S&W M&P Sport II & over under 1K AR options

[Kirk Freeman]

My favorite "budget" AR has been the Aero AC-15. But, man, oh, man, don't know about the prices now.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I have trigger time on a CORE Scout, solid piece, but again, uncertain of prices now.

 

[Tombs]

Any lower you can slap together, with an inexpensive complete BCM upper.

You'll have an infinitely better rifle.

 

[Born2vette]

Any lower you can slap together, with an inexpensive complete BCM upper.

You'll have an infinitely better rifle.

Inexpensive BCM complete barreled upper is $700

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Inexpensive BCM complete barreled upper is $700

Bought my BCM C8A3 clone under $500 with free shipping . . . in March, 2021.

 

[Mgderf]

I remember just 18 months or so ago one could find a stripped lower for $29.95.
I bought a couple at that price.

 

[teddy12b]

Well I think my neighbor went ahead and bought the S&W M&P ORC version of the Sport II. I hope he's going to be happy with it, and I'm sure I'll get to shoot it too.

 

[DadSmith]

Inexpensive BCM complete barreled upper is $700

Best time to buy uppers, lowers, or parts is Christmas sales. You can save as much as 50% with them sales

 

[Brad69]

IME,
If your going to really “run” a AR don’t try to win the race to get the cheapest thing possible.

I have witnessed the Ruger and S&W run hard with few issues. They fit in the 1K arena I would also not discount the SIG M400 series.
I have one that has had the barrel replaced twice. I can’t recall a malfunction with it and it’s stupid accurate.

No matter the AR selection training is the path to enlightenment!

 

[Refrigerator27]

People have already recommended brands but what I would encourage is having them build their own AR so they understand it.

Nothing helped me more than disassembling a rifle down to the detent springs and putting everything together (with a little help from YouTube).

Also if this is a home defense gun, don’t forget to budget for a Weapon mount light.

 

[teddy12b]

IME,
If your going to really “run” a AR don’t try to win the race to get the cheapest thing possible.

I have witnessed the Ruger and S&W run hard with few issues. They fit in the 1K arena I would also not discount the SIG M400 series.
I have one that has had the barrel replaced twice. I can’t recall a malfunction with it and it’s stupid accurate.

No matter the AR selection training is the path to enlightenment!

He's more of a new guy looking to get something that's everything he needs and nothing that he doesn't. I think what he picked out will work well for what he's looking for. I couldn't agree more that he's going to need to train with it and put the time and effort in. I think he will.

 

[teddy12b]

People have already recommended brands but what I would encourage is having them build their own AR so they understand it.

Nothing helped me more than disassembling a rifle down to the detent springs and putting everything together (with a little help from YouTube).

Also if this is a home defense gun, don’t forget to budget for a Weapon mount light.

We sat down one day and went through how to put a lower together. I pointed out the differences between a home build and a bravo company build as an example. I think he intimidated at first, and then once the lower was all put together I think he was shocked at how easy it really is.

 

[HEADKNOCKER]

Found an Anderson AM-15 for $389 locally & put 10% down because I was broke, at the time
I doubt I will find anything cheaper in price for the money
Couldn't let it get away & have three months to pay it off = WIN WIN
Couldn't have even bought the parts to build one for under $400

 

[firecadet613]

Found an Anderson AM-15 for $389 locally & put 10% down because I was broke, at the time
I doubt I will find anything cheaper in price for the money
Couldn't let it get away & have three months to pay it off = WIN WIN
Couldn't have even bought the parts to build one for under $400 View attachment 206557

Looks like the one KYGUNCO had in their father's day ad. Let us know how you like it....I almost bought one.

 

[scout5]

Just want to say good job. Your neighbor is fortunate to have someone like you to help him out and provide some guidance.

