So I know this is not open carry or side arm talk. But I figured I would ask my fellow friends on here.
I am thinking about jumping on the ar-15 band wagon.
Been do some research a bit and I like what Rock river and yankee hill are doing. but dang they want $$$$$ for it
Kind of new to anything that is not black powder or shotgun
Wanted to see what you all say about my list below and get recommends and some Manufactures I should check out.
Just looking for input
My List so far
16in Chromed lined barrel 1:9 twist
6 position stock
Quad rails float barrel
Flip up sights
Ergo rubber grip
Radical muzzle break
Mounts for sling
Room for Eco tech sight later
Shoots 5.56 and .223 ammo
4 to 6 30round mags
2 stage trigger
Personally I'm not a huge fan of the AR platform. I prefer the bullpup design myself for reasons I can go over if you care (I have an MSAR AUG and am waiting on the 22" barrel RFB to be available again to get one). But I'll go over what I can on your list:
Chrome Lining - This is going to cost you more than non-lined barrels and slightly decrease accuracy (though most people aren't accurate enough to truely see it on paper), but increases reliability and makes it easier to clean.
6 Position Stock - Most ARs that I've seen are simply 4position so don't be surprised to pay a bit more (my theater gun was only 4 in fact). There's some 6position conversion tubes out there but you would want to make sure that they would work on your specific setup.
Quad Rails Float Barrel - While I wouldn't say that quad rails are exactly hard to find, floating a barrel is pricey compared to non-floated.
Flip Up Sights - Personally I have the Troy ones and while they're very nice and heavy-duty, they are also very pricey (I spent just over $200 for a set of front+back sights). Personally I wish I would have bought the MagPul sights. They're roughly $60 for a set and would work just fine unless you are doing something that really needs that level of heavy duty that the Troy sights provide.
Rubber Ergo Grip - Don't have much to say here. Try to find a place that has different types and simply try holding them to see how they fit in your hand.
Radical Muzzle Break - What could be more "radical" than using a suppressor as your muzzle break?!?! Personally this is the route that I'm going to go when I can (since suppressors also act as a flash hider and muzzle brake in addition to being cool and help save your hearing if you're shooting without hearing protection for some reason). If you plan on getting a suppressor at some point I would figure out which one you want and if you want a quick disconnect system then get the brake that goes to the desired suppressor. If only after a brake then I would reccomend that has a solid bottom (helps prevent muzzle rise). There's a ton of different designs and given how minor the kick is on 5.56/.223 pretty much any would work. Remember that the basic point is to reduce recoil so not all have a solid bottom though.
Mounts for Sling - Which type of sling? There's 1, 2, and 3pt slings out there. Most mounts out there are quick disconnects, but there are several different designs for the end-plate (some use the quick disconnect while others use a fixed system). Need to know more about your intended sling.
EO Tech Sight - Need more information again. I'm assuming you're talking about their holographic sight (since the only other sight system that they make is a small reflex sight), but there's still several different setups. The older (and thus cheaper designs) have the batteries facing long-ways in the front making the sight itself pretty long, while the newer ones use a different battery setup that shortens the sight considerably. From there comes the question of if you plan on putting a magnifier behind it and/or having the flip-up sights also mounted. Though honestly so long as you have a rail covering part of your barrel and the upper you're going to have plenty of rail space for even the longer holographic+magnifier+flip-up sights. After all, this isn't a bullpup where everything is compressed.
5.56 and .223 Ammo - Look for barrels that are "Wylde Chamber" if this is what you're after. Note that a 5.56 barrel can shoot .223 ammo just fine, but it can be dangerous to shoot 5.56 ammo from a .223 barrel (the 5.56 NATO round generates more pressure than the .223 and as such the .223 might not be up to the task of repeatedly firing 5.56). The Wylde Chamber is basically a compromise between a 5.56 and .223 barrel, so while it might not be as accurate as the other types+proper ammo, it is a compromise between the two. Though honestly there's so much 5.56 ammo out there that a 5.56 barrel would most likely be "better" the majority of the time (again, assuming that you're a good enough shooter to actually see a difference and assuming your reloading/using milsurp 5.56 given how common it is) and could still shoot the .223 just fine when needed. Oh and don't be surprised if your gun still says ".223" on it. My gun says that even though the company advertises the gun as 5.56/.223 and I even contacted them and they confirmed that it could handle 5.56 even though the barrel only said .223 on it.
30rd Mags - Good luck finding them atm, but personally I'm a fan of the MagPul PMags with the window on them. I also saw a bunch of these downrange so they are definately combat-proven. When I bought mine I paid 10-15 each for them.
Trigger - Can't comment as I haven't done any trigger work to my gun and since I own a bullpup the trigger-system is pretty different from an AR. Just be careful because when you start getting too light it can be dangerous outside of competition shooting (I often hear 5lb as the magic number and have heard of "race/competition" guns being lower).
As for companies, I've heard a lot of good things about Rock River Arms in regards to price vs quality and they are the company that jumps out the most to me. Though honestly this is simply from reading a bunch of gun mags while deployed and not from any actual shooting/handling experience. The only AR platforms I've handled and shot have all been military rifles, and Colt isn't exactly low or even mid on the price range.
When mixing/matching company pieces, generally it isn't an issue but there's always the possibility. Also if you get the upper/lower as "milspec" you should get the other one as milspec as well to help prevent possible issues. When I have heard of issues with mixing parts it's usually when using lower-end parts but it is always a possibility.
Prices are going to vary greatly, but I would say that your barrel being free-floated and chrome-lined are probably the two biggest expenses outside of brand. So if you find a less expensive AR (sub 1k) be sure to double check that it has the options you want. Also if you settle for less of a gun with the intention of upgrading it later, price out the parts that you would need to upgrade compared to the one you already have a quote on to make sure that the desired upgrades don't actually push you higher than intended.
