Which AR would you buy?

[Brian T]

I am in the market for an "semi Match" type of AR.  Flat top, good trigger, able to shoot at least 1.5 MOA for varmints, plinking, and potential home defense.

I was going to buy an armalite but find them in very short supply, am considering a Bushmaster or Rock River.  Which do you all think is best from a reliability and longevity perspective?

[KN]

I love my Bushmaster shorty. With a scope it will shoot under an inch pretty easily. I also have a DPMS heavy upper with a 24" wilson barrel that I put together for it. It really doesn't shoot any better than the shorty though.   KN

[SAWgunner]

I also love my Bushmaster (M4 collapsible stock).  It is the heavy barreled M4 variant, so it shoots pretty good.  Rock River are very good.

Here is a website that will lead you in a direction of what and what is not junk, plus anything else.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/

Just take everything with a grain of salt.


SAWgunner

[Yukon Gold]

Personally own 2 Bushmasters (carbine and a 24" heavy barrel).  Both shoot extremely  well, and for the money, quality is hard to beat.  They have my vote.

[Savage]

My Bushmaster Shorty will shoot into an inch or less, most any day.Get the Bushy!
Savage

[Gregory]

I have a Bushmaster Varminter.  I'm very pleased with the accuracy.

[NWguy83]

After going to several gun stores and asking around about the different AR manufacturers. I have decided to purchase a Rock River Tactical CAR A4 (picking it up on the 17th). They all said Rock River is the new 'it' and are in the quality rating above Bushmaster, but not quite Armalite. MSRP was $950 but it was on sale for $899.99 and I got an additional 3% off that for becoming a store member, because it comes with discounts on other things as well.

[williamlayton]

More than one gunsmith has said the same, or, even better than armalite.
Some recent test for a state agency has run bushmaster out of the competition.
This agency appies all military test and then a few of its own.
They full auto fire two mags in a row, throw it in a watering trough and fire another  mag right behind it, tie it to a fourwheeler and drag it over the rock hills it is being tested on and re-fired again.
Blessings

[NWguy83]

Please disregard my previous post, I went back and switched it for an $1,100 Armalite M-15A4 Carbine on sale for $940.

[gp911]

I just bought a Bushmaster 16" this morning for $829.99.

Mine is the XM15-A2 style though, not a flat top.


I've heard both raves and grumblings about the RRA models (much like every other gun). I know Bushmaster has excellent customer service in the rare times when they have problems, and RRA has a good reputation in general but they might be having some growing pains. I've heard of some isolated problems with them lately, but I suspect they're just as reliable as a Bushmaster overall.

In other words, if you want the Rock River, buy it and don't worry about it.  :-)


gp911

[drdougrx]

I've got one of each.  A RRA Nat'l Match and a Bushy varminter with and addn'l CAR-15 A3 upper.  Can't find much of a difference.

My 2cents.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

[patm41]

I bought a Armilite also... M15a4 Flat top .. i havent owned a AR style rifle
in 20 years.. and its a dream to shoot..

[nomosendero]

I have a RRA 24" Varmiter, & it will group 77Gr. & 69  Sierra's, 75 Gr. Hor. & 60 gr. V-Max into .5" or less (5 shot groups) all day. I could not ask for a better AR. It is heavy for some folks, not an issue for me.

[NYH1]

I have a RRA AR-15A2 TASC Rifle. I bought it brand new in 2003. I can't say enough good things about this rifle. I can't compare it to a Bushy or anything else, but I always thought one was as good as the other. I went with the RRA because at the time my friend could get this rifle for $700 and the Bushy was around $825 or so. He bought a RRA Varmint EOP rifle (with the 1 in 12 twist for lighter bullets) before I bought mine. He replaced the rear pin with a sex screw to tighten it up and he shoots 3/8 of an inch groups with it. He also hand loads, but I was extremely impressed with how good it shoots. It out shoots my Remington model 700 BDL in 223 Rem.

I would like to get a Armalite AR style rifle in 308 Win. :grin:

[Bowhunter57]

Brian T,
There are a lot of good manufacturers of ARs out there. To name a few: Bushmaster, DPMS, Armalite, Olympic, Stag and Rock River Arms. The differences are in pricing and options of what you want on your AR. All of the name brands that I mentioned will give you .5" m.o.a. with the right ammo, offer good reliability and will last a very long time.

I purchased a Rock River Arms A4 Varmint. RRA is used by the F.B.I., U.S. Marshalls, D.E.A. and Force Recon Marines, so if they can rely on them so can I. Mine has a collapsable stock (green), Hogue combat grip (green), flat top upper, 2-stage National Match trigger, Wilson SS 16" Varmint barrel with a 1:8 twist and a free-float tube. I can get .5" groups at 100 yards with Winchester (white box) ammo 45gr. hollow points. This rifle was $830 out the door! :grin:

If you take an interest in RRA, give Steve a call at Adco Firearms in Sylvania, Ohio and he'll get you what you want at a reasonable price.
www.adcofirearms.com A friend of mine at Camp Lagume just purchased one and plans to use it on his next deployment. He's a USMC Sargent.

Good luck with your choices!
Good hunting, Bowhunter57

[retrieverhunter]

I have owned several over the years and always go back to pre-89 Colts.  I am not saying that they are the best, but they have been the best investments for me.

[j two dogs]

Just traded my bushy in on a S+W MP, the bushy wasn't a flat top. Had a pretty good write up in G+A, some sub moa. Anybody else out there had any experience with'em