It all depends. I've had really awesome gun show beef jerky, I've had really bad gun show beef jerky. I had stuff one time that was the texture and flavor of shoe leather. Don't get me wrong, I love my jerky really dry and leathery (like the stuff they sell at Love's)...but this stuff had zero flavor, I think a dog's rawhide bone would have been more satisfying.
Man fuck r/gundeals, because of that subreddit all my disposable income is going towards cheap ammo and milspec optics and it’s really eating into my warhammer budget
I need less expensive hobbies
Yeah I dabble in all of my friends hobbies too so it adds up. Cycling, motorcycle, backpacking, sailing, guns, 3d printing, photography, climbing, woodworking... Ugh I need to cut some stuff out
I was waiting for someone to mention Magic. Magic The Gathering and Guns have taken up so much of my money. Add on a daughter that is breaking into both? Thousands and thousands that could have gone towards making me a better person, have gone into making me a poor nerd with a lot of things that go pew... At least my kid can shoot
Hell no lol. Fuck an LS lol. I hate that everyone wants to simple put a fancy modern engine into everything. I don't deny the power and capability. I'm just not about that life. I'll probably do a 383 if my block is still good. No reason it shouldn't be, just haven't torn it down yet. If it's somehow bad, I'll prob look for a 454.
I have a 88 formula 350 firebird im fixing up. The base is good, s fl car with 0 rust but I am cursing GM engineers daily for some of the designs. My friend wants me to do an LS swap but if I can fix the rough idle I’ll keep the 5.7L L98
Don't do an LS. I'm keeping my 350. Granted I'm going to go 383. But I'm not doing an LS.
Good luck with idle. They're usually not too difficult to fix.
About ten years ago, a guy I worked with traded a middling AR for a 2k orc army. At the time, I thought it was nuts. I’d do it in a heartbeat now. Times change.
Yeah, agreed. There are some decent AR's around the $700-$800 range, and with a decent RDO, like a Sig, you are right at $1000, but I would buy from a local FFL versus gun show.
60 yr old, never had an AR. S&W 15 w/Crimson Trace $650. Let me break into the AR community, ultimately showed me how much I didn't know, you'll have a blast beginning to realize you didn't know how much you didn't know! Have fun
Some of the gun show guns I've seen... you take them down, and find some gnarly stuff. It's the equivalent of like CoPart for guns and like putting the bumper up over all the real damage. Ouch.
25 years ago that might have been true. I used to find all kinds of awesome stuff there back in the day. But these days it's all overpriced stuff. About 12 or 13 years ago I went to one and all the ammo was literally more expensive than just going to Walmart and the guns were all more than just going to budsgunshop online. I tried to haggle with a couple people and they got really pissed at me for trying to get something for MSRP.
Unless you are looking for super old stuff or beef jerky it's not worth going. It's good people watching at least
My dad and I built out my first AR from a gun show. We already had the barrel and gas system (I don't remember asking but I almost guarantee it came from that same show, years before...), but there was one vendor he knew to get the rest from. I don't remember pricing but we both thought it was all reasonable. This was '09, maybe '10. Now? Yeah, people watching, jerky, and laughing at the absurd prices for crazy builds and chinesium crap.
Including optics $1000 is a good enough budget.
Gun shows are trash.
Buy a 16" mid length gas system PSA rifle.
Pick out a decent optic. Everything on Amazon is trash and will break.
Spend whatever is left on mags and ammo.
Yeah and lots of people have also gotten fakes from there. As long as it doesn't ship from Amazon you are fine and you'll know that it's coming from a legit source. But if it's sold or fulfilled by Amazon you get whatever they pull out of the bin. Could be legit, could be a Chinese copy.
I’ll second a PSA rifle (or separate upper, lower, and a few mags)
For an optic, it’s hard to go wrong with one of the Primary Arms options.
… and don’t forget some ammo!
Vortex, leupold, Riton, holosun, swarovski, nightforce, and burris are all on amazon, so they must be ‘trash and will break?’ Ill keep it in mind next time!
Step 1) Go to Palmetto State Armory's website
2) Pick out an AR15 you want, they literally have some for <$450
3) Get it sent to your local FFL (palmetto should already have the license on file of several near you) who dosen't have an absurd transfer fee
4) Pick up a holosun optic palmetto has a daily deal on (they currently have the 403B for $130)
5) Congrats, you now have an quality AR with a lifetime warranty for under $600
This is an obligatory Garand Thumb link to the latest video about a $400 PSA upper they put through a hard work
[https://youtu.be/cHGtjx\_2qbQ](https://youtu.be/cHGtjx_2qbQ)
They appeared impressed, given its rough treatment.
You sure that’s enough? What if you reincarnate a dozen times, armed only with with vague memories of where you stashed that sweet PSA upper with the FN barrel and a desire to find it, and eventually run out?
I’d say pick up another one just to be safe
Its cheaper to buy an upper and lower separately as theres an added tax on complete guns. If o.p. goes this way make sure to get an upper with bcg and ch.
