What rifles with these features are avail. for appx. $900

[Lucky Strike]

Originally i was going to buy a RRA Elite A4 however due to some suggestions I think i owe it to myself to see what else is available for my money. I don't know a lot about the AR15 world though so hopefully you guys can help.

These are the things I want:

A factory complete rifle with the standard carry case and 30rnd mag
midlength 16" barreled upper with a flatop and iron rear sight
chrome lined barrel
6 position stock

things i wouldn't mind as well:

2 stage trigger
hogue grip

The above 6 things I'd get with the RRA, are there other rifles that would give me these things, potentially have a higher reliability then the RRA and still be in the $850-925 shipped range.

If there are please let me know where i can buy one. Are places like gunsamerica and gunbroker safe?

[BushmasterFanBoy]

I'd go with CMMG, you can pick and choose what features you want. I think the quality is good too, better than RRA if I'm correct.

[Don Robison]

CMMG mid length upper with M16 BCG $575.95
CMMG lower $265.95
LaRue Buis $ 89.00
I-Shot gun case $139.00
Transfer fee for the lower $ 20.00
Total $1089.90

You'll end up with a better package overall for very little money over the price of the RRA. I wouldn't bother with the 2 stage trigger, especially the RRA 2 stage. The Hogue is a $20 part you can put on your self. The LaRue Buis is a better design than the RRA. Don't get hung up on things they throw in like cases, rear sights etc. You can buy better cases and a buis with the money you save on the rifle and not having to fix or upgrade it. You can save $200 now only to spend it upgrading things that shouldn't need to be upgraded or you can spend the $200 up front and not have the hassle.
Just my opinion YMMV.

Edit: You can do the same thing with an LMT upper for $485.00 plus another $130ish for bcg.

[Shihan]

Buy the upper and lower seperate and save the tax of almost 100 bucks. A 30rd mag isnt expensive nor is a plastic case. Some want the complete weapon if they are new to AR's as they are afraid of putting the upper and lower together. You have to do this anyhow if you want to shoot it or it wont work.

[Lucky Strike]

what is this tax that i keep hearing about?

Why would buying the upper and lower separately avoid the tax?

Pardon my ignorance but i'm from Oregon and the concept of paying a tax when buying something is foreign to me.


One of the reasons i want a complete weapon is that i was told they have higher resale value that way....is this true and if so how much higher are we talkin'?

[DRich]

what is this tax that i keep hearing about?

Why would buying the upper and lower separately avoid the tax?


There is an 11% federal excise tax on complete firearms. You avoid this tax if you buy the upper and lower separately.

[stmcelroy]

what is this tax that i keep hearing about?

Why would buying the upper and lower separately avoid the tax?

Pardon my ignorance but i'm from Oregon and the concept of paying a tax when buying something is foreign to me.


One of the reasons i want a complete weapon is that i was told they have higher resale value that way....is this true and if so how much higher are we talkin'?


If you buy a complete CMMG lower and then put a complete CMMG upper on it, don't you have a complete CMMG gun?:D

[Shihan]

If the gun is a matching upper and lower n o one would no that you didnt buy it complete. For resale it dosent matter anyhow it is what it is.

[davemcdonald]

I wouldn't worry too much about the resale value of a RRA. The money you save in pinning together a complete upper and a complete lower is a far greater value than a perceived resale value of a buying a complete RRA rifle. This is just my opinion now. Value is such a suggestive area anyway. The value of an object is no higher than what somebody at that time is willing to pay for it. That varies moment by moment, case by case. If you by a $900 RRA and shoot it a couple times then find somebody over at XDtalk to give you $1000 for it then that is your value. If you tried to sell same said used rifle to a serious AR shooter for a grand, they would most likely laugh at you. The the laughers would be the kind posters

Needs/desires are individualistic in nature at least in this context. My advice is to buy what you want but get good with it. If and when you put 15k-20k rounds through an AR, then you may look at the higher end rifles with a different eye.

These are just my opinions and their value is what you paid for them. :cool:
Good luck with it.
Dave

[AR-15A3]

I would suggest buying a Sabre Defence midlength 1/7 complete upper half and a complete Sabre lower half and just push in the two takedown pins when you get it.

Sabre Defence have government profile barrels (light under the handguards) and Mil-Spec barrel material.

They're available at PKfirearms.com (IL), RainierArms.com (WA), TalonArms.com (TX) and also other dealers that sells them.

You could also ask Grant of G&R Tactical if he could get them for you.

http://www.gandrtactical.com/


Ref: Sabre Defence website link (http://www.sabredefence.com/)

[Alpha Sierra]

There is an 11% federal excise tax on complete firearms. You avoid this tax if you buy the upper and lower separately.

You don't avoid the tax. You pay it only on the cost of the lower if you buy it separately. Still a saving, but not a complete avoidance.

[Lucky Strike]

so all these prices for complete rifles has this tax already built into the price? Or is it something they tack on after the fact.

[AR15barrels]

so all these prices for complete rifles has this tax already built into the price? Or is it something they tack on after the fact.

FET is paid by the manufacturer of the rifle and is built into the price.

Say you buy a complete lower for $300
Say you buy a complete upper for $600
Pin the two together yourself and it's a $900 gun

In order for a manufacturer to assemble those two "parts" into a complete gun, they have to pay 11% extra to the government.

They will sell you the complete rifle for around $1000

[Lucky Strike]

thanks that clears things up.