Which AR type rifle the best buy

[K&Nframe]

There are only 2 companies that make ARs that I would consider myself. Colt and S&W. As others have stated, the M&P sport is a great gun, and the price is hard to beat.

I am not at all impressed with all the hype about Magpul.

Kevin

 

[rebs081]

Sport is the best bang for the buck and is a great AR with a 16" barrel
Windham Weaponry Varmint is the best bang for the buck with a 20"rel.
Both have life time warranty and the Windham's is transferable should you decide to sell it or a family member inherits it.

 

[gunfighter48]

I bought a Sport in Aug. 2011 and did a lot of research before the purchase. It was my second AR in 18 years. The one thing that sold me was the S&W reputation for quality firearms and their great customer service reputation. I read every user review I could find and never found 1 bad review about the gun from anyone that owned one. I put a lot of faith in user reviews because if the user doesn't like a gun you're going to hear about it loud and clear!!

At my local range I regularly out shoot the guys with the $2,000 to $4,000 guns, a high price doesn't always equate to a more accurate gun. I shoot groups with factory ammo that other guys get only with handloads. To be sure there are shooters with high priced guns that out shoot me and that's to be expected. I'm 64 and not the greatest shot anymore, but I do have my great moments. You won't regret buying a S&W AR.!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[KLYDE]

Although Eugene Stoner designed and invented the Armalite Rifle (AR) while working for Fairchild-Republic Aircraft, COLT soon after bought the patent in the 1960's.

Gentlemen, COLT has been at the AR game for a LONG time. I have a Colt MT6700 Match Target rifle that I purchased around late 1990's. Entry level if you are comparing it to a Rock River or such. The Target Match has the added feauture of the carry handle removal converting it to a flat top. Been shooting DCM Matches with it for years. The Colt is going to cost yu more than a Smith but as many members have said it will hold it's value better. Also compatible with many high end upper receivers.

The July volume of GUN WORLD has a great article on the Colt MT6700 and alot of facts on a proper AR set up. Mike

 

[15sport]

Colts attitude towards legal citizens is ****. I will never support them until they (like H&K), come down to earth. That we contract to the Fed Govt attitude does nothing for me. The 15 sport is my first AR and I love it. IMHO the forward assist is a major waste of time and just needlessly adds to the complexity of the gun. This gun to me is all about the 5R barrel....amazing.

 

[storeyteller]

Let's all agree that the AR(s) we personally own are the greatest and all others are inferior, regardless of make or model.
The good news there is whatever you get automatically becomes the most awesomest gun EVER!

 

[JCIN]

I own two Daniel Defense rifles, one Knights Armament SR-15 E3 and a S&W MP15-TS. I like them all for different reasons. All of them run everything I stick in the mags.

If all you care about is shooting paper few times a month any of them will do. Three of those rifles I won't lose much if any money on when/if I go to sell them. The SW I will get nowhere near what I paid for it new. That factor doesnt effect how a gun shoots but to me it is a factor worth considering.

Colt
BCM
Daniel Defense

These are the big three on the internets. To me based on my experience with my example I would consider Smith to be an option on that list as well. Granted my Smith cost more than double the $600 being thrown around here but I assume the basic building blocks are the same.

Just go grab one from a decent company (one good rule of thumb is dont buy anything with a picture of an animal on the lower). This topic is as divisive as any there is. Do your research then you pay your money and take the ride.

 

[oneyeopn]

I wouldnt say the SW wont get anywhere near the money you paid for it when I can buy trade-in Colts and Bushies for less than I paid for my sport. My dads has the H-Bar and all the bells and whistles but it is like shooting an AK, you need a bigger target. S&W Pistols hold their value. I believe that it is the boutique guns and the mass produced guns that wont hold their value as well. It will be like other guns, the hand assembled works of art will be worth more but as many AR's as are being produced by so many companies I dont think any of them are really going to hold their value, it will end up being how functional they are that makes them worth anything and we can all stomp the ground and say ours is better but who's holds up under real world usage will be the ones that hold their value. When the next hot gun comes along these assemblers that are in business today wont be there tomorrow. It will be the Manufacturers with a history of making guns of all sorts that will still be in business it wont be the specialty assemblers. As we all know there are only a few companies making the forgings and almost everyone else buys theirs from them and then finish machines the parts. I do not believe that DD or Larue or Noveske makes every part in house, Colt does not make every part in house. Smith claims that they do, so does Remington. Take a Daniel Defense and look at the casting/forging marks, they are the same as the Larue and the Noveske and the Colt even some of the Smiths. These are not the works of art that have been made in the past. Like everything else produced these days these are completely rebuildable out of any one of a hundred catalogs and made to be completely rebuilt not made to last a lifetime. The world of firearms has changed along with everything else. Go ahead and flout your boutique rifle but know it has a limited life just like everyone of these complicated rifles have. 100 years ago a person with a Winchester or a Henry or a Remington didnt carry around spare springs and firing pins and the such. We all do. Nuff Said!

