The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Want to build my first AR-15

HKFan9 · February 21, 2011, 08:57 PM

You will find that people get in pretty heated debates about AR's and build quality and "Mil-Spec" and a fun little thing called THE CHART.

If you are just looking for your first AR, not blow a big amount of money and have some fun there are options out there. If your just looking for a fun gun you definitely don't need to go crazy. If you want it for protection, then I would take a more serious approach to it.

Some people are very brand loyal and go crazy about it... I've built a few of mine own, had a Colt, I ended up selling all those off, I picked up a used Stag Arms on here. Sad part is it shoots better and through worse conditions than my Colt did. Others will say Stag's are junk. Mine has been good, I don't really care how it measures up on THE CHART. It does what I ask it to and it does it well. Their parent company is Continental Machine. CM makes AR parts and receivers for a lot of other companies (along with automotive and aerospace parts), Stag is just their new in house name brand. They even made parts for M16's. My figuring is they can't be all that bad then.

BCM and the others mentioned are very good names, and are well trusted, you definitely can't go wrong. Depending on your purpose however I just wouldn't let someone talk you into a $1500-$2000 build because it's "Mil Spec" or whatever else.

I sell gun's all day long... I can tell you that Bushmansters are VERY popular with police units, at least in my neck of the woods. More than a few people will say Bushmasters are junk, but from what I see its what the "professionals" use. I would just take everyone's advise with a grain of salt when it comes to AR's on the internet.

February 21, 2011, 08:57 PM	#10
HKFan9 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2008 Posts: 3,057	You will find that people get in pretty heated debates about AR's and build quality and "Mil-Spec" and a fun little thing called THE CHART. If you are just looking for your first AR, not blow a big amount of money and have some fun there are options out there. If your just looking for a fun gun you definitely don't need to go crazy. If you want it for protection, then I would take a more serious approach to it. Some people are very brand loyal and go crazy about it... I've built a few of mine own, had a Colt, I ended up selling all those off, I picked up a used Stag Arms on here. Sad part is it shoots better and through worse conditions than my Colt did. Others will say Stag's are junk. Mine has been good, I don't really care how it measures up on THE CHART. It does what I ask it to and it does it well. Their parent company is Continental Machine. CM makes AR parts and receivers for a lot of other companies (along with automotive and aerospace parts), Stag is just their new in house name brand. They even made parts for M16's. My figuring is they can't be all that bad then. BCM and the others mentioned are very good names, and are well trusted, you definitely can't go wrong. Depending on your purpose however I just wouldn't let someone talk you into a $1500-$2000 build because it's "Mil Spec" or whatever else. I sell gun's all day long... I can tell you that Bushmansters are VERY popular with police units, at least in my neck of the woods. More than a few people will say Bushmasters are junk, but from what I see its what the "professionals" use. I would just take everyone's advise with a grain of salt when it comes to AR's on the internet.