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Prefered AR Manufacturer? Cheaper to Bling

Rockrivr1

Rockrivr1

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A Navy buddy of mine asked me to help him get an AR. He's in Alabama and this will be his first AR rifle. Seeing he's in a free state he can have and/or get any configuration he wants. Want to point him in the right direction but not fully up on what is good and not so good in the AR world. I'm just starting to work with him on the configuration he wants but figured I'd asked for manufacturers that you trust. What I'm looking for is what's good in the Cheaper, Mid and Bling range so I can gauge what to build out for those levels for him once he settles on a budget range.

Thanks
 
So not a fully traditional AR, but I really like my PWS MK 111. It's a great product, fit, finish and function are all top notch and they have fantastic customer service. Obviously at 12" its a NFA specimen. The non NFA flavors are great as well. Pricing is not crazy either, well in a normal market anyway. The negative is the gas system and the BCG are propitiatory.

What does he want it for? Does he want to shoot CMP or Highpower? Just a blaster and home defense?



View: https://youtu.be/h5vGJDq2yV8


View: https://youtu.be/cOLNFRobm0c

Brittany (customer service) and Joey (build - repair dept) Both are active on facebook and respond directly to customers in the PWS owners group/.
 
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Rockrivr1 said:
A Navy buddy of mine asked me to help him get an AR. He's in Alabama and this will be his first AR rifle. Seeing he's in a free state he can have and/or get any configuration he wants. Want to point him in the right direction but not fully up on what is good and not so good in the AR world. I'm just starting to work with him on the configuration he wants but figured I'd asked for manufacturers that you trust. What I'm looking for is what's good in the Cheaper, Mid and Bling range so I can gauge what to build out for those levels for him once he settles on a budget range.

Thanks
Click to expand...
In the mid range, I recommend BCM, LWRC (non piston) and S&W (non sport). At the high end I like HK, Daniel Defense, Knights Armament and Barrett. I say “I like” because these are not brands that I currently own, but aspire to own for AR’s. I currently have a BCM, a S&W, and a DPMS AR10 custom build. All have been flawless (barring pre-ban magazine issues) over the years.

I can’t really recommend anything at the lower end as I have zero experience with them, other than Colt during my service years. Yes Colt (and FN) is generally the milspec standard, but their newer stuff is low-end compared to the brands mentioned above. I like Spikes for custom builds, but again it is generally more “low end”, cool engravings though.
 
yogi said:
I am not sure if Wyndham Weaponry is considered low or mid but I own one and build is great value.

www.windhamweaponry.com

Home - Windham Weaponry Online. AR-15 Manufacturer - Official Site

www.windhamweaponry.com www.windhamweaponry.com
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Most of their builds are lower to mid-range. Their bread and butter is basically a 20" Government profile or 16" Government M4 type priced in the $1000-1300 range.

As an example I'll use S&W. Their Sport range is low end, very basic, and priced around $800. Their M&P Tactical series is around $1500 with some non-standard upgrades like flat trigger, MLOK handguard and a PWS style muzzle device. Their competition series is closer to $2000. What's the difference between the Sport and the competition? Higher end components, competition barrel, etc.

Keep in mind, there is nothing wrong with "low end", in that they are generally based on the mil-spec standard and match the old school 20" and 14.5" AR's put out by Colt and FN for years. They kill things dead just as well as high end, just without spending $3000 for the HK name and a custom piston action for example. Lots of smaller shops have their own uppers/lowers. How close to mil-spec and their QC is the real difference in terms of pricing, other than the manufacturing process itself (forged receiver for example).
 
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Rockrivr1 said:
A Navy buddy of mine asked me to help him get an AR. He's in Alabama and this will be his first AR rifle. Seeing he's in a free state he can have and/or get any configuration he wants. Want to point him in the right direction but not fully up on what is good and not so good in the AR world. I'm just starting to work with him on the configuration he wants but figured I'd asked for manufacturers that you trust. What I'm looking for is what's good in the Cheaper, Mid and Bling range so I can gauge what to build out for those levels for him once he settles on a budget range.

Thanks
Click to expand...
It’s a huge price gap between assembling an AR, even a top level one, or buying a brand name completely assembled one.

I am not a fan of any latter ones, even if I can appreciate H&K products, but, the premium it demands is rather insane compared to LaRue or Noveske uppers on an aero lower.

Everything now is very expensive in a top segment anyway E50A5A00-0F83-4921-9136-E71804DAB46D.png

They are not in stock anymore and it is not clear when they will be back. But a best bang per buck are LaRue complete uppers, with their properly lapped barrel in their upper with their bolt.
Lower really does not matter that much, all critical accuracy is in the upper.

For reliable mid tier primary arms always sells aero complete uppers in all possible configurations.
 
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G4Y4HK said:
Does the lower really matter too much? I got laughed at at the range one time someone saw I mated a BCM upper to a S&W Sport lower. Shot every time, who cares?
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The trigger in it does. Rest does not, as long as nothing wobbles.

LaRue upper with triggertech diamond trigger will shoot perfectly fine from a home made 80% lower, if all holes were drilled right. An AR is a modular design, and it is the beauty of it.
 
G4Y4HK said:
Does the lower really matter too much? I got laughed at at the range one time someone saw I mated a BCM upper to a S&W Sport lower. Shot every time, who cares?
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter, but as a complete gun its like you basically put frosting on a turd, sort of. Like its not going to matter to you, because you know it works

But if you went to sell that anywhere, the potential buyer would be very suspicious like "WTF is going on here"

In general mixmaster confusion guns like that tend to be frowned upon by default, even if it is irrational and stupid to do so in most cases.

