Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Best AR under $800

Guys, I never had a desire for an AR. I am more of a bolt action, accuracy, hand loading, hunting guy. But in light of all the social chaos going on, and uptick in crime, I am thinking of buying a semiauto self defense rifle. A buddy recommended a Daniel Defense, but I don’want to spend that much. What’s the Best Buy for $800 or less.

The one you can actually find in the current climate. Or piece meal one together from parts

Not easy to find right now

You can easily upgrade parts later.

go to primary arms and get a anderson lower and a stag upper for 650 ish
add a Geissele bcg for 140 and get which ever charging handle you want and you will come in right at 800.

I managed to find a Del Ton Echo 316M a few weeks ago. 16" 4150CMV barrel, F marked FSB, HPT/MPI bolt for $499.99. It's pretty slim out there so you have to keep looking. On the opposite side I saw a S&W M&P 15 Sport OR which has a MSRP of $725 on the rack for $900 and they sold.

there is no best buy on AR's right now. POS AR's are selling for big coin. Bite the bullet so to speak and get something you know will work, DD is a great gun, well built, and won't let you down in a pinch. Buy once, cry once.

Meh, get a Mini 14.😆

PSA PA-15 nitride with rail is working fine for me, and is less than $800. Sighting it in at 25 yds for a bowling pin shoot Thursday. Seems to be well made and hasn’t had a hiccup shooting anything yet.
Might want to look at something like it.

Very impressed with the Springfield Saint for the money. Decent out of the box trigger, mid length gas system and very tight.

Good luck finding a Stag upper......................

Unfortunately, because of their size, PSA is most likely to have something on any given day, next day, it'll be gone.

Some PSA stuff is / can be good..............sometimes, not so much.

Dealing with them is a PITA, IMO, especially so, & very slow if it's an FFL item.

MM

It took about 3 weeks to get the above AR to my FFL, and it was in stock. Then it took 8 days to get the Oregon background check done. But there’s nothing at any of the local stores. That being said, I am very happy with the rifle. Seems to be very well made, I did put in a Larue MBT in it which it needed. It’s also a budget part. Second stage breaks at 2#’s,very nice.

I agree. If you don't want to spend the money for the FN/Colt/BCM/DD/LMT, it's probably the best bang for the buck.

I've been in your shoes. You'll not regret buying an ar. But be warned, they multiply!!!! Also, a properly tuned and built AR will keep up with a good bolt action in terms of accuracy. Where the AR will rival that bolt gun is in the amount of rounds downrange in a hurry. I recently shot a match where it was only AR's. One member from one of the bigger gunclubs in the Portland area suggested a speed shoot, since they are AR's and all. His definition of "speed shoot" was 10 rounds in 60 seconds. That's what they do in the big city, you know... After we went a couple rounds of that, I said, "now lets have a real speed shoot". 10 rounds in 10 seconds. Shooting for score at 100 yards. Try that with your bolt gun. I can almost run a bolt that fast off the bench, but not quite...Needless to say the Portland and Vancouver guys gave up the ghost and didn't want to play the fun games anymore, after getting spanked... And for the Willamette guy saying AR's are impossible to find, they are out there. You just have to look for them. I visit gunshops in that area all the time and have found countless AR's in the $500.00 range. Yes, even recently. For the dumbfuc ks that didn't believe me and pm'd me, I supplied the links to 3 such rifles in the Portland area..Didn't hear a damn peep out of them afterwards either..

You're an idiot. You didn't hear back because I told you my buddy who was looking lives in Medford. Had nothing to do with not believing you. It's not real convenient for him to drive four hours one way to Portland. I had no idea where you lived up until then and was hoping maybe those deals were somewhere closer. Sorry you didn't get the praise you felt you deserved.

Oh, and the pawn shop in the link you provided doesn't ship.

it depends on where you live as to availability.

It also depends if you're in the shop when a shipment comes in...they don't last long. Of course, with the multitude of scares that we've had the last 12 years, if you don't have an AR by now, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Fixed it for ya....................

MM

Every shop I made this week looked like they had been robbed.

Big shop near me has S&W MP15s for 729.00. I dont think that is bad. I know they were lower, but I got mine for near that a good while ago.
I don't think I would sell mine for that give the current "crisis".

Saw a Saint that I would consider a very nice gun going out the door at the LGS yesterday. Said he paid around $800 for it. Came with its own soft side carrying case. Don't know the model#.

I like Rock River Arms and this looks like a decent buy for a no frills SHTF rifle. From the looks of the shell deflector, I don't think it's been shot much. I believe a Government/LE restricted rifle should have Mil-Spec parts. Offer up $650.00 shipped. Worst he can do is say no.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Equipment-Exchange/Rock-River-LAR-15/21-2023692/