Seeing Charlie not being goofy is weird to see but I like it

That Daniel defense line by charlie was on point. 😂

I think the awesome thing about buying just like a PSA AR, you can just upgrade/swap things as you go. You get a rifle that works and then you shoot it and notice you don’t like the charging handle so you swap that and then next time you notice you’re not really the biggest fan of the trigger so you get a better one and then before you know it your $350 rifle has 1k worth of parts in it but you were never without having a usable rifle, I love it!

Wars are fought with $500 rifles

NOTE: A significant concern is that time may not always be in your favor when saving up for the desired firearm. Rapid changes in laws can mean that delaying your purchase might result in losing the opportunity to acquire a rifle altogether. This has been the unfortunate experience for many people I know here in Illinois.

Personally, I was born and raised in SC and PSA was obviously the best option considering they were the only legit gun store near me. But I’ve had no issues, the quality is pretty dang good for the price, and got plenty of helpful advice from their staff.

First AR was a Smith & Wesson M&P sport II. It’s a solid platform, mine has the A2 front sight, with a pop up rear sight. My next AR I went hard on; bought a Colt AR15A4.

I think Hop has done everything but a rifle tier. He should.

Loved that sly, cough , reference with that "if the CIA wasn't going to buy me a Daniel Defense" 🤣🤣🤣

1) M&P 2.0 with light and red dot 2) An AR in the $1500 range like a BCM with a good Trijicon or Eotech 3) Mossberg 590

6:40 dude you really nailed the overwhelming feeling you get when starting on a project that could literally change a million times from your initial thoughts, especially after getting on KZfaq or whatever to see other peoples opinions on every little thing you hadn’t even considered

Micah finally said it. Barrel length is such a dumb debate. It's honestly a weird debate for me to get into because...I have real world experience with a 10.3 5.56 rifle (MK18 mod1) in combat and I hit people at 300 meters....I think one time even 400? They dropped. I didnt know if they were dead until we had afghans go do the BDA (we made them do it) and they said there was dead dudes right where I remember clapping someone....so it works. The real question is "is it ideal?"...to have a rifle that short especially in a combat zone like afghanistan where engagement distances just vary SO MUCH. I mean One minute youre being ambushed from 300 meters away (sometimes further because afghans dont understand bullets arent lasers and once ambushed us from 1k away) and then before you know it, you hear dudes running up on you 50 meters away closing in to 25. The Mk18 did it. Yea, like Micha said...know your hoids and more importantly just know the capability of that rifle. We had shorty's because we would be up in mountains, then going into the valleys where it turned into MOUT/CQB territory. Some guys preferred their SCARs with the longer barrels and having .308, some guys preferred (our TACP in particular) their 14.5 BLOCK II's....so you had a variety of calibers, barrel lengths, etc...all on a single element and we were all getting the job done. I liked the shorty because were running around the villages alot and getting into nice skirmishes and it was nice to have a shorter gun for that. I watched the SF guys struggle alot with their SCARs but to Charlies point, they still made it work. They just struggled a bit more. Thats all. I think for most, short barrels on 5.56 for *MOST* people is because it's cool. It's very "operator" looking and dudes love that shit and I dont blame them. I own one myself as a civi now but I know its down falls and also own my 14.5s and my 16 inch guns. But im beyond the "beginner" stage as a shooter and all my rifles are purpose built. I know what I can do with a 10.5 because ive done it before and thats my gun ready to go right now if shit went down for whatever reason. But all my rifles will get the job done no matter what it is....they all just work a bit different. Know the difference and thats all. Yea, shorty's wont give you the best terminal ballistics compared to 14.5, 16, 18, 20 inch barrels....but it's still gonna do its job. Thats it. The reality is - in real combat, youre not on a gun range. Youll be all over the place, youre adrenaline is through the roof. You wont be taking single shots at dudes trying to get all alphas like you do at the range. Youre just laying down rounds and just trying to get them to hit somebody. Thats it. Just shoot the best you can until you watch them drop. They dont even have to be killed. I just dont want them getting back up. I want them out of the fight so we can continue to gain ground. And thats exactly why the barrel length debate is just dumb. A bullet is a bullet and when it hits someone, they dude does not care what barrel length it came out of and when hes hit by it hes gonna go "owwwwwww!" and hes not fighting anymore and thats all that matters.

