Which AR to buy?
- Thread starter pewpew300WM
- Start date
I’d consider just running the radian lower just to have a strong foundation to go off would be greatTwo sure bets :
- KAC SR15 E3 MOD2 (I prefer a pinned 14.5)
- Radian Model 1 ...
Edit : A Knights upper on the Radian lower pushes you into a "Garand Thumb coolness factor. "
https://www.radianweapons.com/en/rifles/model-1-rifle
These Radian lowers are pretty nice, but damn are they heavy
Just freaking build one. Get a good barrel and bolt combo, a great trigger and optics to top it off. Almost nothing else matter at all unless you need to look cool for some reason.
When you buy complete ARs you pay more, generally, due to taxes and you pay the premium for matching engraved names. Spend the dough on the optics and the three other things that matter.
When you buy complete ARs you pay more, generally, due to taxes and you pay the premium for matching engraved names. Spend the dough on the optics and the three other things that matter.
That’s an option but I get everything at cost and prices aren’t too far off building vs buying complete.
Thats a good reason to buy. I must have skipped that part.
Havingbowned numerous over priced gucci rifles I find myself laughing at the market hype. So many choices of good quality rifles that all do the same thing leads to anlysis paralysis.
I wish you luck as there is no one answer that someone could give with certainty that would 100% fill your wants or needs.
I’m no guru, but try sionics. They are an awesome company in az that make a really good weapon. They’re more a battle rifle than precision weapon, but I’ve done 1/2moa at 750yds using 77smk before. They’re worth a good look
I’m in no rush honestly. I’d rather wait it out and used my wholesalers to purchase one at cost unless I can find a used setup elsewhere.
I checked into their website but wasn’t able to find any type of pricing whatsoever. Their CT15-ECAR looked very impressive.
RTSP has a version as low as $1200 but if you buy a Mk-18 with all the bells and whistles, it can get real expensive
I haven't followed this thread but just gonna throw another name out there if you haven't found what your looking for yet. Leadstar Arms, I run several of their Grunt series and I gotta say for a mid tier price they are pushing to a more premium rifle. Their barrage series even more so. I'll leave a link to the barrage and you can search the grunt series as well on their website. These are MSRP and run a little cheaper at some of the dealers(dissident arms and stagezeroshootingsupply).These (and some friends I know who have them) have been extremely reliable and accurate to boot with the right loads. Also they are lightweight generally speaking as leadstar is a big name in the competition world, but the grunt and some of the barrages are geared more towards "duty use". Just a thought. Good luck!
www.leadstararms.com
Barrage Rifle - 16" .223 Wylde w/ 17" Handguard (Black) NON SKEL
Custom AR Rifles & Pistols
www.leadstararms.com
Haven't seen anyone recommend piston AR's. I've owned many gas guns over the years. LMT, RRA, Spikes, Black Rain, Daniel Defense, Noreen, Colt, SIG, JP and KAC. That said once the better piston guns became available and well developed I transitioned to them, Only gas guns I've kept in my collection are LMT all other gas AR's were sold and replaced over time with piston operated AR's specifically - HK, PWS and LWRC. These piston guns stay cleaner longer are reliable and have proven accurate. If you shoot a lot, it is hard to beat a good piston operated AR.
There are piston AR's that are not that great. They are not all created equally. Do your research before buying one of the "other" brands of piston operated AR's. Some are no longer sold for good reason. What are the draw backs? Not many. They do weigh a little bit more, but swapping out various lightweight components can resolve that if it is a concern.
There are piston AR's that are not that great. They are not all created equally. Do your research before buying one of the "other" brands of piston operated AR's. Some are no longer sold for good reason. What are the draw backs? Not many. They do weigh a little bit more, but swapping out various lightweight components can resolve that if it is a concern.
I'll throw another wrench in the 'below KAC & LMT' discussion' and say Centurion Arms. Now DD can go fk themselves and no one should be buying them which is a shame since they make great stuff but oddly, Centurion Arms is rarely brought up. Anyone that has one or handled one can attest to build quality, accuracy, and subtle nuances that make them great. Better than BCM which is 10hrs of barn lol
Care to elaborate on your experience with the PWS rifle? That is on my short list for an AR Pistol and I'm kind of leaning towards a piston driven setup. Its tough to drop that much coin without ever having one in hand. How would you say it compares to your LWRC? Ive got a decent amount of time behind a 10.5" LWRC M6A2
I'll state that PWS make great AR's Not good or okay. Even the basic Pro level models are really very good. The Mod 2 rifles are excellent fully featured, worth the money rifles! I own HK LWRC and LMT AR based rifles. I was curious about the other higher end piston offerings.
In my opinion having used PWS extensively since 2008 there isn't any reason to buy the other brands. They work surpressed, they work short barreled, they stay clean, they are rugged as can be and they last! Two of my PWS are from the first year of production. I've bought 5 or 6 more since then in 308, 300 BLK, pistol, etc but I most times use the 4 I have in 223 Wilde. They all have been accurate!
