ClarenceB,
Sorry I got to the fire late but I will still offer my opinion because it is a question that I can get may teeth into.
First, if you are going to buy an AR, you need to make a couple of choices. Like any other gun purchase, you need to decide if you are going to be a collector/investor or if you are going to be a shootist. Next, I would ask, are you interested in having something cool that your friends will admire and which will draw oohs and ahs at the range or do you just want a tool.
To understand why you must decide this, you must have a 2 cent lesson in Manufacturers of ARs and some history. Very little that I am about to say is controversial but I may draw some flack from persons who will defend their brand for personal reasons.
Armalite not withstanding, Colt made the AR what it is today. The US Military used Colts exclusively throughout the 60s and 70s and into the 80s. Although Colt lost the bid in the eighties to supply standard M16s, their hottest little number the M4 is a colt at the present time. Colt remains the brand with the alligator on the pocket (if you know what I mean). I'm sure that damn alligator doesn't mean that the cotton **** it is attached to is "The best" but some folks may think so. Because of that, Colt is always admired by casual observers (even if they don't say so). Colt is also most likely to appreciate in the years to come, if kept in as new condition. This means it would appreciate most if you left it in the box unfired and less every time you ding it. You see why you have to decide if you are a collector? If you are, Buy an all original Colt in the newest condition you can find and then keep it that way. The glitch is that Colt has announced that they are no longer going to sell to the public. Now while this news has made their rifles more collectable it has also made them much higher.......Well if you are a collector I will leave the rest for you to figure out as you really will need a crystal ball. What if all guns are confiscated in 2 years? Etc. Etc. Beyond all of that and without regard to the alligator, A Colt AR is a damn fine rifle!.....and everybody knows it.
There are other brands which will (IMHO) shoot as well as a Colt (but no better) and they will last as long and you can get parts for them and they come with a warranty and, and, and. They are quite satisfactory if *You are just a shootist* and not a collector! They do not have an alligator (Only Colt has that). These would be Bushmaster, Armalite, PWA, FN & perhaps a couple more. PWA is no longer made but they are still available NEW.
The next consideration is preban or postban. Prebans (without regard to specific brands) are manufactured prior to Sept. 1994. Basically, here is the drill. The antigunners defined Collapsible (including folding) stocks, detachable magazines, pistol grip handles, bayonet lugs and flash hiders as "Evil" features generally associated with "Assault weapons" and legislated (mostly because gun owners are ignorant, lazy, fat heads and didn't vote)that no more rifles could be sold with more then two of these features. Usually, people choose the pistol grip and detachable magazine on these post bans. Then they put a "Muzzle break" on in place of the FH. It is patently illegal to purchase a post ban and modify it with more than two evil features.......but I hear some people have done it. Preban (irrespective of the alligator) ARs are way cool and command a premium. You can add any accessory that you want legally! Again, if you are not interested in Way cool, the postban configurations shoot a little better all else being equal and are considerably cheaper. Bayonet lugs and FHs are constrictions on the barrel which theoretically if not actually impede accuracy.
Finally, A word about barrel lengths. The 5.56mm cartridge is a real butcher on human flesh. This makes it a great weapon. At velocities less than 2700 feet per second all of this changes and do to charcacteristics beyond the scope of this post, that is no longer true. Inexpensive military ammunition manufactured to M193 specs, fired out of a 16 inch barrel will maintain a velocity of 2700 fps out to about 100 yards only. Yes, I have heard about longer shots but they are moving too slow to the beasts that they are at higher velocities. For every inch the barrel length is reduced, the initial velocity drops approximately 30 fps. In short, barrels of less than 16 inches are suspect of being sufficient to deliver a M193 at 2700 FPS to 100 yards.
There is lots more to know but this is a start I hope. I also hope it isn't more than you ever wanted to know
.
