Best AR-15

Kurtz I am a lefty so I use stag. They are forged but nice. No complaints but there are some better made but more expensive. I will continue using stag for the lefty upper. Finish is nice. For the money it can't be beat.
 
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Built by me. Several different manufacturers.
 
My first two recommendations would
Be spikes or bravo co. You can get a good Ar i'n the high 6 to 700 dollar range not including optics. 1200 is a pretty tricked out gun. Building an Ar is fun. One of my builds was a no frills and it still cost the same if not a little more then spikes bottom priced AR which is a great rifle for
The money. It's not like your going to save any money and if you dont have access to the tools its more money you have to spend. I have a spikes billet upper and lower plus used one of their standard lower for another build. Their customer service is outstanding! They will go the extra mile
For a customer and their products are outstanding. They hold their manufactures to a higher standard for the products they have outsourced. I have heard good things about noveske. If I bought another bushy I'd make sure it wasn't made during the gun grab. for that part I think I'd make sure whatever completed Ar I built wasn't made during that time. Im amazed at the little things that have gone wrong with our dept Ar,s built during that time. I know they and most companies and parts suppliers were burning the midnight oil to churn out guns and parts which meant to slippage i'n qc. I love colt but that because of my time i'n the military using em but they are way overpriced.
 
there's a list out there of what manufacturers have "Tier 1" components, and what areas some makers skimp on. sorry, i can't find it at the moment.

some makers don't MPI the bolt or other parts. some don't stake the gas key properly (but that's easy to fix, just shows a lack of attention to detail) some only use "commercial" receiver extensions (buffer tubes) and not the mil spec size.

Spike's lowers are reportedly made by Aero Precision, who also makes 'em for Armalite (or at least that's the word on the grapevine)

Colt subs out a lot of stuff, they just have high QC, but you pay a ton for it... and they've had odd non standard "standards" in the past, like their larger FCG pins, the block in the lower, the oversize front pin, etc.

the vast majority of parts are interchangeable, however some companies offer an upper with a fixed A2 rear sight with a rail in front of it... cool idea, unless you want to mount a conventional scope, and then you're screwed.

i'd stay far, FAR away from Olympic arms. i've seen many of them with tight magwells from using dull broaches and out of spec lowers. a buddy had one that had the take down pins way out of spec, so it would onlly work with the upper it came with. not a huge deal, but this one came with an A2 upper and 24" barrel and he had planned to swap the A2 for a flat top and mount a scope to use it for a varmint gun. we couldn't do that, so he had to flip it.

i've got several mutts, most with Colt barrels, have a few Aero Precision lowers, one will get built with a Spike's upper in 5.45 for cheaper shooting in a few months (once the budget permits)

if you buy anything that's not a "complete firearm" (excluding sights, etc) you don't pay the 11% excise tax. so you can buy a complete lower, have ti shipped to your local friendly FFL and then buy the upper online. push two pins and it's complete. buy the whole gun from the dealer and the tax is hidden in the price.

if you're gonna build from scratch, some tools are required. what tools depends on what you're doing. mounting the barrel on the upper probably requires the most tools, plus a mounted vise.

not recommending building your own from scratch for your first AR.
 
hi, if i were you i'd build a lower and get a dd upper, or any of the other good company's.

mines a franken ar hughes lower pieced together upper.

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take it easy
cricket
 
Definitely build. Not only can you pick and choose quality parts, but you'll get to know the workings of your rifle well. I'd suggest building your own lower with whatever rollmark floats your boat, as long as it's to spec, and then get a complete upper.

For uppers Noveske is the best DI AR (barrel that is, M249 last longer), but in that price range BCM all the way. For top tier (Colt, BCM, DD, Noveske, LMT, LaRue) BCM is going to the most affordable. Daniel Defense might be in the same price range depending on deals. I'd also recommend considering a Middy (mid length gas system).
 