My opinion is this "About PWS you can pay more for other brands but you won't get better". I work on many rifles daily but only ever have to clean my own PWS units. One of my PWS AR's has been tested with the FRT trigger, it operates perfectly! That one is too fun. Only downside is it uses up ammo quickly...
In my opinion having used PWS extensively since 2008 there isn't any reason to buy the other brands. They work surpressed, they work short barreled, they stay clean, they are rugged as can be and they last! Two of my PWS are from the first year of production. I've bought 5 or 6 more since then in 308, 300 BLK, pistol, etc but I most times use the 4 I have in 223 Wilde. They all have been accurate!
My opinion is this "About PWS you can pay more for other brands but you won't get better". I work on many rifles daily but only ever have to clean my own PWS units. One of my PWS AR's has been tested with the FRT trigger, it operates perfectly! That one is too fun. Only downside is it uses up ammo quickly...
Thanks for the reply. I think ill go for the PWS mod 1 or 2 MK11, Ive been on the edge looking for a push, that may have been it. I want this PWS for my go to training rifle. It will see a lot of dry fire, and a class 1-2 times a year. Classes usually entail 1k rounds a day for 2-3 days. Ive done this with my LWRC without issue but hope the PWS doesn't disappoint!
I ended up snagging a radian adac lower and a geissele 10.3” complete upper. Going to do a nice sbr build.
JP rifles are competition focused and should be on your list.
I’m gonna fan boy here and say DD. If you’re FFL and getting it at cost you can’t beat the customer service and their builds are top notch. I’m not saying the other top brands aren’t good, but I’ve had personal experience with DD and they’re only two hours up the road from me. Actually planning on doing one of their on site courses soon.
DD can die and wither away now with them supporting universal background checks
2018.
Daniel Defense's Marty Daniel: I Was Wrong About FixNICS - The Truth About Guns
On Friday, Daniel Defense head honcho Marty Daniel issued a statement announcing his support for the FixNICS bill currently pending in both the House and Senate. But FixNICS hasn’t exactly been popular with gun rights supporters, many of whom see it as a slippery slope step toward universal...
www.thetruthaboutguns.com
still FK dd2018.
Daniel Defense's Marty Daniel: I Was Wrong About FixNICS - The Truth About Guns
On Friday, Daniel Defense head honcho Marty Daniel issued a statement announcing his support for the FixNICS bill currently pending in both the House and Senate. But FixNICS hasn’t exactly been popular with gun rights supporters, many of whom see it as a slippery slope step toward universal...
If you've never owned an mws, your missing out and should question your life decisions.
And every ar15 pattern build should start with an lmt Mars or radian adac.
And every ar15 pattern build should start with an lmt Mars or radian adac.
I wouldn't recommend ADAC unless it's a competition gun. That system can make it more difficult to clear certain types of malfunctions.
Like what? Never ran into anything I wouldn't want to drop a mag for. At worst I would think training issue.
A malfunction where you just need to clear the receiver and don't necessarily need to drop the mag to do it.
Especially since you don't have control of the mag and it can land in the dirt/mud/etc and thus need cleaning before reinsertion.
In some jurisdictions the police will lay your gun collection and SHTF ammo supply out for a press conference referring to it as "an ARSENAL", and you as a murderer. The family of the guy who broke into your home with a weapon and tried to kill your family will be there with his mother crying and carrying on about her poor six foot three 270 pound former football player and violent repeat felon never wanting to hurt a flea and liking kittens and puppies. The families' lawyer will be there sounding like a black gospel preacher (which he may be on Sundays), and saying he is going to sue all the gun manufacturers (even those in Belgium and Switzerland) along with you. The DA who was elected with Soros money and doesn't know which end of a gun the the little bullet thingees come out is there and says she will throw the book at you " for the children" (even though you were defending your own terrified children, and have now thrown their father in jail). I'm not advocating violence, but it makes me start to understand that "I'll give up my guns when they pry them from my cold dead fingers" saying. Or as I have heard comedian Owen Benjamin (UnAuthorized.TV) say: "After the ATF loses 10,000 agents trying to seize firearms, do you really think that they are going to keep seizing firearms?" After watching the cowardly cops in Uvalde, I don't think it will take anywhere near 10,000 agents! "Blessed be the Lord my rock! who trains my hands to fight and my fingers to battle. Psalm 144:1 BCP
Damn man, tell us how you really feel but use a paragraph on occasion. What a ramble.
I didn't mean it officer! It was all those mean tweets from that mean orange man that set me off...And since I got banned from Facebook/Meta...I have to vent my spleen somewhere! (I bet the idiots that run those companies haven't thought of that!). I haven't posted here for months. Sorry to drop all those large grain bullets of truth on the target all at once
P.S. Owen Benjamin is on Rumble also. His best stand up before he got cancelled is on UA and might be one or two on Amazon. Sorry, I got long again (A man can't help how he is endowed ).
