Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles If you had $650 to spend

This thread has raised several questions pertaining to a no frills, basic well built or higher quality AR.

If a person wanted a good one how to find what is really good?

Ask on internet forums ?

Pay a really high price?

Read books on the subject ?
Writers like Zediker, Reaser, Kuleck & others? I've got one of Kulecks books & while it educated me to a point, much of it is out dated. Followed Zidikers writings on a higher budget personal build, but that was some time ago, & maybe dated as well.

I've read this thread in it's entirety & portions more than once, & if there is a consensus, I didn't catch it. Are there recent & thorough test, studies that separate the bad from the good to the very good?

So many makers, vendors. How to keep up?

This forum right here's as good a place as any.

We have some real knowledgeable, experiences AR shoots who are happy to help.

There are many different philosophies, and they very with the need and style of the person making the suggestion.

Perhaps there' s no consensus because there is no one right answer, but many workable solutions.

In the end, the only person who can decide what right for you, is you.

I agree tat there are some very knowledgeable, experienced AR shooters here & why I ask.

My criteria has been stated as, a no frills , basic, well built or higher quality Ar. Not specified further I guess would be if it was for home defense, competition of some sort or varmint hunting. Though the term basic would cover it but maybe not... how about your basic, personal everyday 16-18" collapsible sock flat top or sighted house defender.

Workable solutions? What is right for me? Sorry, my questions are sometimes vague, but I don't get it. Not asking what is right for me, as I should decide, right or wrong, that. But who makes best quality parts..... or a complete basic AR carbine out there, &, maybe the next brand & so on.

Is there a way to learn that without buying 10 rifles & 100K of ammo? It would be fun, but out of my price range.

Lots of stuff on this thread I wondered about myself. Thanks for posting.

Something like this checks a lot of boxes for me.
PSA1

PSA2

You will need a good lower. PSA has good stuff. Aero has good stuff.

Some people have a different measurement of "well built" than others do. I think that's what makes it such an interesting topic.

No matter who you are, well built starts with a good barrel. I prefer light weight pencil barrels while others like heavier barrels. Neither is wrong as long as they serve the users purpose and are gassed right. I have had good service with Sioncs and Colt for pencil barrels. They are not sub MOA but are chrome lined and will scare 1.5 MOA usually with the 4 samples I have on hand. All have been mildly gassed with the edge going to Sionics but it's a mid-length. My Colt carbine gassed barrels are smoother shooting than mid-length Faxon, PSA and the LaRue barrels I've tried. The LaRue barrel is pretty accurate and still has a place in my safe.

Gas blocks need to be steel not aluminum, pinned or at least a divot drilled for the set screws. Adjustable blocks can cure an over gassed barrel but I'd rather start right if possible. If you're using a suppressor, they would make great sense.

Muzzle devices, I have seen one occasion where an A1 flash hider caused a match grade barrel to shoot patterns. Barely torqued or heavily torqued. Stuck a Vortex on there at the range and the barrel settled right down and shot great. I've played with a few brakes and really favor the Vortex but it's not the only solution.

Next you need a good BCG. I like Colt, BCM, LaRue and Sionics but I suspect they are made my other companies and sold by several. The difference is probably going to be QC specs but if you get a good one, it's a good one.

Uppers and lowers as long as they are in spec, are not going to matter much. I loctite my barrels into the upper and don't worry about truing them, maybe I'm just not that grade of shooter.

Triggers are subjective but I prefer Geissele 2 stage triggers for the most part though I have a couple of their single stages that I like on purpose built guns.

Rails, I have Troy, BCM, Midwest Ind and even a MagPul SL hand guard. They have all served their purpose well but If I had to pick one it would be the Troy Alpha rail (it's really a tube not a 4 way rail most think of). It's solid and robust and I never worry about it. My BCM is the magnesium/aluminum hybrid that works fine but would bend easily, it's greatest attribute is it's light.

Grips, I prefer K2+'s and stocks I like LMT SOPMOD's over all others.

The only factory built gun I have is a Colt and I've made changes to it. BCM, DD, Sionics and probably a few others would be a good choice too but I prefer to build with good parts to suit my tastes.

The best advice I can give is to start with a great barrel for your uses, everything else is subjective.

I've used, owned, worked on other guns like PSA and for the most part they will serve one well but I've yet to see one shoot out of it's price range.

I ended up spending the money for this build because that quality built upper became available for a price I could afford at the time. I then worked a chit load and squirreled away a few extra bucks to buy quality parts for the rest of the build.
I PMed guys on this thread and asked questions about "should I buy this", or "what would fit with that" etc.. they all helped me put this build together. I appreciate their advice and counsel. I think in the end I will have a hell of a nice rifle that will do whatever I ask of it, and a sense of pride for putting it all together.
It's a personal choice of how much you are willing to spend and what you want the gun to do. The cool thing is with these modular rifles, you can buy parts when you can afford them and spread the cost out over a period of time and end up with what you really want. I'm already planning my next 2-3 builds. A 45 pistol, a 350 Legend, and a 6.5 CM or 308. Ordered another lower today, found the Aero Precision M4E1 on sale for $75.00.
I'm Hooked. Now if I can just find some damn ammo to shoot out of it. Hoarding bastards!

I need a jig and a router to finish my 80% lowers.
kwg

I don't know crap about AR's, do know I've shot the hell out of my PSA mid-lengths without a hitch, they being the 700 dollar rifles they are, I guess they could break and lay down on a man, a Barrett Rec-7 most likely would not, same with my REPR's, barring a massive part failure, I think a man would about have to fill one of those with cement to get it to fail ; ] "faith" in a weapon is a damn good thing.

Today, I would be going with this.

https://www.cdnnsports.com/rugerr-ar556r-556-black-mlok.html?___SID=U#.XnTXOxNKiQI

Gonzo,

I suggest you take a hard look at kit one below:

What about the Ruger .556 Pistol ???

Anybody have one ? Opinions?

It’s a sample of only about four I think but every Ruger that’s come through a class with us has had problems.

Doesn't surprise me.

What kind or types of problems Blue???

Why ???

This is probably a dumb question but it might save me some time to ask. I have always looked at lower kits and upper kits, even assembled uppers. I have a couple Spikes lowers from back when Obama was going to be elected president. I have a read a lot of advice about getting good triggers and good barrels and the rest doesnt really matter etc. Lots of good, similar advice here as well. So when you choose a good barrel, do you then have to order ever little pin spring screw and gas tube/block etc to complete the build?

I won't deny that a barrel is important. But, I think the bolt and carrier are more important. If you are building your own, start with Toolcraft.

https://www.righttobear.com/toolcraft-phosphate-158-MPI-M16-BCG-p/tooauto-011.htm

Ruger has these with a 16" barrel on their website now.

I can't remember offhand. We keep track of malfunctions and failures but I don't have the list handy.