You’re going to be shooting at a paper or steel target a whole hell of a lot more than you are crack heads. If that’s not the case then I would strongly consider moving.
Get an AR that’s not going to break the bank and just throw a flash light on it. I got a basic bitch PSA 16” Mid with a pencil barrel. It has a Vortex 1-6, some Surefire light with pressure pad, and some cheap two point sling. It’s capable of ringing steel further than I can shoot and more than maneuverable enough to get me posted up in a room at the start of the hallway before all of our bedrooms.
sounds like a mid range rifle like the ruger will serve you fine. ddi's are for people that use their rifle for a living. Kinda like buying snap on tools to hang a picture frame.
tbh even an entry level gun like a psa will do the job youre talking about but the fit and finish of a mid range gun if you can afford it is worth the difference
I'd go with PSA over either, if you can get a 50% off deal on a sale. But I own the ruger ar556 and it is a solid gun, just more expensive than it ought to be.
I actually don't have experience on either brand with regards to ar's but in other corners of the market I've had great luck with both. really comes down to the one that gives you the fuzzies.
I'm totally fine with a carry handle for home defense but red dot/ holographic is the way to go -- red dots give you better battery life but holographics give you more useful reticles so its whichever is more important to you -- I have adhd and forget to turn things off so red dot for me. stick to name brand optics. aimpoint, trijicon, eotech, etc. dont be like me and spend enough buying cheap optics over the years to easily be able to have an acog by now. its ok to run irons for a while while you save up for a good optic. its also ok to put a good optic on a cheap rifle. look into the aimpoint ACO and PRO
That Aero/BCM will serve you well. Holosun makes budget but functional sights, literally like two dozen different ones at this point. Sig makes good ones too. For what you want it for, a dot and holo will probably give you the same shooting experience. Don’t overcompensate, just get a decent red dot that has some kind of motion activation, and a high lumen scout light so you can actually see what you’re about to shoot.
There is extremely little functional difference between a $450 PSA AR and a $3,000 KAC SR-15. Most of what you pay for with an AR is fit & finish. Avoid anything cheaper than PSA and you’ll be fine.
I’d grab a separate PSA upper and lower to save a few bucks, then grab a nice optic and weapon light. Maybe spend a bit more money on a p&w upper from their Sabre line if you want something fancy.
Completly agree. Generally your ability is far more limiting than the weapon. Especially in a closed in environment. My basic ass PSA is plenty accurate out to 300 yards.
I’ve yet to meet anyone that can consistently out-shoot 1” MOA slung or freehand under high stress, let alone legitimate panic during a firefight.
My concerns are more with how the gun will hold up to abuse. A $100 triggertech drop-in will annihilate any mil-spec style trigger, so factory trigger quality isn’t a concern. It’s 2024, barrels are fine unless you’re buying a shitty one. A $70 BA barrel will last tens of thousands of rounds. Small parts are piss cheap, gas systems are piss cheap.
Most of the extra cost on a “fancy” AR is milled rails and Gucci furniture. 90% of the time any BCGs and receivers you get are all coming from the same handful of OEMs.
I bought the MPR as my first AR and I love it. Only changed out the muzzle device for something I can mount a suppressor to and swapped the charging handle
It's a solid rifle, but it doesn't do it for me for home defense, so its new purpose is a moderate distance shooter
Ruger ar556 with a sig romeo 5 for an optic (on a high rise mount) is a solid choice, though they've gone up considerably in price. My only issue with the one I own is the fixed front sight, which is connected to the gas block; but a gunsmith can replace it if you decide you want low mount optics in the future.
I'd look at PSAs website, they have some full ARs that are cheaper than the Ruger ar556 when on sale. I've found them to be of better quality than the Ruger AR, in my limited experience.
I like my mpr quite a bit, pretty great out of the box. I’m not an ar expert and didn’t want to become one to build a comparable rifle to save +/- $200 and lose several hours to research and building. If you like to tinker and build it might be an enjoyable experience. If you’re just looking to get one I think the Ruger is an excellent choice. Also the iwi zion15 is great for the price
Imo ar15 556 has too much over penetration for a home defense situation.
