What’s the cheapest AR - not chambered in 223?

kodiakjack

kodiakjack

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What’s the cheapest AR - not chambered in 223?

Hey gang.

I’ve never jumped on the AR bandwagon, as I wasn’t interested in having a range-only rifle I couldn’t hunt with. But I’m getting into more pistol stuff now and spending more time at the range instead of the woods anyway, so I’m thinking of climbing aboard. And all this chicken little stuff has me thinking I ought to pull the trigger sooner than later.

Money’s tight right now, and I see a lot of guys are doing the $99 lower just to get their foot in the door, but I have no interest in spending any amount of my hard earned cash on a lump of metal I can’t shoot. So I’d like to get myself a bargain basement AR that’s at least capable of out-shooting a stripped lower :p

Maybe someday I’ll replace it with something better or upgrade it, but for now, it would just serve as a “stripped lower that I can still shoot” so to speak.

Aside from price, one other consideration: I’d prefer it not be chambered in 223/556. Even though I already shoot 223 in a bolt, reloading for it has become a labor of love, looking for accuracy and precision for hunting, and I’m just not interested in blasting through fist fulls of my hand loads with an inaccurate range toy. (Yes, I know ARs can be very accurate, but I don’t have high expectations for a bargain basement AR with cheap Chinese optics) So I’d like something chambered differently... Maybe a pistol caliber? Fairly cheap to feed... 10mm or 45 maybe? Or another rifle chambering that’s interesting?

I’m A-OK with used stuff, but whenever I see ads for ARs on the EE, they invariably seem to come with a handful of upgrades (which are of little use to my current intentions) that drive the price much further than need be.

So what do you say? Can you recommend an AR for me that’s a step above a stripped lower? :p

Thanks!
 
.223/556 is gonna be equal or cheaper than 45. You can get a 9mm ar but a regular 223/556 can be purchased much cheaper and it'll only offset the cost on a certain amount of time.

Even the cheapest ar(Norinco and right now s&w) are pretty damn accurate actually.

I would get one off those used off the EE, lot of people bought a s&w on impulse cause they were so cheap and sell em almost new.
 
You could do 7.62x39.

But I would recommend .223 still

9mm also exists, but if you are doing pistol caliber I would (and did) go NR for a cx4 or other PCC so you have a bit more flexibility in where you can shoot if you decide to change it up later.


S&W MP sport are cheap new, and come up used fairly often.


Another option I am not sure if you had considered is build or buy a retro style gun.

They are good fun as a range toy and classic looks never go away.
 
i just picked up a M&P15 for 680 taxes in. tenda is selling them for 649.99 plus 5% tax and free shipping but some local stores will match the price. Reliable gun here in Vancouver matched it for me. I went to a another store first that was 699 which i wont name and they said no they wouldnt match, which was dumb on their part because i also spent another 200 on accessories. so they lost out on a $900 sale over 45 bucks. that being said i think the M&P15 and the Dominion Arms/Norinco are the cheapest right now. International Shooting supplies in Surrey BC has the DA on sale right now for 650 i think they said. you can get a 7.62x39 kit but by the time you factor in the cost of the kit, you be better off sticking with 223
 
+1 for the S&W M&P15 Sport II... They are available at a decent price. Once you have one, you could buy a separate NEA or Chinese-made complete upper in 7.62x39. There might be some fitting to do, but nothing that a bit of careful filing cannot fix. That's what I had to do with my NEA upper, remove a bit of the coating and underlying aluminium to mate the upper to the lower. The end result was a good and tight fit. I now need to figure out how to repair / fix the coating that was filed off... Any suggestions anyone?
 
Outside of what NEA offers, you aren't going to get a "cheap" AR that doesn't shoot 5.56... Pistol caliber rifles are more expensive. I don't think you can get a 9mm AR south of $1500
 
Thanks guys. Sorry for the delay in replying. Busy day.


-raqh- said:
.223/556 is gonna be equal or cheaper than 45. You can get a 9mm ar but a regular 223/556 can be purchased much cheaper and it'll only offset the cost on a certain amount of time.

Even the cheapest ar(Norinco and right now s&w) are pretty damn accurate actually.

I would get one off those used off the EE, lot of people bought a s&w on impulse cause they were so cheap and sell em almost new.
Click to expand...

redruns said:
Wouldn't there be in increase in price if it is chambered in anything other than 5.56x45?

I'd like to play with:

300 Blackout
6.5 Grendel
Click to expand...



BooSSted said:
Outside of what NEA offers, you aren't going to get a "cheap" AR that doesn't shoot 5.56... Pistol caliber rifles are more expensive. I don't think you can get a 9mm AR south of $1500
Click to expand...

Interesting. I guessed I just assumed that because ARs are so mix-and-matchable, that a fellow could just order one from a vendor and have them “top” it with whatever flavor they wanted. (I’m establishing my newbness early on I guess).

I’ve got nothing against 223. Just thought it would be fun to play with something new.

Daver_II said:
You could do 7.62x39.

But I would recommend .223 still

9mm also exists, but if you are doing pistol caliber I would (and did) go NR for a cx4 or other PCC so you have a bit more flexibility in where you can shoot if you decide to change it up later.


S&W MP sport are cheap new, and come up used fairly often.


Another option I am not sure if you had considered is build or buy a retro style gun.

They are good fun as a range toy and classic looks never go away.
Click to expand...