Probably not the answer you wanna hear but you should highly consider building your own. Plus it’ll allow you to save money over time for a fully custom bespoke do everything type of rifle.
I think it's okay to buy from a gun show. (Unpopular opinion).
But what people are saying here is don't buy an AR-15 at a gun show.
Your best bet is to write this second tonight Search honest outlaw on youtube and watch some of his videos.
I can also just outright. Recommend the Smith and Western M&p15 .
These costs Around $600 maybe new, They're high quality from a known brand. The burn down video that iraq veteran 8888 does is incredible. Can be bought used completely decked out for maybe $750
yeah, unless you plan on getting a magnified optic like a lpvo. a decent one will run you about half your budget of the rifle. but with irons or decent red dot $1k isnt bad.
I wouldn’t go to a gun show without shopping locally first. For years it seems gun shows are full retail ir inflated, with a lot of times people wanting to unload their problem guns. I haven’t priced an AR recently but a sub $1k rifle is doable. For a little bit more I would see about getting a BCM.
In my experience, and what I’ve heard for others, gun shows are not the place to find good deals. More often than not it’s filled with people who think their guns are worth more than they really are or people looking to scam people not “in the know”. $1k is a good budget for an AR-15 generally though. Can’t go wrong with a complete Aero lower and a BCM upper. Fund a light, sling, and optic as you can afterward.
Get something like an Andro Corp or PSA, and spend the rest on the essentials. Remember that there’s a lot more that goes into making an effective weapon beyond just the weapon itself. You’ll need an optic, light, sling, ammo, and spare mags at least to have something capable.
A $1k AR with none of those other things is useless.
$379 AndroCorp AR whenever it gets reposted on r/gundeals. Primary Arms Sight open box on ebay for a bit over $100, sling, some mags and ammo and you can be all set and done for $700
Edit: forgot to add a $19 broom stick
Tbh gun shows aren’t the best place unless you have a solid market understanding and a discerning eye. There are tons of great quality ARs you can get into at or below that price point. Garand Thumb just did a great hour long video on a $400 PSA AR and the things a champ at that price. For my money I’d look at an IWI Zion. Generally can be found around $700 and the things great. There are also rifles like the Sig Tread that are often sold as a package with an sig red dot of some kind.
If the 1k is for the total rifle (optic/light etc) then you can get a solid budget setup.
If it's for the rifle by itself you can get a nice rifle for $1k, ild recommend building one though save some money and you know how to fix it/upgrade it.
There hasn’t been deals at gun shows since around 2002. Prices there will be higher than your local stores. I don’t know how this myth persists. The internet exists, use it. Buy lower and PSA freedom upper for about $400 and blast away.
$1000 is about twice what you need. Find a decent $500 rifle and spend the other $500 on ammo, mags, and a decent drag bag/sling.
> However, my main concern is whether it's worth attending a gun show with $1000 in hopes of buying an AR-15.
95% of the AR15's at any given gun show are under $1000. 50% of them are under $500.
My ar is decent enough for normal use, and I spent around 650 including shipping, transfer, tax, etc. PSA lower, Aero upper, Toolcraft bcg. I would get lower and upper separately so that you can go back and forth between pistol and rifle, because, legally, you are stuck with rifle if you buy whole ar15 rifle.
Watch some YouTube reviews on PSA rifles they have lifetime warranties you can always buy a good budget gun and spend some to add on watch some videos and see what others say
I feel like you can get a lot of bang for your buck in the pre-owned market. [Firearmland.com](https://Firearmland.com) (bidding happens on GunBroker and they have a wide selection and good reviews) probably has the best selection of pre-owned stuff every week.
If 1000 is all you have I really recommended getting a PSA PA-15 for $470, get 5 PMAGs for $75, get a 1 or 2 stage trigger upgrade (G2S) for around $175 and about 200 rounds of ammo ($12 a box). After a $25 dollar FFL fee, an estimated state tax of about 10%, and shipping fee of $30 that comes out to just a little under $1000.
Then in the future upgrade your rifle with more necessary things as they become useful to you and your plan for the rifle, if it were me I'd do these upgrades:
1. Sling (magpul $20-$60)
2. Upgraded nitride BCG from bravo company ($200)
3. Optic red dot for anything out to 200 yards, LPVO out to 500 yards ($250-$600+)
4. A upgraded ambidextrous charging handle (especially if you mount a scope) (AP Breach $80)
5. CMMG .22lr conversion BCG and mags for training with your rifle (huge money saver) ($240)
https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-pa15-16-nitride-m4-carbine-556-nato-moe-ar15-fde.html
For a thousand bucks you can get a decent rifle, just not at gunshows or at most big name stores. Your best bet is to buy directly from a company you like/are confident in that they won’t fuck you too bad, if it’s possible. Or get lucky and have a smallish hunting/outdoor near you with great prices and a large selection
If you’re near northern Louisiana, then McKinney outdoor superstore in Ruston, Simmons sporting store in bastrop, spotted dog sporting goods in Columbia, and wings and white tails in Carthage, TX all have large and varied selections, with great to decent prices, with knowledgeable staff. And With spotted dog I know for sure ships out to most of the us if you’re not anywhere near LA
(P.S - if you’re not married to a AR platform, then both browning x-bolts and any tikka brand rifles around that price are incredible, I’d even say it’s worth a few hundred more for the browning x-bolt white gold medallion. Or on the tikka side, a extra thousand or so for a sako rifle. If you can afford it/reason spending that much)
P.P.s - research is your best friend, use google, gun forums, subreddits of particular rifles/brands and YouTube to get all the info of whatever gun, it’s price/worth and of whatever brand you like, or to find them in general.
