AR's

[4runnerman]

Ok, Looking for some help here. I have never ( was never) Interested in the AR Platform. Last year for the heck of it I did buy a SW MP15/22. Needless to say I fell in love with the thing. It is just a blast to shoot. Now I am looking at getting one in a 223?, 5.56?. Not sure. I don't want to spend more than $1000.00 for this thing. With that said,The question's I am asking is

1- Best,Most Accurate one in that price range

2- 223 or 5.56- Reason being ( not sure),but have been told the 223/5.56 is not as accurate as one or the other-True? False?.
Also cost of ammo is not important, as I reload and am very well stocked. Accuracy is #1.
I see DPMS is down to $700.00 now. Don't know anything about these rifles,so Can't tell if that is a good rifle or not. Can these rifles be set up with a bull barrel later?.

Thanks for all input

 

[Mobuck]

You want a clone in .223? Usually it goes the other way but, no matter. There are many options for an accurate .223/5.56 under $700. I've had universally excellent results from DelTon uppers. 5.56 16" carbines w/mid-range optics producing under 1/2" groups is hard to beat.
If accuracy is your only goal, I'd suggest a 20" in .223 with a 1/8 twist. This will allow the use of 69 grain HPBT bullets for longer range while still being useful as a varmint hunting platform.

 

[rickyrick]

It's a buyers market right now...

I think I got a decent set up for less than 600$

Only thing is, not all of the stuff has arrived yet.

Psa has excellent prices but their slow shipping times are the stuff of legend.

 

[9x19]

I just stuck with S&W... their M&P 15 Sport models are great buys ($500+), but if you want different features/furniture, they offer that as well. Their MOE version with a 1/8 barrel and mid-length gas system would be my next choice.

S&W M&P 15-22

S&W M&P 15 Sport

S&W M&P 15-22

S&W M&P 15 Sport

 

[ingEneer22]

Would you consider building one? If accuracy is your #1, you have more say as to which parts of the rifle your money goes into. Generally speaking, the first thing to go on a stock AR is the trigger. I am a big Geissele fan! They make excellent two-stage triggers that start around $165 for the G2S. You did mention a bull barrel...there are some great options on the market. Fulton Armory offers extremely reasonably priced heavy contour barrels. They are match quality products. Rainier Arms is another company that makes an economical match barrel.

Other features such as the stock, rail/handguard, and grip can all be decided based on your liking. There are so many options out there these days. For a lot of people, building is the best way to get a rifle that is 100% custom to what you want. The downside to building is that if you ever decide to sell, many people are skeptical about buying other people's "Franken-guns".

As for .223/5.56 you have 3 options:

A.223 barrel, which is chambered to SAAMI specs, will be very accurate with .223 and it's generally not a good practice to shoot 5.56 out of.

A 5.56 barrel, which is chambered to Mil-specs (not as tight as SAAMI specs) will be great for both .223 and 5.56.

A .223 Wylde is a hybrid between the two and what I recommend. It gives you the accuracy of the .223 and the wide range of ammo of the 5.65

Best of Luck!

 

[Cirdan]

Just get one with a 5.56 barrel. It will shoot either. Most are 5.56, even at the low end.

Welcome to the club. Plan on spending all your spare cash on furniture. . .

 

[IdahoG36]

Just my opinion, but the Ruger AR556 is an excellent gun, and it is only $599!! I bought my fiance one of these for Christmas, and she loves it. It has been 100% reliable so far using XM193.

The AR556 is a solid choice. It has a heavier barrel than the Oracle, 1/8 twist (Oracle, M&P Sport, and Bushmaster ORC have 1/9), forward assist and dustcover (Oracle and M&P Sport lacking both). Small things, but in the super competitive AR-15 entry market, they can sway a buyer for sure.

Not to mention that Ruger has outstanding CS should any issues arise. I know firsthand that S&W CS is outstanding as well, but no experience with DPMS or Bushmaster in that area.

Note- When you take the AR556 out of the plastic wrapping, it will look like it was pulled out of a pool of oil. I disassembled the gun and sprayed it down with gun cleaner, and then wiped everything down. Oil was still seeping out from the trigger and hammer pins, the safety lever, the stock/buffer tube area, etc, etc. Hosed it all down again, wiped it down, and then properly lubricated it.

