Inexpensive ARs for sale, should I buy one?

[thorborg]

I don't have an AR because of the "platform" aspect. and I can't be trusted.
It fits in the same category as a boat, AKA; money pit. Once I had one, I'd likely never stop spending money on it.

 

[Tony617]

I don't have an AR because of the "platform" aspect. and I can't be trusted.
It fits in the same category as a boat, AKA; money pit. Once I had one, I'd likely never stop spending money on it.

For home defense keep it simple. A good sling, a light and either iron sites and some sort of green dot or red dot scope. I have iron sights and non magnifying green dot MRO.

 

[3MTA3]

For home defense keep it simple. A good sling, a light and either iron sites and some sort of green dot or red dot scope. I have iron sights and non magnifying green dot MRO.

I'll also add that if a home defense gun gets used that IF you see it again it will likely be a long time. That makes a case for an inexpensive (cost) but not cheap (quality) as they are more easily replaceable. The Ruger AR556 and the M&P Sport are great examples of that. I think you can achieve that with a PSA, but avoid their "Freedom" series as those are their lowest cost and lowest quality items.

The heart of an AR is the bolt and barrel. Make sure that both are reliable. Not all bolts are created equal. The better (not all) PSA bolts are made by Toolcraft, but you still need to know the details - like were the parts shot peened and fully tested and what materials were used, etc..

Really all depends on if it's a plinker, varmint/predator control, personal defense or all out SHTF weapon.

The soul of an AR is it's trigger. Sometimes a factory Mil Spec is good to go, but if not PSA has an inexpensive polished one that's very close to the ALG ACT on a nice budget price.

 

[titsonritz]

The better (not all) PSA bolts are made by Toolcraft, but you still need to know the details - like were the parts shot peened and fully tested and what materials were used, etc..

Toolcraft is the whores of the BCG industry at will build to anyone's specs, so don't assume because it is made by Toolcraft it is a quality product, some are...some are not.

 

[3MTA3]

Toolcraft is the whores of the BCG industry at will build to anyone's specs, so don't assume because it is made by Toolcraft it is a quality product, some are...some are not.

Agreed, which is why I mentioned you need to know those details.

 

[titsonritz]

Agreed, which is why I mentioned you need to know those details.

I just keep it simple and don't buy any.
The BCGs I have are BCM, Colt, SIONICS and SOLGW...I know there are other quality ones out there but I don't see any reason to expand my horizons here.

My one and only PSA I bought for the purpose of building a cut-away.

 

[aksu747]

If you want go for it, personally I wouldn't though.
My reason's being that I already know what I want in an AR15 at that simply doesn't exist at the $500 price point.
I ended up getting S&W VTAC II, because it was a deal I couldn't pass up on much cheaper than msrp,came with surefire flashlight, Troy Battle Sights, magpul bad lever, and a great geissele trigger which is almost as good as a 1911 trigger.(that trigger really sold me on it)

 

[Rkangel]

It will depend on the manufacturer. What brand are you looking at? Don't let price be your only criteria. Some budget ARs are great. Others suck. But the same can be said for more expensive brands, which is why building your own can be a valid option.

 

[Tony617]

Toolcraft is the whores of the BCG industry at will build to anyone's specs, so don't assume because it is made by Toolcraft it is a quality product, some are...some are not.

I admit to owning a few Toolcraft BCGs and I will use them as spares. I did put one in one AR and it has about 400 rounds though it. I am not saying it is good or bad but it just works and it does not cost as much as BCM or other higher quality BCGs. My primary AR has a BCM BCG and I have only had to replace the gas rings so far.

 

[s1xty7]

I've been avoiding this thread because its one of those things a lot of people have strong opinions about but it's the internet and I only have so much restraint.

First, I'm not an AR guy really. The ones I have work fine and are boringly reliable and more expensive than I care to feed on a regular basis, but I keep them around because they are like the Chevy pickup of the gun world and, honestly, because the government keeps threatening to take them away. If you can afford to invest the $500 on one, I'd say it's worthwhile to have around, but I'd also recommend picking up some common maintenance items and plenty of magazines to have on hand (and ammo). It's not likely to lose money in the long run and there is no shortage of compatible parts even if all manufacturers stopped making new items for them today. It's also not likely to make you any money, although there have been times their cost has skyrocketed, but there are so many out there it would be difficult to create a shortage except if nobody wanted to sell theirs and you couldn't buy them directly anymore. It also means the Gucci ARs will have a harder time getting the money out of them than cheap ARs.