It's like trying to sell a car with mismatched car doors on it. The buyer doesnt think your excuse of "But the paint is perfect, there's no scratches!!!! not even swirl marks!!!" none of that matters when one door is white and the other one is school bus yellow.

Make no mistake, in technical terms I agree it doesnt matter that much. its a lower it shoots, who cares

Although, as a general rule, I'd never sully a BCM like that, unless it was like "I need to test this upper while I wait for a new lower to come in" type deal.

Like even the people who made the grey poupon ads.... even when the guy didnt like the leech guy in the other rolls, he still wouldnt try to pass a bottle of "yellow mustard" through that
window.
 
drgrant said:
It's like trying to sell a car with mismatched car doors on it.
Click to expand...
is it OK that my car now only has may be 40% of its original stock parts left in it? :) it is definitely not sellable as this - but, do i give a damn?
wheels, seats, front and rear suspension and suspension bits and rods, upper mounts, engine mounts, plenum, air box, steering wheel :), steering wheel controls, 2 ECUs, whole additional telemetry system, as replacements, and then there are addons.
doors i wish i could swap out too for an GT3 RS ones, but they cost rather astronomical.

ps. forgot the exhaust headers and cats are also replaced. mufflers were borla, but went back to stock after wife`s complaints.
 
paul73 said:
is it OK that my car now only has may be 40% of its original stock parts left in it? :) it is definitely not sellable as this - but, do i give a damn?
wheels, seats, front and rear suspension and suspension bits and rods, upper mounts, engine mounts, plenum, air box, steering wheel :), steering wheel controls, 2 ECUs, whole additional telemetry system, as replacements, and then there are addons.
doors i wish i could swap out too for an GT3 RS ones, but they cost rather astronomical.
Click to expand...

Yeah but you strike me as the kind of guy thats not concerned about selling the thing or whatever, its a "working" car to you. And thats great.

I have guns like that too but I'm not going to pretend its worth anything great other than to me. I'm at the point where I dont care about selling shit anymore, either.

In a practical sense, what it looks like, doesnt matter. Long as it does what YOU want it to do.
 
drgrant said:
Yeah but you strike me as the kind of guy thats not concerned about selling the thing or whatever, its a "working" car to you. And thats great.
I have guns like that too but I'm not going to pretend its worth anything great other than to me. I'm at the point where I dont care about selling shit anymore, either.
In a practical sense, what it looks like, doesnt matter. Long as it does what YOU want it to do.
Click to expand...
i treat all my guns the same way, i make them suit me, now, the way i want them. i do not afraid to modify them, as long as it improves function over form.
after you start cutting and welding into the signal bus of an $80k car - the modding of some guns is not that big of the deal. :) as long as you know what you`re doing, of course.

like, i just modded 2 triggertech triggers from 3.5# pull into 2#. an easy mod, but, how many people would cut a spring in a brand new triggertech? etc.
 
I’m a fan of Daniel Defense and would recommend the m4v7 first most times out of the box these days for the price. DD seems a great first rifle starting point imo. If he’s ever going to suppress it. get something with good concentricity on the bore threads. I’ve had good luck with DD bore concentricity though their ports are a little over gassed.

He going to build it from scratch? or get a complete rifle?

I recommend setting usage goal and a spending limit including desired mods and work down from there to see what base platform he can afford. A friend of mine just got a Triarc which is pretty nice out of the box too fwiw. Long wait though if you go custom build.
 
Don't forget an optic and light are probably going to be $1k plus. I'd rather have a lower tier AR with tier 1 accessories than a tier 1 AR with Chinese accessories.
 
appraiser said:
entry level, needs sights or an optic, less than $800 all over the place,?

Ruger® AR-556® Free-Float Handguard Autoloading Rifle Model 8529

ruger.com ruger.com

Click to expand...
it`s an alabama.
a sensible first AR there is would be a suppressed carbine, anything that does not cost a fortune and cycles reliably. probably should not be an SBR for a first gun.
so a typical thing would be a 14.5" barrel carbine with a suppressor adapter brake, and then he can decide what amount of money to spend on a can.
 
I did a mildy gucci build over time. Because i wanted specific things like a piston system etc and spent a pile of money.
If I did it over again, and was patient enough to sit on the money I could've just got an HK like I was trying to mimic. Or the PWS like the 2nd post.
But the optics setup i chose is a good chunk of that money. So i wouldve spent more going the hk/pws route
 
All my AR’s are muts as I’ve built them all with stripped lowers so none have matching upper/lower.

I have multiple Windham weaponry uppers, LaRue, BCM, and a gucci Radian build like an a**h*** just cuz (that god damn upper took exactly a year on backorder).

Universally I grab my 16” windham by far the most & I think it was the cheapest out of them all. I can recommend Windham… good bang for th buck.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
A Navy buddy of mine asked me to help him get an AR. He's in Alabama and this will be his first AR rifle. Seeing he's in a free state he can have and/or get any configuration he wants. Want to point him in the right direction but not fully up on what is good and not so good in the AR world. I'm just starting to work with him on the configuration he wants but figured I'd asked for manufacturers that you trust. What I'm looking for is what's good in the Cheaper, Mid and Bling range so I can gauge what to build out for those levels for him once he settles on a budget range.

Thanks
Click to expand...


In before 50 people who barely shoot name their pet brand.
 

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