I want it to train with on my own time after I get back from AIT. I'll have about $10,000 bucks after I take the taxes out of my NPSEB and the E3 pay I wont spend very much of. I'm putting half of that in the Bank, leaving $5,000. And since this is one of only a couple things (the others add up to about $2000) I'm going to spend that on I have a considerable budget for this. Therefore, I dont mind dropping a little extra for a used "collectable". It has been suggested to me to just buy a Bushmaster, etc. But I did some rough things (ie. uncoordinated, stupid shit only a dumb cadet would do) to the Colt I carried at FTX drill in March. It survived, functioned flawlessly, and after a could cleaning could have passed for NIB. That experience gave me a certain fondness for the Colt.
Of course, with my luck, I'll buy a setup just like we have right now, and then a month or two later I'll go to drill and it will be announced "Guess what, The regiment is getting M4s!"