jkatz44 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Hello, My name is Jason Katz and I'm a junior shooter trying to get into the AR world...I'm pretty experienced when it comes to production, but rifles not so much... It's going to be used as an overall defense/range/some 3-gun (but no major 3-gun as of now). I have a lower (just a matter of deciding on trigger) and need upper. I'm leaning towards 16 incher but beyond that, I'm lost as to whether I should buy complete upper or build everything, optic etc. Obviously, I need it to be 100% reliable and high quality but I'm not looking to be in debt before college either (wink wink). Suggestions? Thanks much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJH Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 You will get a ton of answers to this question, but I have had good luck with DPMS guns. They are the kicking dog of the ar world but the 2 we have are accurate, and very reliable. The triggers do suck so get a better one, best to try a few and see what you like as triggers can be very subjective. It does seem as most ARs are pretty good these days so for your stated purposes it would probably be hard to go wrong. PS I like 20" barrels but this is also subjective Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziebart Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 (edited) I can't comment on whether it is cheaper to build or buy, but if you have a specific handguard or other option in mind then it may be better to build. I will say that I had great success with the Burris Tac-30 1-4 scope for $300. It is a durable option with a lifetime warranty. If you want to shoot in limited division then a Vortex Prism may be the way to go. But there are other options that may be better suited to defense such as an EoTech or Aimpoint. I would stick to the 16" barrel for a multipurpose AR. Edited December 24, 2014 by ziebart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Gundry Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 You may want to ask this in the rifle section, but my advice is to go with either an 18" rifle length gas system setup, or a 14.5" mid length. 16" leaves you stuck with a mid length gas system at most, and only a small velocity improvement over 14.5". To stay cheap and high quality, pick up a built BCM upper and add a handguard and optic of your choosing. Vortex is releasing a ~$300 1-6x this summer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 16 inch mid length is a nice choice. The issue with a 14.5 is you are stuck with it as configured as you have to pin and weld it. That means same muzzle attachment gas block barrel but etc. Decide to switch your cutting the muzzle divice off and starting over and that's more cost. On barrels for your use I would get decent but not drop the cash on match barrel or anything. You can build a pretty nice gun without dropping a ton of cash these days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 18" with rifle gas. McCormick trigger. Primary Arms 1X6 is a good low cost scope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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