Advice on buying a semi auto 5.56 NATO rifle?

I wouldn't pay extra for a Colt or Sig. I'd get a S&W or DPMS.

In fact, let's discuss a specific model: the S&W M&P15 Sport.

"Lance T" makes a good point- the M&P15 Sport is missing a few features that you'd get if you paid an extra couple hundred dollars. But are those features necessary? Maybe, maybe not.

First off, price. The M&P15 Sport has an MSRP of $839. Street price, significantly less than $800. You should be able to bargain down to around $750, maybe a little less, depending on where you live. That's a good price for an AR.

What is it "missing?" Chrome lined barrel, forward assist, and dust cover.

Let's discuss each of those. The chrome-lined barrel first: do you need it? Well, it certainly isn't a BAD thing, because it makes a barrel very, very durable. You could shoot hundreds of thousands of rounds out of it and not need to replace it. On the other hand, unless you're shooting a hundred thousand rounds a year, it may not be worth it. If you're like me, and your guns aren't brought out every week, it would be an extra expense that may not be worth it. Make note, also, that a chrome-lined barrel does negatively impact accuracy, though you probably wouldn't be able to tell a difference. Incidentally, the M&P15 Sport has a Melonite finish in the barrel, which is durable enough for most shooters. It's the equivalent to the Tenifer finish on a Glock pistol slide or barrel.

The forward assist. Nice to have, but unless you're using your AR for combat, it isn't a necessity. The forward assist should only be used in emergencies anyway; if you have a misfeed, better to cycle the action and see if there's a bigger problem. If you're going to have an AR especially for home defense (which is a bad choice unless you live in a very rural setting, in my opinion), that's a different story. Note that I said ESPECIALLY for home defense. If I had an M&P15 Sport and it was the first gun I got my hands on when a goblin came into my home, I'd use it.

Now, the last feature, the dust cover. Do you live in an unclean environment? A desert? A swamp? The great frozen north where slush and ice transport debris everywhere? If not, then a dust cover is just a nice thing to have, not a necessity. If you are regularly taking your AR into the deserts of Arizona, a dust cover is more than just a feature, though. If your gun will spend its days popping targets at the local indoor shooting range, though, a dust cover is just one more point of failure.

Prior to the Sandy Hook shooting, the M&P15 Sport was selling for less than $700 around here. Now it's a bit more, but still nowhere near the top of the stack. On the other hand, you can get a very nice rifle for just a little bit more. The Colt and Sig you mention aren't horribly out of line, but then again, the $300 or so difference would buy some nice optics, or ammunition and magazines.

Ultimately, the choice is yours. Me? I'm probably going to get a S&W M&P15OR, unless I'm simply not able to come up with the cash. Here's a review of the M&P15 Sport, though:

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/06/benjamin-...

It really is a pretty good gun for the money.

USAF is right about the Golani and the Ruger Mini 14 being more reliable actions. There is a reason why few guns in this day and age use the direct impingement system anymore sure gas piston guns require more parts but they are more reliable. If you are paying more than 1000 dollars for an AR save your money up and at least get one with a gas piston system. They are all about the same quality now out of the AR-15's that I have fired colt has been the best from my experience but always read the reviews of the gun before you buy it to see if there could be any issues. To spite what people say about the AK action and the Ruger Mini 14 I have been surprised at how accurate those guns can be given their past reputation. The mini 14 had problems with the barrel being too thin now they put a heaver barrel on the gun so it is capable of decent accuracy as is the AK. A lot of AK's do not have good barrels on them which results in key holing as the round hits the target so if you have a good barrel you should be fine with the accuracy of an AK or Ruger Mini 14. The AR-15 is a good rifle ,but in my opinion there are better and newer guns out there like the SCAR and the Bushmaster Enhanced ACR rifle which are more reliable than the AR-15. I would however avoid the AR's that are less than 600 dollars if you find them for that little. Most AR-15s are well made guns so you should be fine if you buy one in your price range. I heard that S&W makes a good quality one but most of my shooting experiences have been with the Colt models. There are alternatives that are rarely explored outside of the AR-15 like the FN FNC semi automatic rifle.