Those psa ar/dagger combos are pretty hard to beat for getting into it. Add a mag/ammo package for each, a red dot, sling and holster, and your ready to go.

For entry level, PSA is the absolute best option. Also agree that a 16” is good to start with. I would get one with an MLOK handguard, not the plastic. I think those can be had for well less than $700 all in. Add a sig red dot for $125ish.

Great questions and pacing from the host.

More of this please 🤙🏽

My first was a commercial bushmaster lower that came with a A2 buffer system/stock. Threw a bushmaster lower parts kit in and found a spikes tactical 5.56 16” upper for a steal at a gun store and the rest is history. I’ve since put a collapsible stock on it and a cmc drop in trigger but she still runs great. I was a very happy 18 year old lol

My first handgun was the Steyr M9-A1 with trapezoid iron sights. Never needed a red dot with how fast and easy it is to use those sights for snap shooting. It's also basically Glock made by Steyr, it was made by a former glock employee who went to Steyr, it has a lower bore axis, a higher grip, and a better grip angle. Makes it a REALLY flat shooter for a plastic 9 that isn't compenstated, recoils like a .380 right out of the box, only modification needed was the addition of grip tape. Conceals fantastically and draws super easy since you can REALLY lock the webbing of your hand into the grip when going for it, really just a fantastic firearm. Carried that while I was working cash logistics and have been concealed carrying for the last 9 years, I've never had a reason to buy another handgun yet even after putting about 10,000 rounds through it.

My first gun was a ruger p95 from a pawn shop. Few months later picked up an Anderson am15, free floated the barrel and upgraded the hand guard. I’ve sold both of them now, but now I’m rocking a 13.7” build with a PSA lower, solgw mid length barrel, bcm upper and hanguard and bolt, and a kx-5 pin and weld with magpul furniture (that stubby vertical fore grip is boss) with a red dot/magnifier combo and back up flip ups. Painted it like flannel daddy taught us all, and my edc is a canik elite combat with irons, I also have the tp9sc with a dot but that’s for if I’m rockin shorts and a t shirt or tank top. I’m a construction worker so I’m in jeans and a t shirt most of the time so the elite gives me everything I need and more.

We sell a ton of diamondback tactical AR's around six-hundo. I think we live in a good time to buy an AR. Usually, young dudes want a gun that shoots and looks cool for not a ton of money. We usually deck em out with with a BFG sling, a fore grip and an affordable red dot, some Lucas Extreme Duty oil, a soft case, and an extra couple mags and off to the range you go!

For my first rifle I bought a PSA upper and an Anderson lower. But I have upgraded it overtime to be a duty rifle. bcm barrel , aero gas block, etc.

Thank God Charlie is here to cement this conversation....what a great guy.

The only way I see the SHTF is if Costco actually gets rid of their hot dogs.

My 1st was a DPMS Panther Series carbine and a RIA M200. I don't own either anymore. That being said, when I get asked that question now, It's PSA. PA-15 (Your choice. And there are a lot of 'em.) and their Dagger. (Also a lot of choices.) Thanks for the share!!

My first gun purchase was an LWRCi M6IC DI 16” followed (a few days after) by a Gen 3 G19 frame. I built it up with an optic cut slide and Overwatch Precision Poly DAT trigger. I just bought a Gen 5 G17 MOS (Holosun SCS) to use in SHTF for parts compatibility (local PD uses G17) because my Gunsmith buddy said there are more parts available than the G19.

I started with a BCM upper and an Aero Precision lower. Cloud Defensive Rein light and a Vortex LPVO.

Most people would be better suited with a Glock 19 vs a Glock 17. The G19 is the general purpose pistol and can be a Duty gun or a CCW.