 

[JCIN]

I wouldnt say the SW wont get anywhere near the money you paid for it when I can buy trade-in Colts and Bushies for less than I paid for my sport. My dads has the H-Bar and all the bells and whistles but it is like shooting an AK, you need a bigger target. S&W Pistols hold their value. I believe that it is the boutique guns and the mass produced guns that wont hold their value as well. It will be like other guns, the hand assembled works of art will be worth more but as many AR's as are being produced by so many companies I dont think any of them are really going to hold their value, it will end up being how functional they are that makes them worth anything and we can all stomp the ground and say ours is better but who's holds up under real world usage will be the ones that hold their value. When the next hot gun comes along these assemblers that are in business today wont be there tomorrow. It will be the Manufacturers with a history of making guns of all sorts that will still be in business it wont be the specialty assemblers. As we all know there are only a few companies making the forgings and almost everyone else buys theirs from them and then finish machines the parts. I do not believe that DD or Larue or Noveske makes every part in house, Colt does not make every part in house. Smith claims that they do, so does Remington. Take a Daniel Defense and look at the casting/forging marks, they are the same as the Larue and the Noveske and the Colt even some of the Smiths. These are not the works of art that have been made in the past. Like everything else produced these days these are completely rebuildable out of any one of a hundred catalogs and made to be completely rebuilt not made to last a lifetime. The world of firearms has changed along with everything else. Go ahead and flout your boutique rifle but know it has a limited life just like everyone of these complicated rifles have.

How many AR's do you actually own? How many different companies rifles have you owned and shot ? How many thousands of rounds have you fired this year from those rifles ? How many used AR's have you sold on the open market ?

I get the feeling you are talking about things working the way you think they should work not necessarily how they really work. At least thats based on my experience buying, selling and shooting everything from bargin to "boutique" AR's.

Boutique AR's are better for the most part. They should be. Just because all you want is a basic rifle to shoot every once in awhile doesn't mean everyone else is dumb for buying something nicer.

There are a million threads about this online. No one ever changes their mind. So like I said before pay your money and find out for yourself. Most people it really does not matter as they dont shoot their guns anyway.

 

[oneyeopn]

How many AR's do you actually own? How many different companies rifles have you owned and shot ? How many thousands of rounds have you fired this year from those rifles ? How many used AR's have you sold on the open market ?

I get the feeling you are talking about things working the way you think they should work not necessarily how they really work. At least thats based on my experience buying, selling and shooting everything from bargin to "boutique" AR's.

Boutique AR's are better for the most part. They should be. Just because all you want is a basic rifle to shoot every once in awhile doesn't mean everyone else is dumb for buying something nicer.

There are a million threads about this online. No one ever changes their mind. So like I said before pay your money and find out for yourself. Most people it really does not matter as they dont shoot their guns anyway.

You my friend, dont know me. Nor do you have any clue about me. I do own 2 AR's. I have humped 16's on three continents under all sorts of unpleasant conditions. For the longest time I didnt even want to own one. I was having way more fun building my bolt actions. I myself can step out my back door and shoot any caliber of gun that I want and I do. And I reload my own bullets and spend a couple of nights a week reloading. I do not shoot my AR's everyday, But I shoot something almost every other day. My range is as far as you can see and I use it. You can flame or disrespect all you want. We generally dont treat each other the way that you talk. You can find plenty of your ilk over at AR.com or M4gery.net. You might find that you are happier over there because we like what we shoot and we do shoot. We have members that dont get to shoot as often as they would like or under the conditions that they would like to. But they are still our friends and their opinions are still valid, this is a board in support of S&W M&P15's but we accept anyone who shoots anything, we accept them even if they dont shoot anything. But we dont need to hear from someone that our rifles wont hold their value or are not as good as something else, I believe that I am also speaking for others when I say We Dont Care, We Like What We Shoot. Have a good day Sir!

 

[JCIN]

You my friend, dont know me. Nor do you have any clue about me. I do own 2 AR's. I have humped 16's on three continents under all sorts of unpleasant conditions. For the longest time I didnt even want to own one. I was having way more fun building my bolt actions. I myself can step out my back door and shoot any caliber of gun that I want and I do. And I reload my own bullets and spend a couple of nights a week reloading. I do not shoot my AR's everyday, But I shoot something almost every other day. My range is as far as you can see and I use it. You can flame or disrespect all you want. We generally dont treat each other the way that you talk. You can find plenty of your ilk over at AR.com or M4gery.net. You might find that you are happier over there because we like what we shoot and we do shoot. We have members that dont get to shoot as often as they would like or under the conditions that they would like to. But they are still our friends and their opinions are still valid, this is a board in support of S&W M&P15's but we accept anyone who shoots anything, we accept them even if they dont shoot anything. But we dont need to hear from someone that our rifles wont hold their value or are not as good as something else, I believe that I am also speaking for others when I say We Dont Care, We Like What We Shoot. Have a good day Sir!

