Least expensive AR you’d trust your life to?

[RUTGERS95]

From my experience:

Palmetto State Armory (PSA) - $450 - great starter gun to learn on
Aero Precision M4E1 (AP)- $950 best bang for your buck under $1k, great quality for the price
Larue Complete Upper - $1,200 - I only have 100 rounds through it and I thought it was okay
Bravo Company Manufacturing (BCM) - $1,400 - Quality rifle to trust your life on
Geisssele Super Duty - $1,600 - Quality rifle to trust your life on but slightly better than BCM. Just slightly.
Radian Model 1 - Quality Gucci build at its best - $3,000

To be honest, I'd say Aero Precision, Bravo Company, and Geissele get my vote for best quality at an affordable price. I think the Aero and the Bravo Company are the best value obviously, and you can trust your life on all three of these guns.

Just buy a lower first, even a complete lower if you don't want to build one from scratch, from between $150 (from PSA), $350 Aero, to $400 from BCM, and then save up money for your complete upper, and a BCG (if it doesn't come with one).

I'd go Colt at just under 1k but if you want even cheaper, then the smith & wesson or aero would be the only viable options imho. Way too many qc issues with psa to consider
I'd go Centurion Arms for 1k-2k
anything over, KAC/LMT

for the life of me I can't understand the love for Geissele; way too overpriced for what you get and known qc issues

 

[LilGucci]

I'd go Colt at just under 1k but if you want even cheaper, then the smith & wesson or aero would be the only viable options imho. Way too many qc issues with psa to consider
I'd go Centurion Arms for 1k-2k
anything over, KAC/LMT

for the life of me I can't understand the love for Geissele; way too overpriced for what you get and known qc issues

It's my brother's Geissele and I've had 1,000 rounds through it and it runs really well. He might be just lucky if those qc issues are prevalent.

I haven't been fortunate enough to try Colt, S&W, or Springfield, but hopefully someone at the gun range will let me try there's out.

For me personally, I do like Noveske and Radian at $2000-$2999, but if it's $3,000 or more then definitely LMT or KAC.

 

[hlee]

I'd go Colt at just under 1k but if you want even cheaper, then the smith & wesson or aero would be the only viable options imho. Way too many qc issues with psa to consider
I'd go Centurion Arms for 1k-2k
anything over, KAC/LMT

for the life of me I can't understand the love for Geissele; way too overpriced for what you get and known qc issues

Yeah, I was perusing the G BF blem sale. $300-$650(?) for a fricken handguard- and a blem at that. Love the triggers. Everything else, however…

 

[Hoody2shoes]

Psa is a good starting point. So is aero. There's nothing wrong with buying a 450 psa, running it until you have a breakage, then upgrading that specific part. Eventually you'll have more money put into it but you get to do this over tome while also learning more about the internals and how to service it

Frankly, if this a trust your life to it gun, I'd be more concerned with knowing every inch of it and how to fix/upgrade it than buying more expensive right off the bat and sacrificing accessories and ammo for training. Ymmv

 

[hlee]

Psa is a good starting point. So is aero. There's nothing wrong with buying a 450 psa, running it until you have a breakage, then upgrading that specific part. Eventually you'll have more money put into it but you get to do this over tome while also learning more about the internals and how to service it

Frankly, if this a trust your life to it gun, I'd be more concerned with knowing every inch of it and how to fix/upgrade it than buying more expensive right off the bat and sacrificing accessories and ammo for training. Ymmv

PSA will get you killed in the street. Owning a KAC, on the other hand, keeps you safely in your home, because your rifle doesn’t leave the hermetically sealed gun safe…

 

[RUTGERS95]

It's my brother's Geissele and I've had 1,000 rounds through it and it runs really well. He might be just lucky if those qc issues are prevalent.

I haven't been fortunate enough to try Colt, S&W, or Springfield, but hopefully someone at the gun range will let me try there's out.

For me personally, I do like Noveske and Radian at $2000-$2999, but if it's $3,000 or more then definitely LMT or KAC.

you should try Centurion Arms if you get a chance. Fantastic accuracy and overall quality

 

[RUTGERS95]

Yeah, I was perusing the G BF blem sale. $300-$650(?) for a fricken handguard- and a blem at that. Love the triggers. Everything else, however…

it's ridiculous and they aren't even that accurate. As for triggers, their top tier is outstanding but the LaRue and CA 2 AST are the tits for sub 100 and easily compare to double the price triggers imho.

