Looking for first AR15

[DYoung]

Hello all,

As I was looking for AR15 information I found quite a bit of knowledge here. Recently a group of my buddies and I went to the range for some target shooting, I was surprised at the variety of firearms these guys had. I was especially captivated by the one AR15 and now I NEED one!

I plan to learn as much as possible before making a purchase, but I'm really anxious to get my hands on my one. Any suggestions from the gallery are appreciated.

[J]

I am all for building. You get to pick each component exactly how you want. If that interests you at all, there are plenty of members (myself included) that are happy to help.

If not, there are lots of good brands. Let us know your desired use, price range, etc. It will help us narrow down the almost limitless options for you.

[DYoung]

I am all for building. You get to pick each component exactly how you want. If that interests you at all, there are plenty of members (myself included) that are happy to help.

If not, there are lots of good brands. Let us know your desired use, price range, etc. It will help us narrow down the almost limitless options for you.

Thanks, Jayock.

I am considering building. I've been looking at a lot of recommendations but I'm not sure I'm ready for a ground-up build, we'll see. A good compromise might be buying a separate upper and lower and configuring each to suit my preferences.

[J]

That is always a good starting point. Though I might recommend building the full lower (they are really pretty easy if you have help) and buying a complete upper if you don't want to build the full thing. There is a lot of reward, at least for me, in building something.

If you want to buy complete, just let us know more specifically what you want, what you like and what you want to use it for, so we can recommend. Same goes for a complete upper recommendation. There are just too dang many these days to recommend globally.

Cheers, and welcome to the forums again.

[spleify]

Welcome aboard

[Big Wall]

Welcome!

[joeyshoe]

welcome! Unless you have lots of expendable cash, try to get your hands on any parts/accessories before you purchase. Lots of good advice here. My .02 would be to keep it simple and light-weight.

[DYoung]

That is always a good starting point. Though I might recommend building the full lower (they are really pretty easy if you have help) and buying a complete upper if you don't want to build the full thing. There is a lot of reward, at least for me, in building something.

If you want to buy complete, just let us know more specifically what you want, what you like and what you want to use it for, so we can recommend. Same goes for a complete upper recommendation. There are just too dang many these days to recommend globally.

Cheers, and welcome to the forums again.

Good advice and I'm sure I would enjoy the build process, you're right on target, pardon the pun, it would be extremely rewarding.

My intended use for an AR is three-fold: target shooting, small game hunting, and home defense. My preferences are quality and reliability at a budget price, 16" barrel, 5.56 NATO chamber with 1:7 twist, M4 feed ramps, and a sweet looking hand guard.

My problem now is the weeding through all the possibilities and building something that I can afford and will want to keep for a long time.

[gcrookston]

As you are probably already aware, there are quite a variety of ways to go when picking an AR.

I'd recommend locating a used one that's about the configuration you want or an inexpensive entry level new one. From there, you can modify, swap out and learn about the weapon. As your knowledge increases, then you will be in a position to either rebuild it into exactly what you want or build a completely new one to your own specifications.

I've decided for the moment I only need 2. One for varminting and another for plinking. I assembled both to my own specifications. I haven't figured out a way to incorporate all the features I like about each gun into one build and that's okay...

[DYoung]

As you are probably already aware, there are quite a variety of ways to go when picking an AR.

I'd recommend locating a used one that's about the configuration you want or an inexpensive entry level new one. From there, you can modify, swap out and learn about the weapon. As your knowledge increases, then you will be in a position to either rebuild it into exactly what you want or build a completely new one to your own specifications.

I've decided for the moment I only need 2. One for varminting and another for plinking. I assembled both to my own specifications. I haven't figured out a way to incorporate all the features I like about each gun into one build and that's okay...

Hmmm... That's an intriguing strategy. Learn what I like on an entry level setup and I'm not married to it. Good advice.