AR15's - Who makes the best ones and why?

Only products I buy are Larue, Lewis Machine and Tool (LMT) and bushmaster have never had nothing but great gear and service come from them all. Check out a LMT mrp upper have 2 and a number of barrels love them.

I have a LMT 5.56 mm.. it performs better than the M-16 I used in the USMC. Never jams..even when dropped in the muck!!
Great weapon...

BRASS
 
i ordered a Spikes Tactical because i wanted a ma compliant, mid-length & spec for spec vs dollars spent they were above the curve by far. also, i heard a ton of great things about their products and customer service. that said, i am waiting since march for it and still no solid delivery date... hope its worth the wait.
 
i ordered a Spikes Tactical because i wanted a ma compliant, mid-length & spec for spec vs dollars spent they were above the curve by far. also, i heard a ton of great things about their products and customer service. that said, i am waiting since march for it and still no solid delivery date... hope its worth the wait.

I managed to get mine just before their leads times when haywire, but I still waited ~2 months. Well worth the wait.
 
I managed to get mine just before their leads times when haywire, but I still waited ~2 months. Well worth the wait.

thats great to hear. i am getting impatient but hope its worthwhile. i have never even seen one of their rifles 1st hand but have heard nothing but good things about their products. i also figure its a testament to their quality based on the demand. any pics of your ma compliant spikes?
 
A big thank-you once again for starting this thread. This was one of many great resources for building my first AR. The finished products (sans optics) can be seen here.

Now to look at my bank statements and softly weep. [crying]
 
Question for you guys that waited for spikes/bcm uppers when did they charge your card when it shipped or when the order was placed? I just finished my first build and I am thinking ahead for a second ar but don't want to pay now and get it in 9 months!
 
Nice thing about BCM (maybe this was mentioned previously) is that they use a real-time inventory system. You know it's in stock, you know your cc is going to be charged, and you know you'll have it in a matter of days.
 
Question for you guys that waited for spikes/bcm uppers when did they charge your card when it shipped or when the order was placed? I just finished my first build and I am thinking ahead for a second ar but don't want to pay now and get it in 9 months!

I got the charge the day after I picked up the package. Less than a week after ordering.
 
Since the cost of building a "tier one" AR15 is less than $1000 I cannot think of a single VALID reason to buy anything else. For example, the cost of "building" a BCM MidLength or BCM "M4" is only $958. NOTE: When I say "build" I do not mean you have to actually "build" anything - you just have to push the two take-down pins!

BCM NON-HAMMER FORGED BARREL "BUILD" COST

* BCM Factory Assembled "Blem" Lower without Stock Body = $265 Delivered
* VLTOR Clubfoot Stock @ BCM = $49
* BCM MidLength or M4 Upper without Handguards = $385
* BCM BCG and CH = $135
* MagPul MOE Handguards @ BCM = $33
* Shipping for everything at BCM excluding the lower (shipping is in that price) = $15
* LMT Fixed Rear Sight @ AR15.com = $75 or LaRue LT-103 BUIS for $89

Total BCM with LMT Rear BUIS = $958

I'm thinking about putting together almost exactly this rifle. When you say "building" is as easy as pushing in pins, are you being literal? I'm a bit confused on how much work this is going to be (and if there are any other parts required that aren't listed here).
 
I'm thinking about putting together almost exactly this rifle. When you say "building" is as easy as pushing in pins, are you being literal? I'm a bit confused on how much work this is going to be (and if there are any other parts required that aren't listed here).

If you buy a complete lower and a complete upper, it is literally as simple as attaching them by way of two pins.
 
*** Disclaimer *** Those who are tired of giving advice to noobies looking to make their first AR puchase should stop reading here

Ok, now that that's out of the way, here's my deal. I'm fairly new to firearms. My collection so far includes a .22 rifle, .22 pistol, and a 9mm pistol. Next on my wish list is an AR. It is SO tempting to buy a S&W or Stag "off the shelf", but if I'm going to spend $600 t0 $900 for that, it does seem foolish if I could put together something like Indivdualist's BCM build. I've read enough to know that for my first AR I don't want to build it complete from scrach (I don't want a stripped lower), but as long as I bought completed components it seems like I would be ok and don't have to necessarily buy "off the shelf".

In asking myself what I care about, my list is fairly short:

* $1000 max budget (but of course anything under that would be nice and would go to ammo)
* Fairly light weight (not sure what to look for exactly here, I've only held a few AR's but they really seemed to range in weight. What components most impact overall weight?)
* Does NOT need to withstand rolling around in mud. It will mostly be a range plinker but I would like it to be fairly accurate. If I miss bullseye, I want it to be my fault or the fact that I'm using cheap ammo, but not the guns fault. This gun would have a better chance of seeing zombie blood at "go time" than it would seeing dirt or mud.
* Lastly (and perhaps most importantly?) I want it to handle cheap steel cased ammo without flinching. Do tier 1 guns handle cheap ammo better than tier 2? Or is that an apples to oranges comparison? I can always use better ammo for serious target shooting, but if I feel like dumping 30 rounds into a short range target for grins and giggles, I want to be able to use the cheap stuff.

All of that said, should I save a few hundred $ and just pick up a S&W?

Thoughts? Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
*** Disclaimer *** Those who are tired of giving advice to noobies looking to make their first AR puchase should stop reading here

Ok, now that that's out of the way, here's my deal. I'm fairly new to firearms. My collection so far includes a .22 rifle, .22 pistol, and a 9mm pistol. Next on my wish list is an AR. It is SO tempting to buy a S&W or Stag "off the shelf", but if I'm going to spend $600 t0 $900 for that, it does seem foolish if I could put together something like Indivdualist's BCM build. I've read enough to know that for my first AR I don't want to build it complete from scrach (I don't want a stripped lower), but as long as I bought completed components it seems like I would be ok and don't have to necessarily buy "off the shelf".

