I am new to the AR platform. Never had one, and only shot a friend with a .22LR conversion. On advice from another thread I was cruising Aero Precision site last night.

If I buy a complete upper and lower is that a complete rifle?

Or is it possible to just buy something off the shelf for under 1k that would be just as good?

I'm not looking for the best of the best. Just something reliable. Going to be hunting square pieces of paper for the most part.

I’ve done both, build(lower) or buy complete. I have everything from a mid-level+ semi-comstom, to the $500ish, PSA discounted ‘blemish’ sale.

You mention mostly target shooting, is that more casual, 50-200 yards?

I’m a little more into a medium to lighter weight 16-18” barreled AR, unless I’m prairie dogging.

The new lowers are easier than ever, shouldn’t even have any ‘roll pins’ to pound in. My last few lowers I bought minimal parts kits, preferring to put a custom trigger, grip, even ‘anti-walk’ trigger pins.

You could just buy the stripped lower, so many videos about assembly. I’ve always just bought a completed upper, the easy method.

I have uppers from Midwest Industries, BCM, Stag, RRA & PSA, and others. I can live with most any of them.

Look at options online to see what direction you want to go, endless choices.

One thing is how deep you'll go into the platform. If you think one rifle will satisfy you, there's no need to buy the tools for upper assembly with a complete rifle or built upper. Lowers are really light on tool requirements as mentioned above.

A complete upper+lower will be G2G. Just check if the upper has a BCG, bc sometimes they won't.

My lightweight carbine thread talks about this. If saving money is the goal, buy a complete upper and lower, or entire rifle. If getting exactly what you want is the goal, buy parts.

If you're just getting into ARs, I recommend buying a complete rifle from your local gun shop. Perhaps used, just to get familiar with the platform. Once you've gotten into the care and feeding, and have a feel for the rifles, you can swap parts or buy/build a rifle you think will be more suited to how you want to use it or what you want to do.

The quality of ARs today is such that it's tough to buy a bad one, and you don't really _need_ to spend a lot of money to get a rifle that will do target shooting and a bunch of other things pretty well. There are high quality manufacturers and parts out there, it's all pretty sexy. You can spend piles of money. But you sure don't have to.

"Complete" upper or lower is misleading. Often a complete receiver does not include a bolt carrier group (BCG), charging handle (CH), muzzle device, &/or stock.

That being said, you can put together a complete Aero/Ballistic Advantage (same company) AR for around $600-700. BA tends to have better sales than Aero. If you're not in a rush, wait for their next big sale. For example in March, complete uppers & lowers on BA's website were 30% off, and they also had a 20% off coupon code you could add.

PSA released their Sabre line earlier this year. They are billed as the best quality ARs you can get for under $1K.

A bit of a hidden gem is Andro Corp's ACI-15. Every now & then, their 16" model will pop up on Primary Arms or Midway for $400-500. It's rumored that Andro uses many or most of the same parts that Aero/BA does.

Make sure to budget for optics, BUIS, sling, mags, foregrips, rail accessories, etc, and of course ammo.

First AR, no experience or desire to build nor any objective to build > BUY one complete.
Don't be delusioned that building is automatically going to be cheaper.
If you have a purpose or specific requirements then consider if you have the skills.

You can buy a complete S&W AR for around $700. There are some torture test on them that are impressive. For an AR and that kind of $ it is hard to go other routes imho.

Right now at PSA,
https://palmettostatearmory.co...r15-rifle-black.html

For $499. All you need is a rear sight.

For an entry level rifle, this is a great option.

https://palmettostatearmory.co...zine-5165500387.html



https://palmettostatearmory.co...-set-5165447592.html


Snag a few (or ten) magazines, and a case of ammo. You can always add a red dot or an optic later if you want, but it is not necessary.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Right now at PSA,
https://palmettostatearmory.co...r15-rifle-black.html

For $499. All you need is a rear sight.

While that would be a fine option, I prefer a mid length gas system on a 16" gun. Much smoother recoil impulse.

The only reason for the carbine length gas system was so that they could still fit bayonets onto 14.5 inch barreled rifles when the military went to the M4.

Mid length gas is more optimal for shooting characteristics.

If you want to keep it in the family.
The Sig 400 Tread is a solid rifle for around $800
The just released M400 X-Series SDI looks like it has some better features for $1,300

FWIW all of my home brews went way over $1,000 for just the rifle.

At 499 who GAS about recoil impulse on an easy shooting gun? I’ve got rifle, mid length, and carbine. They all shoot fine. At this price point you are splitting hairs. If you find a mid length at 499 then I take it back. Just buy that rifle posted and find a rear sight. Easy.

For rear sights on a gun like that I like the DD fixed rear if you aren’t going to go optics.

PSA barrels with the Fixed Sight Base seem to be the luck of the draw on getting one that's centered.
Not sure how you screw that up if a jig is being used.

They seem to able to get a low profile gas block centered from the ones I have gotten.
My only gripe with those is they were not dimpled.
After seeing a couple of "20 clicks left is in spec" FSB's, spending $30 for a dimple jig and few minutes to do it myself is no gripe at all anymore.

Sig's lo pro gas blocks are pinned, which is the best way of securing them and not something most do.
I was surprised to see it on an $800 basic rifle.

The PSA Sabre line is in the $1,300 range and I don't think I would pick any of them.

I did buy a complete basic carbine kit from PSA for around $300 for my first one and used a stripped $25 Anderson lower.
It worked.

If you’re new to the AR platform I’d recommend buying a basic production AR.
You’ll figure out what you like / don’t like quickly.
In future you can build & buy only the parts for your build that you know you want vs paying for and removing parts you can’t hardly give away.

YMMV

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
At 499 who GAS about recoil impulse on an easy shooting gun?

I do.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
If you find a mid length at 499 then I take it back. Just buy that rifle posted and find a rear sight. Easy.

Also the links I posted are $530 and include a rear sight. It also has a free floating handguard capable of accepting light and sling mounts. So it's a monetary wash and arguably a better rifle.

I agree with the others, buy a complete rifle, practice and learn what you would improve and then decide if you need to move on from that particular AR or if you can customize it to meet your needs.

I went way over budget building my first AR, I did it piece by piece, by the time it was finished, I could've bought the complete rifle, that I thought was overpriced at the beginning, which started the whole build idea.

Buy a complete rifle for your first one.

Or…buy a compete upper and build the lower yourself. Don’t shy away from the PSA rifle kits that include everything but the lower. Assembling a lower is extremely easy.

I personally would recommend the M&P Sport, and above that the Springfield Saint.

In my opinion, the Saint is the best bottom line rifle out there. If I were on a budget, I would get a Saint, a sling, and a light of some sort.

And then mags, ammo, and train with it.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
I personally would recommend the M&P Sport, and above that the Springfield Saint.

In my opinion, the Saint is the best bottom line rifle out there. If I were on a budget, I would get a Saint, a sling, and a light of some sort.

And then mags, ammo, and train with it.

I’d add the Ruger Ar556 to that list. It’s a well built gun with a cold hammer forged barrel at a very nice price.