First AR Purchase

[Hoya 0]

Looking to buy my first AR to take down to the range.

 

Any suggestions as to which direction I should head? I have shot before but am fairly new to all this.

 

Thanks

[vjf915 456]

What's your budget? What's your intended use? How good is your level of hands-on skills? These are things we need to know before making any recommendations.

[Hoya 0]

What's your budget? What's your intended use? How good is your level of hands-on skills? These are things we need to know before making any recommendations.

 

Budget would be around $1000, give or take. I'd just be firing at a range. I've learned to handle a firearm fairly well from going to ranges with others, but I plan on taking a class to familiarize myself with my firearm.

[vjf915 456]

You might want to take a look into the "build a beAR" class. You'll also get discounts from Brownells, and you will become VERY familiar with the gun. I'm sure you could build one for around $1,000. Pretty sure it's Gun for Hire that holds the class. Look through the vendor section.

[Zell959 40]

Budget would be around $1000, give or take. I'd just be firing at a range. I've learned to handle a firearm fairly well from going to ranges with others, but I plan on taking a class to familiarize myself with my firearm.

 

I know it's probably hard to picture when you don't even own a rifle yet, but do you have a sense of what kind of range shooting you're going to be most interested in doing? It might play a factor in what kind of rifle you'll enjoy the most.

 

To give you an example of what I mean from my own personal experience, my first AR15 was a Stag Arms Model 2 carbine with a 16" barrel and a 1:9 twist ratio. It was a good rifle that didn't give me any problems, but I'm doing 90%+ of my shooting from bench rest or prone with the intent of shooting the smallest groups possible against targets that are 50-100 yards away. What I came to realize was that the style of shooting I do doesn't really gain any benefit from a more lightweight & maneverable 16" barrel, but retains all of the downsides (shorter sight radius, lower velocity, carbine gas system).

 

Based on those realizations, I recently ordered an upgraded upper receiver for my AR15 that is a better match for what tradeoffs I'd sooner accomodate. I expect the new upper to be noticably more accurate and expect that is will weigh twice as much as the original carbine upper, but the weight is the shooting bench's problem, not mine

[SJ Shooter 10]

I am ordering the Plum crazy lower with stock for 129.00..will add a upper later when I find a good deal.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

Honestly, for 1000 bucks you can pretty much have your pick of a complete medium-high quality AR. I purchased my RRA for $950 which is the Operator 2 Elite. You wont be getting top quality for that price but u can def. find something good and reliable. The 1000 dollar mark is the middle range i would say, once you go over that your money goes towards specialty items specific to the use of the rifle, higher tolerances, better barrels, better materials, better gas systems or piston systems. The Daniel defense lite rail i want costs 300 bucks alone, so you get the picture.

 

Colt makes some really nice bare bone platforms around that price, and you can build upon a top quality platform as you go and see fit. The great thing about these are you can spend more money on a top notch plat form, and spread the cost out with saving money on things you may have bought and not needed.