In asking myself what I care about, my list is fairly short:

* $1000 max budget (but of course anything under that would be nice and would go to ammo)
* Fairly light weight (not sure what to look for exactly here, I've only held a few AR's but they really seemed to range in weight. What components most impact overall weight?)
* Does NOT need to withstand rolling around in mud. It will mostly be a range plinker but I would like it to be fairly accurate. If I miss bullseye, I want it to be my fault or the fact that I'm using cheap ammo, but not the guns fault. This gun would have a better chance of seeing zombie blood at "go time" than it would seeing dirt or mud.
* Lastly (and perhaps most importantly?) I want it to handle cheap steel cased ammo without flinching. Do tier 1 guns handle cheap ammo better than tier 2? Or is that an apples to oranges comparison? I can always use better ammo for serious target shooting, but if I feel like dumping 30 rounds into a short range target for grins and giggles, I want to be able to use the cheap stuff.

All of that said, should I save a few hundred $ and just pick up a S&W?

Thoughts? Thanks in advance for any replies.

I had an S&W M&P15FT. It had problems with some lower powered reloads. So, something like Wolf might cause it some issues. However, Silver Bear and Golden Tiger tend to be a bit higher powered so those might have worked better. That said, I don't know how that would reflect on newer S&Ws.

You say you have a $1k max budget. Does that include sights? Magazines? Etc?

Personally, for around that amount, I'd buy one of these uppers: http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/browse&category=rainiercustomshop_rainierarmscombatseries

Then I'd put it on some generic forged lower with a Daniel Defense LPK and whatever stock you can afford (ACE would be a good choice).
 
*** Disclaimer *** Those who are tired of giving advice to noobies looking to make their first AR puchase should stop reading here

Ok, now that that's out of the way, here's my deal. I'm fairly new to firearms. My collection so far includes a .22 rifle, .22 pistol, and a 9mm pistol. Next on my wish list is an AR. It is SO tempting to buy a S&W or Stag "off the shelf", but if I'm going to spend $600 t0 $900 for that, it does seem foolish if I could put together something like Indivdualist's BCM build. I've read enough to know that for my first AR I don't want to build it complete from scrach (I don't want a stripped lower), but as long as I bought completed components it seems like I would be ok and don't have to necessarily buy "off the shelf".

In asking myself what I care about, my list is fairly short:

* $1000 max budget (but of course anything under that would be nice and would go to ammo)
* Fairly light weight (not sure what to look for exactly here, I've only held a few AR's but they really seemed to range in weight. What components most impact overall weight?)
* Does NOT need to withstand rolling around in mud. It will mostly be a range plinker but I would like it to be fairly accurate. If I miss bullseye, I want it to be my fault or the fact that I'm using cheap ammo, but not the guns fault. This gun would have a better chance of seeing zombie blood at "go time" than it would seeing dirt or mud.
* Lastly (and perhaps most importantly?) I want it to handle cheap steel cased ammo without flinching. Do tier 1 guns handle cheap ammo better than tier 2? Or is that an apples to oranges comparison? I can always use better ammo for serious target shooting, but if I feel like dumping 30 rounds into a short range target for grins and giggles, I want to be able to use the cheap stuff.

All of that said, should I save a few hundred $ and just pick up a S&W?

Thoughts? Thanks in advance for any replies.

Yes a Tier 1 gun will eat anything and spit out the shells. I have a lightweight carbine and the difference is really in the rail and the optics. I have a Magpul MOE handgaurd and an Aimpoint PRO and it weighs much less that my LMT upper with a DD quad rail w/o optics.
 
This video gives, what I think is, a very good overview of what makes a good AR15 vs. a not so good one. The points he makes about the gas system tuning are ones I tried to follow when I built mine, and so far, so good.

 
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Depends for what. For just the range (which is all we are doing) probably noveske because they have better barrels that are SUPPOSED to shoot more accurate.
But in the desert or in mud (which is war environment which is why weapons exist)....... gas piston ALL the way. Although I should not be that strict. It all comes form my personal experience with m16 vs ak-47 in dirty environment. So basically the way I see it. LWRC is super AK-47 (or should I say svt-40) and noveske is m16.
In my opinion the weapon should be reliable.
From that comes a question. Can noveske do that?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL2Z8m3y730&feature=related
 
Depends for what. For just the range (which is all we are doing) probably noveske because they have better barrels that are SUPPOSED to shoot more accurate.
But in the desert or in mud (which is war environment which is why weapons exist)....... gas piston ALL the way. Although I should not be that strict. It all comes form my personal experience with m16 vs ak-47 in dirty environment. So basically the way I see it. LWRC is super AK-47 (or should I say svt-40) and noveske is m16.
In my opinion the weapon should be reliable.
From that comes a question. Can noveske do that?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL2Z8m3y730&feature=related

Seriously,

wtf-cat.jpg
 
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Depends for what. For just the range (which is all we are doing) probably noveske because they have better barrels that are SUPPOSED to shoot more accurate.
But in the desert or in mud (which is war environment which is why weapons exist)....... gas piston ALL the way. Although I should not be that strict. It all comes form my personal experience with m16 vs ak-47 in dirty environment. So basically the way I see it. LWRC is super AK-47 (or should I say svt-40) and noveske is m16.
In my opinion the weapon should be reliable.
From that comes a question. Can noveske do that?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL2Z8m3y730&feature=related

Get a clue. seriously dude, wtf
 
You guys are throwing around more acronyms than the Federal Government. If you are going to use an acronym please tell us what it stands for. This thread is great, but those of us who aren't already experts with regard to AR-15's don't know what most of the acronyms stand for.

Just sayin...
 
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