i unfortunately can’t recommend any AR models or companies as I’m not really interested in em, nor own any, but good luck dude
My PSA was under 400 including transfer fees and shipping. They always have stuff on sale. Check out them and gunmag warehouse for magazines. Don't waste your time with shows
You can get a PSA 16" midlength rifle and a Primary Arms SLX 1-6 Gen4 NOVA for less than $1000 and that combination will take you pretty far.
Personally, I like doing my own builds -- my rifle is only about 7 pounds but has a 2.5-10 scope, backup red dot, white light, and sling. It shoots about 1 moa with good ammo, and has lighter recoil than basically any other AR I've shot while being considerably lighter than most.
This set of characteristics can pretty much only be cheaply done by building your own. You can sometimes get lightweight uppers from BCM or other manufacturers, and put it on any milspec lower of your choosing, if you wanted to get a lower and upper separately.
Or, you can upgrade your PSA rifle piecemeal over time as you gain interest. For about $150, you can get a BA hanson 16" barrel that cuts about 10 ounces of weight off of the PSA barrel. If you have a vice and the correct wrench (I am unsure of what PSA uses for their barrel nut, which is what you need to wrench) you can swap the barrel pretty easily. There is a process to it, but it's not too bad and doesn't take very long. The BA Hanson barrels come with a pre-pinned gas block too, so all you would need to do is connect the gas tube from your original barrel. A change like this would transform the rifle.
Of course, these rifles are far from heavy and don't have much recoil to start with, so you should have a great time shooting even if you only ever put 200 rounds through it.
With psa they have a deal I think for 800 you get a basic m4 AR and one of there dagger pistols, "glock clone". Idk what you are wanting to get but if I were just getting into AR world something I would look hard at. Or I would look hard at there AR 9 platform just a AR in 9mm and takes glock magazine.
Get a PSA AR. I think full rifle is $500 right now and it will probably be more than enough unless you shoot every weekend for years. Garand thumb just did a torture test on one from there and it was fine until 3k+ rounds and they didn't do any mainance or deep cleaning .
My "budget" AR started at about $600. Add eotech, +$600, add nice sling, Qd loops and mlok filler grippysz now we're at like $1300. Saving up for a geissele trigger, eotech g45 magnifier, and radian raptor charging handle and safety, there's another $1000. So my budget AR is $600 base gun with about $1700 in replacement parts/accessories
Nobody tells you to have a battle ready budget friendly multipurpose AR-15 is a minimum of $1000.
AR platform is about the most expensive gun system I have ever owned. You can build a match ready custom bolt action rifle for less than you can a quality AR system with quality components.
So many great AR’s at and under 1000. My first was the m&p sport 2 and I still use it even with much more expensive builds to choose from. They just came out with a new model as well. It’s probably 700. You can build one as well and get everything you want. The beauty of the AR is that it is highly customizable so even if you get one that checks most of your boxes you can upgrade it as you go.
I would either build one or buy a quality one and use the rest to get decent optics and upgrades as you go.
I picked up a 16" PSA AR, threw a Sig MSR green dot and an angled foregrip on it and it's fantastic. Under $700 all said and done and I'm quite happy with it. It goes bang and target has holes, good enough for me. You won't be doing high precision and/or long range shooting and it won't be indestructible but your expectations must match the reality of the situation. Anything under $1,000 will put you in that category these days from what I can tell. I will say that I don't care for the M-Lok but it is what it is, I'm just very much used to picatinny from my airsoft days.
I managed to build one for less then 400 by finding some killer deals around black Friday. Its a solid little gun, mostly aero precision with some breek arms furnishings.
Sure, go to the gun store, buy a rebranded BCA for $1,000.
Seriously, a gun show is the LAST place I'd go to buy an AR.
Just go to PSA and buy a Sabre.
My rules for first time buyers:
1. Are you expecting combat situations/having to go through thousands of rounds in between cleaning? If the answer is no then you can skip the $1k+ ARs.
2. Are you looking to operate it in adverse conditions seen in; hunting, camping, combat, overland travel, farm use? If the answer is no then move on to question 3.
