The AR-15 is an amazing rifle…
It’s reliable, accurate, ergonomic, and incredibly fun to shoot…
It’s called “America’s Rifle” because its popularity has boomed in recent years, and because of that, there are a ton of AR-15 manufacturers building these guns today…
Now, most of these companies are producing solid AR-15s that are durable and reliable even at budget price points…
But are there companies that cut corners in the wrong areas when building AR-15s…? Are there any AR-15 manufacturers to avoid…?
The answer is yes, and in this post, I’m going to share with you what to look out for when buying an AR-15 for the first time…
I’ll teach you how to avoid sub-par AR-15 manufacturers when you’re looking to buy, and I’ll also share with you my Top 6 best AR-15s for the money (I cover all budgets in this list)…
By the end, you’ll know exactly what to avoid when looking for a new AR-15, and you’ll know many of the best manufacturers that are currently producing high-quality ARs at various price points…
Let’s get started!
AR-15 Manufacturers To Avoid – Here’s What You Need To Know…
When considering which AR-15 manufacturers to avoid, you should first assess the quality level of important parts such as the bolt carrier group (BCG) and the barrel. You should also consider the track record of a manufacturer in terms of how consistent their quality control is…
The following information will give you much more detail about what to avoid in an AR-15…
And as I mentioned earlier, I’ll also share with you a list of some of the best AR-15s that are currently available…
Here Is A List Of AR-15’s That I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
| Picture | Product Name |
 | Springfield Armory SAINT Victor |
 | Stag Arms Stag 15 |
 | Daniel Defense DDM4 V7 |
 | Colt M4 (CR6920) |
 | Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Sport II (Budget Option!) |
 | Palmetto State Armory Midlength AR-15 (Budget Option!) |
4 Reasons Why I Will Not Give You A List To Avoid…
In this post, I will not be giving you a list of manufacturers to avoid, and there are 4 reasons why…
First of all, there are so many companies producing AR-15s that it’s impossible to give you a comprehensive list. In fact, there are new AR-15 manufacturers popping up every month it seems, and others disappear just due to the huge amount of competition they face in the AR-15 market. This is why I think it’s a better approach to tell you what characteristics to look out for when you’re considering a new AR-15…
Secondly, there are many manufacturers who notice a consistent problem with their ARs and then improve them. This post is going to be around for a long time, and I don’t want to state that a manufacturer should be avoided when they’ve fixed all the problems that shooters were having with their guns…
Thirdly, I haven’t personally used a number of the AR-15s that people report having problems with. I do have many AR’s in my own collection, and I have friends with various AR’s as well, but I certainly haven’t shot enough of them to create a list of AR makers that you should avoid…
Fourth, you might own an AR-15 from a manufacturer that I would list, and in your personal experience, it might be a great AR. Who am I to tell you that your AR-15 should be avoided…? I’m just a dude on the internet offering my personal opinions to try and help out others.
All that being said, here is what some of the forums are saying about AR-15 manufacturers that you should avoid (just take the information with a grain of salt for all the reasons I just explained)…
- From AR15.com (forum)
- From Quora
What Characteristics Should You Avoid When Choosing An AR-15…?
