New to ARs, looking for suggestions

[Brutus57]

I'd suggest, for a newbe to buy a complete upper, PSA or other, buy a stripped lower - some are sold with a lower parts kit (LPK) and assemble the lower with basic tools - whereas assembling the upper needs stuff 3MTA3 listed. +1 on the ALG trigger, well worth the modest price bump.

ALG is a very nice trigger, especially for the money. My built/Assembled AR has an Aero stripped lower with an ALG trigger and BCM complete upper. I also have a PSA complete lower on one as well...their stock trigger is, well, it works, but pretty gritty. SHooting is will smooth out some I have seen.

I'd still recommend the Ruger in the box for the money. Then if you like ARs you can look at building your own. After swapping any items you want to out on your Ruger while learning the platform.

Brutus Out

 

[Alaska338]

My first issued M16 was a jammomatic. I was DQ'd twice, first was the city boy next to me shot my target, DI didn't care I had extra holes in a shotgun pattern all over my target with my shots grouped together and he had none in his target, the other time was feeding issues. M16 #2 better but still had some feeding issues but I did qualify marksman. Deployed to the land of kitty litter, fresh Colt. No problems with it but I was always leery of M16s, we were trained to run them wet and clean them all the time, I do believe all this cleaning and dripping lube gave feeding issues with all the unnecessary cleaning wear, daily scrubbing and all the oil collected grit. I finally broke down and purchased an AR. Things have changed. I can run mine dry with never a hiccup. The only failure I had was a glob of factory grease on the firing pin shooting in single digit cold had some light primer strikes, easy fix. I have went months and 1000s of rounds between cleaning, only had that 1 failure. I prefer grease on my BCG, Super Lube is what I use applied with an acid brush in a very thin layer. For my milspec triggers a single drop of synthetic oil.

Any standard AR 556 will work. Higher ends tend to be proprietary. Do not get caught up in manufactures. All of them have their QC issues now and then. I suggest find what you want, purchase it, add a sight, flashlight and use all money saved for ammo to practice and run drills, the very most important aspect of home protection!!

BUIS sights is a personal experience, I prefer them. I have had most electronic sights go south, never had an ACOG go south, you can drop it off the back of a truck, run over it, stays zero and works. I have a MCO right now I really like due to the field of view, simple, light with both hand operation. SRS I like too but they need to add a fiber optic instead of the photo cell. Aimpoint red dot sights give the tube effect, I do not prefer their field of view tube but they are top shelf sights, mine performed superb. EoTech I have had 2 go south but prefer their field of few, reticle not so much either. I prefer a 2 moa dot, works in close and will not cover much of the target a longer ranges.

Do not worry about over penetration of 556 round.

 

[AMProducts]

My first issued M16 was a jammomatic. I was DQ'd twice, first was the city boy next to me shot my target, DI didn't care I had extra holes in a shotgun pattern all over my target with my shots grouped together and he had none in his target, the other time was feeding issues. M16 #2 better but still had some feeding issues but I did qualify marksman. Deployed to the land of kitty litter, fresh Colt. No problems with it but I was always leery of M16s, we were trained to run them wet and clean them all the time, I do believe all this cleaning and dripping lube gave feeding issues with all the unnecessary cleaning wear, daily scrubbing and all the oil collected grit. I finally broke down and purchased an AR. Things have changed. I can run mine dry with never a hiccup. The only failure I had was a glob of factory grease on the firing pin shooting in single digit cold had some light primer strikes, easy fix. I have went months and 1000s of rounds between cleaning, only had that 1 failure. I prefer grease on my BCG, Super Lube is what I use applied with an acid brush in a very thin layer. For my milspec triggers a single drop of synthetic oil.

Any standard AR 556 will work. Higher ends tend to be proprietary. Do not get caught up in manufactures. All of them have their QC issues now and then. I suggest find what you want, purchase it, add a sight, flashlight and use all money saved for ammo to practice and run drills, the very most important aspect of home protection!!

