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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
OK for those of you that HAVE built or bought more than 1 AR-15, honest opinions wanted....... from what I have been looking at ...... if I buy good parts (looking at LMT, and RRA) and assemble myself (if capable), I will spend about $800. by the time I buy lower, upper, and furniture(atleast what I want) and hope I get it right. I have no one to guide me locally, nor do I have alot of spare time to do such, so this may take me a while.

Or I can buy a complete RRA or LMT for about $900 ready to go from Pete (Legal Transfers).

OR I can just bite the bullet so to speak and buy an LWRC M6 and be done with it other than optics.

We have 2 gun shows coming up in Oct, and I could hold out that long, but I won't know what to look for, or if it's a great deal. I have yet to find a good deal on handguns at these gun shows, but I have been told long guns are definitely good deals there.

I am going to have an AR by years end no matter what it costs, just seeing what the better option is from those that have been down this road already.
 
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Discussion Starter · #2 ·
I have built 6.
Quick and dirty answer....it all depends on what you want.
Personally I'd go with the LMT over the RRA if you want an "off the shelf"
rifle that you could upgrade the furniture at a later date.
Here is a chart comparing the players feature by feature.
 
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Discussion Starter · #6 ·
XD in SC said:
OK for those of you that HAVE built or bought more than 1 AR-15, honest opinions wanted....... from what I have been looking at ...... if I buy good parts (looking at LMT, and RRA) and assemble myself (if capable), I will spend about $800. by the time I buy lower, upper, and furniture(atleast what I want) and hope I get it right. I have no one to guide me locally, nor do I have alot of spare time to do such, so this may take me a while.

Or I can buy a complete RRA or LMT for about $900 ready to go from Pete (Legal Transfers).

OR I can just bite the bullet so to speak and buy an LWRC M6 and be done with it other than optics.

We have 2 gun shows coming up in Oct, and I could hold out that long, but I won't know what to look for, or if it's a great deal. I have yet to find a good deal on handguns at these gun shows, but I have been told long guns are definitely good deals there.

I am going to have an AR by years end no matter what it costs, just seeing what the better option is from those that have been down this road already.
Click to expand...
So you're basically asking if you should build or buy...right?

Here's what I've learned from my builds (I've built 5 ar's). Building an AR is not difficult. You can go to AR15.com and use there "build it yourself" section . If you are going to use quality parts (LMT, RRA, Colt, Vltor, Magpul, PRI, etc...) for your build then you won't save much money compaired to buying one already built. You need to consider the cost of buying the proper tools.

IMO if you plan on owning more than one AR I would invest in the tools and build it. If this is going to be your only ar than just buy it and have a rifle ready to shoot out of the box.
 
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Discussion Starter · #7 ·
noobshooter said:
If you are going to use quality parts (LMT, RRA, Colt, Vltor, Magpul, PRI, etc...) for your build then you won't save much money compaired to buying one already built.
Click to expand...
Think about that... If you make the rifle with the exact parts you want, its gonna cost a considerable amount less than if you just bought a box-stock rifle and put the same upgrades on it.
 
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Discussion Starter · #9 ·
SO this comes down to how much you want to spend initially. Pete at AR15SALES.COM is going to beat most other folks on RRA, LMT and STAG both for parts builds and full weapons unless you stumble on to a great deal with free shipping (which Pete does on most things anyway).

Accessories are going to cost what they cost.. and you do get what you pay for no matter what anyone says here, as for a significant savings with the add on parts and building from the ground up, that would mean skipping the completed upper etc.. I'm not going to agree that you will save a significant amount of money on that. Complete rifles are at about the lowest price we're going to see for a while. You're noting that you don't have a ton of spare time, so I'm going to say that your choice should be based on a few things..

1. Do you want to put it together yourself?
Some folks like the idea of getting to know their AR better by doing it this way. If you're not overly interested in the super fine details, then this might not be for you. It isn't anything resembling difficult and there are plenty of instructions that will get you through the lower assembly. The upper assembly is another matter.

2. What's your initial price point?
You noted that this wasn't really an issue, but I say that it is. If it isn't an issue, then talk with Pete or someone like him that has a fine reputation and just have them assemble the weapon configured the way you want and be done with it. You can always reverse engineer some of the stuff like the lower and it's parts if you're really set on learning that, or just read the build guide at ARFCOM.

3. Are you going to be a Brand Fanboy?
If so, then just drink the cool-aid now and buy a Colt so you can sit around the keyboard and espouse the greatness of the Colt Cult :) Personally I don't subscribe the the much vaunted/hated chart supplied above. I know it comes from a big name and someone who has shot more AR's than I've ever owned, seen or dreamed of (OK well I've got a vivid imagination, so maybe not that last part) ... so take my advise for what it is.. coming from someone who doesn't know or owe you (for) jack diddly. Get the weapon you want, built or build it the way you want. I personally have had great experiences with both RRA and STAG, I do own a Bushmaster that has been.. OK considering the age and abuse it (and all my weapons) gets. I won't buy another one though.

Again, take all of that for what value you find in it. I honestly just don't care what you buy or configure as long as you get one. The more the merrier and the Disease will feed itself :)
 
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Discussion Starter · #10 ·
Well put, Badshot.

And while I'm here, I'll give Pete at AR15SALES.COM another thumbs-up. He can be beat, but you'll have to work pretty hard and spend a lot of time to do it.
 
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