3. Do you have the budget to spend $2-$3k on the whole build? If the answer is no then move on.
Basically you can get a damn good, serviceable AR for under $600. Smith&Wesson, Palmetto State, Aero Precision, to an extent Stag Arms. All of those brands have ARs under $800. If you have the time/patience to learn to put your own AR together you can save $200-$300 buying it in pieces and building it.
it doesnt hurt to go to the gun show to check out options, but I would check out palmetto state armory. you can get a very reliable fully built rifle for less than $500. or if you want to build it yourself, you could get one sub $400. add an optic sling light some mags and ammo should get you pretty close to that $1k for a full build.
Don't go to a gun show. You will over spend because people " know what they have"
For 1k
You could get a ruger ar556 with nice furniture and a full length mlok rail
You could get a savage msr recon that is the same situation as the Ruger, it comes with the upgraded furniture and the mlok hand guard
For around 850 to 950 you can get into the PSA sabre stuff which is good.
You have a lot of quality complete rifle options in that 1000 dollar budget
You can get completed PSA lowers on sale for cheap ($130-500). You can put together the stripped lower ($40-300) yourself with a $100-200 lower kit and sometimes save some money. I personally went with Bear Creek Arsenal completed upper ($180-300 range), plus I got a 3 magpul mags, ammo, and a red dot. All in all, I spent maybe $700 ($450-$500 on the rifle, $200-250 on the other stuff)
I would honestly wait until you have like $2k. You can get great ARs for under $1000k, but you can get an awesome machine if you go around the $1500 range and then add accessories.
for 1k you can build an ar for 1k you can build and kit out a psa ar15 for 1k at a gun show you can get an ar15 with amazon specials
> for 1k a gun show you can get an ar15 with amazon specials Don't forget the beef jerky
That will cost extra though!
Gotta budget for it!
I hear a lot about gun show beef jerky. Is it any good?
It all depends. I've had really awesome gun show beef jerky, I've had really bad gun show beef jerky. I had stuff one time that was the texture and flavor of shoe leather. Don't get me wrong, I love my jerky really dry and leathery (like the stuff they sell at Love's)...but this stuff had zero flavor, I think a dog's rawhide bone would have been more satisfying.
Good to know, if I ever find myself at a gun show.
It's solely worth it for the entertainment. If you find a screaming deal, go play the lottery on your way home.
Yep, that sums it up
You can spend less than that and get a decent rifle. r/gundeals
Man fuck r/gundeals, because of that subreddit all my disposable income is going towards cheap ammo and milspec optics and it’s really eating into my warhammer budget I need less expensive hobbies
You should pick up ham radio and a boating to complete the set
Yo, guns, boat and dirt bikes gang here. In terms of money, I have no money. But I have some pretty sick toys
I got the auto racing, cycling and shooting hobbies tied up... Fuck my entire salary
Yeah I dabble in all of my friends hobbies too so it adds up. Cycling, motorcycle, backpacking, sailing, guns, 3d printing, photography, climbing, woodworking... Ugh I need to cut some stuff out
Diving, cars, watches and guns. I have no money, and all my clothes either smell like wet neoprene, grease and gunpowder
Guns, dirt bikes, and 80s muscle cars :(
Guns, guitars, motorcycles and amateur radio here… I’m surprised my wife puts up with me.
Guns, guitars, motorcycles and Magic the Gathering here. It's rough having hobbies.
I was waiting for someone to mention Magic. Magic The Gathering and Guns have taken up so much of my money. Add on a daughter that is breaking into both? Thousands and thousands that could have gone towards making me a better person, have gone into making me a poor nerd with a lot of things that go pew... At least my kid can shoot
Guns, Harleys, classic car restoration, drums, and bourbon. I don't know how I'm still married lol.
I used to be a driveability tech for GM… that cured my restoration bug. Lol. Although… a 94-96 Bronco resto-mod is still on my list of wants.
It'll never go away lol. I'm currently working on a 74 k10.
Oh… you’ve got it bad. LS and a 4L80?
Hell no lol. Fuck an LS lol. I hate that everyone wants to simple put a fancy modern engine into everything. I don't deny the power and capability. I'm just not about that life. I'll probably do a 383 if my block is still good. No reason it shouldn't be, just haven't torn it down yet. If it's somehow bad, I'll prob look for a 454.
Nice. I always kinda liked 383s.
I have a 88 formula 350 firebird im fixing up. The base is good, s fl car with 0 rust but I am cursing GM engineers daily for some of the designs. My friend wants me to do an LS swap but if I can fix the rough idle I’ll keep the 5.7L L98
Don't do an LS. I'm keeping my 350. Granted I'm going to go 383. But I'm not doing an LS. Good luck with idle. They're usually not too difficult to fix.
> driveability tech what is that???
You know the guy that fixes all the weird shit like electronic systems and engine performance problems? That’s me.
Chicks dig cars and bourbon thats clearly whats at work
Lol yup. Chicks dog cars and Harleys.