BUIS sights is a personal experience, I prefer them. I have had most electronic sights go south, never had an ACOG go south, you can drop it off the back of a truck, run over it, stays zero and works. I have a MCO right now I really like due to the field of view, simple, light with both hand operation. SRS I like too but they need to add a fiber optic instead of the photo cell. Aimpoint red dot sights give the tube effect, I do not prefer their field of view tube but they are top shelf sights, mine performed superb. EoTech I have had 2 go south but prefer their field of few, reticle not so much either. I prefer a 2 moa dot, works in close and will not cover much of the target a longer ranges.

Do not worry about over penetration of 556 round.

I will definitely agree with most of your observations here. The "wet" thing for the AR is really for people who have nothing better than CLP for maintaining the firearm. I've largely gone over to the synthetic greases (froglube is probably the best example) if you apply it to the BCG selectively, near the carrier key, and then on the two raised portions on the bottom it really solves most of the shortcomings of both running dry and running wet.

Really, the only time you wanna run a gun wet is if you're shooting a lot of rounds, and just need the gun to keep running right now. However, I've also had PD's that ran the gun "wet" and by wet, I mean covered in motor oil which caused all kinds of problems.

Dry guns generally do run, however as the round count gets higher these guns get less reliable. Last few years at shot-show range day, we end up next to robar. They have these plastic upper/lower sets they bring out and run a few thousand rounds through them, and towards the end of the day, they start breaking down. A shot or two of rem-oil or application of a little bit of "Montana X-Treme Gun Grease" (which western powder gives away little sample bottles of at SHOT every year, I fill my goodie bag up with 2-tubes pretty much lasts all year), and the guns are back in action. I prefer a dry gun over a wet gun (nothing like getting a bunch of CLP in your eye every time you shoot).

Kinda curious, which one is the MCO?

I'm slowly coming over to magnified optics, I would love to put an ACOG on the top, but good lord. At the moment I've got a Nikon P-223 3x (it's got good optics, but it's not illuminated, and finding a mount for it took me almost a year, as such I don't recommend it).

I have spent a lot of time shooting with iron sights, which are great for shooting during the day, but as I've done more and more night shooting the use of iron sights is pretty much a non-starter. Reflex and dot sights are good for <50yards, but once distance grows, it's hard to beat a scope, regardless of lighting conditions. Also scopes will gather more light from your weapon light and aid greatly in target id.

 

[Alaska338]

Wet M16 came from the armorer during training both basic and deployed, not mine. Cleaning and scrubbing too. To this day I believe this was one of the causes for failures. And many were worn out. Cleaning and scrubbing to hear, filthy, strip and clean it again. I am a firm believer that shooters over clean and over lube their firearms.

I explained my wet M16 to manufactures and they got a good laugh, run it with less lube or even dry. Basically saying their ARs can be operated dry if I choose but they did say light lube was recommended. The AR I just safe queened, went 2 years with rounds down range with nothing more than a boresnake / rip cord pulled down the tube once in awhile. The only single failure was when it was newer and the glob of grease on the pin.

I have 1-4x, not a fan. Yep call me stupid but I left in at 4x, picked it up to run a drill in the house, not good if I was in harms way during high stress. Yes I understand instinct shooting its just that I like simple. I believe these low power optics recommendations are coming from 3 gunners which I am sure they perform better than most.

Typo., Tijicon MRO is on my current go to AR. With a 2 moa dot, I can keep heads down out a long way. We used EoTech 512 to approx 440 yards on a minute of man target with approx 60% hits, mine gave up the ghost one day during training plus it ate AA batteries like a kid with candy.

I believe using iron sights is becoming a lost skill. All my grandsons are starting on basic open iron sights before moving on.

I am not a Ranger Delta SEAL Combat Controller Secret Squirrel Massad operator, I do know a few if that counts, I just like running drills Vs sitting stationary on a bench punching holes in paper at 100 yards, boring drills are more fun and useful when Red Dawn happens.