Well... yeah, I’m definitely more drawn to an NR pistol caliber like the Aero in 10mm for instance... but that doesn’t help the whole sky-is-falling-better-buy-an-AR-while-you-still-can situation. Alleged situation.


nathanmullin said:
i just picked up a M&P15 for 680 taxes in. tenda is selling them for 649.99 plus 5% tax and free shipping but some local stores will match the price. Reliable gun here in Vancouver matched it for me. I went to a another store first that was 699 which i wont name and they said no they wouldnt match, which was dumb on their part because i also spent another 200 on accessories. so they lost out on a $900 sale over 45 bucks. that being said i think the M&P15 and the Dominion Arms/Norinco are the cheapest right now. International Shooting supplies in Surrey BC has the DA on sale right now for 650 i think they said. you can get a 7.62x39 kit but by the time you factor in the cost of the kit, you be better off sticking with 223
Click to expand...

cheb said:
+1 for the S&W M&P15 Sport II... They are available at a decent price. Once you have one, you could buy a separate NEA or Chinese-made complete upper in 7.62x39. There might be some fitting to do, but nothing that a bit of careful filing cannot fix. That's what I had to do with my NEA upper, remove a bit of the coating and underlying aluminium to mate the upper to the lower. The end result was a good and tight fit. I now need to figure out how to repair / fix the coating that was filed off... Any suggestions anyone?
Click to expand...



I’ll look into the m&p15, as well as the norcs. Is Dominion just a rebranded norc? Or something else all together?


Thanks again guys.
 
kodiakjack said:
I’ll look into the m&p15, as well as the norcs. Is Dominion just a rebranded norc? Or something else all together?
Thanks again guys.
Click to expand...

You need to check with CanadaAmmo about the Dominion brand as it's their "house" brand so the manufacturer of Dominion Arms can vary.
 
I'd pick up any AR asap.....as of Tuesday after they drop the bomb with the new gun laws.....if you don't own one now you never will just like they did with the 12.6
 
A SIG M400 or Colt 6920 is a good bet. The Smith is as well. If you do have the money for it, the one I'd recommend the most though is a BCM Recce Rifle or an FN AR (not the FNAR, a real AR)

Also, not trying to sound like a #### here, but suck it up and get a .223/5.56 for now, and change calibers later, if you can. Seriously, what good is a rifle if you can't find ammo for it?
 
223-5.56 ar parts are the most common and for price cheep to very high depending on what you want

223-5.56 ammo is the most common just think about barrel twist 12 -9 - 8 - 7- it makes a difference on bullet weight in what can shoot accurate
223-5.56 ammo 55 g is the most common

You could also
get 300 acc Blackout -- only difference is barrel and Flash Hinder --- Prices --- very reasonable -- but not a long range tack hitter

300 acc Blackout you can shoot all most any 30 cal Bullet Jacketed and Cast bullet 110 to 247g most common

300 acc Blackout Brass you can make from 223-5.56 range pickups --- plus your time -- or buy converted brass

There is also lots of other options but where do you get Brass / barrel / bolt / mags

7.62x 39 is not so common as it was once was -- most steel case -- you can not reload -- or berdan primed -- and you need different bolt to go with the barrel and different mags
 
nathanmullin said:
i just picked up a M&P15 for 680 taxes in. tenda is selling them for 649.99 plus 5% tax and free shipping but some local stores will match the price. Reliable gun here in Vancouver matched it for me. I went to a another store first that was 699 which i wont name and they said no they wouldnt match, which was dumb on their part because i also spent another 200 on accessories. so they lost out on a $900 sale over 45 bucks. that being said i think the M&P15 and the Dominion Arms/Norinco are the cheapest right now. International Shooting supplies in Surrey BC has the DA on sale right now for 650 i think they said. you can get a 7.62x39 kit but by the time you factor in the cost of the kit, you be better off sticking with 223
Click to expand...

Is there a promo code you have to put in to get just the 5% tax?
 
just having some fun said:
223-5.56 ar parts are the most common and for price cheep to very high depending on what you want

223-5.56 ammo is the most common just think about barrel twist 12 -9 - 8 - 7- it makes a difference on bullet weight in what can shoot accurate
223-5.56 ammo 55 g is the most common

You could also
get 300 acc Blackout -- only difference is barrel and Flash Hinder --- Prices --- very reasonable -- but not a long range tack hitter

300 acc Blackout you can shoot all most any 30 cal Bullet Jacketed and Cast bullet 110 to 247g most common

300 acc Blackout Brass you can make from 223-5.56 range pickups --- plus your time -- or buy converted brass

There is also lots of other options but where do you get Brass / barrel / bolt / mags

7.62x 39 is not so common as it was once was -- most steel case -- you can not reload -- or berdan primed -- and you need different bolt to go with the barrel and different mags
Click to expand...


Interesting. Thanks.
 
just having some fun said:
7.62x 39 is not so common as it was once was -- most steel case -- you can not reload -- or berdan primed -- and you need different bolt to go with the barrel and different mags
Click to expand...

This sucks for me, I bought a 7.62x39 upper and 1000 rounds of AE brass FMJ ammo, now I am running low and can't find any decent prices on the ammo again. My range does not allow steel core ammo, so pretty much all the surplus is a no no

When I run out of ammo I will likely sell the upper due to ammo availability/price

Im looking at assembling a 300 blackout upper to try something different
 
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