Where to start under $1000 - Page 1

AR-15 » AR Basics

AR Sponsor:

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Where to start under $1000

Posted: 1/16/2021 9:12:38 PM EDT

I want to get a good basic AR15 with optics for less than $1000. Is that still possible?

I have a 10/22 with a PA Microdot and a scoped Savage Axis but no AR15. Always planned to eventually but I graduated two years ago and money is still tight. I thought prices would get reasonable after Trump was reelected and a COVID vaccine was developed. Silly me. Recent events, well you get the picture.

I'm sure this topic is done to death but the gun market is different than a month ago, much less a year ago.

BB

Posted: 1/16/2021 9:15:26 PM EDT

[#1]

PSA kit...

Posted: 1/16/2021 9:20:52 PM EDT

[#2]

Quote History

Quoted:
PSA kit...

View Quote

Thank you for the PSA. Do you mean buy a complete lower and complete upper and pin them together or a real kit?

I wasn't planning on my first AR15 being a project gun but maybe that's the reality of the market now in my price range.

Following the links in some other threads gets me to a lot of out of stock items.

BB

Posted: 1/16/2021 9:29:41 PM EDT

[#3]

Quote History

Quoted:

Thank you for the PSA. Do you mean buy a complete lower and complete upper and pin them together or a real kit?

I wasn't planning on my first AR15 being a project gun but maybe that's the reality of the market now in my price range.

Following the links in some other threads gets me to a lot of out of stock items.

BB

View Quote

Click here

@bees

Posted: 1/16/2021 9:33:15 PM EDT

[#4]

Quote History

Quoted:

Click here

@bees

View Quote

Thank you. It looks like there are some in stock options if I'm willing to do a project gun. I'm not sure I'm ready to jump in the deep end right away but it's good to know what's out there.

BB

Posted: 1/16/2021 10:48:27 PM EDT

[#5]

It's a horrible time to build an AR, but it can be done. There's nothing big about putting together a lower (or upper). If you can tie your shoes all by yourself you're fine. If you can get an upper do it now. Any questions with putting your lower together can be answered here or youtube. Either way, simple

Posted: 1/16/2021 11:02:17 PM EDT

[#6]

I bought a S&W 15 Sport II for 750.00. The 250.00 saved you can upgrade with a SPS, attachment and

fore-grip. Just sayin. Then you can start buying high priced ammo.

Only have 100rds out of mine and shoots just fine. Still looking for the

best ammo. The barrel is 1:9 twist but have read that some Sports shoot

the higher grain bullets well.

Posted: 1/17/2021 2:38:06 AM EDT

[#7]

Still some stuff here for under $1K. I've bought a lot from them in the past, and they're good to deal with.

https://www.cdnnsports.com/firearms/semi-auto-rifles.html

Posted: 1/17/2021 2:06:23 PM EDT

[#8]

I don't know anything about the seller, but be careful. There are others listed on GB.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/889782620

Put an optic on it and YGTG

Posted: 1/17/2021 8:47:43 PM EDT

[#9]

Already said, bad time to build an AR. A year ago it was peak awesomeness.

Posted: 1/17/2021 9:22:31 PM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:
Still some stuff here for under $1K. I've bought a lot from them in the past, and they're good to deal with.

https://www.cdnnsports.com/firearms/semi-auto-rifles.html

View Quote

I haven’t checked their stock but I have a bushmaster 16” carbine from there. It’s been problem free. I’m sure pricing has increased since I bought that one though.

Posted: 1/20/2021 8:40:42 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:
Already said, bad time to build an AR. A year ago it was peak awesomeness.

View Quote

What about next year?

BB

Posted: 1/20/2021 9:48:51 PM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:

What about next year?

BB

View Quote

I'm not hopeful.

Posted: 1/23/2021 5:31:26 PM EDT

[#13]

I would look for a used gun. Aero, S&W, Ruger, Stag Arms all good brands that can still be had for under 1k. I just let a new factory Aero 11.5 go for for under 1k and a new stag carbine go for $800. Both were listed on the EE for a bit. Good deals are still out there you just need to keep your eyes open. As for an optic, I'd look for a used PA or Holosun. Both should hold up fine for range/class usage.

Posted: 1/23/2021 5:38:34 PM EDT

[#14]

CDNN has a bunch in that ball park. Just got an email from them.

Posted: 1/23/2021 8:27:50 PM EDT

[#15]

If you can find a PD trade in Bushmaster (from Windham) for around $650, I’d FO hard. Still leaves plenty of meat on the bone for a decent budget optic. Even now, they pop up here and there but they go quick.

Posted: 1/23/2021 9:57:41 PM EDT

[#16]

I have several friends that have complete PSA rifles. I have shot some of them and they aren't bad. You will never win any cool guy points if that is important to you but they are a solid basic gun that you probably won't think twice about scratching.

Posted: 2/21/2021 12:49:03 AM EDT

[#17]

Just bit over $1k

Upper: $891
https://www.larue.com/products/larue-ultimate-ar-15-upper-kit/

Lower: $199
https://www.larue.com/products/larue-billet-lowers/

Posted: 2/21/2021 6:47:48 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:

What about next year?

BB

View Quote

Eight ball says...

Posted: 2/21/2021 9:39:56 PM EDT

[#19]

if you can find an m&p get it over psa trash

Posted: 3/3/2021 8:15:26 PM EDT

[#20]

Quote History

Quoted:
Just bit over $1k

Upper: $891
https://www.larue.com/products/larue-ultimate-ar-15-upper-kit/

Lower: $199
https://www.larue.com/products/larue-billet-lowers/

View Quote

This is the right and best answer. I have a rifle going this route and it super awesome.

