Birthday AR15 buildout; $2K budget

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twoblink

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My friend's wife approached me yesterday with building him a b-day AR15. Budget is $2000. (Nice wife!!)

We will probably go hog hunting later on; so I want to allocate $$$ for a 300 Blackout barrel. That $2K will need to include glass.

I am not a fan of AR's so I'm going to have to defer to everybody else for suggestions.
 
Gonna need a little more info on your friends uses for the gun. ARs can be had in many many different flavors and configurations. With a 2000$ budget I don't see why two different uppers could be figured into that price. One in 223/556 and another in 300blk.


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My advise would be to go ahead and buy a lower and upgraded trigger now. No money is going to wasted there even if he changes his plans.

Here are some general thoughts on ARs, coming from the perspective that most companies put out quality products at this point in time, but a person can waste a lot of money of quality products that they don't need or don't benefit them very much...

Lowers: He can spend a lot or a little on a lower, but the two places that really distinguish a $50 stripped lower from a $400+ lower are the furniture and the trigger. Spending very much on a lower that has cheap furniture and a mil-spec trigger is a waste.

Barrels: Even an inexpensive barrel is going to be accurate enough to hit the kill zone of large game within the acceptable hunting distance for 223/300blk. The barrel is a component that most people associate with accuracy, but the real story is that accuracy is a combination of the barrel, ammunition, optic, shooter and shooting position. I could out shoot the best, most accurate AR in the world if I have a stable rest and the other guy is shooting free hand.

Optics: Here is an honest question, does he want to dial in shots or set the scope to one zero and then use a reticle and windage to shoot? Also, does he want to use one optic for one upper, or does he want to swap around optics and uppers? That's going to determine how much he needs to spend on an optic. A well built zoom lens, with good clarity, quality construction and pretty close adjustments cost a lot less that all of that with dead on, repeatable adjustments mounted on a quick detach mount that will hold zero when being re-attached.

Free float: At that budget, he might as well have it, even if it doesn't play a huge role in his shooting.
 
I actually just finished a 300aac build, i went for utilitarian, or my idea of utilitarian atleast..... honestly with that budget where id be looking at spending a little extra money would be matched recievers and stuff that goes beyond function. Top quality trigger would be on the list as well....again just where i can see an advantage to any build type.
For specifics more about expected use would be very helpful.
 
Gonna need a little more info on your friends uses for the gun. ARs can be had in many many different flavors and configurations. * * *

No kidding.

Jeez-Louise, $2K in this current market buys a lot of 5.56 AR, with .300BLK optional.

Heck, $1K alone buys a top-tier AR, ... with the other $1K of the <...> cash being spent on magazines, ammo, a RDS or magnified optic, a flashlight, a sling, and supporting mounts, etc.

Then your friend's all ready for the most important part: take some training courses.

Do it. You can thank me later. :cool:
 
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my advice is gifts like that should be spent on things a person wouldn't normally buy for himself. i.e. something nice, not a high volume of cheap things.

although, 6000 rounds of quality ammo would be a dang nice gift. or 4000 rounds and an AR
 
You could go with something like an AR556 or M&P Sport, another 300 BLK upper, with enough money left over for decent optics, magazines, etc. It's a very good platform to start with, which he can modify to suit his needs at his discretion.

It takes some fun out of the build aspect, but if you're not a fan of ARs, that probably isn't a positive anyway.
 
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So If he wants to hunt hogs too, i think a matched set of uppers in5.56 and 300blk and a good lower with a high end trigger and nice furniture would work. Put a quality low power scope on the 5.56 and a red dot on the 300 upper, all in a pelican case. That would be AWESOME to unwrap...

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So If he wants to hunt hogs too, i think a matched set of uppers in5.56 and 300blk and a good lower with a high end trigger and nice furniture would work. Put a quality low power scope on the 5.56 and a red dot on the 300 upper, all in a pelican case. That would be AWESOME to unwrap...

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That's what dreams are made of.


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Target shooting to about 200 yards, so what like a 3-7x scope? 300AAC with a lit reticle for hunting I'm thinking. I'm a trigger snob, so I'd spend more on trigger because I know it greatly effects accuracy.
 
* * * I'm a trigger snob, so I'd spend more on trigger because I know it greatly effects accuracy.

Get LaRue Tac's MBT2 and save some cash. I have three of them as well as about 6 or 7 of Geissele's units. Pull of the all-steel MBT2 is somewhere between the SSA and SSA-E. I got my MBT2 units back when LT had them on saie. Like $125, IIRC.
 
You could go with something like an AR556 or M&P Sport, another 300 BLK upper, with enough money left over for decent optics, magazines, etc. It's a very good platform to start with, which he can modify to suit his needs at his discretion.

It takes some fun out of the build aspect, but if you're not a fan of ARs, that probably isn't a positive anyway.

+1 on the M&P Sport II. It can be bought for ~$600 in many places. That way he will have a complete rifle to start with.

Then build the second upper in 300BLK with high quality parts (barrel, bcg, handguard). You can upgrade the lower parts--trigger, grip, stock. And also look at optics, ammo, and magazines.

Another good option is a Colt6920 or BCM AR in the the $1000 range, then buy optics etc.
 
Show him, and the freezer since hunting is the purpose, you care and go 6.8 SPC. :evil:
 
my advice is gifts like that should be spent on things a person wouldn't normally buy for himself. i.e. something nice, not a high volume of cheap things.

although, 6000 rounds of quality ammo would be a dang nice gift. or 4000 rounds and an AR

This. I'm normally a cheap SOB and think a $600 S&W Sport can do 99% of what your average range commando or weekend hunter needs doing. But if it's a gift for someone else, and you really have that much of a budget to spare, I'd try to make it special.

Bud's has a Daniel Defense carbine in 6.8 on their website for 1700 bucks - I would think about something like that.
 
If it were me, and it's not, I would skip both the S&W sport and the Daniel Defense. The sport is a good gun and shoots a bullet well, but I could afford some nicer features. The DD is a nice gun as well, but for the features it delivers there is a significant price premium when compared to other options.

I would build, obviously, and be looking to spend about $400 on the lower/trigger/furniture, $500 on the 223 upper, $300 on the 300blk upper, and the rest on optics. I would also skip the red dot and go with a 1-4x scope, unless he plans to be shooting alot at distance less than 25 yards. At that price I wouldn't be getting billet receivers, but I would have two quality, free floated uppers, an excellent lower and two mid-level optics that I could mount on each, and avoid the trouble of swapping them and re-zeroing. Or, realistically, just letting one upper gather dust most of the year.
 
Buds gun shop has a Daniel Defense DDM4V11 for $1200 after using the price match feature. Slap on a Leupold or Aimpoint optic and a case of ammo.
 
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