AR guys... Rate them for me.

[JohnVH]

If you watch for used stuff you can save a bunch. I have under 800 into mine not including scope. A few places sell kits for pretty reasonable.

[Bean Counter]

I also think a .223/5.56 is worth having in the long run even though you can't deer hunt with it. Great for cheaper plinking, home defense, and the end of the world.

[CementFinisher]

Since youve rulled out 223 556 i would then suggest you build your own. The price for non 223 556 is way to high you can save alot of money building it yourself and have it the way you want it. I would suggest 6.8 for big game and because its becoming widely available and will be even more the more the military converts to the round. Its bc in many of its bullets are a good reason to use the round. but if ong range is your plan than this not a good option. my buddy built a 243 but getting the gas pressures to operate prperly can be a pain and the barrels are spendy and hard to obtain

[sled]

Since youve rulled out 223 556 i would then suggest you build your own. The price for non 223 556 is way to high you can save alot of money building it yourself and have it the way you want it. I would suggest 6.8 for big game and because its becoming widely available and will be even more the more the military converts to the round. Its bc in many of its bullets are a good reason to use the round. but if ong range is your plan than this not a good option. my buddy built a 243 but getting the gas pressures to operate prperly can be a pain and the barrels are spendy and hard to obtain

. I haven't ruled out the 223 yet.

[Biggerhammer]

For a standard AR, I would opt for the Grendel. Do some looking around and find a used barrel and bolt. That should save you some $$$. Or purchase a Blackhole weaponry.  264 LBC barrel, their turn around time is fairly quick. As for the choice between 6.5 Grendel and 6.8 SPC, the Grendel walks all over the SPC. I know my share of guys that jumped on the 6.8 SPC wagon and got rid of all of it. Even know some that purchased Remington 700's and built AR's in 6.8 SPC. Took them a bit to figure it out but it's all been sent down the road.

Nothing wrong with the .223/5.56 but you mentioned you might want to hunt deer with it. Besides, I would rather shoot a coyote and rockchucks with a Grendel and a 95gr V-Max.

It's all personal preference. Get your barrel first, the rest comes easy.

[sled]

For a standard AR, I would opt for the Grendel. Do some looking around and find a used barrel and bolt. That should save you some $$$. Or purchase a Blackhole weaponry.  264 LBC barrel, their turn around time is fairly quick. As for the choice between 6.5 Grendel and 6.8 SPC, the Grendel walks all over the SPC. I know my share of guys that jumped on the 6.8 SPC wagon and got rid of all of it. Even know some that purchased Remington 700's and built AR's in 6.8 SPC. Took them a bit to figure it out but it's all been sent down the road.

Nothing wrong with the .223/5.56 but you mentioned you might want to hunt deer with it. Besides, I would rather shoot a coyote and rockchucks with a Grendel and a 95gr V-Max.

It's all personal preference. Get your barrel first, the rest comes easy.

. What about a complete 223?  I was told that colt , and smith and wesson? Are the only ones that are mil spec?  Is that a big deal?  There are lots of manufacters but im lost. 
  I am leaning towards the grendal.

[CementFinisher]

Mil spec does not matter unless you plan on customizing the weapon. If you plan on changing gas keys bolts lower or upper butt stocks all the good stuff then go mil spec, if not then don't worry about it. For a close to mil spec and cheap complete weapon with warranty go the Smith Wesson M&P sport. great first AR to see if you like the platform. If money doesn't matter than colt, lwrci, jp, smith M&P line up are all good choices. if your going to build one go mil spec parts. the mil spec buffer tube will give you more butt stocks to chose from and easier to find for an example. there allot of other cartridges available way more than has been listed here, but if you don't reload  stick to 308 6.8 or 556 223.  in case you don't know 556 and 223 are the same but the 556 has higher pressures. 223 can be fired out of 556 but 556 can not be fired through 223.

[JoeE]

I built mine for just under 2k. I started with a Colt LE6920 upper with a 16" 1/7 barrel that I bought slightly used but cheap. Then I bought a Samson rail system for it. Next was the lower and I bought a matching LE6920 lower. Then flip up GG&G sights, a low profile gas block, an EOTECH and a military issue (not sure on model) Surefire tac light and I was done. Only took me about two years to collect all the pieces one by one so my wife didn't know. I carry mine for work (law enforcement), so the 2k price tag didn't hurt as bad. I have to use 556/223 for work and it is a good plinking, home defense gun in that caliber. I would like to have one in 308 for hunting.

[CementFinisher]

be careful when using a different upper and lower when it comes to colt, they have different pin sizes and wont always mate together.

[JoeE]

I've heard that also, that's why I special ordered the matching lower for my upper. If not I would have bought a LMT lower or something.

[Bean Counter]

Sled: Not to dissuade you from buying an AR-10, but I personally prefer bolt action rifles for hunting. IMHO if one is going to rely on any Stoner-type gas operated rifle for home defense, the zombie apocalypse, or even just hunting then some formal training in the clearing of simple and complex malfunctions is definitely in order. 

I picked up a new Smith and Wesson M&P 15T in 2008 for $1,150. That model includes far more picatinny rails than I want, and has flip up BUIS on both sides. Its a good gun.  At the time I bought it, it was very hard to even build an M4 variant in similar configuration for that much or less.

The barrel is stamped 5.56 NATO, so it can handle the higher pressures that the 5.56 puts out. If you didn't know, you can fire .223 ammo through a 5.56 but you can't fire 5.56 through a .223. Its been a while since I've reviewed the specific ballistics but I remember something that a higher pressure round with a lighter weight bullet fired through a slower twist barrel will produce a sufficient amount of tumbling within the bad guy even with cheap ammo--don't need to buy the expensive stuff.

Only took me about two years to collect all the pieces one by one so my wife didn't know. 

 Joe: be sure to check out promotive.com, unless you have a cheaper place to buy from. Great deals on Leupold, Crimson Trace, Zeiss, Benchmade, etc.

[Blacklab]

Grendel Grendel Grendel 

If your gonna build, build it right so you don't have to do it twice. Unless you just want another 

barrel, trigger an optics are the most important and are a little spendy. Buy nice or buy twice 

[Biggerhammer]

Grendel Grendel Grendel 

If your gonna build, build it right so you don't have to do it twice. Unless you just want another 

barrel, trigger an optics are the most important and are a little spendy. Buy nice or buy twice 

 

[Jburke]

I don't know how much everyone else has into their grendels but I am looking at turning my 5.56 into one and the black hole weaponry barrel can be had for under 250.  You can find a low end 5.56 at walmart for under 600.  Swap the barrel, bolt and magazine and should be into a grendel for under a grand easy.  If you find used parts then it's that much cheaper.  I don't know if this is that amazing of a deal or not but it would be something to consider and make it a quicker, easier build.

[hillbilli]

dont know how great their quality is, but places like model 1 sales have complete upper halfs in 6.8 or 6.5 (they call it 6.5 sporter, because of trademark stuff, but its the same as the grendel).. so somebody who already has a 5.56 can get the other upper reasonable..