As a plinker, it's 'ok.' I owned an M&P15T for a while - it had much more of what I was looking for out of the box, but even then, it wasn't exactly what I wanted, and I eventually got a mid-length BCM instead.

Were these 'NORMAL' times, I'd say, get a Colt 6920 and fuhgedaboudit - that, and BCM rifles - were about the only two coming out of the box, under $1,200, that were good to go! Add sling and optic to taste, and you were off & running.

NOW... I guess I'd buy whatever I could get, and then build it up as you can.

Things you want in a home/self defense rifle would be; 1: 7 barrel twist (handles larger bullets better), a F/A BCG (makes for a longer dwell time in battery, so more of your round's energy propels the bullet, instead of venting out the ejection port. Assuming your gas block isn't leaking, the extra weight makes decreases the chance of FTF's/FTE's), chrome-lined barrel (does NOTHING for accuracy - UN-lined barrels are more accurate through the first 2,000 rounds, usually - but it does INCREASE barrel life), some sort of railed forend, condusive to mounting a light, an optic, and a foregrip to taste.

Since almost all lowers in America anyways, are either forged or billet (having owned billets, I prefer forged - billet tends to be overly bulky, and you'll pay more for what can be sloppier fit of fire controls in particular, lowers tend to be pretty uniform, depending on your trigger group. Your upper is the engine of your AR - and you want a 428 Super Cobrajet up top - not some GM V-5 hunka 'miscellaneous.'

My BCM is the ONLY factory rifle I own - I either built, or had custom built, my others.



I probably SHOULD start my own gun locker thread... but I'm lazy. Here's a couple of writeups on a couple of them - the FDE cerakoted one here - and my tactical .22LR trainer here. I can get you specs on the others as well if you like.