Best AR for Under $1,000

What do you want to DO with this AR-15? scoped target rifle? dot-sight carbine? Something in-between?

Is your $1000 inclusive of the optic?

I can't tell you what to do with your $1000. What *I* would do, is buy a stripped lower, a LPK, Geissele (SSA is a good starting point) trigger, and a magpul buttstock to match your intended use. Build that lower up, and put a complete upper & bcg on it. Put your preferred optic on top of that, and you're GTG. On my last carbine build, I bought the stripped upper, the barrel, BCG and all those components separate, too. But using a complete upper is a happy medium to doing a complete custom build.

In this day and age, there is no reason to buy a factory AR-15.
 
Seeing as Im so used to being behind the wall I completely forgot about Colt. Get yourself a Colt 6920 and just add the simple things like a better grip, optic etc etc. You should be able to find one for around $8-900
Nope, no more civvie production from the pony show. You're gonna get gouged by boomers who think colt is still the best rifle maker ever.
 
Nope, no more civvie production from the pony show. You're gonna get gouged by boomers who think colt is still the best rifle maker ever.

I knew that they had stopped production to us peons. No reason to gouge, they are a great entry level rifle. Not like they are a Noveske or SOLGW.
 
Seeing as Im so used to being behind the wall I completely forgot about Colt. Get yourself a Colt 6920 and just add the simple things like a better grip, optic etc etc. You should be able to find one for around $8-900

Same here. I love the Colts I have.
 
I knew that they had stopped production to us peons. No reason to gouge, they are a great entry level rifle. Not like they are a Noveske or SOLGW.

I might not have made my point clear. In a free state colts have jumped to like 1200 by fudd shops or boomers that bought them to resell. They WILL price gouge you because of the pony rollmark. I know it because ive seen it first hand.
 
I might not have made my point clear. In a free state colts have jumped to like 1200 by fudd shops or boomers that bought them to resell. They WILL price gouge you because of the pony rollmark. I know it because ive seen it first hand.

Clearly, the solution is to embrace the Poverty Pony.
 
Well 1200 will buy you a lot of AR. There's plenty in the 900ish market that are not colt on mid tier. But I'd much rather save another 3-400 dollars and get a BCM, SOLGW, or other higher end rifle.

What I meant was build a rifle using quality parts where needed but cheaping out where possible.
 
What I meant was build a rifle using quality parts where needed but cheaping out where possible.
Oh ok, that makes sense. But if he's in GA he should be looking at the outdoor trader. There's plenty of gems to be found in FTF transactions, also tax relseason is about to hit so plenty of people who owe the govt will be selling fancy guns.
 
If someone can tell me why a Colt rifle ($1200-$2500) is better than a sub-$1000 rifle, I'd be interested in hearing it. Please be specific.

confirmation bias - we are told about legendary colt reliability so when one‘s colt rifle works it’s further proof of their infallible construction. flip side if a $600 budget rifle runs flawless it means nothing. the black rifle market has become so universal that I’m not at all convinced of reliability differences between manufacturers especially since we’re not going FA.

The primary reason to shell out some $$ and get a quality rifle is to avoid dropping twice as much $$ into upgrades. For example, a BCM or LMT will not need new handguard, furniture, muzzle devices, trigger, etc. Plus they hold resale value better. A perfect example is provision for sling attachment. A BCM comes with multiple QD options including a QD cover plate whereas a budget Rifle I’m already shelling out $$ to attach my sling in a manner that doesn’t suck. Now if the buyer is cool with basic furniture and trigger than sure a budget manufacturers makes the most sense...I consider them all pretty much equal from Anderson to Windham.
 
If someone can tell me why a Colt rifle ($1200-$2500) is better than a sub-$1000 rifle, I'd be interested in hearing it. Please be specific.

Depends on the sub 1000 rifle we're talking about here, there's a lot of good stuff under a grand and a lot of trash.

Back in the day not that long ago it was hard to beat a 6920 for like $1100 or whatever they went for.

It was an easy way to tell a friend what to buy without having to get dragged into the weeds. Because you knew if they bought a 6920 or similar they weren't going to
end up with shit. The thing is the market has changed since "then" and its not so convenient of an answer anymore.

-Mike
 
confirmation bias - we are told about legendary colt reliability so when one‘s colt rifle works it’s further proof of their infallible construction. flip side if a $600 budget rifle runs flawless it means nothing. the black rifle market has become so universal that I’m not at all convinced of reliability differences between manufacturers especially since we’re not going FA.
Depends on what your definition of "runs flawless" is. "Joe Plinkster 60 rounds then leaves guy" thinks his Oly Plinkster (which at the the time they were sold, was one of the biggest pieces of trash you could buy for the least amount of cash) is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it probably is (to him) because he's not really beating on the gun much and will never notice the difference. Especially when it sits in his closet for 2 years between range trips. He'll literally never use it enough to the point where any weakness in its build quality/parts will ever show.

-Mike
 
Depends on what your definition of "runs flawless" is. "Joe Plinkster 60 rounds then leaves guy" thinks his Oly Plinkster (which at the the time they were sold, was one of the biggest pieces of trash you could buy for the least amount of cash) is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it probably is (to him) because he's not really beating on the gun much and will never notice the difference. Especially when it sits in his closet for 2 years between range trips. He'll literally never use it enough to the point where any weakness in its build quality/parts will ever show.

