Posted: 4/8/2017 12:55:47 AM EDT
| My first AR 15 I bought was the S&W sport original with the 1/9 twist, I quickly bought a bushmaster (for a really good price) shortly after put a red dot on it and never looked back. Well now i have this sport laying around. I want to put a nikon scope and a free float rail on it. It would be about $500 into the gun. Is it worth putting this money into a low budget rifle or is it like putting a spoiler on a civic? |
|
My very first AR was a Bushmaster XM15-E2S with the more heavily contoured 16" barrel without m203 groove. I sold it to a family member who I helped put a freefloat tube and a Burris AR332 3X Prismatic scope with ranging lines to 600yds. The gun is now a 600yd shooter on steel silhouettes. Not sure what it could do before the mods as I never tried it.
I really suggest a prismatic scope from primary arms, burris, vortex .etc The Primary Arms scopes have an awesome reticle and you should not need more than 4X. |
|
Does the rifle perform/group well as it is? (at least at the ranges you're currently using it)
Will the modification(s) add precision or performance in a meaningful way? If both are yeses, then it's worthwhile to modify even your lower-end AR. Just because a rifle was inexpensive doesn't make it bad - simply drives down the initial expectations. |
|
Are you wanting to improve the performance of the rifle, or are you wanting to make an investment?
Modifying guns is usually a poor investment. But, if you enjoy the modification, go for it. It is like watching a movie. No financial return, but it could be a pleasant way to spend some time. |
|
A LONG time ago, I bought an M&P15OR when they were just getting popular. I just started getting into AR15's and this was a solid choice (the "sports" weren't out back then).
I shortly took the handguard off and put in a drop in quad rail, only to swap it out along with the gas block in favor of a low profile gas block and DD Lite Rail in 9 inch I believe. I also changed the stock, grip, and optic. I put well more than it's worth into this rifle, and though its a shooter (runs like a champ) I now buy the rifle or upper that I want and build the lower the way I like (upgraded trigger and furniture). Only reason I kept my M&P15 is b/c I will never get back the money invested considering how cheap AR's are now a days, and I don't feel guilty feeding it steel, whereas all my other rifles ONLY see brass. Even though it's my "cheap" rifle, it still sports an aimpoint though. |
|
There are $500 AR's that are sub MOA capable and $1,500 AR's that are lucky to stay under 2 MOA. Same with reliability. If it will shoot at or below MOA with any reasonably affordable ammo, then yes, it's worth it upgrading. If it's 100% reliable with decent accuracy it's also worth it.
If you don't know, find out how it really shoots and go from there. |