I entered the world of evil black guns with an off-the-shelf Colt LE6920 with all the evil features. Since then, I’ve only built my own (uppers and lowers) from quality parts. You can spend as much, or as little as you want and still have a reliable weapon.
That Colt is a great rifle. I still have two brand new ones in boxes in one of my safes. Paid 400 each for them years ago.