Smith and Wesson M&P AR in 5.45x39

I'm in a public speaking contest, and I placed first in the prelims (w00t!) and if I win the finals, I get $2k cash, or 1K cash if I get secon place.

In such an event, I plan on spending about a thousand dollars on an AR-15 and a bunch of ammo so I can get as much practice as possible and have a greater chance of getting an Expert qualification when I go to MRT in December.

However, .223 is a little expensive for my tastes, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience or has read much about the Smith and Wesson M&P AR's that are chambered in the much cheaper 5.45x39mm round. Is it a good model? Are there any major drawbacks to the S&W's? I've fired an S&W 1911 and loved it.

Go one step further and get it chambered in .22lr

Then he's not going to get close to the experience of firing the .223

Anton Kletsko would be more than happy to teach you how to shoot, he is going to teach me how to shoot well this summer, you should tag along.

I have worked on Smith's on any number of occasions and I do not personally recommend them. I find that they have such highly mass produced numbers that their quality control occasionally seems to fall by the wayside. That being said, the majority I have seen perform quite well. I generally recommend Rock River Arms and Bushmaster as both of those companies have top notch components. I would be more than happy to guide you through your buying experience and to help you with any gunsmithing work you may want.

My dads got a bushmaster and its really nice, very accurate as well.

Newnan Airsoft Player wrote:My dads got a bushmaster and its really nice, very accurate as well.

I personally own both a bushmaster and a rock river arms and they perform incredibly well.

Aggressor wrote:Anton Kletsko would be more than happy to teach you how to shoot, he is going to teach me how to shoot well this summer, you should tag along.

Yeah, definitely.

Austin, how much would a Bushmaster or RRA AR cost? I'm kind of just looking for something that will shoot without being too expensive. I don't really want to blow a ton of cash on something when I can get by with spending less. What would you recommend for a budget AR?

Admin wrote:

Aggressor wrote:Anton Kletsko would be more than happy to teach you how to shoot, he is going to teach me how to shoot well this summer, you should tag along.

Yeah, definitely.

Austin, how much would a Bushmaster or RRA AR cost? I'm kind of just looking for something that will shoot without being too expensive. I don't really want to blow a ton of cash on something when I can get by with spending less. What would you recommend for a budget AR?

As far as a budget AR, I would recommend looking for a RRA or Bushmaster Upper and going from there because you can usually find pretty good prices when you buy them separately and build your own. At that point, you can buy any lower, colt, smith, etc. The upper receiver is going to be the more important part. I will speak with a couple of my dealers and see how much they could get an RRA upper for. I would also recommend that you look around at your local shops and find out what they cost to order. It usually ends up being significantly cheaper to build it yourself part by part.

at the gun shows new or almost new bushmasters are 1000 ea. thats the standard verson E2S model. The dpms i think is like 800 new.

also don't throw out the idea of buying a used gun

DPMS has great entry level ARs . . . I have one built out with Magpul furniture that has proven to be a nice shooter . . . picked it up for $780

be sure to get it at a gun show. Haggle the price. We were able to get my dad's newest ruger down some by haggling.

I still only recommend RRA and Bushmaster. DPMS is okay, but the quality of the other two is vastly superior and I have extensive experience with most brands.

If you are looking budget:
http://cmmginc.secure-mall.com/shop/index.php?cat=161&
Not a bad price even with shipping to an FFL

(Oddly enough the AR-Bunker in Newnan has rather good prices on custom built ARs . . . a custom gun, no matter who cast the upper and lower, is many times the best choice and fitment is almost always spot on.)

Or some great info sources:

http://www.ar15armory.com/forums/Beer-budget-Ar-15-t67319.html

http://www.ar15.com/

Well, I've done some pricing, and I think I can build one with a RRA upper for about $700 something. I also kind of like the idea of buling one myself because I really want to be able to know the rifle inside and out. Also, I'm only really looking for a full-length just because that's what I'll have to qualify with.

But this is all hinging upon me winning this contest. If I don't, then it doesn't really matter haha.

That is the way to go in my opinion. It is nearly impossible to beat the quality of RRA for the price, and it is one of the better manufacturers regardless of price. If you want any help with anything, I would be more than happy to assist. Any smithing work you need, I am more than capable of doing.