 

[bbbass]

Not being contrary, but I prefer CLP over the marine grease that was recommended to me. I had so many FTF and FTE that I had to go home, clean the crud off the BCG (it wasn't easy to remove), and relube it with a light lube. I might try some Tetra flouropolymer gun grease in the right places, but when I gave a PSA build to my daughter I said just use CLP since I'm not there to explain where to put gun greaze.

 

[ChaoticReason]

Just off of what 3MTA3 said about a Torque wrench- I'd suggest 1 in foot lbs and a second in inch lbs, if you don't have them already. (And I also suggest not to get one from Harbor Freight)

 

[Daniel Garris]

As a first time buyer I whole heartedly recommend buying a model that has a an a2 front sight, whether that's a m4 configuration or mid length configuration. Here is my reasons, most of the time the average guy doesn't have the coin to drop on a rifle and a nice optic so he will be running irons for a while and nothing beats the ruggedness of the front sight post, second is cost, the freefloat stuff is high speed and cool but your looking at 150-200 dollars extra on top of a rail for sights to even use the rifle, so I say wait on the free float until you are ready budget wise to finish her up. Second thing to consider is what are you getting for your money? What kind of materialsre being used and what purpose is your rifle for? Many folks need a rifle like this to fill multiple roles, home defense, hunting pests, trail gun, defensive tactical carbine etc, and the beautiful thing about the ar15 is it can cover all of those. My biggest word of advice is you are better off with a bone stock mil spec grade rifle than a wiz bang piece of bubblegum or comercial grade rifle, and with the way the market is there is no reason not to buy mil spec, the parts are tougher they last longer and these done seem to be much more. So let's get to meat and potatoes, if you are buying a factory rifle my first and biggest recommendation is always gunna be a Colt 6920, these can be had for around the 900 mark and they are a full mil spec gun almost exactly the same as what our troops carry. And honestly after that I don't really have a complete rifle I'd recommend, but what I do recommend Is complete uppers and lowers that can be slapped together at home. PSA has each flavor you could want and their premium uppers use cold hammer forged mil spec FN barrels, and mil spec bolts, slap one of there mil spec lowers on it and in my opinion you are way ahead of a saint it terms of longevity and ruggedness, for their prices they second to none. After that the one company that provide absolute tier one quality, reliability, and ruggedness is BCM, there pieces have crept up over the years because of that reputation but if you get your self a cheaper complete mil spec lower from somewhere else you can offset the cost of the bcm upper, a complete bcm upper is my absolute number one recommendation for professional grade weaponry and the reason it stands above psa even when they have the same quality material wise is quality control period, 9/10 rifle from psa will run 100% but 10/10 rifle from bcm will run, they are meticulous in their craftsmanship. Finally is ifnyou are a Springfield guy and that's what your set on I think the Saint will probably serve you well, my personal opinion is it's too expensive for what you get, but I imagine it wouldn't fill the role you need it for without a problem, but I'd also check out areos offering in that exact same configuration that's not only cheaper but aero has been building rifles for a while so any bugs have already been wokeded out. I hope this helped, I own many flavors of ar15, if you have anymore questions ask away.

 

[Brutus57]

