Isaac,

You are doing exactly the right thing by asking for input before spending a lot of cash. I would suggest you take a look on M4carbine.net and 10-8 forums. There are quite a lot of folks with AR experience at both these sites. I'd shy away from ar-15.com simply because it's difficult to seperate the wheat from the chaff there (The discussions are more mature and experienced-based on M4carbine and 10-8).

M4carbine has a list discussing AR's and which tier different manufacturers fall into. It essentially lists the most desirable aspects of an AR. Try this link:
http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=6642&highlight=tier

The 10-8 site is for 'working professionals' in Law enforcement.

The Tier 1 list is short and includes Colt, Noveske and LMT, as Charles A stated. In fact, Charles' information is quite good. Since you asked about Noveske, it is a very highly regarded weapon-especially their N4 rifles. Many of those who frequent the sites I've mentioned tend have a great deal of experience with the platform, and shoot many thousands of rounds through their weapons each year, if not monthly, so they base their opinions on that, and not specifically hunting. That is the biggest difference you will find between those sites and the information you find here: a focus on weapons vs. hunting.

Regarding what FTR Shooter posted, .223/5.56 rounds have indeed shown to actually be less likely to over-penetrate walls than buckshot and handgun rounds.

Where you will REALLY get confused is when you try to decide what optic to put on top of your Tier 1 rifle! THAT is a can of worms--just take a look at TC 1's three AR's and you'll see what I mean: high-power optic (top pic), low power variable (middle pic) or RDS (red dot sight) on the bottom. Ask him how much he has in LaRue mounts wink