~$2K budget for good AR. Suggestions?

[Hohn]

I'm a big fan of Daniel Defense, so for your budget, get one and throw an Aimpoint or trijicon MRO on it and you'll be set. JMO

Very pleased with mine, and my gun budget doesn't allow for multiple rifles at present.

Mine is 18.5" rifle length. DDm4V11 Pro, with Giessele Super Dynamic 3-gun (whew, that's a mouthful).

Here's a couple vidjas of the inaugural outing this weekend. Note that there is ZERO muzzle rise. Recoil, to the extent there is any, is a laser-like straight line right back at you. Never moves off target. I'm the nerd at top, buddy is the nerd on bottom.

[video=youtube_share;J0NnJOUATrA]http://youtu.be/J0NnJOUATrA[/video]

[video=youtube_share;qiGwxGnIQEY]http://youtu.be/qiGwxGnIQEY[/video]

 

[Psode27]

I'd spend good money on a quality 1000 dollar rifle, a nice optic and support equipment. I'd look at BCM first probably. But as said before, it depends what purpose you're gonna use the rifle for.
Maybe leave 200 aside for a tax stamp for SBR, or build a nice rifle for 700ish, and pick up a suppressor with the rest of it.

 

[youngda9]

I build my own AR's, so I take and happily accept responsibility for accuracy, reliability, QA/QC, and support. That said, my goal is to build myself BCM/DD/Noveske level rifles. But many people prefer to buy complete rifles, and the OP appears to fall in that category. He might be able to buy a $700 rifle from (as an example) PSA that is reliable and accurate if he does his due diligence (PSA, PSA Premium, P-Tac, etc.) and waits for a sale, but he'll never get BCM-grade support from PSA... it's just not what they do. I have a 12" PSA barrel that I'm very happy with, but it's FN hammer forged "machine gun" steel which is an entirely different animal from their P-Tac line of barrels.

So you have enough ability, knowledge, and competence to build your own rifle. You realize that you can get the same level of performance for MUCH less money. Yet you think it's worth it to spend many hundreds of dollars for "support" from the seller? I find that to be a very odd justification to blow your money. If it is done wrong, PSA will make it right...any reputable vendor will do so.

 

[NyleRN]

So you have enough ability, knowledge, and competence to build your own rifle. You realize that you can get the same level of performance for MUCH less money. Yet you think it's worth it to spend many hundreds of dollars for "support" from the seller? I find that to be a very odd justification to blow your money. If it is done wrong, PSA will make it right...any reputable vendor will do so.

You get what you pay for. Quality doesn't cost, it pays. I'm pretty sure your $700 AR won't print consistent 1/2 MOA groups like my $2k precision build will. But I will agree with you that there's some boutique rifles out there that are overpriced

 

[sloughfoot]

You get what you pay for. Quality doesn't cost, it pays. I'm pretty sure your $700 AR won't print consistent 1/2 MOA groups like my $2k precision build will. But I will agree with you that there's some boutique rifles out there that are overpriced

My "cheap" AR's will. Over an entire season or two of high power matches. How about first match rifle at the state championships. How about consistent cleans with high X counts in the 200 and 300 Rapids. Nothing special AR rifles. More than one. A decent barrel is all that is needed for great accuracy from the AR. You don't have to spend a lot of money.

 

[sig1473]

 

[bmbutch]

It really boils down to what you are happy with. If you are happy with your $700 AR, Awesome, if you are happy with your $2,500 AR, Awesome! I quit worrying what other people think, just drove me batty.

For me, I like my BCM, Spikes (Yep), & Daniel Defense, as well as my bmbutch customs, & I'm happy with that!

 

[midget]

Another option is to do something like this:
Get a decent lower, with a decent trigger (I prefer the NM 2 stage)
Then buy an upper like this: White Oak Armament

I use the WOA SPR 1/8 barrel and can consistently put up .6moa groups with factory 55gr vmax ammo.