-Mike

everyone's definition is different. todd green and PF have settled on this arbitrary 2000 round test with regards to pistols. for an autoloading rifle if I can run 1k rounds without a stoppage I call it good. that's probably 20x more than the average rifle owner but on par with most of us around here. are there really commercial 5.56 AR's out there that can't run 1000 rounds? if so I haven't seen them. the cheapest rifles i've seen accomplish this. i think that's part of what @PatMcD was hinting towards
 
everyone's definition is different. todd green and PF have settled on this arbitrary 2000 round test with regards to pistols. for an autoloading rifle if I can run 1k rounds without a stoppage I call it good. that's probably 20x more than the average rifle owner but on par with most of us around here. are there really commercial 5.56 AR's out there that can't run 1000 rounds? if so I haven't seen them. the cheapest rifles i've seen accomplish this. i think that's part of what @PatMcD was hinting towards

It's not about it running 1000 rounds its about whether or not the gun is going to still be viable over a much longer term.

I will admit that the skinflint end of the market is much better than it used to be. A decade or so ago buying a $600 rifle was a total crapshoot, and now even at that same price level there are a lot better choices, mostly due to the fact that theres a supply glut on the market and the true garbage purveyors occupy a smaller part of the market. (like those companies that sell rifles that exist under like 5 different names etc. )

-Mike
 
It's not about it running 1000 rounds its about whether or not the gun is going to still be viable over a much longer term.

I will admit that the skinflint end of the market is much better than it used to be. A decade or so ago buying a $600 rifle was a total crapshoot, and now even at that same price level there are a lot better choices, mostly due to the fact that theres a supply glut on the market and the true garbage purveyors occupy a smaller part of the market. (like those companies that sell rifles that exist under like 5 different names etc. )

-Mike

In states outside Mass, ARs are commodities rather than investments. The guy hasn't defined a specific purpose for this AR, so he wants one because he wants one. Round count could be very low or very high. He's in Georgia, so unless something national happens, which is unlikely, he can always build or buy more and better ARs in the future.

It would be one thing if the guy said "I want one AR, and one only, which one should I buy?" Or, "I'm taking up CMP/3-gun/precision rifle and I'm going to shoot tens of thousands of rounds." But he hasn't said either of those two things.

This is comparable to discussing which AK receiver to buy, stamped or milled. For the average civilian consumer, the round count simply won't get to the level where there's a discernible difference besides the extra weight on a milled gun.
 
It's not about it running 1000 rounds its about whether or not the gun is going to still be viable over a much longer term.

obviously
the idea behind the 2000 rd test was that the vast majority of issues would arise by then, which has certainly been my experience. for an autoloading rifle most defects like a slipping gas block will make themselves known by a few hundred rounds often < 500. considering a case of brass 223 is around $280, running a case through a budget rifle to confirm its legit is cat chasing its own tail.

of interest MAC just posted 7k rounds through a BCM with no maintenance. not surprising. he sees some throat erosion likely due to mag dumping, but accuracy is preserved. now it would be cool to see him run the same with a budget rifle which despite my affinity for LMT and BCM, I’d bet it runs just as well. the fact that all the R&D and $$ can only arguably improve function is a testament to stoner’s ingenuity.

further 7k factory ammo is around $2k, so i doubt MAC or others would run this on a budget gun. i realize many will criticize MAC as an industry shill or whatever but as a fellow midwesterner we can only be so corrupt, so I trust his BCM test.
 
Sigh. I remember the days of ABC. Or BC. Or ABCD for some. Of course your only options back then were ABCD or Del-Ton. Lol

every piece of advice is mired in anecdotal evidence. There are so few bad builds out there and no one can show Brand X is considerably better without multiple rifles of each brand tested for 5-10K rounds. And best is subjective based on your personal needs and criteria.

Oh, and F Colt and their anti-civilian attitudes.
 
If someone can tell me why a Colt rifle ($1200-$2500) is better than a sub-$1000 rifle, I'd be interested in hearing it. Please be specific.

I can’t speak about Colts that are $2500, I have no experience in those. I can however talk about 6920s in the 1000 and under range. Comparing those to “lesser” ARs , The biggest issues I see are in fit, as in parts on Colts are in spec and fit like they are supposed to without any problems. My personal experience with cheaper parts from inferior manufacturers results in more problems (uppers and lowers that don’t match, fire control parts that are out of spec, take down and pivot pins off center, bcgs not properly staked resulting in carrier keys coming loose prematurely, barrels and bcgs lacking pressure testing, etc.

I’m not saying Colts are the best things out there. ( I’ve had great stuff from Baer, BCM, DD, and Spikes as well.). But there are definitely differences quality. “All are the same” or “An AR is an AR” is simply not true.

Dave
 
I can’t speak about Colts that are $2500, I have no experience in those. I can however talk about 6920s in the 1000 and under range. Comparing those to “lesser” ARs , The biggest issues I see are in fit, as in parts on Colts are in spec and fit like they are supposed to without any problems. My personal experience with cheaper parts from inferior manufacturers results in more problems (uppers and lowers that don’t match, fire control parts that are out of spec, take down and pivot pins off center, bcgs not properly staked resulting in carrier keys coming loose prematurely, barrels and bcgs lacking pressure testing, etc.

I’m not saying Colts are the best things out there. ( I’ve had great stuff from Baer, BCM, DD, and Spikes as well.). But there are definitely differences quality. “All are the same” or “An AR is an AR” is simply not true.

Dave
And I'm not saying the cheesiest Sportsman Guide AR is the best out there either. I'm just asking how a rifle with a pony on it is automatically better than one with a snake or a deer on it.

But more importantly, the best rifle in the world will do you no good unless you know how to use it properly i.e. hit what you aim at.
 
And I'm not saying the cheesiest Sportsman Guide AR is the best out there either. I'm just asking how a rifle with a pony on it is automatically better than one with a snake or a deer on it.

Because it’s a freaking pony! Duh!
 
Thanks for all of the information and suggestions.

I think I may be leaning towards a braced AR pistol or even SBR for home defense.
 
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