The benefit of not having the atf breathing down your neck the 16 sells itself

Was gifted a 43x which started me down the rabbit hole. Went with a blem PSA 16” with a cheap sig romeo optic to get started. Followed that with a g45 with rmr and tlr1-hl. Very happy with my purchases. After watching this I feel even more secure in my decisions.

PSA lower + plus "Premium Upper(FN CHF Barrel) + MIcrobest phosphate BCG and charging handle can all be had for right out 500 bucks. Throw a magpul mbus or a Romeo 5 and call it a day if your poor.

I agree with their takes! I knew that I mostly live in an urban area, so a pistol length PSA was exactly my first purchase. Then, the more I learned, I realized building out other rifles for different reasons made even more sense. Next "build" will be a truck/bag carbine in 300blk, which I hopefully never need to use.

First rifle .22 jc higgins @ 6yo, 2nd, 20 guage single break over @10 yo, 3rd, 8mm Mauser @ 11yo. The times they are a changing. 😕

Fully agree with Micah. Only thing is I would trade the G17 out for M&P.

My first rifle was a PSA. I bought it specifically to build on and upgrade. I treated it like my first guitar: the one I learned on and learned how to work on.

My first firearm was an M17 (army, so I was decently familiar with the system) that I slapped a DPro and an X300 on. My parents didn't want me having a gun at the house, so when I moved out I bought it for home defense like two months in. One of the best decisions I've made. I was a lot more familiar with rifles, so my first being a pistol gave me the opportunity to learn more as well as being super maneuverable in my small house. A few months later I bought a bolt gun for "plinking" (30-06 lol) at the range mostly because they're so damn satisfying. But I do think that an AR would be the most logical and versatile next step, and just train with it no matter if it's a $6k gun or a PSA with a holosun and a sling

Had a S&W m&p 15, replaced terrible buffer and spring, sold it. Bought a psa with a better buffer stock and better trigger. Everything else identical. Swapped BCG handguard muzzle device. Things pretty solid now.

My first gun was a 22. Very quickly sold it and got a 10.5 ar15 from you guessed it... PSA what a shocker. Then I got a complete oem glock 19 lower and I run a zev duty slide on it now with a 407c. I still run that psa lower to this day but I recently just decided to swap to an aero 12.5 barrel and I upgraded the bolt to a bcm. Tried all kinds of optics ranging from the pro to holosuns to to eotechs and magnifiers to now a 1-6 lpvo. I think I'm pretty much done as far as this rifle is concerned I like where its at and only thing I'm gonna be swapping is the stuff that needs to be upgraded in terms of quality. My best advice is get a complete oem frame for a glock 17 or 19 and buy a zev duty slide so you can put a dot on it and not have to deal with sending it to get milled and yeah get a psa or aero lower and upgrade it as you go.

I bought two PSA Sabre’s with FN barrel, Geissele rail and Magpul furniture for my wife and son. Great accurate reliable rifles.

My first AR I got a couple years ago is a 16in PSA classic upper😂 shot close to 1-1.5k rounds and it’s decent. Plan on getting a free floated upper soon but it’s a good truck gun as is

My 1st pistol was a gen 3 Glock 26. My 1st rifle was a 16” Radical Firearms 5.56. Not gonna lie when I first got the rifle I immediately wanted something better. But I stuck with it and added upgrades an got that boy running like a champ.

when I was finally able to afford an AR15 I bought a Bushmaster carbine w/1in 9 twist and bayonet lug some 20+ years ago. I always wanted a Colt AR15, A1 style like I had during my enlistment but those were out of reach and hard to find. one day I'll get a Harrington Richards PSA A1 (my basic training issue was a Harrington Richards) just for nostalgia. I also have a couple Brownells BRN180s. fun rifles but not what I'd choose as a "go-to" rifle. my primary is a DD 14.5 M4A1.

