AR15 Recommendations

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Gunfyter

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I'm hoping to go shopping for my first AR15 very soon. Are the Bushmaster and Fulton Armory models pretty much the same as far as price and workmanship? Knowing that the elections are coming this fall here in the PRMD and that we could very well be once again under a Democrat Governor, I'm thinking now is the time before we have another AWB. Fulton Armory is less than an hours drive from here in Frederick so a field trip might be in order. Opinions please.
 
What kind of setup do you want? 16", 18", 20" or longer? Flat top or carry handle? 1-9", 1-8", 1-7", or 1-6.5"?

I say get a Stag or whatever stripped lower you can get for $100 (or find a complete lower for about $200 or whatever the lowball price is nowadays for one) and select an upper in the configuration you want from CMMG.
 
i've heard that fulton offers a better product than bushmaster but i couldn't tell you from experience. i own a bushmaster but the only thing that's left still bushmaster is the lower. it is, however, well made in my opinion. i wholeheartedly recommend rock river over bushmaster, though. if you decide not to go with fulton go with rock river.


on another note, it has been said that the best indication that gun control in the US has failed is that its proponents are still alive but i suggest another indication is that even the hint of a hint of antigun laws starts people buying in hordes.


oh, and my condolences on contradcting the ebr disease. it can't be cured but it can be treated - by purchasing more ebrs.
 
Check out this page especially the sections on Required Features and Feature Compliant Maufacturers. I picked Bushmaster because of this. I'm not sure whether the info is still completely accurate but I think most still is. Rock River isn't mentioned. Great rifles and their prices reflect it. About the only thing that I think is an issue is non-milspec buffer tubes (receiver extension tube).

http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/ar15sforserious.htm
 
save yourself some money and build a kit from stag or jtdistributing.


No excise taxes on kits, just the reciever.
 
I would sugget building it yourself.
It is assembled like a puzzle and pretty easy.
You can build one for around 550-650 bux.
Many online guides as how to do so.
I built mine for around 550 bux, all NIB parts.

ETA: everything you see is BM, everything you can't, is DPMS (ie BCG , bolt, and charging handle)
The stock is a Colt knock off, same that makes Colts made that one, just ALOT cheaper (30 or 45 bux)
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Fulton builds some NICE stuff.
it's not going to be equivilent in price to the others though.

buy any lower you want (RRA, Stag, whatever) that is actually the gun, so you can get a bunch of them before elections. (and they are pretty cheap)

then, get the uppers over time to match what you want. Standard configs, custom built accurate models, etc
anything from $400 or so to $3000 for an upper)
 
I'd also suggest looking at Olympic Arms as well. They seem to make a good solid rifle, with numerous options, at a lower price margin. Several people here have them, and love them... And a lifetime warranty isn't bad either... :rolleyes:


:evil:
 
If you absolutely want the best, buy a Colt. Only one problem, they are expensive and they are backordered. Colt uses the absolute highest quality materials on all the parts and has the absolute best quality control. You can see the difference everywhere on the rifle. Please ignore the idiotic Colt haters. They know nothing. I speak of rifle quality only. Only problem is, if you can't have flashhiders etc...you will have to settle for their neutered civvie models, which are NOT the same as their LE models which are superior to all other AR's. The civvie ones might not be as good as the LE's but they are most likely still better than everything else out there.


The next up after that is Bushmaster. Bushmaster might not be as techinically good as a Colt, but there's nothing wrong with them and the differences are small. There's no practical disadvantage to owning a Bushy. I highly, highly recommend that you buy the flat top 16" "superlight". 16" is all you need, and that barrel profile is all you need. If you don't want a flattop, it comes in an A2 upper also. Trust me, once you go light, you'll never desire an HBAR ever. There's no purpose for it contrary to what many people will say to justify it. I put Bushmaster above RRA because of the configurations in both pre/post ban availability (which are important for you), as well as one huge feature they all have - chrome lining. That to me is an absolute must. While I own a Colt, I like Bushmaster a lot. Good rifle, good company. They've always been nice to me when I dealt with them.


After that, I'd say RRA. People rave on about these. They're built well, but in my opinion, they aren't that much better than a kit gun. All RRA does is professionally assemble a rifle from the same parts you can buy as a kit or individually and offers you a warranty. I will probably be flamed for saying that as I am stepping on sacred grounds, but it is the truth.


If you are somewhat mechanically skilled and are willing to learn, I'd build an AR from parts. If you buy the right parts, and you assemble correctly, the rifle you'll have will be the equal or better than RRA.


Others are: Armalite (not the orginal Armalite company that first made the AR), people regard them as high quality. Olympic- about middle of the road. DPMS - upper middle of the road. Fulton is a semi-custom. I'd put it in the high quality group, but you can probaby get the same function for less $$$ with other options. Fulton doesn't make any junk, but you pay for that.
 
Here come the Colt guys :uhoh:

J/K :evil:

Hell, buy what you can afford, you can swap out stuff later. As long as you get an AR ...... you've done good!
 