I guess you missed the part about me owning a SW and liking it. I never said anything disparaging about anyone or any brand. As for holding value its the truth as I see it based on paying a lot attention to what things sell for on the secondary market and my experience buying and selling rifles on the secondary market.

If someone likes something good for them. I answered the OP's question based on personal experience in the offerings I have owned, shot, bought and sold not based off of some internet post somewhere. The fact that your first instinct when you disagree with someones opinion is to tell them to go somewhere else doesnt exactly back up your statement that you are accepting of all views here. Thats fine. I'm new here so I'm not getting in a pissing match with you. I have been around forums of various kinds for years and know when to just walk away so best of luck to you.

 

[rags]

Let's all agree that the AR(s) we personally own are the greatest and all others are inferior, regardless of make or model.
The good news there is whatever you get automatically becomes the most awesomest gun EVER!

I can't fully agree with the above stament. It is more like "There are many, but this one is mine".
S&W M&P 15 (#811000) It was what I wanted and what I got...

 

[isaidme1]

Some of the Boutique guns are made from the same people as the more expensive brands. Youre just not being charged out the @S$ for someones name is all. Palmetto State ARs are a good value and feature alot of the specs that even S&W are missing. I like my M&P however I would not buy another untill they make the switch to using a midlength gas system. These M&Ps are way over gassed, mine had problems right out of the box and I had to bandge it with a heavier buffer untill I could afford the real fix which again is a longer length gas system. S&W are just now starting to offer 1-8 twist barrels which is an improvement over the 1-9 twist that came with mine. No offense but I would not buy a sport when I could get a Palmetto State rifle with the above mentioned improvements along with the dust cover and forward assist for about the same price.

 

[ZeroTolerance6]

Uh oh. He just mentioned "dust cover and forward assist". Here we go again.

 

[MPDC]

Actually, unless you can get a 1/8 5R twist bbl. with a melonite treatment, you can't duplicate the Sport's main attraction, IMHO.

They now offer a middy model too.

 

[S&WOkie]

Let's all agree that the AR(s) we personally own are the greatest and all others are inferior, regardless of make or model.
The good news there is whatever you get automatically becomes the most awesomest gun EVER!

I am going to use this on a local forum.

 

[Calif1313]

Is over gassed a problem will all carbine ARs or just S&Ps?

When did they come out with a mid sport?

 

[oneyeopn]

I installed the upper with the two aforementioned items but I have yet to use the FA, which I never used it when I was in the service and I keep forgetting to close the dustcover, but I still like the fact it says Marines on the other side...LOL...I wonder if I was to remove the FA and install a vacuum hookup if it would help keep the inside of my rifle cleaner?

 

[Kodiakco]

...These M&Ps are way over gassed, mine had problems right out of the box and I had to bandge it with a heavier buffer untill I could afford the real fix which again is a longer length gas system...

I believe that you misunderstand the operation of the AR gas system due to the above statement. A carbine is not over gassed due to it's shorter system. Any AR can be over gassed if the barrel gas port is too big. A mid length won't help if the maker over sizes the barrel gas port. If you want to "fix" that particular rife, buy an adjustable gas block or as you desire spend a $1000+ on a new rifle to "fix" the over gassing.

 

[JCIN]

My M&P 15-TS.

I have about 1500 rounds of mostly dirty nasty Wolf through it with 100% reliability over the last three months or so. I was thinking hard about building a 14.5" barreled gun with the Troy 13" rail and a Battlecomp. I saw this on a dealer shelf and it was almost exactly what I was thinking about so I bought it. It has the Vortex flash hider pinned and welded instead of the Battlecomp I was considering but I am pretty happy with it as is.

I put a Geissle SSA-E trigger in it and set it up how I like my rifles as far as sling set up, optic and light. The only downside has nothing to do with the function of the gun but the rail. I have ran it hard in a couple local classes and after about two mags in quick succession it gets hot enough I put on gloves. IMO thats the trade off for a slim light rail with no covers so I deal with it. For rifle matches its not an issue as it has time to cool off. The paint job isnt to look cool I live in the desert and when its 108 degrees and the sun is beating down all day solid black rifles get very hot.

If I was looking for a particular rifle set up and Smith had it ready to go I would certainly buy another one. I have more expensive guns that do some things better but the Smith does what I need it to do with no issues so far.