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Which Ar if you have a budget of about 1200 and want the best bang for the buck (Ma)

Jaymass2175

Jaymass2175

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Hi first of I really appreciate your opinions. I know a similar question has probably been asked but, I am kind of on a limited budget for this one. My question is if you had about 1200 to spend either new or used and wanted to buy a shooter that you could put a decent amount of rounds through, but still be able to really on it for protection if the Zombie apocalypse ever does happen. I am a complete newbie to this platform other than the S&W MP 15-22 that I love. It has a very inexpensive red dot that I really like. So I don't know if I need a flattop optics ready gun or it can go on a gun with a carry handle? I also was curios about gas piston or no gas piston. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in Advance....Jason
 
Thanks Mike I am not sure i would ever no where to start. I wish I was more familiar with this platform. You generally get complet uppers and lowers ? Or stripped and build out. Thank you!
 
I was in a similar boat price wise. Being very new to AR's I decided to buy rather than build.

I bought a S&W MP15 T and have absolutely no regrets. I paid just under 1k.

My next will be a build now that I have built up a solid familiarity with the platform.
 
In my price I was considering maybe trying to get a Windham Weapondry, I did my research and like the spikes tactical till I saw the year wait. I am going to do some shopping this weekend. Thanks for the great advise, please keep it coming
 
Jaymass2175 said:
In my price I was considering maybe trying to get a Windham Weapondry, I did my research and like the spikes tactical till I saw the year wait. I am going to do some shopping this weekend. Thanks for the great advise, please keep it coming
Click to expand...

Hear good things about windham, I got one of that last bushmasters to come out of there and im quite happy with it.
 
H-S in Auburn and Bobs Archery in Webster have Windhams only 1 each for under 900. Bobs also has a few LMT's but didnt catch the price.


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk
 
You can buy a Windham Weaponry M4 AR for around $899. Then I'd buy anew trigger. You will still have money for a bunch of ammo.
I have one and I installed a Chip McCormick trigger because the stock one is just too heavy for what I'm used to.
I also put on a Trijjico ACOG, but that's not necessary just cool.
 
I love my stag Model 2. It has ran like a champ from day one....istopped round count at 3200 rounds mostly steel cased fodder.
There seems to be some great deals out there for complete rifles. I don't see the point of buying a pre ban lower 18 years old for a budget shtf.
Although its heavy my favorite factory ar is rock river arms national match model
with shipping and transfer it was under 1000.00
Mind you you need to consider some Mag's and ammo. Here in mass your not going to find Mag's in a shop for less than 30.00, 20 bucks here on nes. I would go with 20 rounders personally. Just easier to pack and don't bang off of everything at the range.

Ammo even on the cheap side is going to be 24 cents per round for steel.
Ar15.com has a decent how to build a ar post. Go to home page and scroll down to bottom. You will see a section for ar. In there is the link which I think is pretty good and easy to understand.
 
Wow i am overwhelmed of the knowledge base here. Nes is a great tool for information. I appreciate each and every response. I jave been so busy with work i havent been able to go shopping as of yet. In fact i am headed in on a Sunday today whixh I like to reserve for family time. So with that being said I am looking forward to this purchase for sure! You guys are the best!
 
crazymjb said:
I'd just build one... You could get pretty much a top of the line rifle from a build at that budget.

Mike
Click to expand...

This x10000

dont make the mistake i did when i was a kid. i had about 1100 bucks and ran out and bought a stag sar2t, i still have it, but ive replaced everything since i started getting into the guns and learning more. dont go out and buy some junk gun that will get you by. you'll end up upgrading it. might as well just start from scratch it is really not that hard at all to throw them together. if you played with legos as a child you can figure out an AR build. spend some time reading, watch youtube, and do it right the first time.
 
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Gas is fine, and give you the advantage of standardized parts from a huge number of vendors. Piston puts you into the realm of proprietary parts.
 
I think you cant go wrong with the windham also i picked one up at northsore for my wife and find myself shooting it over all my others[grin] And at a price of around $850 ish it leaves you extra cash for some upgrades you might want to do.
 
At that price point, skip the piston BS and get/build a good DI gun.

-Mike
 
If it's your first AR and you're not really sure what you want consider picking one up that you find at a good price here or in a shop. Then shoot it a ton and figure out what you like and dislike before going to your full budget for the AR you're considering now. That way you can customize when you're ready but without dropping too much cash up front.

That said, if you know what you want now consider Remsport in Ludlow, MA. I wanted to build my own AR right off the bat but didn't have the know-how, the few tools needed or much time. I made and appointment with John at Remsport and I told him what I wanted. We selected the parts and he had me come in and watch how it was built. I really learned a lot, got a great AR that I really wanted, and I have confidence in my rifle and the confidence to do my own build.

Best of luck with whatever you buy!
 
If you plan on going with a high end after market trigger, it's usually a lot cheaper if you buy a model with it already. I recently purchased a stag 3G rifle. Has everything I wanted, an 18" fluted barrel made by a reputable manufacturer, effective muzzle break, awesome trim ff hand guard and that nice $240 trigger. Paid 1350 out the door. I priced out the gun if I were building it and there was no way I was building it at the price point if I wanted that trigger or hand guard.

Of course you could just build a 16/20" with standard lower parts kit for WELL under 1300 if you wanted something bare bones. A lot of people will start out with the Colt 6920 and work it to the way they want it.
 
I didn't know much about AR15s so I elected to buy vs build. So for $600 I bought an M&P sport which introduced me to the AR.

Now, I want to build, but might just build myself a nice 20" upper and swap it to my lower.

Or maybe ill build an entire rifle from scratch.

Either way, I'm still happy with my cheap little S&W. I prob threw another $200 in accessories at it...accessories which could be used on a new rifle I build if I ever decide to return the s&w to stock and sell it to fund a new AR build that I have full confidence I could do now.

I already have my parts list selected...just need to pull the trigger


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