 

[jpop8807]

Was talking guns with one of my sub contractors today. He was talking about “battle rifles” he’d trust his life to. He named a few of the typical upper echelon rifles like Knight’s, LMT, hodge, Radian (pretty sure he just googled “best AR”) etc… I get only wanting the absolute best, we all want the best but dropping $2,500-3,000 isn't in the cards for some people. My Brother in Law for example has been wanting an AR that won’t break the bank for his go bag/shtf rifle.

At this point he’s said he’s better off spending $1,000 bucks on a rifle and buying a bunch of ammo to go train with. (I agree 100% with that, a $3k rifle is only as good as the guy running it)

I don’t have a ton of experience with semi autos so I figured I’d ask here. Any body have recommendations for stuff in the $1000-$1200 range? Is that a realistic budget to get a decent rifle in today’s world?
I have a few PSA builds that work and work well, but I’m not sure I’d want to run them as a shtf gun. I liked my BCM but I sold it to fund another project before I could really put a ton of rounds through it. Like I said earlier I’m not real into semi auto’s so I dont know where to start with a recommendation.

My personal opinion, is anything that LEO/Military are using should be fine out of the box. The general jist for cheaper guns, is that if you run 500-1000 rounds through them without any hickups it should be fine. The biggest thing I have read and heard talked about is watch out for uber fancy builds. Like I have xbarrel with x trigger with x lower with this bolt carrier group. Not saying it will be an issue but with most complete rifles everything is designed to work with each other. With a hodge podge of shit you never know what the failure point could be. Also when it comes to super expensive stuff, I was told you need to watch out for that as well. Some 3-5k 1911's are super accurate but suck dick in general. If it can't handle the elements it doesn't matter how well it shoots when the tolerances are so tight dust gums it up.

 

[r.tenorio671]

....just my opinion, but if one has a platform that they bought or built and it functions reliably while going through 3-6 30rd magazines without fail, in a relatively short span of time, the platform will suffice in a "SHTF" situation.

 

[Molon]

and they aren't even that accurate.

No no no. The geissele fan boys say that they're getting MOA accuracy with them . . . using M193.

...

 

[RUTGERS95]

No no no. The geissele fan boys say that they're getting MOA accuracy with them . . . using M193.

...

haha I know, it's all so absurd.
On top of that, qc has been abysmal, not quite psa like but bad enough to cause a pause.

Happy New Year!

 

[Constructor]

I don't know where this came from but it's pretty funny.-

"The AR scene is such a gimmick, and to me, they're the ultimate bling gun, every tom dick and harry has a 16" essentially useless weapon other than to suck money out of the pockets of the clueless. My neighbor ran out and bought the asinine Daniel Defence DD4 RIII, for $2300 and change then added all kinds of fancy grips, an overpriced red dot, iron sights, and other assorted crap. total raping he got is $3000 plus. I took a CORE15 lower someone gave me for free, added a match drop in trigger, then built an upper with a 24" 224 valkyrie Bull Barrel, with std mil-spec buffer/spring, non adjustable gas block, and a Magpul PRS Stock. and topped it off with a Vortex Viper PSTII 5.25x50 scope, and i'm all in for $1300. The gun shoots flawlessly and at the days end what does $3000 give you other than an
name? Its too short for any range, and too big for the home, so why do so many buy this crap.
I love to spend money don't get me wrong but paying crazy money for a name is just plain stupid. If you spend more than $600 for an off the shelf carbine you're insane, and everyone has an opinion, but unless some can explain what that DD does that my hand built version can't then i stand by my position. By the way with a family member thats a metalurgist and a professional machinist. when you're milling stuff on equipment that $500,000 and above, a mil-spec upper/lower is a mil-specc upper/lower. just because knight has their mame engraved in no way offers a higher quality than the no name pieces milled by my nephew.
Jut like my buddy who pays $17 a quart for Harley oil because he thinks they make it themselves and is supperior to the $23 a gallon Shell Rotella I buy. lol"

 

[RUTGERS95]

