Hello to all....I need to make up my mind about buying my first .223 rifle. After a lot of reading my last three options are Colt, Bushmaster and DPMS.
What I am looking for is a good rifle, not top of the line, not bottom of the line; that I can use to go target shooting, hunting or personal defense if needed (hopefully never).
At this point I am sure you guys know more than me about it so, please advice.

Thanks in advance....

Used to be, Bushmaster was significantly cheaper than Colt, but now their prices have inflated to the point that they are right up there with Colt, in the high 800-900's.

For a decent (and decently priced) AR I would consider Armalite, Rock River Arms, and DPMS.  Stepping down a hair there are vendors such as J&T, Model 1 Sales, etc.

I certainly certainly would not call Armalite stepping down I know you were talking about vendors. Food for thought, Armalite has been around a longtime and has a LIFETIME WARRANTY.

One can argue for years about which brand is better. One can argue if Colt is or is not more accurate than Bushmaster.

However, Colt ALWAYS brings a stronger price on the used market. Does that make it a better rifle? Maybe, maybe not.

Colt does have a mystique that the other brands don't have. My AR-15 is a Colt 6601.

If I were buying a new AR-15 today I think I'd still go with a Colt.

My .o2

I agreee, go with Colt. I have a Government Series SP2, really a nice chunk of metal. I have nothing negative to say about the others though.

rk