I've had quite a few AR15s in my time in the search for my grail. Colts, Bushmasters, Rock Rivers, LMTs, Smith and Wessons, Daniel Defense, and Bravo Company. If I could do it all over, I would just start off with a rifle from Bravo Company and end it there or save my money to get a KAC SR-15E3.
 
Forget paying for the big names, build you own from quality parts. You will learn the gun from inside out and understand how it works. Plus its just fun as hell to do...
 
Ive been using aeroprecession lower with a cmmg combat assault upper for a couple years now with no problems. Ive used spikes, armalite, stag arms, dpms and ive shot two noveskes and a bcm all operated awesome. the only guns i had problems with were my bushmaster (super tight magwell) and a colt of my buddies that stove piped every other round didnt matter the magazine we used. we replaced the extractor a couple times never could get it to work so he sold it and bought a bcm.
 
You can get a milspec Colt LE6920 for $1095 if you look around the net. Hard to argue with that value. Mine is sporting a Eotech sight and 3x magnifier on a KAC rail. It's a reliable tack driver with that set up, I would recommend highly. The LE6920's are made on the same production line as the military M4's. Mine at least is hassle free and a fun to shoot - though not as fun as an M1 Garand. ping !! ;-)

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You can spend as much as you'd ever want on an AR and there is someone who will tell you what is better.

Depending on what you're looking for as far as style of AR, components, etc. you might save a bit by buying a complete upper and assembling the lower to your exact preferences (not hard to do at all). Just start to look around and decide what you like the looks of and what you think would work well for your application and you can start from the ground up.
 
After looking at that chart it seems the Colt is the standard the others are measured by. The BCM looks close in quality and a little better in price with a lifetime warranty. Will the BCM hold it's value as well as the Colt ? That's another question.
 
onado2000 said:
Buy once, cry once. Read up on the subject before spending your money. Here is a good start, http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=6642
Click on "Link of Google Doc Chart"
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Well, somebody had to say it. :p

mknopfler said:
After looking at that chart it seems the Colt is the standard the others are measured by.
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You are correct, and have saved yourself years of hassle and at least a few hundred bucks selling off Tier 3 and Tier 2 rifles working your way up. However, that can be a worthwhile and valuable journey in itself. I'm glad I did.

mknopfler said:
The BCM looks close in quality and a little better in price with a lifetime warranty. Will the BCM hold it's value as well as the Colt ? That's another question.
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I have been very pleased with the performance and value of my BCM upper/LMT lower, running it hard in high-round-count classes and non-square range drills. IMHO, Colt will hold its value better. FWIW, the 6920's that I've fired in class have shown excellent F&F and reliability.

Flexxx (OP) and mknopfler, although I am a big proponent of ARs made from the correct materials properly assembled (a la The dreaded Chart), your end use will ultimately determine which rifle is "best":

Fighting or class rifle? Stick with The Chart, and read m4carbine first.
Shooting coyotes or groundhogs at 400m? Reliability not so critical. Get a tight .223 chamber, aftermarket trigger, and a long barrel.
an AR just to "have" an AR (2x annual gravel pit shooting)? Anything that catches your fancy will do just fine. Read ARFCOM.

Again IMHO, some of the best values in the AR world include:
  • S&W M&Ps when they can be found for ~$600. Google around, even brick and mortar stores on Black Friday.
  • a surplusammo.com complete lower for $165 and a BCM upper of your choice w/ bolt carrier group ("BCG") and charging handle ("CH") for $534. Add basic used handguards for $15.
  • Build your own lower with a quality lower parts kit ("LPK") and put a good upper on it (BCM, Daniel Defense, LMT, Colt). Installing an LPK in a stripped lower is not that hard (in retrospect), but was a LOT harder before an armorer showed me how! :p

To provide a knife example, a knife made from AUS-4 will serve many people's cutting needs, but a dedicated hobbyist or dedicated professional user will want something more. That being said, many police miraculously survive each shift with Bushmasters and Maxams.
 
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