Final AR decision for newbies

monkeybutler · Sep 17, 2025

Koda said:
true, but I was thinking of longer sight radius with iron sights.

Okay. But I doubt a 16" dissy is in his future and he seems to be headed toward using an optic so… no comprendo.

mhayd93 · Sep 17, 2025

nwslopoke said:
I went shooting with a couple somewhat new to guns. The husband was in the military but not a firearms guy. He has a shotgun and a pistol and was not an AR guy. I brought a few different setups, but like most guys under 50, you're going to get an AR.

We had "the talk", as well as bringing up local Oregon gun laws. While he admitted to be interested, I did encourage him to go ahead and get a lower sooner than later.

He offered he had an over inflated budget of $2K. I informed him not to say that out loud again. My question is, how to start with the rifle you'll eventually end up with?

I offered my favorite is a 14.5 mid legnth. 16" are boring even if it is A DD. 18 or 20" are nice but the shorter distances we have, they aren't the best "only rifle". But I left him with, mid length 14 5 or 16". $12-1300 max budget. I had 3 different optics and he liked the fixed 3x best for our location.

So again, the question is, what did you end up with as your best AR solution that you wished you started with? If I had my 14.5 first I would own a few less now.

I've ended up in the same place as you; a 14.5" Mid Length (SBR'd) setup exactly how I like it.

Would it have been nice to have arrived at "perfection" the first go around? Sure. However, the only reason I arrived at the perfect carbine (for my use/preferences) is because of the positive and negative experiences I had along the way with a myriad of different configurations.

1911Fanatic · Sep 17, 2025

I had a heavy barreled Colt A2 pre ban in the 90's. Then I had a Bushmaster M4.

Now I am gonna buy one from a local home FFL. You can get a lot of AR today for little cash.