When everyone was shitting on PSA years ago, the only problem I had was a cam pin that wasn't heat treated properly. After less than 100 rounds it was gouging itself from the bolt carrier. A $7 replacement from BCM. Hundreds of rounds later, my stainless barrel Freedom upper (sale price $300+$100 for the phosphate BCG) gets a 3/4" group at 100 yards with my floor sweeping bulk bullet handloads and a 1-6 Vortex Strike Eagle.

16" midlength gas system with a free float mlok rail. My experience with PSA is hit and miss. Overall I still recommend them to people. Expect to replace springs - replace them with Sprinco. I've had a family member buy an upper that had an out of spec BCG that wouldn't lock back on the last round with any ammo type or mag (bolt tail seal was too large which leaked too much gas), a new BCG was the only way sadly. My own have mostly just had springs fail/weaken and a bolt catch plunger got stuck from the aluminum peening over inside the plunger hole. The bolt catch was just flopping around causing the gun to lock back randomly. Fixed it by removing the bolt catch and spinning a drill bit in the hole with just finger pressure until it cleaned up the burs and released the plunger.

My first rifle at 16 was a colt 6940 still own it and will never get rid of it

1. fighting pistol, like a G19 or G17 2. summer carry pistol, like a Shield Plus or P365 3. fighting carbine, like an Aero that you can later pin a BCM upper onto for the upgrade 4. pocket pistol, like an LCP Max or a J frame

BCM upper, aero lower is always a solid option

First AR was an Anderson factory build. Had a lot of problems with it. Ended up replacing every single part on the gun with Aero/BCM/Magpul parts. After I was done I had enough spare parts to build back the original Anderson so I did. Sold it and built an 11.5 with more Aero/Magpul/BCM parts. LPVO on the 16" and a red dot on the 11.5. Both run flawlessly, I can't imagine paying for gucci builds when these run as good as they do. Thousands of rounds through both and can't recall a single malfunction. I do clean pretty regularly though. As far as pistols go, I've done a lot of hopping around. Started out with Springfields, went to S&W, then to SIG and now I'm a CZ fanboy and probably won't switch to anything else for a long time. Love my P-07 and carry it everyday.

What Charlie said at the end is 100% true about these cheaper companies making some quality products and some not. I bought my first rifle about a year ago, it's an Anderson AM-15 that was about $800 in an Arkansas shop. The bolt snapped in two probably 400-500 rounds in lmao. But I replaced it with a better bolt and have not had a single issue with the rifle since, so I guess I really would not recommend Anderson BCG's. I think people like their lowers alot though.

Good Talk.

PSA is a good solid first to get in to ar platforms and start shooting them. Just take notes of stuff you have issues with and save up for the second one or save for the parts. Most times, you could just buy a higher end upper from there like a bcm complete upper and swap that on. Definitely a pistol first, glock g17 g19 or g45, but there are plenty of reliable pistols out there. My first rifle was a s&w m&p sport 2 that was 650. I've put another 1000 in to it. I would recommend avoiding s&w not because they're not reliable, but because there are many models with different features that are hard to know if that is the feature set you want. A psa is more straight forward of a feature set with specs. If you ca. Afford a forged Sabre with the 16" fn chf barrel as a first rifle, that's a great start and probably won't need much else Other than an optic, sling and light.

restocking (out of stock products) is a must

First AR was one me and my bro built. Pretty quality parts with an aero lower. Second AR was SOLGW

Great video

I’m not sure if my PSA has 3,000 or 5,000 rounds through it but it’s been such an amazing performer. Only issue I’ve had was the ejector spring got weak and needed to be swapped out. With a red dot it’s easy to hit steel out to 5/600 yards. Great rifles for the price.

Vibes all the way up

First rifle was a 20" a3 style psa with fn barrel. Still shoots 1 to 1.5moa with m193

The rifle you have now is infinitely better than the rifle your saving for. Get a PSA then save up for your Gucci gun.