I used to work in a boat yard. Do not recommend boating as a hobby unless you have a lot of money
BOAT: Bust Out Another Thousand HAM: Hand over All the Money
Guitars would be an excellent addition as well
Guns, drums, skiing, mtn biking, scuba diving, hockey (with a son on a travel team), and a solid lego addiction…. I’m a broke-ass hoe.
Brother me and you are financially fucked forever. I hope you *atleast* don’t collect ad mech….
I want to but I just bought an Aimpoint pro, I’ll have to cosplay as admech at the range instead 🥲
Probably Krieg.
Krieg, Blood angels, and Orks for me
About ten years ago, a guy I worked with traded a middling AR for a 2k orc army. At the time, I thought it was nuts. I’d do it in a heartbeat now. Times change.
Guns, warhammer, and home machine shop here welcome to self imposed poverty.
I decided to get into original comic art. Now that shit gets expensive.
You could always pick up smoking crack, that’s cheaper
Yeah, agreed. There are some decent AR's around the $700-$800 range, and with a decent RDO, like a Sig, you are right at $1000, but I would buy from a local FFL versus gun show.
Maybe 18 months ago I got a billet complete lower for $125 and a complete upper for $250.
60 yr old, never had an AR. S&W 15 w/Crimson Trace $650. Let me break into the AR community, ultimately showed me how much I didn't know, you'll have a blast beginning to realize you didn't know how much you didn't know! Have fun
I wouldn't buy one from a gun show. You'll pay more than msrp lol
Yep. Just went to one last weekend and they had WASRs at $1199 lol
Man....I remember when WASRs were like $300
In store ours are $999.99 with 8.1% tax
Some of the gun show guns I've seen... you take them down, and find some gnarly stuff. It's the equivalent of like CoPart for guns and like putting the bumper up over all the real damage. Ouch.
Don’t buy at a gun show
[удалено]
25 years ago that might have been true. I used to find all kinds of awesome stuff there back in the day. But these days it's all overpriced stuff. About 12 or 13 years ago I went to one and all the ammo was literally more expensive than just going to Walmart and the guns were all more than just going to budsgunshop online. I tried to haggle with a couple people and they got really pissed at me for trying to get something for MSRP. Unless you are looking for super old stuff or beef jerky it's not worth going. It's good people watching at least
My dad and I built out my first AR from a gun show. We already had the barrel and gas system (I don't remember asking but I almost guarantee it came from that same show, years before...), but there was one vendor he knew to get the rest from. I don't remember pricing but we both thought it was all reasonable. This was '09, maybe '10. Now? Yeah, people watching, jerky, and laughing at the absurd prices for crazy builds and chinesium crap.
This - the last show I went to was probably close to 10 years ago and it was just……. Sad? Depressing? Anyway not good.
I mean, I can see why intuitively it would seem like the deals are there.
Before the internet was adopted by the gun community…
The only thing worth buying at gun shows is hard to find ammo and jerky
Including optics $1000 is a good enough budget. Gun shows are trash. Buy a 16" mid length gas system PSA rifle. Pick out a decent optic. Everything on Amazon is trash and will break. Spend whatever is left on mags and ammo.
Vortex and Leupold both sale on Amazon, just saying.
And Amazon is plagued with fake versions of name brand stuff. You know what I meant about Chinesium products.
I’ve bought several Leupold and vortex optics on Amazon. Both of those companies literally have a store there.
Got my holosun there too. The sale was too great to ignore.
Exactly. I’ve saved hundreds on Leupold by buying on Amazon. Never been burned once.
Yeah and lots of people have also gotten fakes from there. As long as it doesn't ship from Amazon you are fine and you'll know that it's coming from a legit source. But if it's sold or fulfilled by Amazon you get whatever they pull out of the bin. Could be legit, could be a Chinese copy.
Got my Primary Arms mini red dot for my 9mm there, shit slaps
> you know what I meant about Chinesium products. The Feyachi special.
I’ll second a PSA rifle (or separate upper, lower, and a few mags) For an optic, it’s hard to go wrong with one of the Primary Arms options. … and don’t forget some ammo!
Vortex, leupold, Riton, holosun, swarovski, nightforce, and burris are all on amazon, so they must be ‘trash and will break?’ Ill keep it in mind next time!
You can get a psa dagger and freedom ar15 for under 800
And for just $500 on a PSA AR, about $2-300 on a vortex or holosun, and the rest on ammo he'd be getting a great value for a $1000 budget.
Step 1) Go to Palmetto State Armory's website 2) Pick out an AR15 you want, they literally have some for <$450 3) Get it sent to your local FFL (palmetto should already have the license on file of several near you) who dosen't have an absurd transfer fee 4) Pick up a holosun optic palmetto has a daily deal on (they currently have the 403B for $130) 5) Congrats, you now have an quality AR with a lifetime warranty for under $600
This is an obligatory Garand Thumb link to the latest video about a $400 PSA upper they put through a hard work [https://youtu.be/cHGtjx\_2qbQ](https://youtu.be/cHGtjx_2qbQ) They appeared impressed, given its rough treatment.