View attachment 355718 View attachment 355719 View attachment 355720 View attachment 355721 As a first time buyer I whole heartedly recommend buying a model that has a an a2 front sight, whether that's a m4 configuration or mid length configuration. Here is my reasons, most of the time the average guy doesn't have the coin to drop on a rifle and a nice optic so he will be running irons for a while and nothing beats the ruggedness of the front sight post, second is cost, the freefloat stuff is high speed and cool but your looking at 150-200 dollars extra on top of a rail for sights to even use the rifle, so I say wait on the free float until you are ready budget wise to finish her up. Second thing to consider is what are you getting for your money? What kind of materialsre being used and what purpose is your rifle for? Many folks need a rifle like this to fill multiple roles, home defense, hunting pests, trail gun, defensive tactical carbine etc, and the beautiful thing about the ar15 is it can cover all of those. My biggest word of advice is you are better off with a bone stock mil spec grade rifle than a wiz bang piece of bubblegum or comercial grade rifle, and with the way the market is there is no reason not to buy mil spec, the parts are tougher they last longer and these done seem to be much more. So let's get to meat and potatoes, if you are buying a factory rifle my first and biggest recommendation is always gunna be a Colt 6920, these can be had for around the 900 mark and they are a full mil spec gun almost exactly the same as what our troops carry. And honestly after that I don't really have a complete rifle I'd recommend, but what I do recommend Is complete uppers and lowers that can be slapped together at home. PSA has each flavor you could want and their premium uppers use cold hammer forged mil spec FN barrels, and mil spec bolts, slap one of there mil spec lowers on it and in my opinion you are way ahead of a saint it terms of longevity and ruggedness, for their prices they second to none. After that the one company that provide absolute tier one quality, reliability, and ruggedness is BCM, there pieces have crept up over the years because of that reputation but if you get your self a cheaper complete mil spec lower from somewhere else you can offset the cost of the bcm upper, a complete bcm upper is my absolute number one recommendation for professional grade weaponry and the reason it stands above psa even when they have the same quality material wise is quality control period, 9/10 rifle from psa will run 100% but 10/10 rifle from bcm will run, they are meticulous in their craftsmanship. Finally is ifnyou are a Springfield guy and that's what your set on I think the Saint will probably serve you well, my personal opinion is it's too expensive for what you get, but I imagine it wouldn't fill the role you need it for without a problem, but I'd also check out areos offering in that exact same configuration that's not only cheaper but aero has been building rifles for a while so any bugs have already been wokeded out. I hope this helped, I own many flavors of ar15, if you have anymore questions ask away.

I agree with BCM being outstanding quality, I really like my middie gas HBAR M4 length complete upper. Their fit and finish is so good, Even with grinding I and my former Marine Rifle Team buddy haven't found the welded pin that holds the A2 flash hider in place! So, I am punting and it's the local GS to remove it for $50.00 and a legal brake on it for Kommiefornia.

Brutus Out

 

[Mr Smith]

Maybe I'm just weird, but I disagree with first timers not building the complete rifle. Best way to learn every part of the rifle is to build the COMPLETE rifle and have the tools on hand necessary to assemble/disassemble the rifle should you have any issues with it.

You will become intimately familiar with the rifle and its workings and you won't be scared to take it apart if you built the entire thing.

Just my opinion... I built mine 100% from individual parts. Did I make mistakes along the way? yes I did, but nothing too serious...just mushroomed a roll pin on the forward assist because I didn't buy the roll pin punches at the time and I learned my lesson!

Because I built my own though, I know every single part of that rifle and how it goes together/comes apart, and where to get replacement parts if needed.

It's first 2 rounds didn't feed flawlessly, but that was just break in of the feed ramps. after the first 2 rounds, it fed perfectly every time and have never had a fail to feed/fire/eject since. Rifle runs flawlessly and is an absolute tack driver. I would trust my life with it.

 

[JohnFay]

Hi All,

Never thought I would go to the "dark side" and look at black rifles, but have started to change my mind. In my current situation, I think an AR carbine is the best option for home defense. One reason is that my girlfriend had never shot a gun up until recently. The only thing she has shot so far is a Marlin Model 70 .22, and getting her comfortable with an AR seems a lot easier than getting her up to speed with a handgun and is much less intimidating than my 12 gauge.

I've been researching quite a bit lately and am liking the Springfield Armory Saint. I know there are cheaper entry level options, but I'm partial to Springfield Armory and like some of the upgrades for that price point. The BCM furniture, nickel boron trigger, melonite barrel and some other options seem really solid.

I've also started considering upgrades to the my new prospective rifle. Starting with a red dot sight, BCM gunfighter charging handle and probably ending with removal of the A-frame sight and addition of a full length rail.

