It depends on what you want to do with said AR15.
If your goal is to mindlessly blast 30 round mags down range without any real thought or care to improve your skill sets than yeah, it's probably a waste of money. Get yourself a 10/22 and you'll be much happier.
If you have different reasons for purchasing an AR15, other than just posing with it in the bathroom mirror, then yes, it's probably worth it.
I personally wouldn't see 30 rounds of .223, at full automatic stitched through a paper target a waste of money. So I certainly wouldn't see 30 rounds of semi-automatic fire as a waste of money. Though, to be fair, if we could have full capacity magazines and full automatic, I'd probably spend a near equal amount on .308 as well.
Posing in the mirror was my biggest concern when picking my AR. I had to know that I was going to think I was the best there ever was in the mirror. After verifying that my AR met the Mirror Test Criteria I was able to move on and try it out at the range.



















