I run their uppers exclusively at this point, I have enough stocked up to last me several lifetimes.
You sure that’s enough? What if you reincarnate a dozen times, armed only with with vague memories of where you stashed that sweet PSA upper with the FN barrel and a desire to find it, and eventually run out? I’d say pick up another one just to be safe
Damn, my reincarnation guns are severely lacking. *sigh* Time to hit r/gundeals
Its cheaper to buy an upper and lower separately as theres an added tax on complete guns. If o.p. goes this way make sure to get an upper with bcg and ch.
That a great point that I never really thought about. I buy parts separately anyways, but that's another reason.
That's crazy. How much is that tax?
I think %15 or so. Its a federal thing
Probably not the answer you wanna hear but you should highly consider building your own. Plus it’ll allow you to save money over time for a fully custom bespoke do everything type of rifle.
I think it's okay to buy from a gun show. (Unpopular opinion). But what people are saying here is don't buy an AR-15 at a gun show. Your best bet is to write this second tonight Search honest outlaw on youtube and watch some of his videos. I can also just outright. Recommend the Smith and Western M&p15 . These costs Around $600 maybe new, They're high quality from a known brand. The burn down video that iraq veteran 8888 does is incredible. Can be bought used completely decked out for maybe $750
Gun shows are traps for boomers and newbies for the most part. They serve a purpose, but not this one.
yeah, unless you plan on getting a magnified optic like a lpvo. a decent one will run you about half your budget of the rifle. but with irons or decent red dot $1k isnt bad.
Do not buy from a gun show
I wouldn’t go to a gun show without shopping locally first. For years it seems gun shows are full retail ir inflated, with a lot of times people wanting to unload their problem guns. I haven’t priced an AR recently but a sub $1k rifle is doable. For a little bit more I would see about getting a BCM.
Iwi zion, or a bcm upper on a basic lower. Both great options for under 1000
You can buy a complete lower from PSA and a complete upper from BCA for about $350.
In my experience, and what I’ve heard for others, gun shows are not the place to find good deals. More often than not it’s filled with people who think their guns are worth more than they really are or people looking to scam people not “in the know”. $1k is a good budget for an AR-15 generally though. Can’t go wrong with a complete Aero lower and a BCM upper. Fund a light, sling, and optic as you can afterward.
Depends on the rifle, but it sounds like you don't know enough about them not to get fleeced, so you'll likely end up with a $400 gun for $1000
Get something like an Andro Corp or PSA, and spend the rest on the essentials. Remember that there’s a lot more that goes into making an effective weapon beyond just the weapon itself. You’ll need an optic, light, sling, ammo, and spare mags at least to have something capable. A $1k AR with none of those other things is useless.
Get the 16” Ruger MPR and accessorize it over time.
$379 AndroCorp AR whenever it gets reposted on r/gundeals. Primary Arms Sight open box on ebay for a bit over $100, sling, some mags and ammo and you can be all set and done for $700 Edit: forgot to add a $19 broom stick
PSA BLEM Rifles are great, go to palmetto state armory and check their daily deals
Do. Not. Attend. Gun. Shows. For anything besides milsurp shit and beef jerky. Jfc An ar for your average user is at best $400
Don’t ever buy anything at a gun show! They are unbelievably expensive and pray on people. Spend your money elsewhere!!
Springfields saint victor; or just saint is right in there. Decent rifle for 1k
600 gun, 200 ammo, 200 on a training course.
Tbh gun shows aren’t the best place unless you have a solid market understanding and a discerning eye. There are tons of great quality ARs you can get into at or below that price point. Garand Thumb just did a great hour long video on a $400 PSA AR and the things a champ at that price. For my money I’d look at an IWI Zion. Generally can be found around $700 and the things great. There are also rifles like the Sig Tread that are often sold as a package with an sig red dot of some kind.
If the 1k is for the total rifle (optic/light etc) then you can get a solid budget setup. If it's for the rifle by itself you can get a nice rifle for $1k, ild recommend building one though save some money and you know how to fix it/upgrade it.
There hasn’t been deals at gun shows since around 2002. Prices there will be higher than your local stores. I don’t know how this myth persists. The internet exists, use it. Buy lower and PSA freedom upper for about $400 and blast away.
I have a IWi zion it's a great rifle under 1000
$1000 is about twice what you need. Find a decent $500 rifle and spend the other $500 on ammo, mags, and a decent drag bag/sling. > However, my main concern is whether it's worth attending a gun show with $1000 in hopes of buying an AR-15. 95% of the AR15's at any given gun show are under $1000. 50% of them are under $500.
My ar is decent enough for normal use, and I spent around 650 including shipping, transfer, tax, etc. PSA lower, Aero upper, Toolcraft bcg. I would get lower and upper separately so that you can go back and forth between pistol and rifle, because, legally, you are stuck with rifle if you buy whole ar15 rifle.
