I originally had hoped to get a Stag Arms 2T come January.  Their site has changed their lead times from 2-3 days up to 10-12 weeks due to the run on rifles.  My local dealer carries Armalites and Bushmasters in stock all the time.  So I'm wondering if I should hold out for the Stag or go with one of the in stock models.  This will be my first AR rifle and I'd like a good one.  If I could get your opinions of how you rank the various brands...  Say top tier, second tier and so on...  I could get a better idea of what I should do.  

Thanks in advance
pepcpatty

Everyone has their own favorites but there are a few that stand out among the others. Of course Colt, LMT, Sabre, Noveske......if you want a high end top dollar rifle. I am more prone to buying a good rifle (Stag, RRA, Bushy) and making the necessary upgrades to make it as good as possible. I just ordered a Stag lower today with a 4 week wait which is fine by me. You cant really make a bad choice buying a new rifle a long as you go with a reputable manufacturer(mostly all the same parts anyway). If there's something you would like to change about your rifle, its like a puzzle, and pieces are everywhere in all sizes. Whatever you get, be safe and enjoy it.

The instock rifles are g2g. I would grab one before someone else does. The quality between the three is about equal & they work. Don't get caught up in all this tier bs.

+1 , but I will say I would probably give a slight edge to the Armalite.

IMHO not much difference between them...they are the Ford/Chevy of AR's, all are decent guns

Ford/Chevy might not be a good analogy these days!

I agree with jcrowl
All 3 companies are good. Hold both, check out the take down pins, see which lower and upper fit the best and buy it. You wont go wrong with any of those compaines.

I've read over at gunblast that the Stag 2T has tight fitting upper and lower.  It's one of the reasons I initially chose that rifle.  I hope Bushmaster or Armalite are similar in that scope.  I don't want to get a lemon even though all these companies are pretty good at replacing or fixing defective rifles.  There is just sooooo  much I don't know.  One of my shooting buddies swears by his Bushmaster while another thinks the other is insane.  That tells me there's bad rifles in any company just like there are bad automobiles within the same make and model.  I guess I'm just looking for that one rifle that tends to be a solid performer time after time with very low complaints.  I suppose if I got a kit I could have my husband put it together for me, but he says that for the first rifle I really should learn everything and make a decision myself.  I'm planning on spitting in his food tomorrow.

Pepcpatty

try a search...LOTS of opinions and topics on this

FWIW: i would recommend stag

I really do like the stag.  For the money it comes with a bunch of goodies and gunblast wrote up a real glowing review.  Should I order it in January and later before I receive the rifle another Assault Weapon Ban goes into affect, do I still get the rifle or does the order get canceled?  It's not that I'm overly worried about it except they started the work on the new Ban in June and I'd hate to lose this chance.

Pepcpatty

Order now, sooner the better.

Don't worry about a ban.  They try one every year and they never go anywhere.

As far as which rifle to go with. get the one that has the options you want.  When it really comes down to it, there isn't a lot of differences other than psychological.  If spending extra money for a "hip" roll mark is what floats your boat then by all means get what ever floats your boat.
I went with RRA because it (at the time) gave the best features and rep at the best price.

Remember, you will spend ~$1000 on the rifle now and you still need a bunch of mags and ammo, so you can spend all your money on the rifle and have no money to feed it, or you can spend less on the rifle and get some mags and ammo (if you can find any)

Normally I wouldn't worry about a ban, but I just have a gut feeling this time.  Maybe the one currently in the works doesn't happen, but I think one is on the way again.  Not that it matters too much.  Another house/senate/president and it's back to the begining again.

Either way, I have added in 4 pmags, a quick loader, an EOTech 511/A65 sight, and a few boxes each of 4 different brands/weight bullets along with the price of the Stag Arms 2T.  That's my budget but with prices going here and there it could quickly change everything.  /sigh  lol   I really want an AR...  It's almost tempting to spend the kids' Xmas money on my rifle, but I think Santa not showing up would be worse than the Ban.  So it's eFile taxes mid Jan for my rifle. And a lot of reading on this site to make the final decisions.  Thanks guys, you've been really great to this noob.

Pepcpatty

I recently looked over several Sabres and they were the very best fit and finish I have ever seen. RRA makes a good soil AR at a great price.