As promised, here are the characteristics that you need to pay attention to when looking for a new AR-15…
1. Avoid A Poor Quality Bolt and Bolt Carrier Group (MOST IMPORTANT)…
The bolt carrier group is an extremely important part of the AR-15 platform. In fact, many call it the ‘heart’ of the rifle, and if you have a poor quality BCG, chances are that you’re going to have problems with your rifle…
Now, a high-quality bolt carrier group will have several important features. First of all, it will be built using a high-quality steel. Most commonly, the steel used in high-quality bolt carrier groups is 8620 steel. You’ll also see Carpenter 158 steel used, and both of these steels are very strong, and that is something you need to pay attention to when you’re considering a new AR 15…
In addition to that, you want a bolt carrier group that is shot peened. This is a process that hardens the out layer of the steel on the bolt carrier group, and it increases the strength of the BCG…
You also want to make sure that the gas key is staked in place. This is a process in which the metal is crimped over the fasteners that attach the gas key to the rest of the BCG, and it ensures that they can never back out or rattle loose because this is an area on the bolt carrier group that takes a lot of abuse when you fire your gun…
It’s also important to make sure that your carrier and gas key are chrome lined (or lined in with another process). This will make your AR run more reliably, keep it running smoother, and makes these areas easier to clean…
Unless you’re in the market for a budget AR 15, you should also ensure that your bolt is high pressure tested (HPT) and machine particle inspected (MPI). High pressure tested means that the bolt was used to fire a high pressure round and after that’s completed, the machine particle inspection checks to see if any cracks were formed in the steel of the bolt…
This is an important process for checking the durability of your bolt, and it’s a way to ensure that the steel in your bolt is uniform and holding its strength even with a high-pressure round (which creates more stress than the standard pressure rounds that you’ll be firing from the gun)…
Now, as I said, you won’t always get HPT and MPI bolts if you’re in the market for a budget AR-15, and that’s ok as long as the bolt has the other features I’ve described. But if you’re spending close to a 1,000 bucks or more on your AR-15, you definitely want to make sure that the bolt is high pressure tested (HPT) and machine particle inspected (MPI)…
Another thing you’ll notice when out there looking at AR-15s, is that some manufacturers will offer different coatings that make the bolt and carrier slicker and easier to clean. These coatings are an upgrade, and I usually like to have them. But they’re not necessary to ensuring that your BCG is high-quality…
Last I should also mention, that you’ll also find full-auto profile BCGs and semi-auto BCGs. Both are perfectly legal to own in a semi-automatic AR-15 (as of the time I’m writing this post), and both will function well as long as they have the features I noted earlier in this section…
So to sum it all up, here is a list of what you want to look for in a high-quality bolt and bolt carrier group…
- High-quality steel (8620 steel is common)
- BCG is shot-peened
- Gas key is properly staked
- BCG and gas key are chrome-lined
- HPT and MPI bolt (non-budget AR-15s)
- OPTIONAL: upgraded coating to make the BCG slicker and easier to clean
2. Avoid A Poor Quality Barrel…
It’s also very important to avoid manufacturers that don’t provide you with a good quality barrel. This is important because a good quality barrel can make your AR-15 more reliable, and in addition to that, it will make your AR more accurate as well…
First of all, you want to get a barrel that is made from high-quality steel. Now, there are a number of barrel steels out there, but some of the common ones that you’ll see are chrome-moly steel and a number of different types of stainless steel…
If you go with a chrome-moly barrel, you’re going to want to be sure that it’s chrome-lined (or coated in another way, for example with melonite). This will add more life to the barrel of your AR-15 (it will last for thousands of rounds longer), and it will make your barrel easier to clean…
Some people say that chrome-lining makes your barrel less accurate, but I have not found that to be the case in my shooting because I have several chrome-lined barrels that are incredibly accurate…
Now, unless you’re in the market for a budget gun, you should look for a manufacturer that offers you a cold hammer forged barrel. This is a process commonly used to create AR-15 barrels and it just makes your barrel stronger and gives it more longevity. Typically, you won’t find cold hammer forged barrels on budget AR-15s, and that’s ok. But if you’re paying for a premium AR-15, you definitely want to make sure that the barrel is cold hammer forged…
Next, we should discuss the issue of twist rates. Most often, AR-15 barrels will have a 1:7 twist rate. This means that the bullet will go through a full rotation every time it travels 7 inches in the barrel. Other common twist rates found on 5.56/.223 ARs are 1:9 and 1:8. Usually, a 1:7 twist rate is better for stabilizing heavy bullets, and a 1:9 twist rate is better for stabilizing lighter bullets. An as you can imagine, a 1:8 twist rate is a compromise between both heavy and light bullets…
That being said, in my personal experience, a quality barrel is going to fire your rounds accurately regardless of bullet weight and barrel twist rate. So, I think that all three twist rates are acceptable if you’re looking to get a budget AR-15. However, if you’re going for a premium AR, you’re going to want to make sure that your barrel has a 1:7 or 1:8 twist rate because these are generally considered to be superior to a 1:9 twist…
Last, it’s important to understand what the actual chambering is for your AR-15. The 3 most popular chamberings for an AR-15 are .223 Remington, 5.56 Nato, and .223 Wylde. Now if your AR is chambered in .223 Remington you can not fire 5.56 Nato from it because it’s not designed to handle the extra pressure of the 5.56 Nato round. However, if your AR-15 is chambered in 5.56 Nato or .223 Wylde, you can safely fire .223 Remington rounds and 5.56 Nato rounds from it without any issues…
So the bottom line is this, avoid AR-15 manufacturers who make guns chambered in .223 Remington, and stick to guns chambered in 5.56 Nato or .223 Wylde (which is a hybrid chambering that can fire both rounds and improve the ARs accuracy).
