Premium AR Brands

LMT
Knights Armament
JP Enterprises
LWRC
Noveske (of the John Noveske era, not sure about today)

Larue would be a good choice at a lower cost as well.

Knight’s Armament Company (KAC), and Lewis Machine and Tool (LMT) are pretty much at the top of the production heap, and frankly both have very close ties to one another. For materials, manufacturing methods, and refinements to the platform you won’t find better.

Hodge Defense is supposed to be excellent as well but are pretty much unobtainable.

HK has the potential but they don’t offer a full mil spec upper (M27) on the MR556 so they fall short.

Balrog said:

What brands are known for exceptional accuracy and function?

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Given the underlined and bolded constraint above, JP is the only one listed above which jump to my mind, and not as a top end option. The Seekins SP’s are another ACCURATE and reliable rifle. The Daniel Defense, Knights, Larue, LMT, etc are reliable and durable, but nothing spectacular in terms of precision.

GA Precison out of Kansas City and Dtech/Mike Milli are the only two I would buy for accuracy and function, if I were to buy instead of build my own from precision capable parts.

I think you’re selling the KAC and LMT guns short, particularly the models using cut rifled barrels.

Coal Dragger said:

I think you’re selling the KAC and LMT guns short, particularly the models using cut rifled barrels.

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The KAC’s I have had were 1moa rifles. Fine for some, and great among the fleet of mil-spec carbines out there, but doesn’t keep up with the GAP rifles I’ve seen, or match barrel rifles I’ve put together or had built by guys like George or Mike - rifles shooting 1/2-3/4moa groups on their bad days, not just their best.

My only experience (ownership) is with a Wilson Combat Recon in 6.8 SPC purchased many years ago. Expensive but very well made - extremely accurate, so much so that it is boring to shoot. As above, there are probably a lot if fine choices.

honestly, are you capable of putting one together? I mean, get a toolcraft or jp bolt, a decent trigger (maybe a cmc?) and something like a criterion barrel and you should be good to go. There is no real magic to an AR. good barrel, good trigger, and if you can't hit then it's your fault.

I can vouch for DTech. I had mike build an AR in .358 WSSM using a Shilen match barrel. Sub 1/2”

I have an old AR the has a Wilson air gauged match barrel. I’ve posted multiple dime size groups @ 250 yards that my S-I-L shot using hand loads of Nosler BT’s over Varget

As noted, barrel quality is everything assuming you have quality ammo

White Oak Armament also makes some really accurate uppers. I have been very pleased with mine.

I have a Larue OBR 7.62 and a Larue stealth 5.56 that are sub MOA. Also a Barnes Precision that's about the same. But then again, I also have one I built myself with a GI BCG and DPMS 16" barrel that is 1 MOA. Lots of accurate AR's about nowadays, and they don't all have a well known name.

AR parts have become a commodity. I'm not sure how much additional value you are getting with a brand name.

stownsend said:

White Oak Armament also makes some really accurate uppers. I have been very pleased with mine.

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Second this: When I listed my first post here, my brain was itching for WOA, but I couldn’t bring them to front of mind.

Compass Lake also puts together very accurate rifles. I have only had their Service Rifle uppers, but the accuracy potential is there.

I also neglected FN in my list of <= 1moa “fighting rifles.” But there remains a difference in the ~1moa fighting rifles and sub-MOA precision AR’s.

Balrog said:

How is Daniel Defense?

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Good to go, fighting rifle class. MOA-ish in the right set up.

I get confused with terms like "fighting rifle class". I know milspec is a minimum specification, but if that's what the US Army requires, wouldn't anything that meets that requirement be in that class? I noticed nobody included Colt, which is what's used as a fighting rifle by our troops.

Of course, probably 90%+ of AR's in civilian hands will never wear out regardless of manufacturer, just not being shot enough. I wouldn't think sub moa accuracy is a requirement for a military arm, either.

Would a good trigger and barrel be as accurate as the high priced spread using any reasonable upper and lower, i.e., like Anderson or PSA?

In my mind Colt is not at the top of the heap when one is considering the whole scope of the rifle: accuracy, reliability, ergonomics, trigger, enhanced parts, etc.

What Colt has is really good quality control and reliability. They are a great if not one of the best choices for a basic AR that’s dependable and long lasting. But top tier they are not.

I’m sure others will disagree.

Suppose I had a pile of parts, enough to build a complete ‘64 Camaro or Mustang. Would I be an auto manufacturer if I put it together?

Well, that what “manufacturers” of AR’s do for the most part. There’s nothing magical in a name other than that they use certain parts. If you use better parts, you end up with a better rifle. You can buy high end parts and make just as good a rifle at your kitchen table

KAC, JP, Larue, or a good smith who will properly install a good barrel like a Kriger, Criterion, WOA, etc and pair it with a bolt that headspaces properly.


