Quoted:
Where did you come up with $300? Do you know anything about building ARs? You are making a fool of yourself. Putting an upper on a lower and assambling a lower using a kit requires a hammer, and a couple of punches and a screw driver. A pair of needle nose pliers helps as well. It saves you the Federal Tax on the rifle off the top of the price, and allows you to build exactly what you want.
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Uhh....not only do I know a "little" about building ARs, I know a hell of a LOT about manufacturing in general. There is a lot more to things than just slapping a bunch of parts together.
I don't just have a hammer and punches. I have jigs, headspace gauges, clamps, vises, a bench, wrenches, torque wrenches, torque screwdrives,
several sets of punches for the different types of pins found on different types of guns.
In other words, when I put an AR together, it looks and works like it was done at the factory...not in bubbas tool shed.
Not only can I assemble an AR-15 ( which is kinda kid's stuff ) I can build 1911s from a box of mismatched parts and make 'em run consistently.
So, if you really wanna know who the fool is, IM Gravity Tester and Winston Wolf and ask them how stupid I am.
Invite them over here and have them read this thread and have them give you THEIR opinion.
Anyhow, OP, I am sorry for the hi-jack. My point being, it sounds like you are in the market for exactly one type of AR ( and a good choice, too ) not several.
Either an A2 or A4 will easily serve multiple needs. Truly, you are better off finding a good Armalite or RRA A2 or A4 and going with that. The rifle formats don't seem to be as popular as the carbine formats and seem to command much more reasonable prices. I do reccommend, if you go with an A4, try to get a railed front sight block also so that if you go to a dedicated, longer range optic you won't have the front sight post in your way....BUT if you decide to run with a red dot system you will have the flexibility to co-witness on the FS or even both, if you so desire.
Ya know, an A2 with a cheek piece will also allow you to mount a good dedicated optic and you run a simpler system that with the rail, removeable carrying handle, front sight...etc.
Either way, good luck on your post.