[Quentin]

Funny, I was over at GlockTalk and checked in their GATE forums (Go Ask The Expert) which is an interesting forum where the only replies allowed are from industry experts. While no doubt we could argue whether their experts truly are experts I thought I'd pass along this question from a newbie and the answer from Rainier Arms, a vendor I've dealt with and trust:


newb question (buying first AR)

would i be better off

a) buying a used 6920
b) attempting to build my own?
c) buying off the shelf. (new.)

also, the more i read about piston systems, the better they seem to be. am i just falling for the "ooh, ahh"? if so, is there a conversion kit to go to piston?

i'm going to be working with rather limited funds (about a thousand) and would like to get as far as possible.

i've been told the most popular lower priced are "questionable" as far as quality.

i figure i'd rather ask a newb question of an expert, than flush a grand down the toilet.

[Quentin]

Rainier Arms' answer:

1) Colt 6920 is a proven weapon.
2) If you follow proper procedures, you can build yourself a great AR. The advantage if done right is being able to pick and choose the feature you want on your rifle. If done wrong, you've spent a lot of money on ....
3) There are many milspec grade guns out there. Like Daniel Defense, BCM, Noveske, Larue, etc. etc. There are so many options now it's endless.

There are a lot of positives and negatives about a piston system. Some positives are easier cleaning (I don't clean mine) & more reliable (in theory). The main disadvantage is that they are a little less accurate & parts are a little tougher to replace.

For $1000, I'd stick with a solid factory gun like mentioned above so you have a solid chassis to build on in the future.

[Quentin]

Pretty darn good reply I'd say. Thumbs up for the expert this time!

Here's the link:
http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1337533

[AgentTikki]

+1 Rainer Arms, great people, patient and reliable. Never tripped my BS meter when I talked to them.... and I called on many occasions before buying my RUC16.

[mjkeat]

Rainier is a good place to go for anything AR.

[lunarmanathome]

The one thing I liked in that reply "There are so many options now it's endless." guys, I don''t follow the beaten path with regards to vendors. One of my 5.56 has parts from Sonju, DEZ, Kiez, that is a freaking tack driver. So much out there is role marked or marketed by certain companies at prices well above what most should pay for what really turns out to be another firm just churning out those parts for all of these higher priced (not higher end) components. Glad they gave you an honest assessment of the market.

[Quentin]

Originally Posted by lunarmanathome

... Glad they gave you an honest assessment of the market.

Just to be clear, I wasn't the person asking a question of the expert.