I thought Colts were on the kaslist, no?

Brand doesn't really matter. I prefer to build my own, but if I were a first timer and wanted something cheap, I'd get like a bushmaster oracle or one of those ARs they sell at wal-mart in the 600ish range, then grab a pair of cheapo flip up sights like Magpul MBUS and upgrade additional features later on down the road.

There are very few junk ARs on out there so nearly any brand should be fine for a low budget starter rifle. The only ones I can think of that you must avoid at all costs are Roggio Arms, Vulcan Arms, Blackthorne products, and a few other brands most people have never heard of. If I were to build a cheap ass AR, I'd go with a plastic lower like a plumcrazy or new frontier arms for $125ish, a $110 barrels from dsa (or a complete upper for $265), a CMT BCG from ar15hardware for $115, blem stripped upper from LAR for $40, flash hider from LAR for $10, upper parts kit (dustcover/spring/rollpins/FA) for $15, charging handle/handguard from local gunstore for around $40, and some metal mags from a gunstore at $6/each, and a cheapo rear sight like a Magpul MBus for $35. Total cost would be around $500 and it would be a perfectly functioning rifle minus all the bells and whistles.


Get a Ruger 10/22, I guarantee you'll love it. It's cheap, it's light, and ammo is cheaper than anything else out there.