Budget AR

[perrypau]

I am new to ARs and have very limited funds. This is only going to be a self defense weapon so I dont need every bell and whistle. Reliability is the most important thing with minor upgrades such as optics and lights being the 2nd.

New or used is fine. Budget is between $600 -$800.

 

[beachbum17]

Buy a stripped lower and buy a delton build kit of midwayusa.com or a build kit of PSA. Assembled you can find several online for $650-700.
Check out slickguns.com. Click rifle and then .223/5.56

 

[OuachitaArms]

I am new to ARs and have very limited funds. This is only going to be a self defense weapon so I dont need every bell and whistle. Reliability is the most important thing with minor upgrades such as optics and lights being the 2nd.

New or used is fine. Budget is between $600 -$800.

I think if you don't mind getting towards the high end of that you can get a good AR with iron sights and a standard hand guard. My recommendations. Get a chrome lined 1 in 7 twist barrel, particularly if you want to do some hunting on the side. The 1 in 7 in twist allows you to use heavier bullets so you can use 75 grain bullets to deer hunt. And yes the 5.56 Nato is good at killing white tail deer. The chrome lining is mil-spec and basically doubles the barrel life. Some point out that the chrome lined barrel are less accurate than 416 stainless steel. But tests have shown this to be about .25 MOA, which is minimal in my opinion.

Make sure that the bolt carrier is made of Carpenter 158 steel. That is the mil-spec nowadays. That's a slightly harder proposition to ensure, because some say mil-spec bolt carrier group and it can be 8620 which was the original mil-spec, but not currently used. Carpenter 158 is a harder more durable alloy than 8620. There are some 9310 Alloy bolt carrier groups and some well known manufacturers use them such as Wilson Combat. They are probably better than 8620, but lack the chrome content that Carpenter 158 has.

There are some manufacturers that use polymer uppers and lowers. This is not mil-spec but Bushmaster and ?DPMS? use them. I'm not a fan, particularly of polymer uppers, but these are cheaper and more towards the bottom end of your price range. Google them and you will see some common issues. I recommend that you buy a aluminum mil-spec upper and lower.

I would recommend at M4 Carbine 6 way adjustable stock, that is pretty standard these days. Everything else is icing on the cake.

If you have an FFL lined up and are serious, PM me we can talk further. Good luck!

 

[gunnerbob]

I know this is specific to my area but, I figure it must be the going rate... at one of my LGS I saw a used DPMS, A2 configured ARs for $600. She looked clean and function checked well so, maybe you can find something similar around you.

 

[Kramer1113]

I know this is specific to my area but, I figure it must be the going rate... at one of my LGS I saw a used DPMS, A2 configured ARs for $600. She looked clean and function checked well so, maybe you can find something similar around you.

Good call gunnerbob. Some Walmarts carry that DPMS in stock every day.