Open up a can of worms.

[TransPecos]

Out of your list I would buy the Rock River. I have experience with Colt, RRA, CMMG, and Bushmaster.

[mesquitecountry]

Good summaries. I'd add S&W to the top end list too.

I'm sorry but I've handled three S&W m&p 15's and they are all a pitiful excuse for an AR, pretty much the worst made AR's I've ever handled. Sorry to be blunt but I would not recommend them to anyone at any price. They are no where near even the top of the, RRA, Bush, DPMS, Stag.

[6.8mmSPC]

I'm sorry but I've handled three S&W m&p 15's and they are all a pitiful excuse for an AR, pretty much the worst made AR's I've ever handled. Sorry to be blunt but I would not recommend them to anyone at any price. They are no where near even the top of the, RRA, Bush, DPMS, Stag.

Truth....

[tvc184]

Rock River still seems to be running their super sale. I'm not sure how much longer it will last but their package deals are pretty good right now if you go that route from the factory.

[Mike]

Good posts and I will agree with Travis with those lists.

However, I had an interesting conversation today. I had lunch with a guy today, a cousin of a co-worker that has been out of the military for less than a year. With his job he got to coon-finger some serious good while across the pond. He was the weapons procurement lead for his unit which was Green Berets. He handled all range requests(ammo) and weapons needs for his men. He said he had various sales reps "in country" that would stop in and drop off samples for team use and keep them on the front edge of the market.

As one can imagine, I was drilling him with questions regarding SBRs, cans and optics that they used on their weapons and he was very enlightening regarding what works and why.

Here is what got me, I had a fresh Spikes lower in my truck, just picked it up for a build, and he thought it was super cool. He loved the red spider and the safety markings. He had never seen one before, never even heard of Spikes Tactical.

I got on the topic of the Noveske Diplomat (7.5" SBR) and he had no idea of the manufacturer. I ventured into the cans and all they used was Knights and Surefire. I got into what they actually used over there and if it was an AR, it was a Crane, which was a Navy contract build.

Here is my million $$ question, if this guy is an operator in a hostile environment and relied on his weapon every day to protect himself and his team, how has he never heard of these models, they are the very best right? Could there just be a HUGE amount of hype and marketing in the AR world? I really think that is what is happening and manufacturers are trending to the high $$ customer and pawn off all the lesser units as beneath their weapon.

I remember when Bushmaster was the best you could get and now in some circles, they will laugh you off the range if you show up with one.

Any opinions?

[47]

Rage

[Daniel75]

Good posts and I will agree with Travis with those lists.

However, I had an interesting conversation today. I had lunch with a guy today, a cousin of a co-worker that has been out of the military for less than a year. With his job he got to coon-finger some serious good while across the pond. He was the weapons procurement lead for his unit which was Green Berets. He handled all range requests(ammo) and weapons needs for his men. He said he had various sales reps "in country" that would stop in and drop off samples for team use and keep them on the front edge of the market.

As one can imagine, I was drilling him with questions regarding SBRs, cans and optics that they used on their weapons and he was very enlightening regarding what works and why.

Here is what got me, I had a fresh Spikes lower in my truck, just picked it up for a build, and he thought it was super cool. He loved the red spider and the safety markings. He had never seen one before, never even heard of Spikes Tactical.

I got on the topic of the Noveske Diplomat (7.5" SBR) and he had no idea of the manufacturer. I ventured into the cans and all they used was Knights and Surefire. I got into what they actually used over there and if it was an AR, it was a Crane, which was a Navy contract build.

Here is my million $$ question, if this guy is an operator in a hostile environment and relied on his weapon every day to protect himself and his team, how has he never heard of these models, they are the very best right? Could there just be a HUGE amount of hype and marketing in the AR world? I really think that is what is happening and manufacturers are trending to the high $$ customer and pawn off all the lesser units as beneath their weapon.

I remember when Bushmaster was the best you could get and now in some circles, they will laugh you off the range if you show up with one.

Any opinions?

They're marketed for the civilian world (RRA, LaRue, etc) and the military has things that we can't get our hands on.

[txdukklr]

Depends on what you want.

AR15

Superior Battle Rifle- Knights Armament, then Colt

Precision- Larue, LWRC, Noveske- To be honest, Noveske's innovation the last year or so IMO is lacking.

Best 1000 dollar AR- LMT, BCM/Spike's, CMMG in that Order-Probably best bang for your buck guns.


Best of the Major Manufacturer Guns- Probably Bushmaster or Rock River



Not sure where to put Daniel Defense in all that.

That's the way I see it.

AR10 or SR25 Type 308

Superior Battle Rifle- Knights, LMT (British Version) (Half the price, 25% more weight)

Precision- Larue, LWRC, Noveske

Sub 2k Price- DPMS, Armalite- Supposedly Spike's 308 that will land around January 1 should be in this area.



All in all, here is how I rank the top manufacturer's. Combination of everything above, cost of gun included.

Knights, Larue, LMT/Noveske, Colt (No 308)/LWRC, Spike's/BCM/Daniel Defense, CMMG, RRA, Bushmaster/DPMS

i think this sums up my thoughts. A significantly better gun then a RRA or Bushmaster doesn't cost 2-3x. More like a few hundred dollars more.

[Sparkles]

I'm looking at Stag, Rock River,Olimpic and Bushmaster, or even build one myself.

Of these four I would go with RR. Mine ran flawless for thousands and thousands of rounds. But I think everybody should build their own at least once.

[Cameron]

Bad-*** Hebrews?

[Peacock]

I like Colt.

[Scott G]

I'm looking at Stag, Rock River,Olimpic and Bushmaster, or even build one myself.

I owned an Olympic and it wasn't spec. Magpul mags wouldn't engage unless you took A LOT of material off of the magazine. Also, turned into a single shot when using wolf (i know, i know) ammo. Almost every time I fired the case would stick in the chamber.

[Crowsie14]

What about wilson combat?