Upper and lower doesn't matter very much, with one exception. Some uppers are a bit sloppy where they interface with the barrel extension. It is advantageous to have a barrel extension that fits very tightly into the upper. Some top tier makers oversize their barrel extensions very slightly, and then thermo fit the upper and barrel together. Some use shim stock to achieve the same effect.

All of it is moot if you don't feed it match grade ammunition. Imprecise ammo will not generate precise groups.

Balrog said:

How is Daniel Defense?

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IMHO, overpriced for what you get. Don't get me wrong, they make an excellent rifle. I just think they charge a bit more premium than what their quality calls for.

Speedo66 said:

I get confused with terms like "fighting rifle class". I know milspec is a minimum specification, but if that's what the US Army requires, wouldn't anything that meets that requirement be in that class? I noticed nobody included Colt, which is what's used as a fighting rifle by our troops.

Of course, probably 90%+ of AR's in civilian hands will never wear out regardless of manufacturer, just not being shot enough. I wouldn't think sub moa accuracy is a requirement for a military arm, either.

Would a good trigger and barrel be as accurate as the high priced spread using any reasonable upper and lower, i.e., like Anderson or PSA?

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If you ever get the chance to lay hands on a rifle like a JP-15 or CTR-02 from JP rifles, and shoot it side by side next to a Colt 6920, the difference will be immediately apparent.

JP Enterprises makes very nice parts. If I were to build a top tier AR it would be using LMT and JP parts.

Speedo66 said:

I get confused with terms like "fighting rifle class".

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Varminterror said:

there remains a difference in the ~1moa fighting rifles and sub-MOA precision AR’s.

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It’s really pretty simple. There are AR’s on the civilian market which are made to the same specifications as select fire military rifles. They tend to over-lean towards durability and reliability, and don’t focus as much on raw accuracy. The cheapest of these will be 1.5-2moa rifles, the best of them, FN, DD, LMT, Larue, Knight’s, etc will be 1moa rifles, maybe up to 1.5moa on bad days, but balanced with those strokes of brilliance here and there printing 3/4moa. Then there are precision built rifles, which have the same level of reliability, and largely similar durability, but focused enhancements in the parts of the rifle which make it shoot small. These are going to be reliably under 1moa, and often sneaking into half MOA and even under half for the right shooters in the right conditions. Not many folks produce these, GAP and Dtech being two I know who do so, religiously. White Oak, Compass Lake, JP, Seekins, all make rifles which fall nearer to the precision built AR than to the high class fighting rifle.

If I were a war fighter, shooting at 18”x30” torso’s as my criteria for success, I wouldn’t sweat the difference between a 1/2” rifle and a 1” rifle. I would, however, want to know, if I took a hard landing on my rifle, it would keep making with the umpop pop after. I might give up the advantage of a free float handguard in trade for peace of mind that I could slam the rifle onto a rock or tree stump or ruck a hundred times, or a thousand times, without ever breaking loose. In the civilian world, however, the consequences are lower. I can come home after a match and check screws, replace anything broken or damaged, and ensure my rifle doesn’t go two weeks without cleaning after shooting in a dust storm, or taking a dip in a swamp. But I also might play games or pursue animals which need a higher standard for precision.

In the same world, a shooter who wants precision on a budget can build or have built an AR which has the critical trappings of a high dollar, custom gunsmith AR, and still attain perfect reliability, with sub-MOA accuracy. $250-400 on a barrel, $200-300 on a trigger, then a few extra minutes of time mating the extension to the receiver, and any free float AR can be exceptionally accurate. And this, at a fraction of the cost of a custom gunsmith built precision AR, or even less so than many of these top brand fighting AR’s. It may not be as durable as the fighting AR’s, but almost so, and it may not be as accurate as the precision AR’s, but almost so, and it’s inexpensive enough to build two of them for the price of either of the others.

So, as they say, Horses for Courses. There’s a big difference between a VERY accurate AR built to defend freedom, and a VERY accurate AR built to be accurate.

@Varminterror well said!

People always come and ask the question I want the most reliable and greatest accuracy. Well, in the AR world there really is two camps with some bleed over in between.

You have your budget friendly: Del-Ton, Anderson, CMMG, S&W, Ruger, Springfield, Bushmaster, Windham, Palmetto, Aero Precision, etc.

You have your "Grey Area of Price to Performance": Sig Sauer, Rock River Arms, Stag, S&W, Windham, Aero Precision, Hardened Arms. (out of business).

You have your "Reliability above all else": Colt, BCM, KAC, LMT

You have your "Premium Labeled": Larue, POF, Daniel Defense, Primary Weapons Systems.

You have your "Precision camps": JP Enterprises, Noveske (of the John Noveske era); nowadays most precision AR's are built from parts, not bought.

All of what I said above is hugely generalized, so don't take offense. And one can see that there are companies that dabble in more than one camp. Personally, I don't buy complete rifles anymore, there are too many good parts options from different vendors that one can put together a better rifle if one takes their time and spends some money in some key areas.