As for what I'd buy, the AR platform is like the Legos of the gun world. You can get one in a million different configurations and change all the parts around however you want. My first one, I figured I'd do right (note, all of mine are based on Anderson lowers - aka "Poverty Ponies" - so judge me how you see fit) so I got a lower that met the required specifications and shopped around for a quality lower parts kit, decent trigger, furniture I was happy with, a higher end upper, and decent optics. Thing shoots great and is exactly what I had in mind to begin with but is at least three or four times other ARs I have built that function nearly identically. For $500, you can shop around for a deal on a spec lower (still haven't had a single issue with an Anderson lower) and get the rest in a kit from PSA (personally, I'd do a 5.56 10.5" pistol kit due to sound/flash or a 16" rifle kit). I recommend one of their kits with a slightly better trigger (EPT I think they call their "better" trigger) and some slightly better furniture (Magpul MOE is usually a decent baseline) with an MLOK handguard (seems to be more MLOK stuff than other accessory systems). Slap on a set of Magpul BUIS (back-up iron sights; can be found on sale for $50 - $75) maybe with a co-witness reddot like a TRS-25 (on sale for $50 - $75 frequently) and a cheapie sling. Add mags (I've had great luck with PMAGs) and you'll be sitting around $500 to $600 for a gun that will likely do everything you need to do and is compatible with nearly any upgrades or replacement parts from nearly anywhere. Similarly, you could skip all that and start with a Ruger AR556 or M&P Sport, but you might spend a little more if you buy one of those and you get more familiarity with the platform if you go the other route.

TL;DR: If you can afford one, I don't think you'll regret having it. I'd stick with the cheaper ones but be smart about what "cheaper" means. If you decide to sell later, you'll have a harder time getting the money back out of a more expensive AR.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Re inexpensive complete ARs, the cheapest I've seen lately was at Kentucky gun co that had Anderson brand for $384. Palmetto state armory always seems to have cheap ones. I have a DB15 which is cheap and has all magpul furniture/stock and it has been excellent (fwiw, I'm not saying it's better or worse than any other). I don't watch AR prices much (I prefer piston driven like stoner's AR-180 variants that don't have a buffer). S&W m&P and Ruger seem to be popular budget AR options from what I've seen. Here are some on sale locally at Nw armory fwiw:

 

[Rkangel]

Toolcraft is the whores of the BCG industry at will build to anyone's specs, so don't assume because it is made by Toolcraft it is a quality product, some are...some are not.

True, but the same can also be said about Microbest, AO Precision, Azimuth or any of the other manufacturers who private label for other companies. They all will build to their client's specs and requirements.

 

[titsonritz]

True, but the same can also be said about Microbest, AO Precision, Azimuth or any of the other manufacturers who private label for other companies. They all will build to their client's specs and requirements.

Which is why I buy the ones I buy, I know how they are spec'd.

 

[Aero Denezol]

@Starslinger Short answer, yes buy one. If you're an AK guy my guess is your not sitting on a bench with NF scope and a free floated barrel trying to shoot groups. Unless you're doing pushups with your guns or throwing them in a pond or whatever nonsense they do on YouTube a cheap(er) AR will function perfectly fine for 99% of all applications. The one upgrade, which others have suggested, might be an improved trigger.

1. technique, 2., quality ammo, 3., and gun, in that order.

 

[bbbass]

I built two ARs.

1. My first was intended to be used for varminting. I bought a high quality bare lower for $110, put in a drop in 3lb trigger (butter smooth pull and a glass break), a rifle length gas system for smoothness and reliability, an 18.5" stainless barrel (spiral fluted to reduce harmonics). And kept the bolt lubed and cleaned religiously. It has a muzzle break tho with .223 one is hardly needed, it did help me stay on distant woodchucks after the shot. Used a 4-20x scope cuz my eyes are bad. I was able to get 2" groups with factory ammo, a little bigger with military. Then I hand loaded various recipes and was able to get a dime sized 5-shot group.

2. A cheap bare lower, a cheapo lower parts kit including a mil-spec trigger, a cheek brace, and a 10.5" barrel. The cheap trigger was a long gritty 10lb pull with several hangups hard enough to pause the pull, and a mushy break. I hate bad triggers, even in a plinker or HD gun... so I put a polished ALG-ACT trigger in, which is a polished mil-spec trigger. It's not a fab trigger for target shooting, but it's smooth w/no hiccups and it has a clean break. I did put some JP Enterprises springs in it and now have a 5lb pull. I put a red/green reflex optic on it and 45deg offset sights just in case of an optic failure. It's a bedroom gun and a plinker that worked well in 2-gun competition where the stages were short (Pistol bay matches with 25yds or less). (I've had 3-gun matches with 1yd to 150yd shots.