 

[BrockStrader22]

I have a Ruger AR 556 MPR which I preferred over the S&W and the saint. Has a couple upgrades over the base AR 556 and was $800 + tax at MY LGS

second that ^

I've had a Ruger AR556 standard model 8500 since shortly after it came out, I think I got it in 2014 or 2015 and it's been my favorite budget AR ever since

I've had:
2009ish DPMS - shot great, probably second favorite to the Ruger, seems like DPMS has upgraded from budget to midrange since then
Delton DT Sport Lite (polymer Lower) - didn't like this one, traded it towards the Ruger

I have:
Diamond Back DB15 - functions well, I thought the chrome lined barrel was something special but I think its actually less accurate than the unlined and the chances of me shooting enough to wear a barrel out are very slim.
Anderson lower PSA upper - super cheap, actually shoots really well

I've shot a lot of other budget ARs as well. Every Delton I've shot except the polymer lower one has actually been nice to shoot. Core 15, Sig, Mossberg, CMMG, PSA, and Rock River have all been good to shoot, some of those have raised their prices since the good old days as well. Haven't shot a S&W MP15 sport yet but I would imagine it's very comparable to the Ruger model. I hear a lot of good things about Aero precision but have never shot one.

Haven't shot many "fancy" ARs to compare, I'm more into using my stuff than looking at it, but I really can't see the need for all that high end stuff when I get good groups and consistent cycling with $4-800 rifles, unless you're shooting for competition or something I guess.

I almost exclusively use steel cased cheap ammo as well.

 

[1nderbeard]

second that ^

I've had a Ruger AR556 standard model 8500 since shortly after it came out, I think I got it in 2014 or 2015 and it's been my favorite budget AR ever since

I've had:
2009ish DPMS - shot great, probably second favorite to the Ruger, seems like DPMS has upgraded from budget to midrange since then
Delton DT Sport Lite (polymer Lower) - didn't like this one, traded it towards the Ruger

I have:
Diamond Back DB15 - functions well, I thought the chrome lined barrel was something special but I think its actually less accurate than the unlined and the chances of me shooting enough to wear a barrel out are very slim.
Anderson lower PSA upper - super cheap, actually shoots really well

I've shot a lot of other budget ARs as well. Every Delton I've shot except the polymer lower one has actually been nice to shoot. Core 15, Sig, Mossberg, CMMG, PSA, and Rock River have all been good to shoot, some of those have raised their prices since the good old days as well. Haven't shot a S&W MP15 sport yet but I would imagine it's very comparable to the Ruger model. I hear a lot of good things about Aero precision but have never shot one.

Haven't shot many "fancy" ARs to compare, I'm more into using my stuff than looking at it, but I really can't see the need for all that high end stuff when I get good groups and consistent cycling with $4-800 rifles, unless you're shooting for competition or something I guess.

I almost exclusively use steel cased cheap ammo as well.

This makes a lot of sense. I get the appeal of the expensive stuff, put it just seems impractical to me. I can get 4 "budget" rifles for 1 rifle that just winds up being a safe queen.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

IME,
If your going to really “run” a AR don’t try to win the race to get the cheapest thing possible.

I have witnessed the Ruger and S&W run hard with few issues. They fit in the 1K arena I would also not discount the SIG M400 series.
I have one that has had the barrel replaced twice. I can’t recall a malfunction with it and it’s stupid accurate.

No matter the AR selection training is the path to enlightenment!

I was gifted a SIG M400, one of the early models with the rail farm. I think that it is the barrels on the SIG 400s.

I put an ALG ACT trigger in it (my go to) and a Vortex prism on it and it is 1.5"-ish with Hornady Frontier ammo, lol.

What are the prices on the SIG M400s now? That is a real dark horse of ARs, well, there are so many now.

The M400 is now an M400 Tread thingy. $900ish bucks.

 

[BrockStrader22]

I was gifted a SIG M400, one of the early models with the rail farm. I think that it is the barrels on the SIG 400s.

I put an ALG ACT trigger in it (my go to) and a Vortex prism on it and it is 1.5"-ish with Hornady Frontier ammo, lol.

What are the prices on the SIG M400s now? That is a real dark horse of ARs, well, there are so many now.

The M400 is now an M400 Tread thingy. $900ish bucks.

I remember going to Walmart with a buddy in 2011ish and him getting a sig I believe it was the M400 for $400 I believe, we shot it and it shot well, cheapest one I see now is $850. Seems like a lot of the cheap manufacturers back then figured out they were making a good product and could start raising prices. I suppose some of it could be inflation too, 2011 wasn't yesterday anymore.

 

[Ark]

Surprised there isn't more IWI in this thread. A lot of people think the Zion15 has been selling at least a hundred bucks low for the actual feature set. They've crept up some but Gunprime has "used" ones for $729 right now.