I've only ever had bolt actions and never did much research on semi-autos. I figured this board would have better suggestions than a Google search.

My budget would be about $1200 just the rifle or $2000 rifle and optics/accessories. I would use it for mostly hogs but would like to have it as an option for home defense.

You do

FIDO*98* said:

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You do

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Well then who makes the best upper and lower and accessories?

Ill take the bait. The best is a matter of opinion and since there are a bazillion options, there isnt a best so to speak. I would say the best is build it yourself and build it in the way you want it with hand picked parts you choose.You can get a much better firearm that way instead of a canned solution someone else built a package for to sell.

Talk to Eyeguy... he'll get you setup and youll have a much better firearm than you can pick up off the shelf for cheaper too.

A larue ultimate upper + lower is pretty damn good for about $1000. You just won't be shooting it any time soon.

Real answer. Call Texian and talk to EyeGuy. My FIL wanted me to do a build last year, but, was in a hurry and I just didn't have the time. Texian got me what I wanted and was probably within a hundred bucks of what I would have spent on parts.

The best would be Knight's Armament, but that was out of your budget pre-pandemic. These days, it's more of "what can you find?" That said, call Eyeguy at Texian or ask on here about anything that interests you in your price range.

Is Texian a local dealer? I'm in BCS.

I liked this article & they have a pretty good list.

https://www.pewpewtactical.com/best-ar-15/

West side of Houston. And definitely worth talking to.

They lose a lot of credibility not having KAC on that list.

Not going to lie - family and I spent more than the purchase price in ammo on my "basic" AR build from texian a few weekends ago. High end AR snobs were all impressed.

I love both my BCMs, but I've heard they started having accuracy issues after I bought mine in 07-08. I have no clue if that's true. Mine have been excellent.

My 16" Midlength is an easy sub 1.5" gun at 100 yards with a 1-5x20 scope and is very, very consistent. Hits on steel out to 300+ is boringly consistent and easy.

My 16" Carbine gas gun was cut to 11.5". It's my favorite gun to shoot.

DD
KAC
LMT

are all fantastic

Noveske is also really good.

I am selling my Seekins In BCS. It has a new barrel and in near perfect shape.

What puts them tops in your opinion? I don't personally own anything production from the list, only some Noveske & Larue parts. My knowledge of factory stuff goes as far as my M&P15.

My DD's and DD Ambush's in 556, 6.8, 300 blk are really good. My 6.8 is sub MOA and shoots better than I can. Most of my 556's are MOA or sub MOA, the 300 not so much but I would not expect that any way. There are plenty of good AR's out there for certain, but for straight out of the box to shoot as good as they do was impressive enough for me to continue buying DD.

No Bat Soup For You said:

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I've only ever had bolt actions and never did much research on semi-autos. I figured this board would have better suggestions than a Google search.

My budget would be about $1200 just the rifle or $2000 rifle and optics/accessories. I would use it for mostly hogs but would like to have it as an option for home defense.

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Hey man, would love to help out. $1200 gets you a VERY good rifle out of us. You'll definitely have a bit of wiggle room to say "I want to focus here or here" on your build.

My cell is 346-775-8363. We're in Houston. You can drive down for the afternoon or I can ship. Had a guy drive down from CS this afternoon to pickup a Tavor 12ga

No fans of Radian? I just got my Radian Model 1 in and am loving it so far. It was kind of an impulse purchase so I am curious to see what this board thinks of them compared to some of the other high end AR's. Is it on par with KAC and Larue?

Price?

I'm glad I figured this mess out back in '04-'05.

Who remembers that A-B-C rule and the "Chart"?

Log said:

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I'm glad I figured this mess out back in '04-'05.

Who remembers that A-B-C rule and the "Chart"?

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And the Tier 1 Tier 2 charts

AgFan85 said:

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No fans of Radian? I just got my Radian Model 1 in and am loving it so far. It was kind of an impulse purchase so I am curious to see what this board thinks of them compared to some of the other high end AR's. Is it on par with KAC and Larue?

