What tiers would you assign AR-15 builds to?

[Cubiclerevolt]

lol, you already did that yourself by listing makers in alphabetical order and what the OP asked for, and by doing that post as well.

Yeah it was a tad douchey but I've noticed that is his modus operandi.

 

[Cubiclerevolt]

To stay on topic i sincerely wanted to know where builds stayed so I can point others in the right direction. I have my recommendations but I know I am missing others that may be a better fit for those just now getting into the market to purchase an AR.

 

[Elk34]

To stay on topic i sincerely wanted to know where builds stayed so I can point others in the right direction. I have my recommendations but I know I am missing others that may be a better fit for those just now getting into the market to purchase an AR.

Look I tride to stay close to topic. But like these others on here talking about things that have nothing. I mean nothing to do with the OP's question might just be better. What do you think guys :banana-dance:

 

[Elk34]

You got what you should have. Talking about death has no part of the OP's question. Idiot. You want to do that. Hell have at it, in another thread. Grow up :laughing-rolling:

 

[Elk34]

To stay on topic i sincerely wanted to know where builds stayed so I can point others in the right direction. I have my recommendations but I know I am missing others that may be a better fit for those just now getting into the market to purchase an AR.

Look at what you want to spend. You can build good rifles with mil spec stuff cheap. After that it personal preference on how much you want to spend.

 

[Elk34]

Just can't let it go. Anyone else die lately you wanna talk about?

 

[Cubiclerevolt]

To stay on topic i sincerely wanted to know where builds stayed so I can point others in the right direction. I have my recommendations but I know I am missing others that may be a better fit for those just now getting into the market to purchase an AR.

Honestly, with new folk tell them to get a Palmetto, it supports a very good supporter of our 2A rights and it's a decent rifle for doing what has to be done for HD when you get right down to it. For the guy or gal that wants to really get into it, have them buy a Colt or a BCM if they have a better budget, if no budget, a DD or a KAC. Just my take on that.

Perfect. Thank you! :greetings-clappingyellow:

 

[Medjay]

I always wonder and try to balance out where different manufacturers fall on pricing, reliability, accuracy etc.

Who would be top tier builds?

What are middle of the road builds?

What are pretty much the "jennings" and "lorcins" of AR builds?

I have mine lines but others would be probably more bougie than myself.

For me as an example I would say:

Top Tier:

BCM
Noveske
Daniel Defense
YH
LaRue
POF

Mid Tier:

Aero Precision
Ruger
Sig
S&W MP
Spikes
Springfield Saint Series

Poors Tier:
This is a hard one because for me and it's funny I actually have a DPMS (Who no longer exist) which was my first AR that I bought over a decade ago does a great job on being accurate and is pretty damn reliable. Only had the bolt seized from the lacquer on a steel casing caused it get gummed up after shooting all day in the AZ heat while shooting prone at an Appleseed shoot.

A lot of these companies seem to fade out or you never hear from them.

Let me know your thoughts.

This can be a tough topic to help with. I think it's important to first understand what the user is trying to accomplish because any/most all of the current companies selling out there have very different levels of performance both in what they claim and what is tried/true.

For example, needing to use a carbine for defense/hunting/fighting is a pretty serious task. The carbine needs to be reliable ALL THE TIME. That's a tough order given the ranges of ammo and aftermarket parts used to keep operations less expensive than an operator with almost zero budget limitations.

An analogy I can supply is this: when racing motorcycles my loved ones always pushed me to purchase the most expensive (congruently best performing) helmet I could afford. I saw others crash with more "value priced" brands and it didn't always end well for them.

I think that when it comes to products you would potentially place your survival on that a similar mindset should be considered. Yes, you can hope that a lesser costing product will perform as well as a top tier product will. Hoping is nice, but I'd always defer to relying on products that perform through use over a history and not a product that is "hoping" to do that because it looks similar.

Also, as a consumer keep in mind that there are less that a dozen large volume AR parts producers in the country. The amount of white labeling that occurs to companies that appear regularly is alarming. In my professional life I come across the same 8-10 brands pretty regularly. When I'm asked what a person should strive (and save) to purchase their carbine I tend to recommend those.