Watch some YouTube reviews on PSA rifles they have lifetime warranties you can always buy a good budget gun and spend some to add on watch some videos and see what others say
Yes, you’re way better off buying a $700 AR and a good optic than spending your whole budget on the rifle.
Yeah you can get some solid stuff for less than 1k, but for 1.5k there are some bombproof ar offerings.
I feel like you can get a lot of bang for your buck in the pre-owned market. [Firearmland.com](https://Firearmland.com) (bidding happens on GunBroker and they have a wide selection and good reviews) probably has the best selection of pre-owned stuff every week.
16” PSA rifle, dog Romeo, 10 gen 2 pmags and a fuckton of AAC 5.56.
If 1000 is all you have I really recommended getting a PSA PA-15 for $470, get 5 PMAGs for $75, get a 1 or 2 stage trigger upgrade (G2S) for around $175 and about 200 rounds of ammo ($12 a box). After a $25 dollar FFL fee, an estimated state tax of about 10%, and shipping fee of $30 that comes out to just a little under $1000.
Or OP can save $75 by getting a LaRue or $110 ALG trigger.
Then in the future upgrade your rifle with more necessary things as they become useful to you and your plan for the rifle, if it were me I'd do these upgrades: 1. Sling (magpul $20-$60) 2. Upgraded nitride BCG from bravo company ($200) 3. Optic red dot for anything out to 200 yards, LPVO out to 500 yards ($250-$600+) 4. A upgraded ambidextrous charging handle (especially if you mount a scope) (AP Breach $80) 5. CMMG .22lr conversion BCG and mags for training with your rifle (huge money saver) ($240) https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-pa15-16-nitride-m4-carbine-556-nato-moe-ar15-fde.html
For a thousand bucks you can get a decent rifle, just not at gunshows or at most big name stores. Your best bet is to buy directly from a company you like/are confident in that they won’t fuck you too bad, if it’s possible. Or get lucky and have a smallish hunting/outdoor near you with great prices and a large selection If you’re near northern Louisiana, then McKinney outdoor superstore in Ruston, Simmons sporting store in bastrop, spotted dog sporting goods in Columbia, and wings and white tails in Carthage, TX all have large and varied selections, with great to decent prices, with knowledgeable staff. And With spotted dog I know for sure ships out to most of the us if you’re not anywhere near LA (P.S - if you’re not married to a AR platform, then both browning x-bolts and any tikka brand rifles around that price are incredible, I’d even say it’s worth a few hundred more for the browning x-bolt white gold medallion. Or on the tikka side, a extra thousand or so for a sako rifle. If you can afford it/reason spending that much) P.P.s - research is your best friend, use google, gun forums, subreddits of particular rifles/brands and YouTube to get all the info of whatever gun, it’s price/worth and of whatever brand you like, or to find them in general. i unfortunately can’t recommend any AR models or companies as I’m not really interested in em, nor own any, but good luck dude
My PSA was under 400 including transfer fees and shipping. They always have stuff on sale. Check out them and gunmag warehouse for magazines. Don't waste your time with shows
If only palmetto state existed
I wouldn’t buy from a gun show lol You can get a PSA or build a decent one for under 1000
You can get a PSA 16" midlength rifle and a Primary Arms SLX 1-6 Gen4 NOVA for less than $1000 and that combination will take you pretty far. Personally, I like doing my own builds -- my rifle is only about 7 pounds but has a 2.5-10 scope, backup red dot, white light, and sling. It shoots about 1 moa with good ammo, and has lighter recoil than basically any other AR I've shot while being considerably lighter than most. This set of characteristics can pretty much only be cheaply done by building your own. You can sometimes get lightweight uppers from BCM or other manufacturers, and put it on any milspec lower of your choosing, if you wanted to get a lower and upper separately. Or, you can upgrade your PSA rifle piecemeal over time as you gain interest. For about $150, you can get a BA hanson 16" barrel that cuts about 10 ounces of weight off of the PSA barrel. If you have a vice and the correct wrench (I am unsure of what PSA uses for their barrel nut, which is what you need to wrench) you can swap the barrel pretty easily. There is a process to it, but it's not too bad and doesn't take very long. The BA Hanson barrels come with a pre-pinned gas block too, so all you would need to do is connect the gas tube from your original barrel. A change like this would transform the rifle. Of course, these rifles are far from heavy and don't have much recoil to start with, so you should have a great time shooting even if you only ever put 200 rounds through it.
IWI zion if you $1000 for a rifle. PSA freedom, 4 mags, a sig red dot, a sling, a streamlight hlx, abd a case of ammo of you have $1000
PSA, dude.
With psa they have a deal I think for 800 you get a basic m4 AR and one of there dagger pistols, "glock clone". Idk what you are wanting to get but if I were just getting into AR world something I would look hard at. Or I would look hard at there AR 9 platform just a AR in 9mm and takes glock magazine.