I went into SafeFire a couple days ago to see what they had and looked at the Rogue Defense AR, with Magpul furniture, looks like it's about $100 cheaper than what I can find the Saint for.

So my question is... Should I go for the Saint? Or look at something cheaper (Rogue Defense, Anderson Arms, S&W, etc)?

Thanks and sorry for the essay

I appreciate you having done some research already, however I would like to put my $0.02 in. Buy an LWRC IC in any of it's variants. I own 3 of them and can testify that they are hands down (In my less than humble opinion) one of the very best AR's on the planet. More expensive? Certainly! But you know what? You never quit paying for cheap!
If the LWRC is just too spendy for you then go for a POF as a very good runner up. Piston guns are (Remember I'm not humble?) better than DI in my opinion and all of the LW's that I own have run flawlessly with many thousands of rounds through them. Even with my suppressor they function without failures that seem somewhat more common with lesser AR's. Sure I'm a Fan Boy of them. But that came about through research, exposure, ownership and experience with the platform. I have shot quite a few other AR's (Daniel Defense, S&W, Colt, H&K, Lewis Machine and others) and still to me there is no comparison to the Individual Carbine from LWRC. Yes I changed put a Tac-Con trigger in one for enhanced feel for my one of my guns, but that was for personal preference, not for any perceived issues with the stock unit.
So there you have it. Just ones mans opinion for whatever that's worth.

 

[pigiron]

Get her one of these.

Inland Manufacturing M1 1945 Carbine

 

[JohnFay]

Get her one of these.

Inland Manufacturing M1 1945 Carbine

I actually have an Inland M1 Paratrooper made in 1943 and issued to the Marine Corps.

 

[pigiron]

I actually have an Inland M1 Paratrooper made in 1943 and issued to the Marine Corps.

I preferred it to the M16 at least if you don't need full auto which should be just fine for a woman's home defense rifle. The insane complexity of the gas system on the Stoner platform with its sensitivity to ammo, barrel length, gas tube length, and those exhaust ports on the bolt carrier plus the ridiculous array of optics, stocks, and accessory rails is way too much for a weapon that should be reliable and handy. The woman in question might also consider a lever action in a lesser caliber like .357 if she is recoil averse.

The AR is on its way out. None of the services want it and it looks like the Marines are finally going to successfully push for the widespread adoption of the M-27 with its HK gas piston and op rod. The Army is still dragging its feet getting rid of the M-4 because of the cheap price they can buy them for. The whole thing has been a fiasco from the start and the Stoner system always comes in at the bottom of reliability tests when matched against other designs.

 

[Quartermaster]

View attachment 355718 View attachment 355721

 

[SmitKoWitz]

I've been beating the AR15/10 purchase about for 7 years or so. If I would've bought what I wanted back in the beginning, I would've saved about $500 on what that same weapon (if you can find it) goes for today. At about $1300 it seemed like a lot, so I began looking at other brands, S&W, COLT, then along came Ruger and of course there are a lot of other higher end brands too. Like Daniel Defense, POF, LWRC and the one I was looking at originally, LMT. I was kind of excited to hear about the Saint too, and then again about the Savage MSR line up. Well, I went out AR hunting (looking in stores and on-line) and handled the Saint and the only Savage MSR I could find. It was the MSR15-Recon, the one I was interested in. Ordered myself an MSR15-Recon. It has the Wylde barrel you spoke of, has a flip up front and rear sight, it has a full rail on an M-lock handguard and possibly a better trigger than the Saint, from what I've read. List price is $100 more. The things it has that you probably want to add to the Saint, they'll cost you over $100. Also, list price is not going price. I saw the Recon vary from $799 to $949. I was going to buy it at the $799 place, but I had a couple trades and I know they low ball you on trades and don't budge usually, not even by 5%. So I paid $849 but got what I actually calculated I wanted on my trades. When I got the total I said how about $50 more since you are $50 more than the other guys on the gun, and they agreed! They didn't lower the gun price, they increased my trade value. There are certainly plenty of choices out there. I didn't want to spend another $500 buying higher end parts to make the gun I wanted; that's why I initially thought about the LMT. Now I just have to make scope and red/green dot decisions and maybe a custom finish one day! PS: I decided against an AR10 because I will use this mostly for sport/fun and home defense. I already have a .308 Savage bolt action.