They are and in NO particular order:
Daniel Defense
FN
Seekins Precision
Knight's Armament
Bravo Company
Colt
Hodge
Noveske (old)
LWRCi
Barrett

Best of luck, YRMV

 

[Cubiclerevolt]

There was no post Medjay!

 

[Medjay]

There was no post Medjay!

Sorry man, I've been taking work calls all morning and I gorilla fingered the wrong button. I responded now. Thanks man, good luck.

 

[Medjay]

White labeling has been going on a lot longer than you would think. I'm not talking about a Criterion barrel that is being stamped BCM either. How many BCG makers are there actually? LPK's? Stock charging handles? Does Colt really makes it's own waffle stocks? A2 compensators, and ETC?

Nothing to be really concerned about unless they're using what I would and do consider, as subpar parts like SA branded UTG parts even though they use BCM parts as well.

Couldn't agree more. I always look for companies that either make their own critical components or that manage tolerances of supplied parts enough that it fits within the recipe that company has created for success. Hodge, Noveske and BCM come to mind. IMO Handles, stocks, LPK's and even hiders are not nearly as critical as barrels, receivers, gas system components and quality BCG's and how they interact with each other.

 

[tlieberman240]

BCM is my go to at this point. High quality products and service.

I believe them to be right on the edge of where you start to see diminishing returns for your money spent. There's definitely "nicer" stuff out there, but I'm not sure some of it is really worth the price.

 

[dustmaker]

Compared a lot of AR parts including my sons Daniel Defense and Christenson arms lowers and while their certainly nice and demand a premium price I can't see where they are any better than some of mine (old) DPMS, (old) Bushmaster, (old) Colt. My new builds are on Ballistic Advantage upper and lower combos. I know they are Aero Precision made but I like their roll marks better than Aero's.

The only lower I ever had a problem with was a Spikes Forged lower that wouldn't fit a mil-spec upper. Luckily I purchased it from Derek who promptly trashed it when I brought it to his attention. He said they all produce a turd once in a while.

dusty

 

[Elk34]

Top tier:

Knight's Armament
LaRue Tactical
Noveske Rifleworks
Daniel Defense
Heckler & Koch
V7
Lewis Machine Tool
Centurion Arms
JP Enterprises
PRI
Wilson Combat


Mid Tier:

Vltor
X Products
Yankee Hill Machine
Armalite
ADM
Radian
Sons of Liberty Gun Works
Odin Works
Mega Arms
CMMG
BCM
Colt
FNH USA
Cross Machine Tool
Stag Arms
S&W
Aero Precision
Midwest Industries
POF
2A Armament
Geissele
LWRC
Rock River Arms
Sionics
SLR Rifleworks


Bottom Tier:

Sig Sauer
Palmetto State Armory
Ruger
Delton
Doublestar
Anderson
Springfield Armory
Diamondback
Mossberg
DPMS
Remington

Trash:

Troy


Just my opinion though as it's the only one that matters when it comes to how things get spent from my wallet.

You forgot Barrett

 

[Elk34]

You are right. You were also told not to do the same with me. I will clarify with Admin if I can comment on your threads as long as it's not of negative nature.

 

[Elk34]

Well that was a nice book. Hears the truth and I'm sorry if you don't like it. You put stuff up ,I put stuff up ,you want to challenge, I challenged you . Somehow the Admin was brought in. I didn't bring them in ,so must have been you. I kept my bad comments to pm's and Admin found out huh, I wonder . Admin asked me to stop PM ing you and no more comms , I said I would. I said him too. They said he agreed too. Now am.i being lied to or are you. Don't know. All I asked was about Barrett being on the ar list you flipped out and started for your nitro pills. I never bashed or said anything about what u ever did or did not do in the service. I don't care. But I'm trying to be civil you are not. O and I also have Ranger , SF, Delta and many more friends . We don't bust each others balls. We have more respect for each other. I can show you the same. Maybe we need to have a cigar and some moonshine. I will hold out the olive branch.

 

[Elk34]

All I'm doing now is holding out the olive branch to meet with you, smoke some cigars and drink some moonshine. That's all. No hate on this side. This will be the last chance to be friends.

 

[Elk34]

Top tier. in my eyes:

Barrett
Knight's Armament
LaRue Tactical
Noveske Rifleworks
Heckler & Koch
LWRC
Christensen Arms