Trying to decide what AR rifle to buy? A few charts rank AR 15 Manufacturers from best to worst. These are only the opinions of the chart makers and not mine. And you know what they say about opinions. Hope these are helpful in making a decision. Feel free to comment below.
If you want a cheap rifle for a cheap price, PSA.
If you want a good rifle at a good price, BCM.
If you want a great rifle at an expensive price, KAC.
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Here's a list of some of the wallet-friendly manufacturers for certain parts that I do recommend.
Receivers: Aero Precision, BCM, Centurion
Barrels: Ballistic Advantage/Aero Precision, Faxon
Rails: BCM MCMR (impossible to beat for the money), Aero R-One and S-One
BCG: Microbest (BCM, SOLGW, Centurion, BRT, and more), Sionics, Colt, DD
Stick with manganese phosphate or hard chrome.
Stay away from NiB and nitride.
Look for the following specs:
-Carpenter 158 steel bolt
-8620 steel carrier
-hard chrome in the carrier bore and gas key
-Grade 8 fasteners, each double staked, for the gas key
-bolt is High Pressure Tested (HPT) and Magnetic Particle Inspected (MPI)
LPK: Aero, CMT, Centurion, Sionics, BCM
From what little I know there must be 2 types of AR owners. Type 1 is full time operator/ instructor type that will burn through 5K rounds in a year. THAT type of guy probably needs a top tier rifle. Then there is Type 2 ( AKA ME) I can't afford the ammo the Type 1 guys burn through . Not to mention the rifle. So to ME ...if your rifle functions and runs through the amount of ammo you can afford to test it out with then I say THAT is the AR for YOU. If we were all " Going to war " tomorrow I wouldn't give my ARs a second look. I would grab my Yugo AK. But that's just me and I am no operator.
If you’re looking at assembling it yourself, while staying in a budget, here’s some parts that I would recommend. You didn’t specify, so I’m assuming a 16” 5.56. If you want something different, let me know and I’ll see if that changes anything.
Aero Precision X15 receiver set. $165
Ballistic Advantage 16” Hanson profile barrel, midlength gas system, 1:7” twist, with pinned gas block. $199
Sionics full milspec BCG. $169
Aero LPK without FCG or grip. $45
Magpul MOE stock and pistol grip $50
Aero Precision H2 buffer kit (receiver extension, castle nut, receiver endplate, buffer spring, and H2 buffer). $59
BCM PNT (trigger), or similar. $60
BCM MCMR 15” rail. $179
A2 bird cage flash hider. $13
That’s a solid gun, when assembled properly. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it as a primary fighting carbine.
There is room to pare the price down a little bit, without sacrificing reliability. Using a USGI-type collapsible stock and pistol grip would reduce the cost by about $30.
Rather than telling you what to stay away from, I’ll list some of the wallet-friendly manufacturers for certain parts that I do recommend.
Receivers: Aero Precision, BCM, Centurion
Barrels: Ballistic Advantage/Aero Precision, Faxon
Rails: BCM MCMR (impossible to beat for the money), Aero R-One and S-One
BCG: Microbest (BCM, SOLGW, Centurion, BRT, and more), Sionics, Colt, DD
Stick with manganese phosphate or hard chrome.
Stay away from NiB and nitride.
Look for the following specs:
-Carpenter 158 steel bolt
-8620 steel carrier
-hard chrome in the carrier bore and gas key
-Grade 8 fasteners, each double staked, for the gas key
-bolt is High Pressure Tested (HPT) and Magnetic Particle Inspected (MPI)
LPK: Aero, CMT, Centurion, Sionics, BCM
You could always just buy one of each!
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| A bunch of AR-15s |