Advice

[BPTactical]

Colt 6920 is more or less the standard on a M4 pattern rifle.
Olympic, DPMS and the "Off brands" are generally the "lower teir"
Noveske,Rainier, Daniel Defence, POF are generally the "upper teir" rifles.
So now you need to find something in the middle. LMT is worthy of consideration as is an older Bushy. I would take a Smith and Wesson over a Stag. Colts are damn good rifles so don't discount them.
Bravo Company are great for the money as is CMMG. Rock River is not too bad.

[spyder]

For the price you already tried to drop, here is an 18" POF upper for $1025 on GB: 245798542
Here is a nice 16" with a nice protective finish for $1250 on GB: 245328368

Like I said, you were already gona drop the price on something in that similar ball park, so why not get the best you can?

[Ronin13]

Colt 6920 is more or less the standard on a M4 pattern rifle.
Olympic, DPMS and the "Off brands" are generally the "lower teir"
Noveske,Rainier, Daniel Defence, POF are generally the "upper teir" rifles.
So now you need to find something in the middle. LMT is worthy of consideration as is an older Bushy. I would take a Smith and Wesson over a Stag. Colts are damn good rifles so don't discount them.
Bravo Company are great for the money as is CMMG. Rock River is not too bad.

Again BP, I usually bow to your excellent advice... personally though, I wasn't overly wowed by RRA. Fired and field stripped one and just something about it didn't sit well with me. Bushmasters are good, I used an M4A2 in the Army made by Bush and they're decent, just not the biggest fan of DI, I'd rather have a piston system.

[BPTactical]

Again BP, I usually bow to your excellent advice... personally though, I wasn't overly wowed by RRA. Fired and field stripped one and just something about it didn't sit well with me. Bushmasters are good, I used an M4A2 in the Army made by Bush and they're decent, just not the biggest fan of DI, I'd rather have a piston system.

Never claimed RockRiver had a "Wow" factor, when a new one would come in it was more of a "Meh" factor. They are a halfway decent rifle and the best thing about them was being able to pretty much order any configuration. The upcharge of 40.00 for a chrome lined bore was BS though.

I like piston guns just fine.
That's why we have AK's and FAL's.

I can't think of one piston AR that has not exhibited bolt tilt or battering that I have seen.

[Ronin13]

I like piston guns just fine.
That's why we have AK's and FAL's.

I can't think of one piston AR that has not exhibited bolt tilt or battering that I have seen.

Wait, so you're saying I'm going to get bolt tilt and/or battering on my POF someday? Uh oh, that's a lot of money I have invested in that weapon.

[BPTactical]

Wait, so you're saying I'm going to get bolt tilt and/or battering on my POF someday? Uh oh, that's a lot of money I have invested in that weapon.

You may. All I can attest to is the piston AR's I have worked on have shown signs of bolt tilt, battering or otherwise unusual wear.
With a G-I rifle the gas impulse is evenly distributed to the bolt carrier/bolt and is a rapid although smooth impulse. It is also directly in line with the bore which helps keep recoil managable.
On a piston rifle the entire recoil impulse is focused on the top of the bolt, where the gas key usually resides. This results in bolt tilt and battering of the impact area of the carrier. It also causes the recoil impulse to be about 3/4" above the bore centerline. This can contribute to muzzle rise.

I am just not a big fan when folks go about trying to re-invent the wheel. Eugene Stoner was a mechanical genius similar but no equal to John Browning. Everytime somebody thinks they are smarter than the original designer and deviate too much from the design the results are usually less than expected.
YMMV.............................................. .....