I went with CMMG lowers $128 each and assembled everying else from Rock River Arms, except for the Geissele trigger on my wifes National Match.

I didn't pay retail or assembly fees, which saved me some money

I really like RRA, don't know what it is, they just have a nice finish/feel and are accurate for a middle of the road price.
 
Here come the Colt guys
Click to expand...

Yep...and another vote for Colt. My 6920 has been flawless through thousands of rounds so far.

I'd highly suggest you spend some time on http://www.ar15.com doing some research.

IMHO I would *not* build your own FrankenAR (mix match uppers/lowers). Yes, some people do it and get away with it just fine, but if you're 'new' to AR's you'd be better off getting factory stock. Again, IMHO, the guys that go with factory stock rifles seem to have less problems.

Bushmaster is another great rifle for the price - and I'm eyeing the new S&W AR's as well...
 
All RRA does is professionally assemble a rifle from the same parts you can buy as a kit or individually and offers you a warranty.
Click to expand...

pretty much what most companies do. you do realize that even the mighty colt outsources parts, right?

i own a colt sp1, a rock river upper on a bushy lower, a stag upper on an armalite lower and i'm about to build a complete rock river rifle. they are all fine rifles and i have no complaints. i got an excellent price on the colt so i can't even complain there but you do get ALOT more for your dollar with rock river or bushmaster than you do with colt. my colt isn't significantly more accurate, more reliable or prettier than any of the other ones but colt does expect dramatically more money for what is essentially the same product.
 
Yeah they do, but how much they do varies. Bushmaster makes their own barrels and chromes them. Colt makes their barrels. RRA uses Wilson? They all make their own lowers. They all buy uppers from Cerro and other forges and finish them in house. Trigger parts are contracted out, but Colt inspects each one. They probably all get their gas keys from the same place, but Colt stakes them so that they never come loose....


I bought a Colt 6520 late last year. I paid $999 brand new. I have no idea how people constantly claim that Colt is outrageously more expensive. Shop around. Don't get ripped off. A local gunshop has one on the shelf for $1,899 I kid you not. A large dealer at a common Florida gun show had it for $2,499.

That's not BS. Saw it with my own two eyes and was offended. Now, that's an extreme example of dealers trying to rape customers, however, many dealers for some reason over charge for Colts although not by that much. That doesn't mean they all do. You can find a Colt for a reasonable price. I did, and I know many others that have also. This is without having to dig around for group buys or finding dealer costs.

I've seen plain Jane Bushmasters being listed at $1,300. Doesn't mean I can call them outrageously priced vs. Olympic. A Bushmaster A2 superlight can be had from anywhere from $850 up to around $925. Was my A2 Colt "superlight" that much more money at $999? The main differences are, I got a 1/7 barrel, M4 ramps, H buffer, M16 carrier with Colt staked gas key, MP testing on barrel and bolt, staked castle nut, higher quality handguards, better machined lower parts which result in a better trigger pull on and on...These things were worth the $150 premium to me, but maybe not to others.

I'll hand it to RRA though for dealing with the bad AR triggers by making their 2-stage standard. That's nice. I'm thinking of using one of these on one of my build ARs.


I think the places that charge more for Colts are doing so on the claim that either 1] Colt is more rare or hard to get a hold of 2] Colt is the "original" 3] Colt is the actual "US military rifle" minus full auto etc..none of which is true. Although, on #3 Colt is the closest you can get. Bizarre. They often have them hanging on the wall by themselves or segregated from the other long arms in the shop as if the Colt specimen they have is some rarity to be in awe of. Dealers are idiots and they are looking for a sucker.

Anyhow, in my first post I said there's really no practical difference, ie, you won't experience the difference.
 
And my brand new JT distributing kit (A3) with a wilson Hbar built the way I want it, with a Doublestar reciever cost me $550 to build.
 
This is still a topic? Wow. Ok, back to sleep I go...maybe in another year this Rip Van Winkle will wake up and there will be new topics.
 
For your first, buy the RRA and then have a ball. Eagle arms sell RRA stuff.
Remember, you can get a 6.8 SPC upper for it. As well as myriad other calibers.
 
Either a Rock River (I'd recommend RRA), Armalite, or Bushmaster.

Others are not built as well.

Colt has some strange parts (oversized hammer and trigger group pin on some)

I use a Rock River for work, and my life depends on it.

Oh yeah, I'm a certified master armorer for AR-15s, not that it matters all that much, other than I know every little detail about the insides, and the RRA, Armalite, and Bushmaster make quality rifles.
 
I do think the Colt is a great gun, but is overpriced. When pin holes are drilled offcenter and then just made as a "large pin" model I consider that sloppy.

99.9% of your reliability of feeding and extracting comes from the upper quality. You can buy many different lowers that are the same quality as Colt for half the cost. Mate any quality upper to any quality lower and you won't have problem.

I've built a couple semi custom guns including a White Oak and a Clark Gator for under $1000. The gator is guranteed to .5 MOA and both are much smoother that the Colts I've run.
 
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