If you live near Las Vegas, you can find some ranges that are a little longer. The Clark County Shooting Complex has a 200 yd range available for everyone

Underrated rifle ,delton

Sons of Liberty Gun Works SOLGW Lifetime Warranty (including against wear!) solid components from the BCG right down to the individual pins and springs. Great rifles and and the Lifetime Warranty covers not only anything that breaks but anything you wear out as well! Shoot 15,000 rds and see your accuracy degrade. No problem, your barrel replacement is covered. Same goes for extractors, ejectors, fring pins, bolts, gas blocks, gas tubes, you name it.

A 16" AR chambered in 5.56 and a 9mm pistol to start with for ammo abundance and compatibility. And buy extra magazines. I have piles of AR rifles and pistols chambered in everything from 5.56 to 450 Bushmaster for shooting hogs here in Texas, but I keep a few extra 5.56 barrels and BCGs around just in case I need to convert them.

PSA voided my "lifetime warranty" because I put a different handguard on it. The found out about the "modification" (which IS prohibited in the mass of legalese that they call a "warranty"; look it up for yourself) because I called them about the machining burrs in the chamber that were so bad that I couldn't chamber ammo. They refused to fix the burrs and told me they'd never fix anything about it because of a handguard.

Getcha one of them new hi point yeet cannons with the highpoint carbine and a maverick 88. All you need for the boog

Aero P lowers,then buy DD, Geissele, BCM parts.. but get them on sale or holiday sales.

well, that was quite the sales pitch.

Aero is a great budget choice

My first two picks would be G19 with light then dot, then a 13.7 or 14.5 P&W BCM upper on an Aero lower with whatever dot you want. Or an LPVO. Sig Tango MSR 1-6 is tough to beat for the price.

Go PSA 16in mid-length completed rifle, get a Vortex Crossfire II or Sig Romeo5, Magpul iron sights and a streamlight flashlight. With that you'll have a rifle you can keep forever. Just make sure the barrel is Nitride or Chrome lined. Then just buy mags and ammo until you got enough to buy a BCM rifle.

start with a pistol you know you can conceal. That way, you train with the same gun you carry. That might be a g17, or it might be a shield+. You only lose 2 rounds from a g17 to a shield+. It's also a quarter inch thinner and almost half lb lighter.

I like it how if you actually were new to firearms and listened to this, then you'd have no idea wtf these guys are talking about lol. Btw, to anyone who is new and doesn't know what all these terms mean, the entire rifle section was them talking about which AR-15 to get, which i don't think they ever said once lol.

So happy you mentioned windham weaponry!! Such an underrated brand. A better bushmaster. I have 5 rifles from them, all tack drivers in their caliber

Not just one DD. The CIA hooked that kid up with 2. And all the accessories and ammo.

My first was a PSA pa15. It has a chrome lined 16"1/7 twist. Had a chrome lined bolt carrier and as far as I know is built to true milspec. It was 900$ and ive yet to see one like it. 11 years later i still shoot it but i way prefer my 11.5 super duty or pws mk111.

I feel so validated

1.) Glock 17 or 19 with a dot or laser/light combo. 2.) AR-15 (any length barrel) and upgrade as necessary. 3.) .308 cal (or larger) quality bolt action, mag fed rifle with excellent glass (preferably setup as a scout rifle).

What's recommended today for a first time buyer isn't the same as what it was 20+ year ago when I first got into firearms. In the late 90s - early 2000's, 1911's were all the rage. Sure, there were plenty of people recommending Glocks too for a first firearm but custom quality out of the box 1911s were really popular. I've never owned a Glock but I respect their reputation. That said, I went with a Kimber Custom 1911 which was $600 IIRC when I got it back in 2000. It's a Series 70 type that doesn't have a firing pin safety so IMO, it's sort of rare as you're hard pressed to get a Kimber today that isn't their Series II (80) lineup. My first rifle was a Romanian SAR-1 AKM. It was $300. A buddy of mine had one too that he sold to me for $300 as well, so I've had two of these rifles for 20 years now. I assure my Dad that if the zombies come, I'll give him one of them. :D So glad I got them when I did because now AKMs go for the cost a entry/mid tier AR-15 which is ridiculous but I guess the demand is there. For many years, I kept them stock but a few years ago I finally upgraded the furniture with Magpul which is a little better with heat dissipation but it still gets hot after 4+ mags. Just this past week I FINALLY replaced that shit trigger that came with them. They both had wicked trigger slap and I just endured it or wore gloves for all this time. I replaced the triggers with ALG and I'm kind of mad at myself for waiting so damn long to replace those triggers. They're buttery smooth. The first time I pulled the trigger I actually jumped a little because it was so light and smooth it took me by surprise. Now I want to replace the stock milspec trigger on my Sig M400 Tread which isn't bad but now I feel spoiled with this super smooth trigger on my AKs and I want the same for my AR.