Unfortunately, I don't think it will be that simple. Don't believe the tripe that the fed doesn't keep a database of gun owners. They may not know exactly what you have, but they know you successfully tried to buy one (or more) since the pre-purchase federal firearms check went into effect. If you don't give them up, or give a valid explanation of where they went, you will suddenly be a criminal. Then, things will start happening to your credit rating, and you won't be able to buy insurance or hold a drivers license, or any other license for that matter. Then, the IRS will get into the game and start penalizing you for illegal gun ownership, even though it's not a tax-related issue. (Remember how they do/did this for health insurance?) Then, after all the working class holdouts trying to feed their families have been financially ruined, they will finally turn in those guns, and it won't take a fraction of those 10,000 agents to go door-to-door and round up the rest.
I pray that we have a full blown revolution before this starts, and I'm still physically able to participate. I keep telling myself that certainly, armed Americans are not going to give up their guns like the Brits and Aussies did. But, I didn't think Obama or Biden would ever be elected, and I thought surely someone would put together a team of operators and go free the January 6th political prisoners. I also thought that the Clinton's would be in prison or dead by now, and that my asshole governor would tell the fed to kiss ass and lock down our southern border, and dare the fed to come down here and do something about it. I especially thought Ashley Babbit's veteran widower would go hunt down the scum that murdered his wife, nail him to a tree, and skin him alive.
I'm starting to believe that my age has me expecting too much from the younger generations.
Gunny ... I'm standing in the same camp as you - I'd have your 6 .... Like you I never thought osoma or brandon had a snowball chance ... but yet .. here we are - osoma coaching teleprompter stumbling ice man ... nothing surprises me any more ... so I just keep adding to the pile
If a man doesn't stand for something .. he'll fall for anything
If you’re looking for a life or liberty rifle, the high end competition rifles are a pass, my match grade chambers don’t like eating hundreds of rounds of NATO ammo. The Colts, DD, and FNs I have eat anything with acceptable accuracy. And their parts interchange. The same cannot be said for most custom or piston guns.
Aaah doomer gloomer! You obviously didn't follow my advice and go look for Owen Benjamin's stand-up comedy - where hope really makes a comeback. It's people like you that make younger people hate boomers. You can think about that while you're waiting for someone to smother you with a pillow as you lay with a bunch of bedsores in your own shit in some ghastly nursing home. Or you can stop acting like one of the old grouches on the Muppets and propose some solutions or at least sound cheerful!
I prefer be an old grouch shittin’ the bed rather than some young naive fool whose still shittin’ his britches.
Another thing that leaves me little hope for the younger generation is that they can't seem to think for themselves.
You didn't read much did you... I literally talked about and posted photos of my LWRC M6A1 on page 1 (post #23).
Let's time travel to this past week... Marty Daniel's bitch-ass is going to really step on his own dick live in front of Congress...
hey! I resemble that remark!
My first AR was/is a PSA M4 clone. Bought it as a blem for even less than normal.
Shoots fine. Doesn't malfunction. It is 'the best?' No, but 'shoots fine and doesn't malfunction' are the 2 most important aspects for this rifle.
M
For reliability in adverse setting and/or suppressor use there is no better platform than the PWS piston setup at the price point. The SCAR is also a fantastic platform, but I feel it is most worthwhile in its 7.62 configuration. For an "I want to do everything well" and superior ballistic profile, the SCAR is pretty fantastic as a "do it all" rifle. Mine shoots sub-MOA with both the 16" and 13" barrel with my handloads. The barrel takes just a couple minutes to change. It has NEVER malfunctioned including hundreds of rounds of suppressed only fire. Its not perfect out of the box. It was built to military requirements. I added a SUPER SCAR trigger, a KDG extended rail, KDG sling points, and a Magpul grip to the basic rifle. Everyone seems to think the Ar15 and its 556 are "weapons of war". They serve a purpose especially if you are part of a superior force. Most of us won't be in that situation. Given those facts I believe the investment in superior equipment is warranted. I wanted to offer a different perspective. The SCAR 17 is also just under 8lbs so very reasonable given its accuracy and capabilities.
Superior training beats superior equipment, just saying. But anyway, I live out in the sticks, if I need a bolt or firing pin for a mil spec DI gun, I can go to a number of places and get one. It also depends on location, land layout. With the hills I live in, 500 yards is max and I can get there all day long with a 556. Plus I can carry more 5.56 than 308, and more ammo matters more than a sub minute gun in pretty much every fire fight in recorded history. And I don’t dispute the advantage of running a piston gun with a can. However, if I’m only allowed one gun, it’s without a doubt going to be a DI gun that my friends and neighbors all share common parts with.
I do just gotta say, you shouldn’t willingly look so ignorant. A lot of fucking people have died by a 5.56/ AR.
Except the fact that FN voids your warranty if you put a suppressor on a SCAR…
Nothing in the piston realm that I’m aware of will beat an LWRC in reliability and self-regulation (simplicity of use) both suppressed and unsuppressed. My M6A1 piston regulates itself when going from unsuppressed to suppressed, no adjustment input other than screwing on the suppressor.
