Every time I look at my BMW i think I could've been driving Dodge Neon and saved $80K.
That's true, plus the pos Dodge comes with a better warranty, uses less fuel, and you can purchase three or four of them for the price of one nice BMW. I learned a long time ago that vehicles are a stupid place to spend big money unless you have big money and don't care how much it costs. They depreciate from the second you buy them to the second you sell them and no amount of money you spend on intakes or exhaust systems makes them worth any more.
Firearms on the other hand typically seem to be a better investment and I don't usually lose much money when I sell them. Spending more up front will typically (not always) result in more smiles while shooting and less frustration along with a higher demand at sale time.
When it comes to simply buying a firearm for 3-gun though noting beats an AR, there is nothing available to us that can touch it in quality for the price, weight, and I doubt that anyone could prove that in civilian hands firing in semi auto that the direct impingement system in a standard AR is less reliable than a piston system. You would have to go through a heck of a lot of ammo a day in order to choke either rifle if they are both of similar quality other than the piston vs DI system. They are both capable of firing more than most people could run through their rifle in a day without having issues.
Now, if you try to compare a cheap sub $1000 DI AR to a high end piston rifle like an HK then yes the piston rifle will be more reliable but all things being equal other than the gas system I don't know if there is much advantage to the average person.
My DI rifles have always performed well and the couple PWS piston driven AR's I've owned worked just as well. The difference is that the piston rifles exhaust gas into the forend which is a pain to clean (if you decide to clean it off) and the DI rifle exhausts through the BCG which is pretty easy to clean if you don't let it get too thick.
"How many extra courses or 1000s of rounds can you shoot if you buy the M&P?"
Once you pimp it out...not much haha
The trick is to resist the urge to pimp it out until after you've done a couple courses and actually learned to shoot it and learned what works and what doesn't work for you. I find that way too often guys are buying their first AR and they're buying the cheapest one they can find and then buy a free floated forend, new grip, BAD lever, ambi mag release, etc... and they haven't even shot it yet. Most don't realize that the AR is and always has been ambidextrous, all the controls can be used with either hand and if held correctly the shooter will not eat any brass regardless of which shoulder it is fired from.
My advice to all people new to the AR is to put 1000 rounds through it then start changing things out. Shoot as many other AR's as you can and note what feels good about the other rifles and what does not. Change things that will make it more accurate, easier to control, and things that will make you faster and smoother behind it. Don't just install brand XYZ forend just because Racer-X says it's the best, buy what works with your shooting style and preferred shooting discipline, Lots of guys will tell you the Magpul PRS stock is the best but unless you're shooting your rifle primarily from sandbags Mr 3-gun probably won't feel the same way about it.
Keep it light and put rounds downrange, nothing will improve a persons shooting more than simply putting ammo through the rifle.