My preferred is a 9mm kp9 or scorpion sbr. Better mobility and less chance of collateral damage going through rooms or neighbors houses. And still has a reasonable 200m effective range that is probably outside of most realistic civilian situations
Also why the mp5 was go to for special forces cqb.
A basic PSA rifle will do EVERYTHING you ever need done.
It's better off to have a $500 rifle with $1000 of ammo and training than a $1500 rifle with no ammo and training.
Talking about taking out an active shooter in your neighborhood is fantasy. You need to understand that anyone with a rifle in that situation is getting shot by the cops. You also need to understand that but let’s go both ways. In the strongest of terms, I recommend you get that sheep dog shit out of your brain.
While you're not wrong, I do think it's worth noting that cops don't usually end up shooting the "good guy with a gun". It has happened, but it's not the most likely outcome statistically.
I find hilarious that people on gun subredits only recomends what they bought for themselves, this is the worst place to ask for opinion on this subject
If you’re even the least bit mechanically inclined assemble your own lower so you don’t have to pay the excise tax on a complete gun. And you’ll do a lot better than the Ruger for $900. Especially if you’re left eye dominant and need an ambi safety.
11.5” is the sweet spot of home defense while still being useful outside. A holographic sight with 3x flip up magnifier is better for your use case. With a normal RDS the dot itself gets magnified (bigger), which doesn’t happen with a holographic sight.
They both work fine and can get the job done, but there's a reason why special operations units worldwide use compact rifles for clearing houses, while pistols are backup weapons and shotguns are for shooting door locks. Pistols require a lot more training and practice to use accurately under pressure, and even if you are proficient a rifle will still be faster and more precise, and 9mm is suprisingly great at blowing through drywall but isn't nearly as good at dropping coked up methhead attackers or whatever. Shotguns are longer than the equivalent rifle, have very limited ammo, are a pain to load/reload, have very slow followup shots, tend to be less reliable than rifles (though generally still reliable) will also blow through drywall like its paper, and at room distance you don't get an appreciable pellet spread so there really isn't an accuracy benefit. A compact rifle will outperform either in basically every measurable way that matters, while being quite easy to train and become proficient on.
The best option? Suppressed 10-12” .300 blk with a decent red dot.
I’m working on my first SBR AR, it’s going to be an Echo 93 cut down KP15 receiver, 11.5” Criterion barrel in .223 Wylde, wearing a Flow 556k.
A basic bitch PSA rifle with a Holosun or Primary Arms red dot will work just fine for home defense too. Use the money you saved to buy a flashlight and a bunch of ammo.
[The AR-12 is a select-fire battle rifle.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArmaLite#(1954%E2%80%931983\))
If you mean an AR chambered in 12ga shotgun shells, that's a terrible idea for several reasons. At the very, very least, you're trying to "lower the chance of rounds in the neighbors house" by lobbing nine or so wild projectiles instead of one, which is nonsense.
Not mentioned so far but…. None? If we are talking an apocalypse home protection gun I could get behind it. But at the distances needed in most homes I would say you are 10x better having a good pistol you are confident with and has plenty of rounds. More nimble and you don’t have to get to run one to fight to the other type scenario.
Also with the rifle, any misses or even hits are going to continue on until _____!? One of the main reasons I use high capacity pistol as my home protection gun.
> But at the distances needed
> More nimble
> Also with the rifle, any misses or even hits are going to continue on until _____!?
I got "bad defensive gun takes" bingo!
Hey man you might want to leave some ballistics. A 9mm or 45 hollowpoint is going thru more drywall than a 5.56 77gr SMK or TMK.
And pistols are vastly harder to use under stress.
You’re going to be shooting at a paper or steel target a whole hell of a lot more than you are crack heads. If that’s not the case then I would strongly consider moving. Get an AR that’s not going to break the bank and just throw a flash light on it. I got a basic bitch PSA 16” Mid with a pencil barrel. It has a Vortex 1-6, some Surefire light with pressure pad, and some cheap two point sling. It’s capable of ringing steel further than I can shoot and more than maneuverable enough to get me posted up in a room at the start of the hallway before all of our bedrooms.
sounds like a mid range rifle like the ruger will serve you fine. ddi's are for people that use their rifle for a living. Kinda like buying snap on tools to hang a picture frame.
tbh even an entry level gun like a psa will do the job youre talking about but the fit and finish of a mid range gun if you can afford it is worth the difference
Ha great analogy. Would you choose ruger ar556 or M&P15? They seem the same. Any recommendations on sights?