Before I watch the video, and knowing that no one asked, here are my personal thoughts: Avoid buying too cheap, or you'll end up buying the same capability two or three times, which will be more expensive in the long run. If I started over with only 5 guns, they'd be this, in order: 1. Pocket .380 or .32 (LCP Max) 2. Small 9mm bag gun (Flux Raider) 3. Lightweight and handy 5.56 AR between 11.5-14.5", intended for 200m and in, and eventually as a nite fighting gun. Add a dot and then a magnifier as you get more $ 4. Mid-sized 9mm carry pistol (G19 or XMacro sized, small enough to comfortably carry but big enough to flex into a "duty" role) 5. Mid-range focused 5.56 or .308 rifle with LPVO or MPVO. Honorable mention: a 12 ga like a 1301 or shockwave. I love rifles and shotguns, but a gun is only useful if it's with you, which is why the LCP and Raider would be my first two purchases.

I'm now a few years down the AR rabbit hole, and my thought here is that if you think you might want more than one AR eventually, then start with a basic carbine, then maybe a pistol, then maybe a different caliber or two. The benefit is the ability to swap upper and lowers depending on what your " needs " are. My first was a used 16" 556 with an eotech.

i just lost everything in an unfortunate boating accident so this is helpful. i am actually starting over.

Got lucky and landed an IWI Zion 12.5. Hands down my best AR “pistol”, but Glock is always a solid choice for parts and holsters.

I have thought about this at great lengths and I believe I have came up with the ultimate list as follows Mossberg patrol 556 Rifle PSA AR15 556 Rifle Ruger PC carbine 9mm PSA Dagger full size 9mm Mossberg Shockwave 12g Mossberg 590 8 shot Lvl4 plates and carrier 1000rnds each 9mm, 556, 12g-00 10 AR mags 10 Glock mags Franklin armory binary trigger for AR I chose these in particular for magazine and ammo cross compatibility

I went aero for GP and a bcm 11.5 for cqb under 300 yrds … i live in a city and this is a lightweight build

PSA work fine i have a couple.. polish the feed ramps ...

My first AR was given to me by my uncle sam when I was 17.

Surprised noone has mentioned looking for something second-hand. Not necessarily someone else's Aero build they're trying to sell on Armslist, but maybe something that someone put on consignment or traded in to a LGS. Recently found the need for a 16" carbine for a class I'm going to be taking. Not particularly enamored with "full size" guns so I was trying to get one on the cheap. Considered ordering a PSA or building an Aero but I swung by the LGS and they had a lot of ex-cop carbines they were selling for $500 ea. Little rough on the outside, but the bores and barrels were all super clean, BCGs in good shape, and they had modern furniture. Even better, the salesman let me pick from all the uppers/lowers/BCGs that I thought looked the best. The one I snagged was a 16" Sionics carbine with a heavy profile chrome lined barrel, a mid-length gas system, chromed BCG, 13" Centurion MLOK rail, Tango Down grip, Magpul trigger guard, nickeled milspec trigger, and a Roger's Super Stock. While the grip and stock wouldn't have been my first choice if I was building a rifle, I like them well enough I don't think I'll change them. Hell, Wilson Combat puts the RSS on their carbines... Took it apart to deep clean it, lubed it up, off to the range, and it runs just fine. Ideally I replace a few screws and throw in a new spring kit, but that's all super cheap stuff and in the end I've got a duty-proven rifle (literally) for less than what some of the shit-tier ARs are going for new.

