Seems to me that BM & RRA are fairly comparable and the dealers I've been speaking with are all down on Armalite for some reason.  See comments on barrel issues in BM's, should I avoid BM right now?  Won't RRA be under same production stresss given their DEA contract win? What's a good intro setup?  Better just to pay for a little more given I'm a first timer?

Thanks,
Bill

If you don't want to put it together yourself, I suggest a Stag.

welcome aboard Bill

Both are good choices and if you want to know what the most popular set up is with other folks here, I'd have to say the M4, 16", flat top. Just look through all the various photo threads.

For Bushmaster, that would be this one---> M4 A3 Bushmaster

and for RRA, it would be this one ----> RRA   Entry M4 A3


If you want to go all out and get the cat's ass right out of the chutes ----> COLT LE 6920

Pick any of these and you are good to go.

A3, or flat top is the preferred configuration to enable future options

The Equipment Exchange here has any of these or dealers who have them

Keep us posted