I just ordered one yesterday from one of our CGN sponsors (Frontier). I did some research and ended up having to choose between the S+W and a Stag. Stag were all out of stock at ArmsEast and (partly because I am lacking the patience to wait) I therefore went with the S+W. I had looked at the Imperial Defence and found that while the the fit and finish would have been totally acceptable on, say, a Norinko I thought it was unsatisfactory on a rifle of this price. I also checked out Bushmaster and liked them but, like Stag, I found no stock available ( I try to limit myself to CGN sponsors so I didn't do a lot of searching ). I did consider the EE but found prices high ( lots of extras I guess ) and I am a bit shy about the whole "xy Upper zz Lower, put it together myself" thing that more knowledgeable users would no doubt jump at.
An interesting note re pricing - the S+W retails here in Canada for very close ( after currency conversion ) to US MSRP whereas the Stag is priced at a significant markup to US MSRP. I draw no conclusions from this but it is, to me, at least an interesting observation.
I am very, very far from being an AR expert as my experience with this type of rifle is limited to the use of a Vietnam-era one some 25+ years ago in basic training and taking the odd shot or three through those rifles owned by fellow shooters at ranges over the past few years but I will post an "initial observations" review and a range report ( accuracy, feeding etc ) after the rifle arrives and I have a chance to take it to the range.