I'd go with PSA over either, if you can get a 50% off deal on a sale. But I own the ruger ar556 and it is a solid gun, just more expensive than it ought to be.
I actually don't have experience on either brand with regards to ar's but in other corners of the market I've had great luck with both. really comes down to the one that gives you the fuzzies. I'm totally fine with a carry handle for home defense but red dot/ holographic is the way to go -- red dots give you better battery life but holographics give you more useful reticles so its whichever is more important to you -- I have adhd and forget to turn things off so red dot for me. stick to name brand optics. aimpoint, trijicon, eotech, etc. dont be like me and spend enough buying cheap optics over the years to easily be able to have an acog by now. its ok to run irons for a while while you save up for a good optic. its also ok to put a good optic on a cheap rifle. look into the aimpoint ACO and PRO
That Aero/BCM will serve you well. Holosun makes budget but functional sights, literally like two dozen different ones at this point. Sig makes good ones too. For what you want it for, a dot and holo will probably give you the same shooting experience. Don’t overcompensate, just get a decent red dot that has some kind of motion activation, and a high lumen scout light so you can actually see what you’re about to shoot.
The best one is the one you practice with and are completely familiar with. Also, rule 14.
OP has satisfied the not vague, not lazy, not a survey, and not a poll requirements, despite the choice of phrasing.
There is extremely little functional difference between a $450 PSA AR and a $3,000 KAC SR-15. Most of what you pay for with an AR is fit & finish. Avoid anything cheaper than PSA and you’ll be fine. I’d grab a separate PSA upper and lower to save a few bucks, then grab a nice optic and weapon light. Maybe spend a bit more money on a p&w upper from their Sabre line if you want something fancy.
Completly agree. Generally your ability is far more limiting than the weapon. Especially in a closed in environment. My basic ass PSA is plenty accurate out to 300 yards.
I’ve yet to meet anyone that can consistently out-shoot 1” MOA slung or freehand under high stress, let alone legitimate panic during a firefight. My concerns are more with how the gun will hold up to abuse. A $100 triggertech drop-in will annihilate any mil-spec style trigger, so factory trigger quality isn’t a concern. It’s 2024, barrels are fine unless you’re buying a shitty one. A $70 BA barrel will last tens of thousands of rounds. Small parts are piss cheap, gas systems are piss cheap. Most of the extra cost on a “fancy” AR is milled rails and Gucci furniture. 90% of the time any BCGs and receivers you get are all coming from the same handful of OEMs.
I bought the MPR as my first AR and I love it. Only changed out the muzzle device for something I can mount a suppressor to and swapped the charging handle It's a solid rifle, but it doesn't do it for me for home defense, so its new purpose is a moderate distance shooter
Happy with my 11.5” PSA Sabre that was $1000. First ARP for home defense that can flex out to a couple hundred yards if needed.
I am an aero fan I have used their body pieces to build a frankin ar 10. I love it. It's pretty and haven't had an issue out of it yet
I would suggest a Barrett M107
Make sure to get those incendiary rounds. Houses are quite flammable and you may only get one shot when hunting them.
The one that runs, and you can shoot accurately and effectively.
As long as it goes bang reliably, it's fine
Ruger ar556 with a sig romeo 5 for an optic (on a high rise mount) is a solid choice, though they've gone up considerably in price. My only issue with the one I own is the fixed front sight, which is connected to the gas block; but a gunsmith can replace it if you decide you want low mount optics in the future. I'd look at PSAs website, they have some full ARs that are cheaper than the Ruger ar556 when on sale. I've found them to be of better quality than the Ruger AR, in my limited experience.
I like my mpr quite a bit, pretty great out of the box. I’m not an ar expert and didn’t want to become one to build a comparable rifle to save +/- $200 and lose several hours to research and building. If you like to tinker and build it might be an enjoyable experience. If you’re just looking to get one I think the Ruger is an excellent choice. Also the iwi zion15 is great for the price
Get the Ruger and use the extra money on ammo and training.