Just got my first rifle dsa fal stoked af for it

I’d suggest a shotgun or handgun, if your in a budget a maverick 88 if you got a little bit more coin a mossberg 500-590 or a keltec ksg ,for handguns I’d says if your on a budget a Taurus g3c-g3 or psa dagger,if you got extra money a cz which are my favorites or a Glock I own a 19 gen 5 it will go bang, also my personal opinion I wouldn’t use a rifle for in the house defense but this may vary depending on where you live(more rural)

The barrel length debate is settled for me by not wanting to make my rifle on the NFA registry.

I got an M&P to start off and then upgraded to something with a better twist, and much higher quality parts. Its still not BCM+ or LMT level of set up but thats what ive been running on the range. For SHTF idk what route i want to take, this rifle would be the one i could trust my life to when i buy or build it. Really though i need to meet some like minded people, and start training with some buddies. Whatever it is you got, run it, get better each time and become effecient with the platform of your choice!

I have owned two PSA ARs. Both have had issues with stuck casings in them which rendered the guns useless until I stuck a cleaning rod down the barrels and forcefully jammed the casing out. This was a repeatable issues that would happen every 200-300 rounds using all kinds of ammo brands & casing types. PSA refused to take the gun under warranty to fix the issue. Literally just told me to buy better ammo. If you are buying a range toy then buy whatever, but if you are buying a tool that you'll use to save your life then buy something more reliable. I bought a BCM and DD to replace them both. Neither have ever had a stuck casing.

The way I see it. There are companies more expensive than PSA that are lower quality. But there are no companies better than PSA that are cheaper

I’ll say this. I took 2nd place in a 2 gun match with 85 shooters. And I was using a stock g17 and a psa 16” a2 with a red dot.

If I could start over… I’d start with a general purpose AR with either lpvo or acog with offset dot, then a .308 style bolt action, then a 12G shotty, and a Ruger .22 (we can’t have pistols in NY basically or I’d also add a Glock or something similar right after the bolt action).

I paid the price going cheap, Colt Command 11.5” from Brownells in 2021. Mid-tier affordable, URGI upper for $799-$999. Can’t go wrong. No need for $2k KAC, I had em all and sold

16" for me because of legality, practicality, and velocity. I practice with fmj, but for self defense, I use 55 grain soft tip or jhp .223 because QC is better for "hunting rounds" versus plinking rounds. They're more accurate, reliable, and repeatable. Also, I'm not hobbled by the Hague committee that "outlaws" soft tip or HP for military issue, the bullets will expand or fragment at lower velocities than what fmj requires. It's been proven repeatedly that 55 grain 5.56/.223 is more accurate than M855. The technical reason is M855 was designed for the M249 as a suppressive round, so the QC is lower, the powder charge and bullet manufacture is inherently randomized through production "slop" or stacked tolerances to provide a cone of fire for an area at range versus pinpoint accuracy you want from a rifle. The standard NATO spec is 4 MOA from a new service rifle, they can deliver 1 MOA brand new, but with M855, you can end up with 4 MOA. That's acceptable for close range self defense, but any edge you can get for longer ranges, I'll take it. Self defense situations at 50 yards or beyond is rare, but when the zombies come, I want more accuracy out to 300 yards. I do have access out to 500 yards.

Charles is my favorite human being

Aero, for those wondering who Charlie was referring to at the end there.

If you're mechanically inclined, build your own. Spend the bulk of your budget on the barrel, bolt and handguard. A LaRue MDT or ALG ACT trigger are probably the best bang for the buck.

5:22 i love that phrase 2 is 1 and 1 is none. working in IT i have a pathological resistance to having one of anything.

The county range in Vegas goes out to 200 yards. Not a crazy distance, but at least it's further than 100.