[WayneS]

I have an inexpensive model - a High Standard in .223. It has no options, no fancy attachments. I paid considerably less than $500 for it about 10 years ago.

It is very reliable and accurate (at least out to 200 yards, which is as far as I can see with open sights). I use composite Magpul magazines in it, and It has never jammed or failed to feed.

I have no experience with "high-end" ARs, but I definitely got my money's worth with my "cheap" High Standard.

For my next one, I'm thinking about building my own starting with an 80% lower - just for the fun and the experience.

[mylife]

And it’s made in TX!

[MHGinTN]

When you put enough 5.56 ammo through it to have bought two more just like it, you know you have a winner. The Ruger is a solid rifle, but so is one built by buying an inexpensive MOE lower from Palmetto State's Armory then putting a mid length complete upper from the same place on that lower. Costs less than 550 dollars to have a really good reliable AR.

For noobies, if your new rifle has hiccups after the first 100 rounds through it, try different weight buffers and put a flat wound spring in the buffer tube and you will have a gun that runs like a sewing machine. Standard guns with mid-length gas system use a 3 ounce buffer, but your gun might need something slightly heavier --an ounce or two-- or lighter if shooting heavier or lighter bullets than standard 55 grain ball ammo. ... And the CMMG .22lr conversion kits work great in the AR platform, just put a strip of one side sticky Velcro on the front of the .22lr mag where it goes up into the mag well --not on the mag well-- so the mags don't wobble around when shooting.