Best factory AR

Scott_Phillips

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What are your feelings about the best factory production AR? I know it is cheaper to build. What do you guys think is the best one if you went to a sporting goods store such as Scheel's,Cabela's, or Sportsman's?

Scott
 
In addition to some that I, or others, have built, I have had factory built rifles in Rock River, Stag, Bushmaster, DPMS, Remington, Colt, and Windham Weaponry. To be honest, as far as accuracy is concerned, Rock River and Remington have been the best. As far as reliability, so far I haven't found any difference in any of them, but admit that I don't shoot mine as much as others do. I'm sure that some of the high end factory rifles will out perform the low end rifles, as it's usually that way with any firearm. I'm also sure that others will have a different experience than I've had. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Best in an AR is pretty much a wide open area as everyone has their own ideas.
You can buy very accurate rigs for under $900, about the same for building one.
For me my MMR AR15s are tops, accurate and w/a timney trigger runs with anything costing 2x as much.
Parts are pretty much the same until you start having plated parts or "branded" named parts.
I was shooting .600" groups w/my mmr ar15 last week at the range next to a guy who had 3x as much into his rig and all he did was shoot shotgun groups.
 
Originally Posted By: Scott_PhillipsWhat are your feelings about the best factory production AR? I know it is cheaper to build. What do you guys think is the best one if you went to a sporting goods store such as Scheel's,Cabela's, or Sportsman's?

Scott

Two thoughts:

1) Most factory production AR's are assembled from parts from the same sources, so the differences are largely cosmetic

2) If you get it at Scheels, Cabelas, Sportsman's, Dicks, Gander, etc, you can be sure that you'll have paid too much.
 
As far as factory built rifles I have Colt and Daniel Defense and I like the Daniel Defense better the Daniel Defense is largely built in house with there own parts.
 
Buy you a lower that you like then by a upper from model 1 sales.You will have less money than if you bought one from a chain store.The money you save you can put in a custom trigger.I have several of their uppers and they shoot great.
 
Rock river arms. I think they are one of the few factory ar15 that guarantee 1 moa or less out of box. How can you beat that when the company puts in writing? That is the next brand I am buying. Martyd
 
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I have a store bought Rock River upper that is crazy accurate. I also had a store bought Bushmaster in .308 that shot a 1" 22 round group. Everything else I own has been built. So if I had a budget (and I never do), I'd go with either RRA or Bushmaster, (which is probably the same as DPMS, Remington, Marlin, etc.).
 
Originally Posted By: Scott_PhillipsThanks for the information, I have a Bushmaster and a DPMS, just wondering what else is out there.

Scott

Lots, and Lots, and Lots.

The commercial market is pretty heavily saturated anymore. There are lots of "decent" AR15's floating around out there that compete with the Bushmaster and DPMS you currently have.

As always, you get what you pay for to some extent. Spending extra money on a good trigger and a good barrel are where you'll make your money on accuracy.
 
Originally Posted By: JoeBobOutfittersOriginally Posted By: Scott_PhillipsThanks for the information, I have a Bushmaster and a DPMS, just wondering what else is out there.

Scott

Lots, and Lots, and Lots.

The commercial market is pretty heavily saturated anymore. There are lots of "decent" AR15's floating around out there that compete with the Bushmaster and DPMS you currently have.

As always, you get what you pay for to some extent. Spending extra money on a good trigger and a good barrel are where you'll make your money on accuracy.

Joebob hit the nail on the head with his comments. Most off the shelf AR's are going to be pretty similar. Okay barrel and crappy trigger. You can live with most of the barrels if its a hunting gun, but you WILL need to replace the trigger if you want your accuracy to improve. With the prices falling on AR's, and the availability of quality parts, it makes much more sense to build your own. BUT, if you don't want to (or have the skills/tools) build one, then buy the one that doesn't rattle when you pick it up (meaning the receiver set is fairly tight) and buy a good replacement barrel and trigger.

I bought a Bushmaster a couple of years ago with the intent of "upgrading" as funds became available. First was the trigger, then the barrel, then the stock, then the grip, then the handguard, then I finally just bought a great receiver set and used all the parts to build my own. Used the Bushmaster parts to help buddies build their own rifles, lol. Since then I have built 20+ AR's and have plans to build a few more.
 
Hard to beat an Olympic Arms Ultra-Match. Not mainstream but would certainly get it done for most.

I bet if a guy scrubbed the roll marks off the rifle few would know the difference. I know of one big name rifle builder that sells FF tubes for $90.00. Retail direct from the guy selling them to them is $55.00 but everyone knows the $90.00 is primo top of the line but the $55.00 version is adequate but really can't be looked on as quality.

Greg
 
Originally Posted By: Oregon310No love for P.O.F.? I would think they'd at least make the list, if not at the top.

They make good rifles but are at the top of the price spectrum compared to most commercial rifles and not as mainstream as say Larue & Noveske in the "Premium Accuracy" category.
 
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Originally Posted By: JoeBobOutfittersOriginally Posted By: Oregon310No love for P.O.F.? I would think they'd at least make the list, if not at the top.

They make good rifles but are at the top of the price spectrum compared to most commercial rifles and not as mainstream as say Larue & Noveske in the "Premium Accuracy" category.

That's certainly not the case where I am. We don't have Scheel's, but I've never seen Noveske or Larue at Cabela's or Sportsmans here. The price is high on all three of those brands, but I wouldn't say either Noveske or Larue are any better than POF.
 
Originally Posted By: Oregon310Originally Posted By: JoeBobOutfittersOriginally Posted By: Oregon310No love for P.O.F.? I would think they'd at least make the list, if not at the top.

They make good rifles but are at the top of the price spectrum compared to most commercial rifles and not as mainstream as say Larue & Noveske in the "Premium Accuracy" category.

That's certainly not the case where I am. We don't have Scheel's, but I've never seen Noveske or Larue at Cabela's or Sportsmans here. The price is high on all three of those brands, but I wouldn't say either Noveske or Larue are any better than POF.

You're comparing apples to oranges business models. Noveske and Larue (AFAIK) haven't pushed to get into those said businesses. They mostly sell through gun "boutique" dealers or directly to consumers. To buy Noveske direct and get decent dealer pricing one has to drop a fair amount of coin. Its not a "onsie twosie" type business model. RRA sells direct to dealers and consumers but doesn't require big buy-ins for dealers to stock their products.

DPMS/Bushmaster/Colt/Core-15/etc/etc sell primarily through distribution. IE, the Walmarts, Cabelas, Sportsman's, plus all small independent shops. They sell them "onsie twosie" through distributors to dealers, so they're much more readily available on shelves than say Noveske or Larue. Just because you haven't seen them on the shelves at a Big Box store doesn't necessarily translate to their total market share, IMO. Some are "high-end" guns that are made in smaller batches while others are pumped out with pretty basic options at lower pricepoints.
 
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