“Buy once, Cry Once.” I don’t know who said it first, but that adage has become ingrained in American Consumer Culture throughout the years, and especially in the firearms and shooting communities. They are wise words, and I fully support them, however a high price does not always have to be paid for high quality. For any prospective first time AR-15 purchasers or new owners, I encourage you to find something that fits inside your budget. I would also strongly encourage you to consider buying a kit, or all the parts separately, and assembling it yourself. Not only can you save money by assembling or customizing your firearms yourself, it can be very rewarding as well. I will use my AR-15, to illustrate.
I purchased my first AR-15 in the summer of 2012. I am from Minnesota, so pulling heavily on state loyalty, I purchased a DPMS Oracle in .223/5.56mm NATO. Currently, they are advertised for $739.00 on DPMS’s website. If memory serves me correctly, I paid right around $600 after taxes and other fees at a gun shop in Colorado, where I was going to school. The rifle is a bare-bones rifle, it didn’t even come with sights, so I purchased a set of sights in the shop, which brought my total to right around $650. If any of you try this yourselves, and have no plans for upgrading your rifle, please note that the gas block sits slightly lower than the receiver, so you need to buy sights that accommodate that. I didn’t, and I ended up buying different sights later on.
If you are in the market for an inexpensive Modern Sporting Rifle, or whatever euphemistic term you want to use, this would be a great option. There are, however, a lot of people out there who claim that buying a cheap rifle will get you killed, or that this-brand-is-shit-so-you-have-to-buy-at-least-this-brand, and so on and so forth. DPMS is one of the brands that often gets more hate than I think they deserve. I personally have only had minor issues with mine (it doesn’t shoot crappy Russian ammunition), and actually just finished a minor test on the rifle borne of my own curiosity, but more of that in a minute.
I love to modify, upgrade, and tinker with my firearms. AR-15s are some of the easier rifles to do work on, and this practice can be very rewarding. I started buying replacement parts, and attempted to keep the rifle as inexpensive as I possibly could, while still buying high-quality parts. When all was said and done over the course of about a year, I had upgraded my rifle to my desires for right around $1500. Including the optic, which is an Aimpoint PRO, and is awesome. I could have gone a lot cheaper for the optic, but I really wanted it, and that’s what this great country is all about (working hard to get the things you want). And you can purchase a nicer optic if you save money elsewhere. The key to assembling a rifle that is inexpensive and has many of the features you want is patience. Like I said, this little project took me about a year to complete. Longer if you count the time spent before I finally got sick of plain black and painted it with the help of my youngest brother.
In the end, customizing the rifle was one of the most rewarding projects I have ever worked on for myself, and it began a hobby that will hopefully last a lifetime. The rewards, however, are still coming.
Chances are that if you have heard anything about the AR-15, besides it being a ray of death (it totally is by the way, and it works best if you hold it down by the hip), you have heard that the rifle is unreliable. Well I got curious one day, about a year ago, in the summer of 2013. I had finished customizing my rifle, and took it out to the range to shoot it with my younger brother. After we finished, I didn’t clean my rifle. In fact, I didn’t clean it for nearly twelve months and 5,328 rounds. I didn’t do anything even remotely considered cleaning. I didn’t have any problems with it, in fact, I didn’t even really have a reason to clean the rifle besides that I was watching The Expendables 3 and it seemed like a thing to do.
The point is, after all that, if you’re new to AR-15 ownership, don’t let anyone talk you into buying something that is out of your price range. Especially if you feel pressured to buy something that is only of negligibly better quality for your needs. Instead, purchase something that you can afford, and can afford to buy ammunition for so that you can practice. That being said, don’t just buy the cheapest thing you can find. Do your research, it’s good for you. While you do your research, keep in mind that you can always add, subtract, modify, or substitute parts later. If you have the time, patience, or inclination, I would encourage you to do a little tinkering on your AR-15, or even assemble your own. I believe it will help you better understand the inner workings and function of your tool. It truly is a rewarding experience, and the rewards do not quit coming after your turn the last screw or tighten the last bolt. Instead, each time you take it out of the safe and out to the range, you are holding something that you can proudly look at and say “This is truly mine.”
Shoot straight, shoot safe,
-S
Parts List:
- DPMS Oracle
- Aimpoint PRO
- Daniel Defense Modular Float Rail
- Magpul MOE Grip
- Magpul MOE Stock
- Daniel Defense Fixed Sight Set
- Low Profile Gas Block
- Advanced Armament Corp Blackout Flash Hider
Whenever I go to those “rifle” stores around where I live, the SOBs that work there don’t know anything about the best way to get my hands on a good assault rifle that I can practice shooting with. They always try to sell me some piece of s*** gun that would probably be better for my granddaughter and still costs a fortune. I am glad to hear you don’t need to sell an arm and a leg to get my own AR to mess around with.