After spraying and wiping the gun down twice, it seems to be fine now. No more excessive oil on every square inch of the rifle.

 

[Taco-XL]

The S&W for the prices they are selling now is a damn good deal. Everything with S&W on it that ive had has been the berries. For under or around $1k as far as prebuilt ARs go i think either DPMS, Stag Arms, and Rock River Arms would all be GTG. The first AR i had before i started building my own was a Rock River elite operator 2. RR uses heavy barrels and this thing is supremely accurate for a 16". It is 5.56/223 chamber but they do offer the Wylde
chamber that is cryo treated, if im not mistaken. If buying an off the shelf AR in that price range, Rock River would be my first choice. Then probably the Smith cuz its such a darn good price.

As always tho, i advocate building if you are ok with it. Even if you dont build one from ground up, you should at least look into complete uppers to add to
a complete lower. You may find a wider choice to
fit the configuration you want. Then just pick up a quality bcg and you're ready
to rock. I strongly recommend Bravo Company bcgs. They are considered by al lot of people to be the best there is and its well under 2 bills.

 

[G.barnes]

If accuracy is your number one goal try to get a 1/8 twist with a wylde chamber. Something in an 18 to 20 inch stainless barrel with rifle gas system, and a freefloat handguard. I'd look at maybe rock river. They come with a 1 moa guarantee and you can get them with a factory upgraded trigger. Another good one is stag. If you don't want to go stainless the go with a non chrome lined or a melonite barrel. For a stock if go with a fixed magpul moe. Not to bulky and heavy, and still gives a good check weld. There are many good ar 15s out there so go with one that has the features you want not just the name. Rock river, stag, s&w, cmmg. One is as good as the other. You don't need bcm or Daniel defense if this wont be a defensive rifle. They also cost more.

 

[tirod]

Accuracy would tend to give some obvious answers - look to the makers who offer premium target barrels with guaranteed results.

A White Oak, ARP, Krieger, Douglas, Noveske, Rainier, to mention a few.

Then worry about the trigger, a $250 trigger won't do much for a 2MOA barrel, but it will help the shooter get the most for his effort for a .5 MOA barrel. And that would be Timney, Jewel, JP, RRA, AR Gold, Geiselle, ALG, and many others.

After that, a freefloat tube, to isolate the barrel from any stress when shooting.

You will be hard pressed to find that rifle for under $1000 - it's a minimum $250 barrel, $125 trigger, and $150 tube, $525 in just three assemblies alone.

Better to buy a Rainier, Les Baer, Wilson, Noveske, ARP, or, many others, and get it complete. Likely with a .223 Wilde chamber, nitrided barrel, in 20". That isn't an "AR15," it's a custom built range gun.

Choosing a commodity class gun isn't going to get much in the way of precision. The makers hold to 2MOA, which is milspec, and try to keep under that for quality concerns, but as we all know, it takes spending twice as much money to get half the improvement in accuracy at each step. If you want a .5 to 1MOA rifle, it's going to take $1200 and up to start.

There may be a glut of popular models and some discounting, but precision guns were always about short supply and custom building. Nobody discounts their labor and they won't be out there for cheap. Maybe used. Not new.

 

[marine6680]

I like melonite/nitride barrels over plain steel or stainless. A well made one will be as accurate as the others but with longer life and corrosion protection like chrome lined.

ar performance makes a nice 18 inch barrel with wilde chamber, and fluted if you want for a little over $200.

A good trigger and a free float tube are the next on the list.

As was said, those are the big ticket items.

Depending on what stock you want, the rest will not put you over your $1000 budget...

I would build with your listed criteria. A ready made rifle would be well over budget in an accurate configuration.


If all you want is a basic rifle that can shoot 1-1.5 moa with good ammo, you can build one now for around $600.

 

[jmr40]

I'm a little out of the loop on which is the "Best" right now. There are so many options for good AR's in the $700-$1,000 range that it is really hard to go wrong in that range. I have 3, a Rock River, PSA, and Stag as well as the M&P 15/22. All are set up much differently and serve different roles. All have been perfect. Mine are all 5.56 chambers and shoot 223 interchangeably. They are all more accurate than I need them to be.

