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Thread: Help me pick a budget AR for new shooter

  1. #1
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    Help me pick a budget AR for new shooter

    My brother wants to buy his first rifle. He's in his 30's and has been around guns, has a 9mm and 12 gauge, but this will be his first rifle. It'll be for very occasional shooting and just to have in case the need ever arose to protect himself (natural disaster/SHTF/etc).

    My research has been geared towards top end stuff so I'm a bit ignorant on the budget/basic carbines.

    Like I said, he'll rarely shoot it- probably won't see 100 rounds a year. Not worried about something top tier that'll take 25,000 rounds.

    We was looking at the S&W M&P 15 sport for $699 at sports authority. I was going to sway him towards a Colt 6920 or something like that. I started out in AR's with a RRA for $750 a decade ago, and that rifle is still going strong.

    No quad rail needed. I have an extra MOE forend and AR handle/peep sight to put on the flat top until he can afford optics.

    Would like to keep it under $1000. The family is all chipping in to make it his Christmas present.

    Thoughts?

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by zimm17 View Post
    My brother wants to buy his first rifle. He's in his 30's and has been around guns, has a 9mm and 12 gauge, but this will be his first rifle. It'll be for very occasional shooting and just to have in case the need ever arose to protect himself (natural disaster/SHTF/etc).

    My research has been geared towards top end stuff so I'm a bit ignorant on the budget/basic carbines.

    Like I said, he'll rarely shoot it- probably won't see 100 rounds a year. Not worried about something top tier that'll take 25,000 rounds.

    We was looking at the S&W M&P 15 sport for $699 at sports authority. I was going to sway him towards a Colt 6920 or something like that. I started out in AR's with a RRA for $750 a decade ago, and that rifle is still going strong.

    No quad rail needed. I have an extra MOE forend and AR handle/peep sight to put on the flat top until he can afford optics.

    Would like to keep it under $1000. The family is all chipping in to make it his Christmas present.

    Thoughts?
    The S&W SPORT is a good value, but not at $700 + tax.

    6920's can be found for around $1k so that is really the best choice IMHO.


    C4

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by zimm17 View Post
    I was going to sway him towards a Colt 6920 or something like that.
    I think you're going in the right direction, right here^

  4. #4
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    Xmas morning at your house. Brother....No F*#king Way a COLT!!! I love you MAN!!!

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by zimm17 View Post
    It'll be for very occasional shooting
    If you'd ended your sentence there, then pretty much any AR pattern rifle would work, whether it followed the typically civilian-legal sections of the TDP or not.

    But when you add this:
    Quote Originally Posted by zimm17 View Post
    and just to have in case the need ever arose to protect himself (natural disaster/SHTF/etc).
    Then you move into the level of Colt, Bravo Company, Daniel Defense, Noveske, etc.

    Which, frankly, really aren't that much more expensive than a dirt-clod-shooter toy in the long run.
    Please do your brother a favor and get him a decent rifle. If he decides he really doesn't like it, then it will have better resale value.
    If he decides he really does like it, then he'll have a quality firearm that will give him years of service.
    If he decides he really doesn't like it but hangs on to it "just in case", then if the worst does happen he'll have a quality rifle that he can count on to defend himself and his family.
    Other than a couple hundred bucks for the initial purchase, there's really no downside to buying a quality rifle.
    I guarantee you that five years from now, you will not look back on your purchase and think "Man, I really wish I'd spent $200 less and bought my brother a cheaper, less reliable rifle."
    Last edited by CrazyFingers; 09-13-12 at 11:10.

  6. #6
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    Would be a sweet Christmas. Trying to convince our parents to chip in too. But they don't want to seeing as he owes them big $$$. Might just have to opt for some Remington 870 accessories for his shotgun. BUT if we do go AR, I'll get the 6920....

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by zimm17 View Post
    We was looking at the S&W M&P 15 sport for $699 at sports authority. ?
    The Smith costs less than the Colt because it sucks more.

    Please consider selecting one from this list:

    Colt
    Daniel Defense
    Noveske

    I know guys here are going to have a heart attack if we do not include BCM on the list, so let's include them too (although they need a new logo).

  8. #8
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    Then in 20-ish years, Brother's son...'No F*#king Way! Dad's COLT!!!' and a few decades later, '...No F*#king Way! Grandpa's COLT!!!'

  9. #9
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    Daniel Defense ... Can get one for 1300 -1500 ... Good to go

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by 500grains View Post
    The Smith costs less than the Colt because it sucks more.

    Please consider selecting one from this list:

    Colt
    Daniel Defense
    Noveske

    I know guys here are going to have a heart attack if we do not include BCM on the list, so let's include them too (although they need a new logo).
    Huh? What does a logo have to do with anything?

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