Thanks for the reply.

Not to derail my own thread, but I wanted to ping on your statement below:

That may be true with most manufacturers, but I am not sure that is true with all. I know for a fact Daniel Defense does a lot of machining, molding, and engraving. That isn't to say they have some smaller parts they may outsource, but the primary parts they use are made in-house. I've been up close to them being made myself.

As to the S&W options - that would be surprising to me. I thought their products were mostly US made by them. I did find the M&P 22 I have being made by Walther interesting back in the day, but I could see that with it being a lower end model and not a true "M&P" pistol.

However, I am just starting to scratch the surface on researching them beyond just looking at products and guessing - which is why I started the thread. The only AR I have is an S&W M&P15-22, which doesn't really count as its a rim fire .22 (fun and cheap to shoot, for sure).

In looking at the 5.56 caliber vs affordability - what I am trying to decipher is what the value is in the options. My first gun was a S&W and I have several more since so I am a bit partial to them, but am open to other options. Depending on which way things go on the "value" - if opening the budget is a better route then I might make the jump to Daniel Defense. However, I think my money can go further with a lower priced option.