I don't know where this came from but it's pretty funny.-

"The AR scene is such a gimmick, and to me, they're the ultimate bling gun, every tom dick and harry has a 16" essentially useless weapon other than to suck money out of the pockets of the clueless. My neighbor ran out and bought the asinine Daniel Defence DD4 RIII, for $2300 and change then added all kinds of fancy grips, an overpriced red dot, iron sights, and other assorted crap. total raping he got is $3000 plus. I took a CORE15 lower someone gave me for free, added a match drop in trigger, then built an upper with a 24" 224 valkyrie Bull Barrel, with std mil-spec buffer/spring, non adjustable gas block, and a Magpul PRS Stock. and topped it off with a Vortex Viper PSTII 5.25x50 scope, and i'm all in for $1300. The gun shoots flawlessly and at the days end what does $3000 give you other than an
name? Its too short for any range, and too big for the home, so why do so many buy this crap.
I love to spend money don't get me wrong but paying crazy money for a name is just plain stupid. If you spend more than $600 for an off the shelf carbine you're insane, and everyone has an opinion, but unless some can explain what that DD does that my hand built version can't then i stand by my position. By the way with a family member thats a metalurgist and a professional machinist. when you're milling stuff on equipment that $500,000 and above, a mil-spec upper/lower is a mil-specc upper/lower. just because knight has their mame engraved in no way offers a higher quality than the no name pieces milled by my nephew.
Jut like my buddy who pays $17 a quart for Harley oil because he thinks they make it themselves and is supperior to the $23 a gallon Shell Rotella I buy. lol"

haha, holy shit is that bolded true?

I knew the whole AR scene was going south when people were paying almost $100 for ambi selectors. Just retarded

DD is overpriced, good barrels, that is it. I'd love for Molon to do a CM4 accuracy eval as I think CA is head and shoulders better and you don't buy from a company that wanted to restrict our rights

you and Molon are two of my 3 favorite posters, keep posting!

 

[CK1.0]

As long as it was made out of normal shit like 7075, all the holes were drilled straight and in the right spots, and I put it together myself... I'd trust it.

I'll take a ~$500-600 mutt with a top-shelf Hiperfire or TT in it over any over-priced off the shelf tactical Timmy rig (and I've owned more than a few). Honestly, when I see a dude with a KAC/Geissele/LWRC/etc... it usually means "douchbag" more often than "operator" lol.

I'm a "buy as much skill as you can afford" guy, and as a Jeep owner (wife's), I sometimes pay way too much for total shit due to it having a "name" lol, but with AR's there's nothing there.

 

[Constructor]

haha, holy shit is that bolded true?

I knew the whole AR scene was going south when people were paying almost $100 for ambi selectors. Just retarded

DD is overpriced, good barrels, that is it. I'd love for Molon to do a CM4 accuracy eval as I think CA is head and shoulders better and you don't buy from a company that wanted to restrict our rights

you and Molon are two of my 3 favorite posters, keep posting!

I don't know, sold my Harleys 4-5 years ago. I know the Harley shop in town does not stock anything but the harley brand of oil so If they take it in for an oil change that is what they get. I always used Amsoil. When in stop and go traffic air cooled Harleys can heat up, when they do they pop and backfire, Amsoil almost eliminated that so I think it made a difference.

As for the OPs question, depends on the reason you think you need one to trust your life to. Defending your home against a few thugs that break in is a lot different than needing one that will reliably shoot 400 rounds a day for what ever may happen in the future.
2000-2008 I shot 3 gun in Cortez Colorado with a ex FBI guy. He set things up completely different than most 3 gun shoots( like a cop shoot out on the street). His ranged from 30 ft to 400 yards and more of military scenarios, minimum required round count was 400 rifle, 200 pistol, 75 shotgun with buck and slugs. When we finished a rifle stage the barrels were smoking and it didn't take long to figure out the weak points of the rifle setup. Just about any rifle can handle a few thugs unless it is a 24" 224 Valkyrie in the house, as a club it might work.
The number 1 failure for experienced guys was due to not running a good enough lube or not enough lube. New guys it was likely crap ammo and mags. #2 gas blocks move unless they are pinned.
Stainless barrels do not last long when heated up, they firecheck and start blowing chunks of the lands out. LPVOs are king when ranges hit 400yds. Don't be cheap when it comes to springs, extractor, ejector, trigger, hammer or buffer. Buy the best extractors you can find, stay away from MIM extractors.
Anyone that can't build their own and think they need a real fighting rifle just go buy a BCM MiD16 or the upper. Personally I wouldn't buy a PSA, Spikes, POF, RRA, STAG, Springfield Armory, Wilson Combat or S&W but that's just my opinion.
I have not run long term tests to compare BCM, LMT, Knight, Sig, HK, FN or Colts(6940) against each other but all of them "should" be top tier.