 

[marine6680]

Yeah a good 5.56 chambered barrel can still shoot good groups with quality ammo.

Just have to get a well made one.

 

[mxsailor803]

I vote build your own. Sure it will take awhile to build it but in the end it will be what you wanted. And you'll save money in the long run as well mostly because you didn't spend the money for a complete rifle and then throw away what you didn't want/need.

 

[ingEneer22]

I vote build your own. Sure it will take awhile to build it but in the end it will be what you wanted. And you'll save money in the long run as well mostly because you didn't spend the money for a complete rifle and then throw away what you didn't want/need.

I agree with mxsailor803. Like I said, if you want accuracy, the first thing you will do is to take out the stock trigger and chuck it as far as you can. Get a Geissele and don't look back. Although, it doesn't take long to build, I usually take my time purchasing parts and wait for stuff to go on sale. You can save a ton that way!

 

[Brotherbadger]

If you're open to it, I'd build it. Best value IMO.

 

[Hot Shot]

ARs

I know very little about the AR s and found myself reading the blog for info. It as usual has been very informative. But, how come I am not hearing anything about the Bushmaster and Colt?

 

[rickyrick]

But, how come I am not hearing anything about the Bushmaster and Colt?

I think it's because of the price point or that the main consensus is to build one... Not sure, just speculation

 

[noonesshowmonkey]

For the money, you would be hard pressed to get a better turn key, complete AR-15 than the Colt 6920. It will do most everything right, and work right out of the box. Further, it has great resale value for any parts, take-offs, a complete upper or lower swap, or even just the whole rifle.

As far as building goes, you pretty much can't beat an upper by BCM or Sionics for price to performance.

Lowers are simple: get a completed lower from PSA when they are on sale, and save up for a Geiselle GS2 trigger. Done.

The key features to an accurate AR-15 are:

Good barrel - 1:7 twist for throwing 75 and 77g rounds, chrome lined or melonited by a good company. Lots of good names in the thread already. PSA Premium FN barrels are fantastic.

Chambered in 5.56 - this lets you shoot anything you find on the shelves, but the reverse is not always true. Haven't had any time with a .223 WYLDE, so do some research.

Good trigger - Geiselle GS2 or SSA / SSAE are gold standards. Timney makes a good single stage. A lot of really qualified shooters spent a lot of time, money, and headache narrowing down to typically those two.

Free Float Handguard - modern AR-15s should mount these. They are so common, and getting a completed upper with one is so easy and cost effective that it is a no brainer. Look at key-mod rails, as they are a new wave in accessories and mounts. You don't need quad rails.

Good optic - depending on what you are doing with this rifle, that could be an Aimpoint Pro, Aimpoint T1, an Eotech, ACOG, or a variable glass. Expect to pay as much for the optic as you did for the rifle. They are worth it.

Sling - every rifle needs to be carried around. QD is pretty much the emerging standard, but nobody says you need them. The Proctor sling attaches with 550 cord. Two-point quick adjust is the defacto standard.

A BCM or Sionics upper can be had for $600-800, and a PSA lower on sale runs around $150-300 depending on stock and trigger. That gets you a complete rifle for your budget with the rifle part handled, leaving you to save for MBUS, sling, mags, ammo, trigger, optic etc. (and nearly in that order).

Go forth.

 

[4runnerman]

Thanks to all for replying. I have been reading now for a week on Ar's under 1000.00. It seems that the SW 15 is the cat's meow. I have read about 500 reviews on it now and not a one has anything bad to say about them. They seem to eat anything you put in them and by most reports hitting a baseball at 300 yards was easy with many different ammo choices. My one concern that all reviews seemed to to worry about is the SW has no forward assit and no dust cover. Chuck Hawks seemed to put it inn a class that has no equal for the price range. Any one here have any expirence with the SW. They have reportable put 177,000 rounds down the same barrel. That sounds very far fetched to me.
How trust worthy is Chuck Hawks?.

9X19- You seem to have a few of them there. Are they all 22's?. I have the SW MP15/22 and it has been flawless for over 3000 rounds