They are all good depending on what you want. The Colt LE6920 is the AR15 that is closet to what the military has. Matter of fact, Colt makes the exact same model to the military with the exception that it is not a select fire gun for civilians. So if you want what the military has, then get the Colt LE6920 model.

Now, not all ar15s are created equal. I have a Bushmaster myself and it's the one from Windham and it is the XM15es2 model. Current Bushmasters are from NY and as such less quality than when they were made in Windham. Their two most popular models are the Carbon 15 and ORC, both of which I consider junk, even though I love my Bushmaster, I really dislike the direction they took. The Windham one you speak of is what Bushmaster made before they closed the plant in Windham. They opened it again and simply called it the Windham Weaponry (not sure if it's weaponry or weapons).

Now what separates a good AR15 to a bad one is purely quality control. Most of the brands you listed make their ar15 from the same exact specification as that of the military model (the so-called "mil spec") with some models like DPMS, Bushmaster, and Windham Weaponry (previous Bushmaster original factory) using "commercial parts" which include a commercial buffer tube and 1:9 twist barrel. Since all companies make nearly the same weapon and specification, what separates them is the quality control. Bushmaster made in NY aren't good quality control. They do batch testing which means that every so often they check a rifle, and see if it meets the quality. That could mean that some rifles are bad, but they won't know about it. Colt, S&W, Windham, all do good quality inspection of their weapons and very rarely produce junk.

No matter what you go with, keep in mind that you can easily upgrade it. Just because you got a commercial buffer tube doesn't mean all is lost. You can easily swap parts out.

My advice is to go cheap. As cheap as possible, then as you learn about the weapon and ar15 platform, you can easily upgrade and as painlessly as possible. There's no way you'll buy an ar15 and leave it as it is. You will make upgrades and going all out at first only makes it more regretful.

Without seeing the models specifically, I would say this. You tend to get what you pay for with AR-15s. With the cheaper "sport" models of ar-15s that usually hover around 600-700 dollars, manufacturers start skipping out on features that you will want.

These include a non-chrome lined barrel, no dust cover, lower quality stock/grips, either using bad (or no) sights, an improperly staked gas key, a weak extractor, non mil-spec parts, a non free floating fore end and/or lack of rails.

You have to decide what you expect your gun to do. If you are just going to be keeping the gun stock, and don't care about long term or life and death performance, this means just popping some rounds off at the range once in awhile, then go ahead and save the cash. If you feel you will be running this gun especially hard, either from doing training classes, or as a potential self defense or SHTF weapon, then spend the little extra cash.

It will be more expensive to upgrade the parts on a cheap weapon, than it is to buy it how you want it from the factory. For instance... if you hate the stock and grip of your gun, that could be at least another $100 to upgrade it. If your gun doesn't come with sights, that's another $100. If you want rails, then that is at least another $200.

I am really impressed with how reliable and accurate the basic DPMS Panther Oracle is. They have been selling around here between $600-650. You still need sights for that price, but for $100 you can put on a 3x Nikon or a set of iron sights.

I have an Oracle upper that holds just over 1" groups at 100 yards which is more than accurate enough for a 16" light barreled military style rifle.

You are paying for a name when you buy Colt or Sig. Both are excellent guns but other, less expensive models will handle your occasional shooting needs. They also suffice for home defense as they are, for the most part, only affected by cheap ammo. Buy yourself a bushmaster, Ruger or S&W, then buy quality ammo.

Keep away from the white-box ammo unless you will be meticulous in your cleaning.

The cheaper ones are still good quality. You are paying a lot for the Colt and Sig names.

Smith and Wesson and Windam are excellent. You might also consider going to a sight such as Buildyourownar.com by Brownells and look at that option.

Without listing all the models you are considering, it is hard to compare. Generally the higher prices get you different furniture, sights, may make the difference if the chamber/bore is chrome lined, and maybe carry case or bag. The other thing to consider is the warranty.

All of the mid-priced AR15 rifles in my opinion offer comparable quality....... Just get the least expensive that has the features you want...... I own cheap Ar's like Olympic Arms and some better grade of Rock River Arms..... I don't see much of a diff.....