Nice glass, too! Now that I've decided what style I like, I need to upgrade quality!

It is a 1/9 twist but will shoot 75gr bullets just fine.

A very handy little rifle for sure.

Byron

Also, need to get some trigger time behind a few variations, at the local club.

Will report when print becomes reality.

I have had excellent luck building rifles from Del-Ton kits. Uppers come assembled and heads paced I can put together an accurate, reliable rifle in less than an hour for around $600. If its to be a possible SHTF or battlefield I agree that a set of iron sights is a must. I like a low powered variable. Both of my current ar's have 1.5-5x scopes. Cranked down they gives near red dot sped but cranked up I can still hit stuff at longer ranges. I'd reccomended a 16" medium heavy barrel. That will give goodballitics and accuracy and not too heavy for packing around.

Whats best...who knows.......

At one end of this spectrum is the iron sight straight on AR15...no lights...no red dots....no rails....plain and simple....KISS....

This plain jane Bushmaster Dissapator earned me a Appleseed Rifleman badge...equivilent to shooting a couple of hundred rounds in field position into 4 MOA...

This JP Precision Rifle shoots to a level of accuracy that is hard to measure...a good pull will put a bullet on the crosshair...the brake is so effective that from a sandbag rest you can see the bullet hole appear...still it is very noisy and harsh to shoot because of it...this rifle with a can would be too cool for school...

After much wasted time and money I have decided the most "practical" AR15 is a fixed sight 16" dissapator style with a HIGH quality rail system (no airsoft junk)with a 1/7" twist chrome bore and a compact red dot sight mounted with a 1/3 cowitness and a HIGH quality high output LED weapon light.

The uber high zoot rifles are of course very good....the mid range ARs are just fine....

I prefer 1/7" as it allow the use of M262 style ammo....16" is long enought...the rifle should have iron sights....for a practical rifle I prefer the simple A1 style than the A2 target sight...or folding...it should have a red dot with battery life measured in 1000s of hours...it should have a collapsible stock to allow for better handling in close quarters and to fit children and small women...it should be fitted with a LED light of at least 200 LUME....

In addition...you should have a minimum of 25 mags...mix of 20 and 30...and most important....more ammo than you can carry....

Byron

Most all of these makers have hope of military or LE contracts so their receivers are as mil-spec as they can make them. They also realize that a lot of cops will go out-of-pocket for a patrol carbine and they don't want a dogcrap reputation to ruin that for them.

If you're talking resale value, then get the big-name stuff. For a working rifle however, all that matters is that the receiver is of the proper dimensions, material and heat treating and that the holes are of the right size & in the right places. And that is one thing the platform shares with the 1911. The name on the side of a working gun don't mean squat, so long as it's right inside.

Keepsakes are something else altogether.

I have become very fond of Magpull's slim trim furniture and tough windowed P mags. I think 10 out of 11 guys at this Gunsite course had p mags they were dumped in the dirt multiple times and kept on running. Surefire's excellent but heavy 60 round mag works great. Fusils from CDNN are also very reliable.

Lots of options out there, look around and buy one you like with a good brand name on it.

I have found that there is more difference between individual guns than between brands in the same quality and price range. If your not as big a stickler for short and light as I am, Look at the 20 inchers. I'm more likely to do a Keystone Cop imitation getting out of the truck in a hurry to shoot at a porker or a skunk than I am to bench rest shoot one. One thing that might be a consideration: Colts don't take the drop in adjustable triggers due to the sear block.