My first and only AR 15

[justinspicher]

90-95% of people probably don’t need ambi control on a lower, but holy Moses they are cool.

 

[AmusickTX]

I’ve got a Noveske 16” upper that shoots .6” groups with factory ammo (IMI 77 Gr.), it’s sitting on an old Colt lower I had sitting around. Been a great rifle and I regularly take it out to 650-750 yards with a 2-10 MK5. Great all around gun.

 

[gtriple]

90-95% of people probably don’t need ambi control on a lower, but holy Moses they are cool.

Agreed. Since I only have 1 AR, I went full ambi because I didn’t have to learn multiple controls. If I was going to have multiple ARs, I’d make them all either the same ambi lower or non-ambi lower with something like the BAD lever. For consistency across platforms, you don’t want much difference between them.

 

[dlee56]

Did you get an AR yet?

Nothing yet, I’m still making my way around some stores getting hands on every one I can.

 

[deltadukman]

You don't ever hardly see them mentioned, but what about Rock River Arms? I bought one years ago and I am no AR-15 guru, but it's been a great little rifle. $1500 range and at the time, it seemed to be lot of rifle for the money without building it myself.

 

[Scottielp0714]

I recently went through the process of looking for a “go-to” AR. Since I had the intention of eventually running it suppressed, I went with the PWS MK114 Mod-2 since it had the long stroke piston.

 

[Preston]

What about Springfield Amory? They make some nice rifles

 

[MoeFaux]

Can't go wrong with Daniel Defense. Yes, there's plenty of other fish in the see, buy if they have something in your budget, that's an EASY button.

As previously mentioned, a good varmint rifle is a garbage home defense piece. A big scope with plenty of magnification and a long heavy barrel is the worst for home protection. I don't like AR's for home protection at all (personal preference) but if I ever did want one, it would be a short barreled 300 BLK suppressed and tuned to feed subsonic ammo. Again - the polar opposite of a varmint gun.

I hate when people reply to questions by telling you to spend more money but here I go:
buy the AR for whatever you want an AR for and spend what your comfortable spending. Save a little more afterwards if you need a home defense solution. Buy a used 9mm with a laser or an inexpensive shotgun with a laser or cheap red dot. You might be able to pull that off for $350 if you're savvy, which feels cheaper to me than making compromises on your AR until it's too generic to be good at either role.

 

[treydfoster]

DD is great and local to me. Toured their factory and they sponsor local high school sports! Bravo Company Machine is another very solid company. I’d focus on AR manufacturers only, not someone who also makes AR’s. I’ve had good luck with Areo/ballistic advantage and Faxon.

Personally, I wouldn’t even consider bushmaster, Springfield or sig for an AR. Go with someone who that’s their bread and butter and hasn’t had ownership been passed around like a…doorknob…

Who passes around doorknobs?