Been debating picking up an AR for quite some time. Originally I wanted to do it on a lower budget, but I plan on keeping this gun for a long time. Its purpose will be to go to the range and god forbid some crazy circumstance, protect whats important to me. (not to be confused for home defense)
I’m sure all will be more than suitable for me, and the Daniel Defense gun is nice, but I want my budget to be closer to 500, than 1500… I could do it, but I kind of dont want to stretch the budget of 1100 OTD.
Are there any other brands that I’m overlooking? For the guys who have done this, what would you do differently if you had to do it again. I’m not looking at building one at this stage, just want a complete gun to plink with and get comfy behind a rifle. Guys who own AR’s… what do you have? (have had?)
I got a Plum crazy lower, and a TPMS 556 complete upper - Tactical barrel (18")
I’m plunking a half tennis ball from 200 yards away with a cheapy centerpoint 2-7x scope and Tula 223 ammo from walmart…
Seriously, I enjoy my gun, and i built it with everything for under 700, with scope, rails, riser, grip, tac flashlight / laser, and plenty of preban 30 rd mags.
I’ve got a basic 16" A2 upper Oly with an A2 stock, it came with a pinned stock but I didn’t like the way it felt. It’s been very reliable for me, but I don’t shoot 8k a year either, more like sub-1k. It has shot damn near MOA with iron sights from bags with factory 55gr v-max ammo, russian ammo is closer to 4MOA.
If I did it again, the only things I’d change would be is an A3 upper with removable carry handle so I could swap out to a scope if the desire hit(I can’t stand the carry handle mounted scopes), a bipod would be nice too. I like the looks of railed forends, but I don’t really have a use for them. I do like the midwest SS forends though, simple and light, I’d go with one of them if I ditched the standard handguards.
One thing I really like is the lack of a brake or threaded barrel, that way I can actually take the gas block off if I ever want to do a different forend. It’s also nice because my range has an enclosed line, a brake sucks there.
That one is way out of the price range you’re looking as it’s in the 2500-3000 mark. It’s just an example of how far you can go.
What i do think is best for you is to keep an eye out on the local gun forums and armslist.com to you.
A used quality brand AR is your best bet all around. You can start simple and then customize it to what suits you for your liking. You can also build one as disposable income allows. The receiver is the only part that requires an FFL transfer and then you can buy a complete upper of your liking.
Then you can add parts as you see fit. Find the pistol grip you like. You’ll never really need a billy badass charging handle or quick bolt release options but some like them.
I you do build one get a good quality lower parts kit! This is the one area I’ve run into a lot of junk and had to fix/replace parts for others.
Also try to find something with a 1:9 twist if you can.
This is right after I got it, the brake is a clamp on type and was removed shortly after, it makes the barrel look 1-1.5" longer. I’ve got a standard A2 stock on it now too, but I don’t want to go downstairs and take a pic.
No idea why it doesn’t like russian ammo, it’s accurate enough for 50yds offhand practice though. It’s not too surprising though, mass produced steel cased surplus that sells for $0.19 a round vs closer to $1 a round.
Just got finished building mine two weeks ago. Russian ammo is good for people that shoot a lot, the powder actually burns dirtier and I think there’s something about the steel case that doesn’t always agree with every gun. Brad (bpipe) can chime in on all of this since he’s probably built over 100+ AR’s and helped me with mine.
Mine is on top.
• Stag Arms Lower Receiver
• Stag Arms Upper Receiver
• Stag Arms Bolt Carrier Group - Hard Chrome
• Stag Lower Parts Kit
• 14.5” Daniel Defense Lightweight Barrel
• Primary Weapons Systems FSC556b - Welded
• Bravo Company USA Mod 4 Charging Handle
• TangoDown Battlegrip BG-17
• Magpul Poly Trigger Guard
• Vltor E-Mod Mil-Spec Stock Kit
• AP Custom Rifle Length Carbon Free Float Tube
• Vortex Sparc Red Dot
For an off the shelf gun, it is hard to beat a factory complete stag. They also offer a +package now that gets you milspec+ parts as an upgrade throughout the gun, the +pkg is $100 bucks added on to the price of any gun. Stag dealers usually sell for a good bit below the MSRP as well. Another good brand to look at is BCM, you can find great deals on their uppers and lowers every now and then. They use quality parts as well have a great reputation and charge a fair price.
Of the guns you listed in your first post I would go with the Colt or the DD, they are a whole quality tier above the RRA.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to shoot me a PM.
Edit: shockwaves carbon hand guard is a rifle length not mid.
The original M+P’s were made by stag, they were great. After the first large run they had tooled up at S&W to make them in house, since then they have not been as nice as the first batch. The receivers have lots of slop (I HATE SLOP), they are more finicky about ammo and the overall quality is down. I have rebuilt/fixed about 8 M&P’s at this point most work was due to the owner not being happy about the overall set up and performance of the gun. I recently helped a friend out with a used one that turns out was a very high round count gun and it needed a ton of work to get running 100%.
Overall I would not go M&P15, just due to personal experience.
Will seeing that you are in a free stat you can get a gun without a free float hand guard and then add it at a later time. You don’t have to perm attach the muzzle device in FL so it makes swapping parts out much much easier.
Another brand you might want to look at is a Spikes tactical, they are based in FL, and have some decent products. I have had a mixed experience with their parts some good and some not so good, but they use great parts through out the upper half of the guns. Their lowers are where I have not been happy.
I appreciate the unbiased advice… It seems each shop has one brand they really try to push.
I found a couple stags in the 800 shipped range… throw on a set of sites and i’m well under 900 shipped.
Which model stags would you recommend. I like the idea of an 800 dollar mil-spec gun, if it lasts and works well.
The new local gun shop has the RRA tactical operator 2 for 1049. It looks and feels solid, but what do I know. The DDM4 is 1300ish without sights… I dont want to spend that money yet. (id rather spend it on ammo at this point.)
why cant somebody just say here… buy this one for 750 shipped and be happy with it because it will be perfect. (I really dont want to build one for the first gun, not yet atleast) I don’t know too many people here that are into this hobby… Bpipe, you should move. lol
you have to add the +pkg so your local dealer might have to order it for you that way. Take a look at stags website and find a dealer close to you here is the info on the plus pkg.
The +pkg is not mandatory but all the chairborn rangers and internet warriors would have you think that if it is not “milspec” it will die in a fiery explosion of doom. lol
My opinion of RRA is not very good, but it comes from my bad experiences when I used to be a dealer. They were awful to deal with and had piss poor customer service. They also seem to build overly heavy guns, that operator you speak of is like holding a concrete block in your arms after a few min. On top of that it is horribly balanced and that much weight that far in front of your body sucks.
If I were you I would get a stag model 3 with or with out the +package, you can then put a set of sights on it that you like and change the small parts out as you like (grip, trigger guard ect) Then when it comes time to change or add a free float rail it will be the easiest to work with. They are not hard to work on, they are like working on a bike or a car but way less dirty and your arms don’t get wrecked up from reaching into small places. lol I can help you along the way via email or PM here if you decide to mod it.
