Choice for first AR
- Thread starter DAIGARO
- Start date
I like Norinco, I really do but I prefer a slightly higher level of fit and finish.
My first AR is a Colt LE 6920, imported from the USA.
Price is very high but I feel better buying from a so-called tier 1 manufacturer.
I think just avoid the ultra-cheap brands (DPMS, Windham, Etc) and you should be OK, and make sure its chambered for 556, not 223 rem
Gunnerlove
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island
Guns wear out. Well they do if you use them right.
I'd suggest Stag - in part because the ones we get here from ArmsEast are very high quality for the price, and in part because they have a lifetime warranty that doesn't require exporting the rifle to a foreign country to be repaired. Not that I've ever heard of anyone using their lifetime warranty.
I have to recommend the Core15. I bought one from Wantalls. After taxes and shipping it came to $1,164.99. Came with a PMag and a case. I own a Colt AR15 and I compare everything to it, and I'm very impressed with the quality, fit, and finish. I bought it online on the holiday Good Friday at 10pm, and the transfer and shipping were so fast, it showed up at my door in 10 days. (I'm in Alberta, Wanstalls is in BC)
I too was faced with this difficult question a few months ago, so after weighing all available options and considering the availability I decided to spend the extra and get a higher quality and hopefully longer lasting problem free rifle. So I put a deposit on a DD at my local site sponsor and while waiting for its arrival i get to save that extra coin that wil be needed. Still can't wait.
Last I checked, there were few life threatening characteristics of paper targets ....
OP, how much are you willing to spend ? I can only speak from personal experience, but here are the ones I own based on my hours of research.
Norinco cqa 14.5" $699
- - Best bang for the buck IMO. I have thousand of rounds down range with no issues. Don't expect a glamorous AR, as this Chinese built firearm certainly lacks the "###y" factor of most US built AR's .
Daniel Defense MK18 & M4v1 ~ $1,800
- - I am a DD fan boy, so slightly biased - but this will certainly IMO be your best bang for buck "quality" AR
I would also suggest looking into Armalite, Colt and Noveski if you have the budget to accommodate such beauties.
Of course there are countless other options available but I will only speak of my personal choices.
Here is a good place to start your research... I spent months researching before buying my first AR- get comfy !!http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?69-Black-and-Green-Rifles
Yep well I dont consider paper the only use for a gun.
If some guy breaks into your house to kill you are you guna go oh my your not paper do what you wish.
I'm not worried about the legal hassle or possibility of jail aslong as my family and myself are safe. So I buy what I can trust.
Travis Bickle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Upper Lower Middle Alberta
If yours isn't a "life saving tool" lol and you're going to use it for what 99.9% of the rest of the population who owns them is, a great one to buy would be the Norinco CQA with 14.5" barrel.
You can shoot the #### out of it, they are good to go, accurate, reliable.
If you don't like it you can sell it and easily get your money back.
If you do like it you can keep it.
If you like the AR15 but want one that is more "shiny" you can sell it and throw a few hundred (or a lot more) for a North American AR15.
That would be my approach Sir.
I still have my eyes set on my dream AR, a old Colt SP1 'Nam style original.
One of these days
You can shoot the #### out of it, they are good to go, accurate, reliable.
If you don't like it you can sell it and easily get your money back.
If you do like it you can keep it.
If you like the AR15 but want one that is more "shiny" you can sell it and throw a few hundred (or a lot more) for a North American AR15.
That would be my approach Sir.
I still have my eyes set on my dream AR, a old Colt SP1 'Nam style original.
One of these days
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- Location
- Richmond, BC
My first (and current) AR is the Norinco CQ-A with the 14.5 inch barrel. Yeah, the finish isn't so great, it's rough around the edges and it stinks of communist Peking duck, but I still think it was the right choice for me.
First, the price is right at $699. And all that gucci kit bolts right on to it (yes, I dressed it up as if I was the international special forces operator, even though I drive a desk) and it still cost way less than a bare-bones brand name one.
Second, it's durable. I've got maybe 4500-5000 rounds of .22lr, .223 and 5.56 through it and it's still running strong and it has never failed me. There was one time when it failed to eject, and only because I neglected to clean her properly after about 1000 rnds of .22lr. I hosed down all the working parts with a little G96 and fed her few rounds of 5.56 and that sorted everything out, no problems since.
Third, it's accurate enough. I'm not a particularly good shot, but just about every time I put that little red dot on a target sheet up to 50 meters away and squeeze the trigger, a hole approximately 5.56 mm wide appears exactly where I wanted. I'd say it's accurate enough for my needs. My eyes are $hit, but I bet if I had magnification on my optics, it would accurately reach out further.
All in all, I'm happy with it. Yeah, it looks like a bag of $hit compared to the work rifle (Diemaco/Colt Canada), but after enough usuage, even the work rifle looks pretty rough. Rifles like this aren't meant to sit in the safe and look pretty only for the ranges, so I really don't mind that the finish on these isn't on par with the name brands, can't really complain for $699.
Would I ever buy a Colt or other such brand? Yeah for sure one day when/if I have that kind of money to throw that way, why not? The Norc is a good starter rifle, especially if money is a concern, but if you have butt-loads of dough, I don't see any problems with going for the brand name one either.
First, the price is right at $699. And all that gucci kit bolts right on to it (yes, I dressed it up as if I was the international special forces operator, even though I drive a desk) and it still cost way less than a bare-bones brand name one.
Second, it's durable. I've got maybe 4500-5000 rounds of .22lr, .223 and 5.56 through it and it's still running strong and it has never failed me. There was one time when it failed to eject, and only because I neglected to clean her properly after about 1000 rnds of .22lr. I hosed down all the working parts with a little G96 and fed her few rounds of 5.56 and that sorted everything out, no problems since.
Third, it's accurate enough. I'm not a particularly good shot, but just about every time I put that little red dot on a target sheet up to 50 meters away and squeeze the trigger, a hole approximately 5.56 mm wide appears exactly where I wanted. I'd say it's accurate enough for my needs. My eyes are $hit, but I bet if I had magnification on my optics, it would accurately reach out further.
All in all, I'm happy with it. Yeah, it looks like a bag of $hit compared to the work rifle (Diemaco/Colt Canada), but after enough usuage, even the work rifle looks pretty rough. Rifles like this aren't meant to sit in the safe and look pretty only for the ranges, so I really don't mind that the finish on these isn't on par with the name brands, can't really complain for $699.
Would I ever buy a Colt or other such brand? Yeah for sure one day when/if I have that kind of money to throw that way, why not? The Norc is a good starter rifle, especially if money is a concern, but if you have butt-loads of dough, I don't see any problems with going for the brand name one either.
What are you talking about? Wow.
you have obviously never been attacked by a paper monster...
@#$%ing devestating.....
