Budget AR-15

WarPig

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Im looking at the DPMS Oracle, it seems well liked, also the M&P. Any opinions on a decent AR under 500-600? I've had an M-14 and a Ruger mini 14, never an AR.
 

Oliver Shagnasty

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I've been wanting an AR-15 for a while. If I get one it'll probably be a name brand like Rugeror something.
 
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WarPig

WarPig

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:Agree1:From the looks of it, the dpms and the m&p are "budget" $500 ones, but they're made well. People are singing their praises all over the net. And, the AR platform is universal, you can add or replace parts very easily, so you can take a stock, decent weapon and turn it into a custom, lovely tack driver. And if you do, you'll have the parts to almost make a complete back-up rifle. I should have gotten one long ago. Hell, the 30 rd mags are only twenty dollars...I paid twice that for a .45 1911 magazine..plus, 5.56 is cheap for rifle ammo..convince anyone yet?
 

Swamp-Duck

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Rifles :ROFL3:

Oh I see lol, carry on
rifle-smiley-emoticon.gif
 

Scott

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I'd invest it in a strong foundation and get the highest quality (bare bones) upper and lower you can afford rather than a complete kit dripping in tons of options (like polymer BUIS) you'll toss in a drawer and upgrade later anyway. After that you can take your time and dress it up the way you want.
midwayusa.com is a good source.

The best polymags are Magpul, gen 3. I've got them in dark earth to match the hardware on my Colt and they run like a top, are temp neutral like Glock poly so won't get brittle when cold or soft when hot.

55 grain (M198) and 62 grain green tipped penetrators (M855) are cheap and plentiful in ammo cans, even coming with strippers and spoons to fill a 30 rounder in seconds if you got a good thumb lol.

Once you've got the upper, lower and 30rd mags, it doesn't matter how many mosques get shot up or if a sweeping ban slips through in the middle of the night because too late, you got yours.

Regarding the mini-14, their simplicity makes them great militia guns with ~50 parts to the AR's 200. They just wont die.

Molon labe.
 
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WarPig

WarPig

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I'd invest it in a strong foundation and get the highest quality (bare bones) upper and lower you can afford rather than a complete kit dripping in tons of options (like polymer BUIS) you'll toss in a drawer and upgrade later anyway. After that you can take your time and dress it up the way you want.
midwayusa.com is a good source.

The best polymags are Magpul, gen 3. I've got them in dark earth to match the hardware on my Colt and they run like a top, are temp neutral like Glock poly so won't get brittle when cold or soft when hot.

55 grain (M198) and 62 grain green tipped penetrators (M855) are cheap and plentiful in ammo cans, even coming with strippers and spoons to fill a 30 rounder in seconds if you got a good thumb lol.

Once you've got the upper, lower and 30rd mags, it doesn't matter how many mosques get shot up or if a sweeping ban slips through in the middle of the night because too late, you got yours.

Regarding the mini-14, their simplicity makes them great militia guns with ~50 parts to the AR's 200. They just wont die.

Molon labe.
Fuckin A, that's what I was looking for. I'll take that advice.
 

Scott

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Not to hurry things along too much but this all got me thinking.

The receivers will be made of either 6061-T6 or 7075-T6 aluminum. 7075 is a way stronger than 6061 but with that said, you'll be hard pressed to wear out 6061 in this lifetime, so just food for thought, either is a win and let your budget decide.

A picatinney railed flat top rather than the non removable "handle" is also desirable because you can bolt a raised handle on later if you want. They're so modular they're like Harleys with no end to the things you can do.

I've got an Eotech with a Vortex 3x magnifier that flips out of the way (the Eotech magnifier costs too much and Vortex is a great quality clone of it) and it has you covered for CQ and center massing "zombies" at 400m, no problem :)
 
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WarPig

WarPig

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I looked at a few this morning, and while the gunstore didn't have the DPMS(they were sold out), one of my buddies that works there did. It was in his truck (God bless Texas). I checked it out, and fired it a few times, and couldnt resist. I bought one, and three extra mags. I'm only human :). It will be here tomorrow. I already have a list of accesories and replacements, I had a huddle of AR enthusiasts around me, driving me nuts with recommendations for improvements. I had to take notes ffs.. The good thing is that most of them, including the owner, agreed with all the online reviews on the Oracle, a few had customized their's as well. Its a good, reliable base for the platform, according to all of them. Veteran gun nuts usually know their shit, and I was dying to get one, lmao. I'll post on it when I have it customized to my liking.
 
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WarPig

WarPig

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Btw, I had the idea of a second, backup rifle firmly in mind when I bought it. So the extra cash spent will be justified ;)
 

Scott

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I looked at a few this morning, and while the gunstore didn't have the DPMS(they were sold out), one of my buddies that works there did. It was in his truck (God bless Texas). I checked it out, and fired it a few times, and couldnt resist. I bought one, and three extra mags. I'm only human :). It will be here tomorrow. I already have a list of accesories and replacements, I had a huddle of AR enthusiasts around me, driving me nuts with recommendations for improvements. I had to take notes ffs.. The good thing is that most of them, including the owner, agreed with all the online reviews on the Oracle, a few had customized their's as well. Its a good, reliable base for the platform, according to all of them. Veteran gun nuts usually know their shit, and I was dying to get one, lmao. I'll post on it when I have it customized to my liking.

Outstanding! :Cheers:One of the last accessories I considered getting for it was a golf ball launcher you fire with blanks that sends them 300m lol. It looks like a foot long steel suppressor, so of course it's the perfect base for actually making one and has the standard 28tpi x ½" threads for the AR's muzzle.

By the way, the mini-14 above is presently scoped with a Weaver 1-3x 20mm, small compact high quality scope (made in Japan rather than China) for close to medium range for something like $160 as I recall.
 
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WarPig

WarPig

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I looked at a few this morning, and while the gunstore didn't have the DPMS(they were sold out), one of my buddies that works there did. It was in his truck (God bless Texas). I checked it out, and fired it a few times, and couldnt resist. I bought one, and three extra mags. I'm only human :). It will be here tomorrow. I already have a list of accesories and replacements, I had a huddle of AR enthusiasts around me, driving me nuts with recommendations for improvements. I had to take notes ffs.. The good thing is that most of them, including the owner, agreed with all the online reviews on the Oracle, a few had customized their's as well. Its a good, reliable base for the platform, according to all of them. Veteran gun nuts usually know their shit, and I was dying to get one, lmao. I'll post on it when I have it customized to my liking.

Outstanding! :Cheers:One of the last accessories I considered getting for it was a golf ball launcher you fire with blanks that sends them 300m lol. It looks like a foot long steel suppressor, so of course it's the perfect base for actually making one and has the standard 28tpi x ½" threads for the AR's muzzle.

By the way, the mini-14 above is presently scoped with a Weaver 1-3x 20mm, small compact high quality scope (made in Japan rather than China) for close to medium range for something like $160 as I recall.
Japan makes good quality shit, I keep trying to tell people that Japanese craftmanship is NOT comparable to cheap chinese shit. I regret letting my mini 14 go. Its a sweet little rifle. I still have my 10/22, the best semi auto 22 ever made. When I first started collecting weapons it took me awhile to learn to stop selling them when I was strapped for cash. I actually prefered the ranch rifle over the M1A1, not sure why. Both excellent weapons.
 
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WarPig

WarPig

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Oh I also found out that dpms is owned by Remington, and they're the second largest producer of the AR platform. Made right over in Alabamy.