Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Why do some AR's cost more than others?

the ars with the built in front sights all seem to work the same way and everybody says that all of them are about the same until you add those custom parts. There is a bushmaster for $682 on buds, and then a used colt 6720 for $849. For a used gun this is a lot. What difference does it make for a gun I want to buy for self defense scenario?

One's better than the other.




Travis

That's like saying that all cars with four wheels work the same way. Which is true, but the quality varies greatly.

I really hate referring people to "The Chart" but since you are wondering about the differences between two basic carbines, it seems appropriate.

A high quality barrel will cost more than a low budget AR kit rifle

What about the palmetto? I saw one for 650 with no sites and a long forarm?

Cuz one shoots more gooder than the other.

Jus Say'n

W. Bill

Bush is generally a Hobby gun

this is a funny question you asked. Some of the price involves using milspec parts and the amount of testing they have to go through. there is a cost to that. The funny thing is mil spec in many cases isn't what you should want. for instance I think a chrome lined barrel is a negative, its typically less accurate. a 7 twist is too much twist for shooting the weights of bullets most guys shoot. 5.56 chamber isn't as good as a wylde, IMO.

This all used to be a lot bigger deal in the past. In the last half dozen years or so, I think ar 15 parts have come a LONG ways. There are so many good parts out there that are reasonable and work just fine. I think we me see something of a death of the high end ar 15. The parts that matter are a good barrel, trigger, and handguard. IMO the rest can be cheap palmetto ptac stuff like the BCG and the rest of the parts kit. Your average shooter will be lucky to shoot a 1000 rounds in the lifetime of the gun. If your the guy that shoots more than that I put you in the category of enthusiast and you will probably be a gun nut that is particular about each part, therefore you can change that to suit yourself.

my recommendation, just get a cheap M&P sport enjoy the gun and if you shoot it quite a bit likely you will learn what you want and don't want on your gun. then you can get something with the features you want later. some ar's are just way over priced. They do that because people don't really know any better.

A decent gun for the money. That said, another $150 would put you on a Colt 6920!

yeah but the colt is over priced and has the features of a basic gun. The only thing it has going for it is the supposed advantage of milspec. again if you shoot the gun enough to need mil spec parts, your an enthusiast, if your an enthusiast are you happy with a gritty mil spec trigger? are you happy with a clam shell non free floated handguard? what about a pinned front site? plain collapsible stock? no your going to want all those things changed out. so in that case I say just buy a cheaper gun. OR spend even more money and get what you need or better yet build it like you want it.

IMO the best value in AR's if you want a gun that works, and will probably outshoot most of the expensive guns is a rock river.

You sure use a lot of words to just be wrong.

I forgot the memo about you knowing everything, is that short enough

I don't think they are over priced at all. Considering the extra testing that goes into them I think they are a bargain at the prices they are selling for these days.



No, I'm a person that wants to know that I have every advantage on my side should I ever need to use the weapon for it's intended purpose.




Yes, I am.



Yes, I like mine very well.



I wouldn't want mine any other way.



No, I left mine like it came from the factory.



Buy a cheaper gun to defend your family, your life, your property? Not me. I want proven reliability and not gimmicks when it comes to these things. Keep in mind, the OP clearly stated he wanted the rifle for self defense not a paper punching/ hunting rifle.

Am I happy with my Colt 6920 just like it is? Pretty much. The only thing I changed on mine was to add a 14.5" barrel on it. BTW, it's a Colt factory barrel.



I have another AR-15 with all kinds of aftermarket stuff on it but the one I trust with my life says Colt on the side of it.

I've owned Colts, BPM, BM, PSA, RRA, Double Star, Essential Arms...I think that's it.
Only the Colt remains.

worship at the all mighty alter of mil spec all you want.

I only worship at one alter and it's not a gunmakers. Got it?

I will trust my life to a Colt though.

I'm wrapping up my first build. Hopefully I'll get to stick up a crappy pic or two when work settles down a bit.

I'm just slightly amazed at how much you CAN spend building something that everyone else will tell you they just spent $600.00 on. They even got spendy with the $30.00 red dot.

It's the same thing....don'tcha know.....

Clueless.




Travis

Well I've never shot one with Colt on the side, but I'm sure they're real nice. I bought a plain old Stag. I can tell you it shoots just as good as my brother in laws Daniel Defense and costs about a third as much.

You ask 10 guys on here you are probably going to get 10 different answers. Buy a gun see how you like, mod it out if that floats your boat, or build another from scratch.

As far as cheapo ARs go, my little brother as a DPMS he bought for around $500 that has never failed to go bang and I've seen him put hundreds of rounds through it at the range and he uses it to go coyote hunting too, rolls them at 300 yds no problem.

Take care of your gun and it will take care of you.