 

[NW_bang_bang]

Hahahahaha... Well, I did open up a bigger can of worms than I meant too. First I was thinking the Saint, then a PSA complete, then uppers and lowers and now five other things later... I really do appreciate all the insight and perspective. Tax return should be here shortly and then I can make my move.

I believe using iron sights is becoming a lost skill. All my grandsons are starting on basic open iron sights before moving on.

Almost all my experience has been with iron sights, to be honest I can't even remember the last time I shot using optics. For my purposes, I believe an optic will be my best bet. And as has been mentioned somewhere in here, optics aren't cheap, so I'll be using the iron sights for a bit.

After that the one company that provide absolute tier one quality, reliability, and ruggedness is BCM, there pieces have crept up over the years because of that reputation but if you get your self a cheaper complete mil spec lower from somewhere else you can offset the cost of the bcm upper, a complete bcm upper is my absolute number one recommendation for professional grade weaponry and the reason it stands above psa even when they have the same quality material wise is quality control period, 9/10 rifle from psa will run 100% but 10/10 rifle from bcm will run, they are meticulous in their craftsmanship. Finally is ifnyou are a Springfield guy and that's what your set on I think the Saint will probably serve you well, my personal opinion is it's too expensive for what you get, but I imagine it wouldn't fill the role you need it for without a problem, but I'd also check out areos offering in that exact same configuration that's not only cheaper but aero has been building rifles for a while so any bugs have already been wokeded out. I hope this helped, I own many flavors of ar15, if you have anymore questions ask away.

Lot's of good points here and some fine looking weaponry! I really do like the offerings from BCM and that is one of the reasons I liked the Saint with the BCM furniture, just from holding a few, I like the more vertical grip angle. A BCM upper with a mil spec lower might be just the ticket. Also, I've always believed you never buy the first model year of a new car... Never thought about how that would apply to a new model of rifle. Good point for sure though.

Maybe I'm just weird, but I disagree with first timers not building the complete rifle. Best way to learn every part of the rifle is to build the COMPLETE rifle and have the tools on hand necessary to assemble/disassemble the rifle should you have any issues with it.

You will become intimately familiar with the rifle and its workings and you won't be scared to take it apart if you built the entire thing.

I do agree with what you're saying and fully expect to build one (or 2, or 20...) at some point in the future. Throughout the years I've taken apart and put back together enough guns that I'm pretty confident I could do it. Plus with all the info, youtube videos and what not, it's probably not a huge deal. Still a little hesitant though. It's something to consider for sure. If I spread the cost out by buying parts over a period of time, I can probably get into something nicer too, even with the addition of buying all the tools.

So there you have it. Just ones mans opinion for whatever that's worth.

Thank you for the opinion, I appreciate it and definitely respect. If I could get into an LWRC, I would in a heart beat. Unfortunately at this point I just can't justify dropping that much coin right now.

Get her one of these.

Inland Manufacturing M1 1945 Carbine

I actually have an Inland M1 Paratrooper made in 1943 and issued to the Marine Corps.

I preferred it to the M16 at least if you don't need full auto which should be just fine for a woman's home defense rifle. The insane complexity of the gas system on the Stoner platform with its sensitivity to ammo, barrel length, gas tube length, and those exhaust ports on the bolt carrier plus the ridiculous array of optics, stocks, and accessory rails is way too much for a weapon that should be reliable and handy. The woman in question might also consider a lever action in a lesser caliber like .357 if she is recoil averse.

