Pros /cons for all of them relative to each other, & they are all good, but for my money, hands down, the Compass Lake upper on a quality lower gets the nod, but I'd likely choose the Bartlien barrel over the Krieger, & if you want to save a few bucks, go with the Douglas or Criterion barrel option...................all assuming that you can live with a stainless barre (no mag dumps).
MM
Good info. I wonder where TWR is? He's had a lot of good ar's. I'd just say buy a Stag or M&P or Colt and run the chidt out of it. I highly doubt anyone here, that is not a high volume shooter or competitive shooter, would wear out a good AR or even a run of the mill AR like the ones I mention. I've put 1,000's of rounds on some of mine, some 300-500+ rounds in a weekend, always inspect them and clean them well. They still, for the most part, look like new and never have a hiccup of any kind... One thing I will say is if you don't research it very well, and even then, that first AR ends up being something entirely different than what you really end up wanting or needing. I have a buddy that that happened to. He researched the hell out of it and ended up buying a RRA because guys were saying they were great rifles. He bought it used it and decided he hates it. He later found that out after buying a national match bushmaster that was made in the clinton era. Its an A2 rifle without the flash hider or bayonet lug and he loves that rifle. I also didn't like the first AR I bought, but still have it. It was an 18" barreled rifle and it was obnoxious to shoot. Different strokes for different folks, as they say... The rifle that I love is a 20" barreled rifle, has a rifle length gas system and it is the smoothest softest shooting AR I've ever had. Now most of what I have is in that configuration because it agrees with my style of shooting. Good luck to the OP and let us know in a few years if you still have the rifle you buy this time and how you progress.