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Good stuff, but I think most tend to just use their parts. Radian is a different cat than KAC and Larue. Radian is more fluff than the other two, but that's not a bad thing. KAC and Larue were designed as purpose built guns that have no extra design to them. High quality, no frills. Radians have more artistic touch to them while still being very high quality. Duty rifle vs civilian marketed gun. Doesn't mean anything negative, at all, just design philosophy.

Log said:

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I'm glad I figured this mess out back in '04-'05.

Who remembers that A-B-C rule and the "Chart"?

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I still have a Wyndham era Bushmaster lower from '05 that's a form 1 workhorse.

VoreMoar12 said:

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I liked this article & they have a pretty good list.

https://www.pewpewtactical.com/best-ar-15/

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Just be cautious about what a 'lifetime' warranty means; from personal experience BCM means one barrel replacement due to wear, Rainier does not cover wear and tear, so if you burn out a barrel in 5,000 rounds, you are in your own...

Knights. If I'm going into battle.

Dubis article list is solid

Use their ax556 lowers.

At one point they did. But I THINK when corona hit kac shut their showroom they also kind of shut down online sales. majority of KAC sales are Govt contracts and I THINK I read that the pew pew list was more meant for civilians not going into battle. Something like that.

You get what I'm trying to say.

I want a Kac. Just cause

TheEyeGuy said:

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No Bat Soup For You said:

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I've only ever had bolt actions and never did much research on semi-autos. I figured this board would have better suggestions than a Google search.

My budget would be about $1200 just the rifle or $2000 rifle and optics/accessories. I would use it for mostly hogs but would like to have it as an option for home defense.

---

Hey man, would love to help out. $1200 gets you a VERY good rifle out of us. You'll definitely have a bit of wiggle room to say "I want to focus here or here" on your build.

My cell is 346-775-8363. We're in Houston. You can drive down for the afternoon or I can ship. Had a guy drive down from CS this afternoon to pickup a Tavor 12ga

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I will definitely give you a call today or tomorrow to see how to get the process started. I appreciate all the responses.

I had read that article shared above before I posted this and was leaning towards LaRue but they were a little bit above what I wanted to spend. I don't know why I didn't think to ask the Outdoor Board first.

VoreMoar12 said:

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What puts them tops in your opinion? I don't personally own anything production from the list, only some Noveske & Larue parts. My knowledge of factory stuff goes as far as my M&P15.

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KAC has been torture tested, and proven to be more durable and reliable than others. It's a duty rifle. All of that said, the extra cost may not be worth it if it's not being used on the job with you.

DatTallArchitect said:

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VoreMoar12 said:

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What puts them tops in your opinion? I don't personally own anything production from the list, only some Noveske & Larue parts. My knowledge of factory stuff goes as far as my M&P15.

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KAC has been torture tested, and proven to be more durable and reliable than others. It's a duty rifle. All of that said, the extra cost may not be worth it if it's not being used on the job with you.

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Dat is 100% correct. The philosophy behind the KAC rifles materials, durability, and QC, is that the rifles will be subjected to heavy firing schedule and may not be re-barreled before seeing in excess of 20,000 rounds.

If you need this type of longevity or feel that a potential for a collapse of support for parts could happen, then investment may be worth it to you.

I'm partial to LaRue

LaRue

VoreMoar12 said:

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I liked this article & they have a pretty good list.

https://www.pewpewtactical.com/best-ar-15/

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I agree with Daniel Defense and Larue on that list. Don't know about the others. My list would also include LWRC.

How has TRIARC not been mentioned?

Log said:

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I'm glad I figured this mess out back in '04-'05.

Who remembers that A-B-C rule and the "Chart"?

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My favorites were the threads where the guy with the handle "artifactcollector" would come in and preach down to everybody on quality amongst ARs. Think he finally got ran off when someone found out he was the head of the A&M 3 gun club for awhile. Ah, those were the days.

And OP, follow the advice already posted. Put one together and get a shop like Texian to help you out. Asking who makes the best AR is like walking into a car convention and asking who makes the best hot rod. You'll get a hundred different answers. There are tons of good quality manufacturers out there these days, and everybody has their own favorite brand.