Need Advice on AR Type Rifle please

graydog

graydog

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Hi
I used to have Colt AR 15 rifles but I have not had one for ten to fifteen years now. Should I stay with a Colt or are there better ones to buy. Any info on this subject will be much appreciated. Please tell me what you think I should buy and why. Oh yeah it will be a .223 cal rifle.

Thanks Graydog
 
How much do you want to spend? I'm no expert and as a matter of fact I have zero experience with AR's so my opinions mean nothing....but....to have an experienced member here give you some suggestions you'll need to tell them your budget first. I've been shopping around for AR's recently myself and just put a deposit down on a LMT CQB but a person can spend anywhere from 700 bucks all the way to 5000+ on one. And then there's optics to spend a pile of money on if you wish....
 
cant believe this thread isnt jumpin!
i have just ordered my first AR type, i have a CZ and love it but always wanted a m-16 type of gun,
so i bit the 223 bullet, cqb polytech/norinco i have found norinco products to be very good value,as well as being low cost up front, (if you dont spend a bunch of money for add ons) you get
most if not all your money back out of them
not that i'd ever sell a gun..lol
 
graydog said:
Hi
I used to have Colt AR 15 rifles but I have not had one for ten to fifteen years now. Should I stay with a Colt or are there better ones to buy. Any info on this subject will be much appreciated. Please tell me what you think I should buy and why. Oh yeah it will be a .223 cal rifle.

Thanks Graydog
Click to expand...

Firstly we need some info. What is the purpose of the rifle? What is your budget? All answers will flow from there.
 
ESQ said:
Firstly we need some info. What is the purpose of the rifle? What is your budget? All answers will flow from there.
Click to expand...

Hi
The gun will just be used to target shoot. My budget for the gun will be from $1000 to $2000. I just don't want to end up with a piece of junk.

Graydog
 
Is it me or did a lot of this NEA hype die down a little bit? People were recommending these left right and center in all of these threads.
 
If you had a Colt in the past, they are still around. On the EE, I see them come up. Did you have the HBAR?

Looking for something for target shooting, maybe you would want a 20" barreled flat top with the carry handle sight? I would recommend getting a complete lower receiver for now, then you can add any upper that interests you.
 
With that budget I'd go with a custom through Alberta Tactical Rifle. It'll push towards the higher end of your budget (depending on options) but at least you'll get the rifle you always wanted. They'll set you up real nice.
 
JoeOnePack said:
Is it me or did a lot of this NEA hype die down a little bit? People were recommending these left right and center in all of these threads.
Click to expand...

Even as someone who is generally supportive of NEA products, I find it hard to recommend a new rifle that is relatively untested over a Colt.

Your top makers these days are roughly as follows:

Colt
Daniel Defense
Noveske
KAC is a pretty boutique maker that most people drool over
LMT build good rifles although whether they match up to Colt, DD or Noveske I am not certain...I have heard varying reports from people that I would consider experts on this, but the general consensus is that they are good to go.

Personally I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a Stag, and I am just waiting on different NEA configurations to arrive before I pick one of those up as well, so I am relatively confident in their product.

I am not sold on the Norinco ARs simply because they seem to be built to random specs that don't necessarily line up with AR standards, thus making the modularity kind of wasted.

I am not a fan of Bushmaster, DPMS, Olympic, RRA, or Dlask ARs. Doubtless you will find people who are, but at most I believe you will get "it shoots as well as a Colt, but it was cheaper". You will not very likely hear even the most out-there DPMS fan claim their gun is actually superior to a Colt or DD.
 
graydog said:
Hi
I used to have Colt AR 15 rifles but I have not had one for ten to fifteen years now. Should I stay with a Colt or are there better ones to buy. Any info on this subject will be much appreciated. Please tell me what you think I should buy and why. Oh yeah it will be a .223 cal rifle.

Thanks Graydog
Click to expand...

I am not debating Colt quality but I would never buy one for the reason that they are (with the exception of the early Norincos) the only company I am aware of that does not use all mil-spec parts. Their trigger & hammer pins are larger in diameter and I believe the front pivot pin is also a different diameter. Early Colts were all mil-spec but more recent models have some of these odd size pins. This becomes an issue when you want to put in aftermarket parts like target trigger/hammer groups. Since Colt's share of the AR-15 market has greatly decreased due to so many other companies coming on board, aftermarket companies are building their parts to cater to the largest market which are mil-spec guns. Sometimes they make Colt versions but sometimes they don't so if you want the greatest variety of parts available go with a mil-spec gun. Also, if you're concerned about keeping the gun all Colt, be aware that their parts are usually 2x-4x more expensive than non-Colt (just check the prices on the Brownells website). That can also be a consideration.
 
I was going to suggest NEA but as it is my first AR, I hardly feel qualified making a recommendation. Plus what Misanthropist said about it being "relatively untested".

That being said, I chose NEA for my first AR because 1) they are Canadian and 2) it fit my budget. $1065 plus taxes, red dot sight, and a few other add-ons and I will be right in line with your budget. Some may say it is a bit of a gamble but to be honest, if I pay what I paid and end up with Norincoesque quality (not really a possibility given the NEA specs) I still bought a Canadian product from a Canadian distributor and will feel good about it!
 
Wrong!

ted_dent,

WRONG!

Your information regarding Colt using large pins is out of date by a couple of years. They stopped producing the large pin size ARs in 2009. See below:

http://geissele.com/pdfs/GuideForColtRifleUsersVer3.pdf

They build all their current rifles to "Mil-spec". They are the current standard by which all others are measured. See the new 'Chart':

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AqmgMm61Ok7WdExwaG16OENzOEZ1akp2a3Y2NjMxTEE&single=true&gid=2&output=html

They are now also very competitively priced (in the US) with prices ranging from $1000 to $1050. Compared to DPMS rifles that run at just over $900, they are not that expensive.

Colt
BCM
DD
LMT
Noveske
KAC

All of the above are GTG, according to people who know more than I do.

Regards.

Mark
 
MWL said:
ted_dent,

WRONG!

Your information regarding Colt using large pins is out of date by a couple of years. They stopped producing the large pin size ARs in 2009. See below:

http://geissele.com/pdfs/GuideForColtRifleUsersVer3.pdf

They build all their current rifles to "Mil-spec". They are the current standard by which all others are measured. See the new 'Chart':

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AqmgMm61Ok7WdExwaG16OENzOEZ1akp2a3Y2NjMxTEE&single=true&gid=2&output=html

They are now also very competitively priced (in the US) with prices ranging from $1000 to $1050. Compared to DPMS rifles that run at just over $900, they are not that expensive.

Colt
BCM
DD
LMT
Noveske
KAC

All of the above are GTG, according to people who know more than I do.

Regards.

Mark
Click to expand...

Good to know. Apparently they saw the light. I build all my ARs so have not bought a complete gun for at least 10 years. This would still apply, however, if someone was buying a pre-2009 made firearm.
 
Sorry if my response was a little harsh, but with the number of people reading this thread, I wanted to be certain that there was as little misinformation being posted as possible.

You are in fact correct, in that anyone buying a used Colt made between 1991 and 2009 would end up with a large pin lower.

I don't own any Colts, and like you, I have built all of my ARs.

Regards.

Mark
 
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