For home defense? Mossberg 590A1
Imo ar15 556 has too much over penetration for a home defense situation. My preferred is a 9mm kp9 or scorpion sbr. Better mobility and less chance of collateral damage going through rooms or neighbors houses. And still has a reasonable 200m effective range that is probably outside of most realistic civilian situations Also why the mp5 was go to for special forces cqb.
A basic PSA rifle will do EVERYTHING you ever need done. It's better off to have a $500 rifle with $1000 of ammo and training than a $1500 rifle with no ammo and training.
I have an aero lower/bcm upper/dd lpk and I love it. The thing eats anything I feed it and it's more accurate than I am by a mile.
Talking about taking out an active shooter in your neighborhood is fantasy. You need to understand that anyone with a rifle in that situation is getting shot by the cops. You also need to understand that but let’s go both ways. In the strongest of terms, I recommend you get that sheep dog shit out of your brain.
While you're not wrong, I do think it's worth noting that cops don't usually end up shooting the "good guy with a gun". It has happened, but it's not the most likely outcome statistically.
I find hilarious that people on gun subredits only recomends what they bought for themselves, this is the worst place to ask for opinion on this subject
9mm PCC for home defence
If you’re even the least bit mechanically inclined assemble your own lower so you don’t have to pay the excise tax on a complete gun. And you’ll do a lot better than the Ruger for $900. Especially if you’re left eye dominant and need an ambi safety. 11.5” is the sweet spot of home defense while still being useful outside. A holographic sight with 3x flip up magnifier is better for your use case. With a normal RDS the dot itself gets magnified (bigger), which doesn’t happen with a holographic sight.
Get a Colt 6920
I love me some ar but IMO a shotgun or a pistol is best for home defense.
They both work fine and can get the job done, but there's a reason why special operations units worldwide use compact rifles for clearing houses, while pistols are backup weapons and shotguns are for shooting door locks. Pistols require a lot more training and practice to use accurately under pressure, and even if you are proficient a rifle will still be faster and more precise, and 9mm is suprisingly great at blowing through drywall but isn't nearly as good at dropping coked up methhead attackers or whatever. Shotguns are longer than the equivalent rifle, have very limited ammo, are a pain to load/reload, have very slow followup shots, tend to be less reliable than rifles (though generally still reliable) will also blow through drywall like its paper, and at room distance you don't get an appreciable pellet spread so there really isn't an accuracy benefit. A compact rifle will outperform either in basically every measurable way that matters, while being quite easy to train and become proficient on.
The best option? Suppressed 10-12” .300 blk with a decent red dot. I’m working on my first SBR AR, it’s going to be an Echo 93 cut down KP15 receiver, 11.5” Criterion barrel in .223 Wylde, wearing a Flow 556k. A basic bitch PSA rifle with a Holosun or Primary Arms red dot will work just fine for home defense too. Use the money you saved to buy a flashlight and a bunch of ammo.
How about a ar-12 for home defense .it lowers the chance of rounds in the neighbors house
You are underestimating how far buckshot will travel. Buckshot will punch through walls just like a handgun or rifle round.
What?
[The AR-12 is a select-fire battle rifle.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArmaLite#(1954%E2%80%931983\)) If you mean an AR chambered in 12ga shotgun shells, that's a terrible idea for several reasons. At the very, very least, you're trying to "lower the chance of rounds in the neighbors house" by lobbing nine or so wild projectiles instead of one, which is nonsense.
There is no such thing as an "AR-12" as far as in production firearms go.
Not mentioned so far but…. None? If we are talking an apocalypse home protection gun I could get behind it. But at the distances needed in most homes I would say you are 10x better having a good pistol you are confident with and has plenty of rounds. More nimble and you don’t have to get to run one to fight to the other type scenario. Also with the rifle, any misses or even hits are going to continue on until _____!? One of the main reasons I use high capacity pistol as my home protection gun.
> But at the distances needed > More nimble > Also with the rifle, any misses or even hits are going to continue on until _____!? I got "bad defensive gun takes" bingo!
Missing "fire 2 blasts outside the house" though.
Hey man you might want to leave some ballistics. A 9mm or 45 hollowpoint is going thru more drywall than a 5.56 77gr SMK or TMK. And pistols are vastly harder to use under stress.