Re: Best complete AR for under $1000
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bozcoyote</div><div class="ubbcode-body">RRA or OLY </div></div>
I've never owned one, but I have a good bit of trigger time on a couple RRA Predators. Their fit, finish, & reliability seem to be alot better than u would think for an AR in that price-range, and I've never had a FTT, FTE, or any other failure outta any of the RRA's I've been behind, as long as the ammo I was feeding them, & the mags I was feeding them from were good-2-go. Only had a half-dozen or so malfunctions with them. 2 of those were caused by bad reloads, & the rest were all caused by faulty/damaged magazines. Had an old-style GI-mag w/a follower that went to shit, swapped mags, & had it chewing-up/spitting-out immediately(replaced the GI-mag follower with a new, anti-tilt follower from{I think} Brownell's & it was G2G, too!).
The RRA I've had the most time with was owned since new by my uncle, & bought by my father last Sept/Oct, for $525. Where the Hell am I when those kinda deals come around?? Anyway, my uncle had exclusively used an Aimpoint on it, & I had shot it a good bit, as well as taken several coyotes & a couple deer with it myself. While I knew wherever I put that red dot, is where the bullet was gonna be, I didn't have a clue as to exactly how accurate it really was, & since the Aimpoint optic he mounted to it's rail isn't exactly conducive to shooting those teeny-tiny groups, my uncle never put it on the bench to see. Daddy bought it without the Aimpoint, & was planning to use the BUIS my uncle left on it, being the rifle's primary job was to be a light, handy truck/tractor rifle while he was out on our little farm, just in case. He's pretty much only used iron-sights his entire life(he was damn good with 'em too..."WAS," anyway), but after hearing his bitching 'N griping about not being able to focus on the sights & target at the same time, and after 2 eveings in a row the of him missing deer the last week of November, I decided to be a "good son" & buy him a good, quality scope for Christmas, that'd keep the light, handy feel of the little, truck-gun, but allow him to see over 50ft in low light conditions.
I ran-up on a brand-new, 2.5-8x36 Leupold VX-3 w/ the B&C reticle, at a super-cheap price. It seems the big-shot deer hunters believed 2.5-8x36 was way too small for their .300RUM's(to shoot a deer outta a greenfield at 75-80yds...), & the local "Fudds" weren't gonna spend $400-$500 on glass when their $99 Tasco World-Class was just as good, or better! Ha. He was stuck with it, & I got an awesome deal on it. I picked-up 3-boxes of the Win. Power-Points that were on-sale, & sprung for a set of Larue QD-mounts on the way out the door.
I mounted it for him Christmas morning, & after X-mas dinner(lunch to y'all 'Hide-members up-north) we headed out to the backfield to get it zero'd. I figured from the RRA's price-range, & it being a 16.5-18"(can't remember?) lightweight barrel, we'd get somewhere close to average, maybe a little above-average, carbine accuracy. I expected 2-3" groups at 100yds w/ the Win. P-P's anyway, maybe 1.50"-1.75" if we were lucky, & I held my mouth right. I settled her in 1"-high at 100yds, & shot 3, 5-shot groups off my heavy Carhart jacket/truck-hood. I was amazed! All 3-groups were under 1" with 2-groups right-at, maybe just a hair over a 1/2".
I'd like to talk my father outta his RRA & see what the groups would look like with match ammo & a good 2-stage trigger! Idk if the other 2 RRA's I've shot, would shoot as well as this one, but I do know they'll put the holes where u want 'em, & are damn sure plenty accurate for predator hunting of any kind! I wouldn't be scared to "pull the trigger" on a new/slightly-used RRA anytime.