This would put your in well under your budget, and still out preform the rifles in that price range.

 

[USMC-Johnson]

FNH 15 tactical with the optic of your choice and you still have money left over for lunch.

 

[KG1]

Get yourself something with a good barrel, bcg and trigger. You can have a great rifle without spending 2 G's. You also don't need to spend $600 on upper and lower receivers to accomplish that either.

 

[Double T]

You get what you pay for. Quality doesn't cost, it pays. I'm pretty sure your $700 AR won't print consistent 1/2 MOA groups like my $2k precision build will. But I will agree with you that there's some boutique rifles out there that are overpriced

1/2 MOA? In what 3 shot groups? /sarcasm

I went out sighting in my PSA upper with a 3MOA dot after free floating the barrel, and shot a 2 MOA 5 shot group...again. I'm sure I could get under 1 MOA if I ran a scope, but that's not my intended use for the rifle. With wolf gold, my upper prints 1" groups at 50 with a 3 MOA dot on a bag against my shoulder.

Saying "quality pays" and speaking about paying for a person to put parts together for you is kind of asinine. You can pay 2k for a really custom factory build, or you can DIY with quality parts for a fraction of the cost. I mean seriously, you could buy the best of every single pin and part and still be under cost for quite a few factory guns.

 

[midget]

1/2 MOA? In what 3 shot groups? /sarcasm

I went out sighting in my PSA upper with a 3MOA dot after free floating the barrel, and shot a 2 MOA 5 shot group...again. I'm sure I could get under 1 MOA if I ran a scope, but that's not my intended use for the rifle. With wolf gold, my upper prints 1" groups at 50 with a 3 MOA dot on a bag against my shoulder.

Saying "quality pays" and speaking about paying for a person to put parts together for you is kind of asinine. You can pay 2k for a really custom factory build, or you can DIY with quality parts for a fraction of the cost. I mean seriously, you could buy the best of every single pin and part and still be under cost for quite a few factory guns.

It completely depends on what you classify as the "best" of each part.

 

[mammynun]

I got the impression that the OP wanted to buy a rifle, not build one. The OP has an upper limit of $2k, not including optics. To that end, I recommended that he consider a BCM with the chrome lined, hammer forged barrel. I could have recommended a less or more expensive option, but IMO the slope of diminishing returns generally starts to curve sharply at BCM when discussing factory built AR's. Others see the curve changing lower down the price axis, others see it higher. I see it at BCM.

That the OP wants to buy vs build was critical to my recommendation; it signaled to me that he is probably not comfortable changing barrels/handguards/etc. As well as having earned a reputation for high quality, BCM offers the largest array of pre-built uppers that I'm aware of... which would allow the OP to choose the style of upper that he likes best right from the start. No wrench turning required, and the OP would have to select all the most expensive options to approach $2k.

If I were building myself a 5.56 AR with a $2k limit, the only BCM products that would be a "must have" is their BCG and Mod 0 grip... and possibly their LPK since you can get it w/o a trigger and all my AR's get Geissele SSA-E's. Depending on the AR's purpose I might go with a BCM chrome lined hammer forged barrel. Or I might select an FN made barrel from PSA. Or a SS Lilja. Or a one of the Rainier's. But I'm building for a purpose, not buying a general purpose AR.

 

[indiucky]

I got the impression that the OP wanted to buy a rifle, not build one. The OP has an upper limit of $2k, not including optics. To that end, I recommended that he consider a BCM with the chrome lined, hammer forged barrel. I could have recommended a less or more expensive option, but IMO the slope of diminishing returns generally starts to curve sharply at BCM when discussing factory built AR's. Others see the curve changing lower down the price axis, others see it higher. I see it at BCM.

That the OP wants to buy vs build was critical to my recommendation; it signaled to me that he is probably not comfortable changing barrels/handguards/etc. As well as having earned a reputation for high quality, BCM offers the largest array of pre-built uppers that I'm aware of... which would allow the OP to choose the style of upper that he likes best right from the start. No wrench turning required, and the OP would have to select all the most expensive options to approach $2k.