The AR is on its way out. None of the services want it and it looks like the Marines are finally going to successfully push for the widespread adoption of the M-27 with its HK gas piston and op rod. The Army is still dragging its feet getting rid of the M-4 because of the cheap price they can buy them for. The whole thing has been a fiasco from the start and the Stoner system always comes in at the bottom of reliability tests when matched against other designs.

One of my uncles recommended an M1 Carbine a while back not specifically for defense, but to get my girlfriend on something bigger than .22. I'd definitely like to have one and I have a bunch of .30 caliber bullet moulds for my .30-40 Krag (which I believe I could use to reload for .30 carbine too). However from the home defense aspect, I don't know if it's my best bet. I don't wanna go full tacticool with an AR, but I like having the option to easily mount a light and possibly a laser. Ultimately I could do it on a M1 carbine if I really wanted to, I just don't think I could bring myself to it. It's funny you also mentioned a lever action in .357, that's another caliber I have a bunch of moulds for and plan to get a Marlin Model 1894c and matching 1873 SA revolver. I wouldn't be comfortable using a lever gun for defense and definitely wouldn't wanna put one in her hands in that scenario.

The issues you've pointed out with the AR are a big part of why I've been so hesitant to get involved. However as the old saying goes "don't knock something till you try it." I've just got it give it a shot, for better or worse. Thank you for the thoughts.

II was kind of excited to hear about the Saint too, and then again about the Savage MSR line up. Well, I went out AR hunting (looking in stores and on-line) and handled the Saint and the only Savage MSR I could find. It was the MSR15-Recon, the one I was interested in. Ordered myself an MSR15-Recon.

I gave the Savages a quick look, but may need to look deeper. I've been impressed with a lot of their other stuff, so I'm guessing their MSRs are decent too.

Thanks again everyone! I've got a ton more to consider.

 

[MrMillspecer]

My experience with the AR platform includes Bushmaster, Spikes, Delton, Daniel Defense and White Oak and not one Jam-o-matic yet. My mini 14 was a POS in comparison to me. Not 556 rated and liked to split casings not reliable. The AR is a solid, reliable platform. Where's a 6-7 lb rifle that preforms as well as the AR ? Even now their still trying. It's the 1911 of rifles.

 

[pigiron]

It's the 1911 of rifles.

 

[American123]

Leupold Mark AR Mod 1 3-9 x 40mm Rifle Scope P5 Dial Mil-Dot Reticle 115390 115390

A quality 3x9 scope will allow you to engage targets near and far. I like Leupolds QRW rings and you'll probably want the "high" option for an AR. With the PSA deals I already posted and this scope your looking at a completed rifle with BUIS and scope for less than $1000 leaving you more budget for accessories like magazines, slings, rifle bags and ammo.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

ALG is a very nice trigger, especially for the money. My built/Assembled AR has an Aero stripped lower with an ALG trigger and BCM complete upper. I also have a PSA complete lower on one as well...their stock trigger is, well, it works, but pretty gritty. SHooting is will smooth out some I have seen.

I'd still recommend the Ruger in the box for the money. Then if you like ARs you can look at building your own. After swapping any items you want to out on your Ruger while learning the platform.

Brutus Out

How can I put this, but only with the newbie perspective I have. I guess I'm in the same boat as the op. I have many buddies that are tying to get me to purchase my first AR. I've been dragging my feet for a loooooooooooooong time. Now the prices are damn reasonable from what I can tell. I've been going to stores to handle them and have came to the conclusion that I really like the feel of the Ruger AR556. It's light and it just feels better in the hands than the others I've handled. I've felt some that were like tanks, some that felt like a poorly put together piece of steel, some that felt like a shovel, some that felt like I was holding/shouldering an 83 Toyota front driveline..... you get the picture. However, the Ruger felt good... From a newbies standpoint, building one is out of the question. I don't have the tools and don't know the first thing about putting an AR together. I'd buy the Ruger AR556 and add to it later as my experience and comfort level grew... That's just me though..