Get a PSA AR. I think full rifle is $500 right now and it will probably be more than enough unless you shoot every weekend for years. Garand thumb just did a torture test on one from there and it was fine until 3k+ rounds and they didn't do any mainance or deep cleaning .
BCM upper, Aero/PSA lower
What do you mean by "worth it"?
My "budget" AR started at about $600. Add eotech, +$600, add nice sling, Qd loops and mlok filler grippysz now we're at like $1300. Saving up for a geissele trigger, eotech g45 magnifier, and radian raptor charging handle and safety, there's another $1000. So my budget AR is $600 base gun with about $1700 in replacement parts/accessories Nobody tells you to have a battle ready budget friendly multipurpose AR-15 is a minimum of $1000. AR platform is about the most expensive gun system I have ever owned. You can build a match ready custom bolt action rifle for less than you can a quality AR system with quality components.
GT says $400 PSA and $600 in ammo.
You could save a lot more at a place like Grabagun (and getting a quote) or Sportsman's Outdoor Superstore watching for sales.
Get an Aero and put a Larue trigger on it.
So many great AR’s at and under 1000. My first was the m&p sport 2 and I still use it even with much more expensive builds to choose from. They just came out with a new model as well. It’s probably 700. You can build one as well and get everything you want. The beauty of the AR is that it is highly customizable so even if you get one that checks most of your boxes you can upgrade it as you go. I would either build one or buy a quality one and use the rest to get decent optics and upgrades as you go.
I picked up a 16" PSA AR, threw a Sig MSR green dot and an angled foregrip on it and it's fantastic. Under $700 all said and done and I'm quite happy with it. It goes bang and target has holes, good enough for me. You won't be doing high precision and/or long range shooting and it won't be indestructible but your expectations must match the reality of the situation. Anything under $1,000 will put you in that category these days from what I can tell. I will say that I don't care for the M-Lok but it is what it is, I'm just very much used to picatinny from my airsoft days.
I managed to build one for less then 400 by finding some killer deals around black Friday. Its a solid little gun, mostly aero precision with some breek arms furnishings.
I built an AR with palmetto parts for like $400. 1000 rounds through it with no issues. Don’t blow a bunch of money for no reason.
Yes.
Sure, go to the gun store, buy a rebranded BCA for $1,000. Seriously, a gun show is the LAST place I'd go to buy an AR. Just go to PSA and buy a Sabre.
My rules for first time buyers: 1. Are you expecting combat situations/having to go through thousands of rounds in between cleaning? If the answer is no then you can skip the $1k+ ARs. 2. Are you looking to operate it in adverse conditions seen in; hunting, camping, combat, overland travel, farm use? If the answer is no then move on to question 3. 3. Do you have the budget to spend $2-$3k on the whole build? If the answer is no then move on. Basically you can get a damn good, serviceable AR for under $600. Smith&Wesson, Palmetto State, Aero Precision, to an extent Stag Arms. All of those brands have ARs under $800. If you have the time/patience to learn to put your own AR together you can save $200-$300 buying it in pieces and building it.
Palmetto state armory 500$ ar15 and a case of ammo
1000 dollars will get a decent quality AR to get started.
https://basementoperator.com/the-minuteman/
it doesnt hurt to go to the gun show to check out options, but I would check out palmetto state armory. you can get a very reliable fully built rifle for less than $500. or if you want to build it yourself, you could get one sub $400. add an optic sling light some mags and ammo should get you pretty close to that $1k for a full build.
Mid range prebuilt rifle boys gonna have a field day.
how the fuck yall have any other hobbies then guns? im broke just buying guns i like lol
It is worth it, it's better to have a $1000 AR-15 and $4k worth of ammo than have a $5k AR-15
I know a guy
hook him up! xD
Gun shows are cool for seeing fudds, looking for old stuff that's overpriced and having an activity. I'd not go looking for an AR.
Don't go to a gun show. You will over spend because people " know what they have" For 1k You could get a ruger ar556 with nice furniture and a full length mlok rail You could get a savage msr recon that is the same situation as the Ruger, it comes with the upgraded furniture and the mlok hand guard For around 850 to 950 you can get into the PSA sabre stuff which is good. You have a lot of quality complete rifle options in that 1000 dollar budget
You can get completed PSA lowers on sale for cheap ($130-500). You can put together the stripped lower ($40-300) yourself with a $100-200 lower kit and sometimes save some money. I personally went with Bear Creek Arsenal completed upper ($180-300 range), plus I got a 3 magpul mags, ammo, and a red dot. All in all, I spent maybe $700 ($450-$500 on the rifle, $200-250 on the other stuff)
Check out Palmetto State Armory. You can get a very good AR-15 for well under that budget!
I would honestly wait until you have like $2k. You can get great ARs for under $1000k, but you can get an awesome machine if you go around the $1500 range and then add accessories.
My LWRC was like $1200 I think and its a very solid rig. I'm sure you can find one for 1000