If I were building myself a 5.56 AR with a $2k limit, the only BCM products that would be a "must have" is their BCG and Mod 0 grip... and possibly their LPK since you can get it w/o a trigger and all my AR's get Geissele SSA-E's. Depending on the AR's purpose I might go with a BCM chrome lined hammer forged barrel. Or I might select an FN made barrel from PSA. Or a SS Lilja. Or a one of the Rainier's. But I'm building for a purpose, not buying a general purpose AR.

I don't always buy AR 15's....But when I do I listen to this guy...

 

[Leo]

My "cheap" AR's will. Over an entire season or two of high power matches. How about first match rifle at the state championships. How about consistent cleans with high X counts in the 200 and 300 Rapids. Nothing special AR rifles. More than one. A decent barrel is all that is needed for great accuracy from the AR. You don't have to spend a lot of money.

I can vouch for this post. I have seen sloughfoot perform in person, multiple times. We both have logged 10's of thousands of rounds in registered competition over many years, in several States. (btw, these are iron sighted rifles, so a wiz bang scope is not part of the equation) I was shooting a bolt action, and his scores with service rifle were good enough to make me nervous, I am glad I was out of state by the time he was shooting a match classification rifle. A top barrel makes the accuracy, IF you are shooting quality bullets. A top barrel shooting poor or marginal bullets will not give the desired results. $450 for a Krieger barrel, whatever good trigger you like, stuffed in any brand float tube AR hardware will give you a rig that will not hold you back, and take you into the National Championships if the trigger man is up to snuff. A great 3 shot group will not guarantee a win. Being consistent for 88 shots is the ticket, or 176 shots for a weekend match.

I know that people like "tactical" trim and accessories, and are willing to pay big money for it. That is good stuff for those that like it. None of the specific purpose design components and expense really have any effect on ultimate basic precision. Personally I do not spend money for the "name" AR assemblers. But this is America, if someone likes to trade with a particular company, that is great, even patriotic. This hobby is not like IROC racing, differences are part of the enjoyment.

 

[sig1473]

This thread has strayed so far from it's original course but that is not surprising since that seems to be the common theme on INGO. OP states he wants a carbine that he can become proficient with training and is maybe interested in a properly assembled factory upper/lower that possibly could be of Midlength variety. Now the discussion has veered into precision rigs and shooting Xs

OP, go with your gut and get the BCM Midlength. BCM will stand behind their product unlike other companies who slap together ARs with canted FSBs, red loctite their barrel nuts and receiver extensions, or use lesser grade commercial receiver extensions. As always YMMV

 

[NyleRN]

1/2 MOA? In what 3 shot groups? /sarcasm

Dang man, gimme a little credit... Actually just a 5 shot group

 

[Leo]

Good shooting NyleRN!

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I'm looking to get better with a carbine (not like I could get much worse!) and don't love the two 1990-91 Colts I have. ...one is a 20" and the carbine is in 7.62x39.

We are drowning in quality AR choices--Colt/LWRC, DD, BCM, Noveske, Les Baer, LMT, Wilson . . . I can go on all day.

The best advice you have been given is from BBI. Take your Colts, sell them, buy, say a Smith & Wesson, mags, ammo, maybe a middle drawer optic, and go to school.

Allow your software to select your hardware. The choice of the educated will be distinct from those uneducated.

School first, gun last.

 

[seedubs1]

My last build used a Larue barrel, Geissele sd-e trigger, and a Noveske BCG. It was under $1k to build.

OP, if you're just needing a reliable rifle, go colt, LMT, Noveske, BCM, or DD for a factory built gun under your budget. If you want to piece it together, your options are endless.

And my advice would be to stick with direct impingement. They're reliable and easy to get parts. The piston guns have too many proprietary parts.

It completely depends on what you classify as the "best" of each part.