High end AR’s, what’s your choice?

[SgtRecon]

If I had $2500 to spend on an AR , I'd buy four or five assorted Palmetto State Armory's and disperse them around the house and trucks

[ROCK-IT3]

If I had $2500 to spend on an AR , I'd buy four or five assorted Palmetto State Armory's and disperse them around the house and trucks

I was going to say the same thing, but people get worked up when discussing AR brands and relative quality.

[arjohnson]

I was going to say the same thing, but people get worked up when discussing AR brands and relative quality.

That*s why I kept the topic simple and not A vs B. I know where it ends up going.

[Rezin777]

Sig Spear LT. The Virtus is already a fantastic firearm and they've made many improvements with the Spear LT.

[Delkal]

If I had $2500 to spend on an AR , I'd buy four or five assorted Palmetto State Armory's and disperse them around the house and trucks

Thank you for saying that! For a minute I thought we were being invaded by ARFCOM.......

[arjohnson]

Thank you for saying that! For a minute I thought we were being invaded by ARFCOM.......

Its ok to buy a psa, have one myself, and I even sbr*ed it .

[General Geoff]

KAC SR-15 18", if I can go over budget by a couple hundred bucks

Otherwise, probably the relatively pedestrian $1600 FN 15 DMR3.

I actually do have a $1600 AR already which I chronicled earlier in this thread. Great rifle, after resolving some frankly unacceptable out-of-box reliability issues that necessitated a couple hundred bucks in additional parts (including an adjustable gas block to tame a hilariously overgassed barrel from Faxon). I really like the monolithic polymer lower, and have in fact bought a mil spec complete KP-15 lower since then that I have yet to build out with an upper. But the early production WWSD2020 complete rifle, at least mine, was a bit of a letdown. Great on paper, but needed some refinement and additional reliability testing before sending out to the customer.

[DavidH]

Build* always build. The ARs I build are better than any of the Top Tier and cost half as much to build. Even if you can*t machine your own Billet Lower & have access to certain deals, building with the best parts will still save you money.

Here*s the thing*. You can spend $2500-$2900 on a KAC and see it do the same groups as your friend*s $800 Aero. They aren*t magic* they use the SAME uppers & lowers, BCGs, Lower parts like pins. Detents & springs & buffer. Their FF Handguard is the same 6061-T6 extrusion that every other FF Handguard is. Oh.. but it using a MilSpec Charging Handle that most people will spend even more money to replace, Look..KAC hardly makes anything. They ORDER a bunch of parts and assemble rifles!

But believe what you want, and spend as much money as you like. Makes for good filler story in my book LOL!

[General Geoff]

Build* always build. The ARs I build are better than any of the Top Tier and cost half as much to build. Even if you can*t machine your own Billet Lower & have access to certain deals, building with the best parts will still save you money.

Here*s the thing*. You can spend $2500-$2900 on a KAC and see it do the same groups as your friend*s $800 Aero. They aren*t magic* they use the SAME uppers & lowers, BCGs, Lower parts like pins. Detents & springs & buffer. Their FF Handguard is the same 6061-T6 extrusion that every other FF Handguard is. Oh.. but it using a MilSpec Charging Handle that most people will spend even more money to replace, Look..KAC hardly makes anything. They ORDER a bunch of parts and assemble rifles!

But believe what you want, and spend as much money as you like. Makes for good filler story in my book LOL!

I don't think anyone really disagrees with this as a concept. Nobody buys a KAC because it's the most accurate, or the lightest, or the most reliable, or the most durable, or uses the most expensive, secret-sauce parts.

They buy a KAC because it works, every time, out-of-the-box, with all commercially available ammunition, in every earthly environment, under the worst circumstances, while also being extremely accurate and durable for the long haul.

Can you build a rifle that will do all those things? Yes, I'm sure you can. Will it take you many hours of building, test-firing, tweaking, further test firing, further adjusting, etc before you are completely confident in the rifle's performance envelope? Also yes.

People spend $3k on a KAC because they don't have the time, inclination, or ability to do all that testing and adjusting themselves, or don't trust their own DIY abilities to save their life in a dire situation. KAC commands that premium dollar figure because they (A) have the proven ability to deliver consistent quality at top levels, and (B) are a world renowned builder of top tier AR pattern rifles.


Turns out you can also remodel your entire kitchen for far cheaper and with better quality components than you can hire a contractor for to do it for you. People don't hire outside help to do the best possible work. They hire people to do better work than they are able to or care to do on their own.

[arjohnson]

Build* always build. The ARs I build are better than any of the Top Tier and cost half as much to build. Even if you can*t machine your own Billet Lower & have access to certain deals, building with the best parts will still save you money.

Here*s the thing*. You can spend $2500-$2900 on a KAC and see it do the same groups as your friend*s $800 Aero. They aren*t magic* they use the SAME uppers & lowers, BCGs, Lower parts like pins. Detents & springs & buffer. Their FF Handguard is the same 6061-T6 extrusion that every other FF Handguard is. Oh.. but it using a MilSpec Charging Handle that most people will spend even more money to replace, Look..KAC hardly makes anything. They ORDER a bunch of parts and assemble rifles!

But believe what you want, and spend as much money as you like. Makes for good filler story in my book LOL!

We get it, you can build, machine, manufacture, test and make all your AR*s better than anything out there. Most people don*t build there own, and believe it or not some will pay for a premium including myself for a product that has been tried, tested and proved in any and all situations, and will go bang every time.

As far as KAC, they are regarded as one of the best out there for that reason, there are others as well.

For the average person including myself a PSA will probably do everything I need it to do, or maybe it won*t, that*s the chance you take. I prefer to buy higher end guns, it*s nice that there*s that option.

And I*d have zero issues running a Colt against anything out there and they can be had for around 1k.