road" was a little less expensive. Maybe I'm wrong. |
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Posted: 7/24/2021 10:01:03 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Those DDM4 rifles are getting up around the $1500 and I was hoping the "middle of the road" was a little less expensive. Maybe I'm wrong. Pre panic Tombstone Tactical had them for 1200 constantly. Either be patient or accept a lesser rifle I guess? |
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Posted: 7/24/2021 10:35:10 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Pre panic Tombstone Tactical had them for 1200 constantly. Either be patient or accept a lesser rifle I guess? I also think the stock looks goofy on the DD. I’m kind of partial to the BCM sopmod style. |
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Posted: 7/24/2021 10:54:36 PM EDT
[#10]
I think the IWI, Springfield and Savage factory rifles are all decent options for their price point.
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Posted: 7/24/2021 11:25:37 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I also think the stock looks goofy on the DD. I’m kind of partial to the BCM sopmod style. If only the AR could be modified to swap those out. Looks are always subjective. If you feel good about dropping a grand on a BCM then do it. As someone mentioned you could also do a LaRue Upper on a cheap lower and actually end up with an amazing rifle for cheap. That's certainly a great way to go. |
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Posted: 7/25/2021 8:58:07 AM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: If only the AR could be modified to swap those out. Looks are always subjective. If you feel good about dropping a grand on a BCM then do it. As someone mentioned you could also do a LaRue Upper on a cheap lower and actually end up with an amazing rifle for cheap. That's certainly a great way to go. I know the stock can be swapped out. My point was that at around $1500 already, that's just additional cost on top of a price that's already really outside my budget. I will start looking at the BCM options too. |
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Posted: 7/25/2021 9:07:33 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'd just save a bit more and get a DD or LaRue, or the like. Depends on what barrel tech you are looking for. Before the Great Panic of 2020, Larue's UU was a pretty good deal at $792. These days, it's a very good deal, if they ever work through their backlog of $699 uppers and start taking orders for UUs again. I bought mine when PSA and Poverty Pony stripped lowers were $100+, so it wasn't painful to tell Larue to add a $200 billet lower to my UU kit for a $1000 rifle. |
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Posted: 7/25/2021 9:40:19 AM EDT
[#14]
I have not bought a factory assembled rifle in almost 20 years. The only exception was an ArmaLite AR-10 and a ban era Bushmaster patrolman. I like home builds because I can put exactly what I want on the rifle, nothing more and nothing less. None of my builds have given me any trouble, are 100% reliable and very accurate.
However, I do plan on buying and LWRC DI rifle just for the simple fact that it has a spiral fluted barrel and an ambidextrous bolt catch. That may not be considered a mid-range rifle, but it's what I consider the limit as to what I will lay my cash down for. |
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Posted: 7/25/2021 12:13:20 PM EDT
[#15]
What if I set the budget parameters of say $800 to $1100 for the rifle? That would still leave enough money left to outfit the gun the rest of the way. Maybe I should have used the budget instead of saying "mid-range" because maybe my idea of that is different from other people's idea.
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Posted: 7/25/2021 9:10:21 PM EDT
[#16]
Right now, the absolute....IMO....is the upper Larue is offering now for $699, get the Larue stripped lower for $199, add in the LPK, stock and trigger and you will have an outstanding rifle.
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Posted: 7/25/2021 9:30:11 PM EDT
[#17]
Sadly Colt has fallen off in quality substantially, otherwise that would've been my recommendation. I know it's been mentioned, but honestly the upper is the part that would benefit most from being "factory assembled."
I recommend you take a look at getting an Aero lower and finding the upper you like the most. Bonus: you can put whatever buttstock you like on it. BCM is solid, so is DD, and Larue is GTG. I'll add an oddball to the pile and say that I've used a couple of Palmetto's "premium CHF" uppers and they run just fine. If you really want a factory gun I would look at the Zion, if you don't like that my next stop personally would be a BCM. |
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Posted: 7/25/2021 10:07:31 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Sadly Colt has fallen off in quality substantially, otherwise that would've been my recommendation. I know it's been mentioned, but honestly the upper is the part that would benefit most from being "factory assembled." I recommend you take a look at getting an Aero lower and finding the upper you like the most. Bonus: you can put whatever buttstock you like on it. BCM is solid, so is DD, and Larue is GTG. I'll add an oddball to the pile and say that I've used a couple of Palmetto's "premium CHF" uppers and they run just fine. If you really want a factory gun I would look at the Zion, if you don't like that my next stop personally would be a BCM. That IWI Zion is definitely a contender just because the price is hard to ignore. Seems like a lot of gun for the money. In the sub-$1000 world, I'm between the IWI Zion and the Saint Victor B5. The Saint Victor is $150 more than the Zion, comes with flip up sights, looks like has a more "modern" looking handguard, and a comp/brake instead of an A2. Just not sure if it's worth the extra $150 though. I need to keep my eye out for a Zion because I'd like to feel that handguard. If the Saint Victor handguard feels better, then that's worth the $150 difference alone. In the above-$1000 world, the Larue seems like a good option. Trying to determine the twist rate on the $699 Larue upper though. |
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Posted: 7/26/2021 12:15:43 AM EDT
[#19]
I'm on the "Build it how you want it" wagon.
Buy a matched receiver set, your choice. (Then it's not a Frankenbuild!) For that jump from Anderson/PSA my "Mid-range" choice always seems to be Aero. Flawless fit/finish. You can get them in standard Milspec or their proprietary looking style (M4E1 uppers and lowers). I have both. They're around $250 for a set. If you want to go up a tic to really impress the range monkeys, I also like Spikes, BCM; doesn't really matter. Find the coolest roll mark.  Then get a Daniel Defense barrel. They're the best "Rack Grade" barrels money can buy, IMO. Then build it out from there. Sounds like you already built a few so you're way ahead of the game. If you must buy a complete "Higher" Tier gun, then I give another vote for the DD but you're going to pay more. I love all my Larue accessories but I'm not a fan of their UU design; specifically their proprietary upper-rail interface. |
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Posted: 7/26/2021 9:49:06 AM EDT
[#20]
I'd say buy what rollmark you like OP. Virtually everything out there nowadays is a great mid-tier functional rifle, unless you want a CHF barrel, then you're looking at more of an upper-tier built rifle.
Spikes, DD, CMMG, Aero, Larue, Rainier, Springfield, RRA, S&W, PSA, Colt, Yankee Hill and BCM all have some great shooting rifles using some very good to great parts. Hell, even some good used factory Bushmaster(not Carbon15 model) and DPMS M4's are still out there and are good mid-tier. Remember while DPMS isn't on many people's mind, DPMS was a true manufacturer and other AR manufacturer's and assemblers bought and used their mil-spec parts until DPMS went out of business after moving to Texas, along with Bushmaster into the same building. If one can find all the parts wanted and have the tools, one can even build a great upper-tier(ish) rifle at probably 1/3 the factory price, even though it didn't come directly from factory. |
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