Posted: 3/4/2021 1:10:44 PM EDT

[#21]

Quote History

Quoted:
Just bit over $1k

Upper: $891
https://www.larue.com/products/larue-ultimate-ar-15-upper-kit/

Lower: $199
https://www.larue.com/products/larue-billet-lowers/

View Quote

Maybe not the best bet for a first AR, since the UU kits are running a 3-6 months lead time. I just got mine after 3 months, and it's an awesome kit for the money, but I had other ARs to fill the gap while waiting.

OP, assembling a lower is easy if you have any basic tool skills, and only requires a few special punches and such. Assembling an upper is a lot trickier and requires more tools.

All my ARs were home-built lowers and pre-assembled uppers. I'm getting into things like barrel swaps now and FF handguards now - buying the tools and building the experience - but I've been a tool user my whole life. Even so, I've managed to break a few things.

Also, buying used can be tricky, as you're sometimes getting other people's problems. I've had that happen multiple times on a variety of guns. Good for building experience, not so great for a first AR.

My recommendation is to either buy a new rifle from someone reputable who will support any problems, or buy a new upper and build a lower if you're comfortable with that. If your budget allows, go ahead and put a LaRue UU on order, as few people stop at one AR.

Posted: 3/14/2021 2:23:36 PM EDT

[#22]

1st get a properly functioning time machine.

Posted: 3/14/2021 7:17:34 PM EDT

[#23]

Quote History

Quoted:
if you can find an m&p get it over psa trash

View Quote

All my ARs are PSA and I assure you they are not trash. FN barreled PSA uppers with PSA complete lower. Never a problem. I hate people who have no idea what they are saying !

Posted: 3/14/2021 8:33:36 PM EDT

[#24]

PSA just had the IWI Zion-15 as one of their daily deals for $999. It's sold out now, but that's a lot of AR for that type of money nowadays. I'd keep an eye out for that.

Posted: 3/15/2021 7:49:17 PM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:
PSA just had the IWI Zion-15 as one of their daily deals for $999. It's sold out now, but that's a lot of AR for that type of money nowadays. I'd keep an eye out for that.

View Quote

I have seen the Zion-15 go for $899 on Gun Broker, which I believe was retail before prices went off the charts.

Posted: 3/18/2021 2:03:49 PM EDT

[#26]

I just built a sub $800 AR that shoots real nice, got a:

Aero 16" MOE middy FSB Upper ($340)
Aimsurplus BCG ($130)
Anderson Lower ($60)
Larue Trigger ($100)
Larue RAT Stock and Grip (had this lying around but ballpark $60)
Misc Lower Parts and CH (had these lying round but ballpark $70)
Magpul rear sight ($30)

The aero is built with a BA barrel, this will probably outperform the PSA kit.

Edit: That'll leave you $200 for an optic, I saw Sig Romeo5's go for about $130-150?

Posted: 3/20/2021 10:09:34 AM EDT

[#27]

i'm totally new to ARs and looking to buy complete one. Putting together complete lower and upper is pretty much my comfort limit at this point.

Have some experience with handguns but almost none with rifles.

Any suggestions aside from those already given above? thx

Posted: 3/21/2021 7:49:37 PM EDT

[#28]

I'll always recommend going with a pre-assembled "complete" upper. That means upper receiver, barrel, handguard already assembled. Upper+barrel requires vice, torque wrench, some misc tools to do correct.

Lower is like Legos, super easy just follow instructions. I got a clevis pin for the detent from home depot, only tool I needed.

Ballistic advantage or aero complete upper are an ideal bang for buck, pop in and out of stock multiple websites often
Larue uuk if you can wait

Larue trigger is hands down best sub $100 trigger (2 states) but alg (single stage) can sometimes be found for $60 which isn't bad either

Posted: 3/22/2021 12:54:13 AM EDT

[#29]

Im new here, but wanted to chime in as well. It definitely is possible with a little shopping around. I picked up an Anderson stripper lower and upper(included dust cover and fa plunger) this past week for $180...it was the best deal I could find. Over the weekend I ordered the rest. Everything except the BCG, from AR15discounts which came to just over 300 bucks then ordered an Angstadt Arms BCG directly from the mfg for 140 bucks. My local shop had a good deal on Sig Sauer Romeo5 RD which only set me back 120 bucks.
All in all I have just under 800 in this build and I probably could have done it for 100-150 less if I really went cheap on certain parts.

Posted: 3/22/2021 1:01:33 AM EDT

[#30]

Quote History

Quoted:
I'll always recommend going with a pre-assembled "complete" upper. That means upper receiver, barrel, handguard already assembled. Upper+barrel requires vice, torque wrench, some misc tools to do correct.

View Quote

I had wanted to go that route while sticking to a tight budget, but it came down to buying the upper parts individually saved me $200 vs buying built. I don’t have the torque wrench or upper vice block on hand but a local gun shop will torque it on for for just a few bucks.

Posted: 3/28/2021 9:30:19 PM EDT

[#31]

Do not buy anything other than the larue gun/kit. They are usually a decent option in normal times. Given that these are abnormal times, that is the best option when it comes to quality/reliability.

Posted: 3/29/2021 9:49:49 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
I want to get a good basic AR15 with optics for less than $1000. Is that still possible?

I have a 10/22 with a PA Microdot and a scoped Savage Axis but no AR15. Always planned to eventually but I graduated two years ago and money is still tight. I thought prices would get reasonable after Trump was reelected and a COVID vaccine was developed. Silly me. Recent events, well you get the picture.

I'm sure this topic is done to death but the gun market is different than a month ago, much less a year ago.

BB

View Quote

buy this and put a red dot on it.