So to sum up this section, here is what you should look for in a high-quality barrel…
- Good quality steel (chrome-moly or stainless steel)
- Chrome-lined
- Cold Hammer Forged Barrel (Unlikely on a budget AR and that’s OK)
- 1:7 or 1:8 twist rate (1:9 twist rate is acceptable on a Budget AR-15)
- Chambered in 5.56 Nato or .223 Wylde (Avoid .223 Remington chambered ARs because they cannot safely fire 5.56 Nato rounds)
3. Avoid A Poor Quality Lower Receiver…
Another thing you want to avoid when shopping for an AR-15 is a poor-quality lower receiver. Most lower receivers are forged from 7075-T6 aluminum which is what I recommend going with because they’re lightweight and extremely strong…
But another popular option is to go with a billet aluminum receiver because the manufacturer can really create well-fitting, precise tolerances and customize the appearance of the lower (some of them look really cool!)…
I recommend that you avoid lower receivers that are made from polymer, but with one exception. You see, many of the polymer lower receivers on the market are built to mimic the appearance of aluminum lower receivers…
The problem is that when you make polymer lowers in the same manner as aluminum lowers, you get an extremely weak area where the buffer tube connects to the lower. This isn’t a problem when you’re dealing with aluminum because of the strength of the material, but with polymer lowers, I’ve seen them snap in half. So I will personally not own a polymer AR-15 lower receiver that’s built in this way, and I don’t recommend that you get one either…
All that being said, there is one manufacturer producing a polymer AR-15 that takes all this into account and is very rugged. It’s called the KE Arms KE-15, and because of the way it’s built, it features a very strong and extremely lightweight polymer lower receiver. That being said, it doesn’t have an adjustable stock, which is something that I like to have…
So to sum up this section, here is what you should look for in a high-quality lower receiver…
- 7075-T6 Aluminum forged lower receiver
- Billet Aluminum receiver
- AVOID: Polymer AR-15 lower receivers (with the exception of the KE Arms KE-15)
4. Avoid upper receiver…
One of the features that you should look for in an upper receiver is the inclusion of M4 feed ramps, and you should avoid AR-15 manufacturers that don’t include them…
M4 feed ramps are important because they provide a smoother and easier way for your AR-15 to feed rounds into the chamber. They should be included both in your barrel and in the upper receiver, and they should be properly lined up…
M4 feed ramps make you’re AR-15 smoother and more reliable, especially if you ever need or intend to fire multiple rounds at a high rate.
To sum up this section, you’ll want an upper receiver that includes…
- M4 feed ramps (for more reliability)
- A properly aligned barrel with M4 feed ramps as well
5. Look For Upgrades That Are Useful…
This section is more of a rant than anything, but there are some AR-15 manufacturers that charge high amounts of money for their guns without offering anything really unique (I’m not referring to sub 1,000 dollar guns)…
I recommend that you avoid these manufacturers, and look for ARs that have useful upgrades that are not reflected in the price. For example, unless you’re in the market for a budget AR-15, you should probably look for upgraded furniture like a stock and pistol grip…
In addition to that, look for AR-15s that offer lightweight rails that feature M-LOK or Keymod (unless you want a front sight post), and like I mentioned earlier, extra coatings that make your bolt carrier group slicker and easier to clean are upgraded features as well…
And if you need help making sure that the AR-15 you’re getting is worth the value that you’re paying for it, check out my list of highly recommended AR-15s below…
I HIGHLY RECOMMENDED the following AR-15s!
| Picture | Product Name |
| Springfield Armory SAINT Victor |
| Stag Arms Stag 15 |
| Daniel Defense DDM4 V7 |
| Colt M4 (CR6920) |
| Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Sport II (Budget Option!) |
| Palmetto State Armory Midlength AR-15 (Budget Option!) |
AR-15 Manufacturers That You Should Avoid – Final Thoughts…
So in the end, I recommend that you avoid manufacturers of AR-15s unless they offer…
- A high-quality bolt and bolt carrier group
- A high-quality barrel chambered in 5.56 Nato or .223 Wylde
- A strong lower receiver (most polymer lowers don’t fit the bill in my opinion)
- An upper receiver with M4 feed ramps (for increased reliability)
- Upgraded features (unless you’re in the market for a budget AR-15)
If you make sure the AR 15 that you’re interested in is good to go in these areas, you’re likely to get a great gun that is strong, accurate, and reliable…
And you’ll probably be very satisfied regardless of the brand you choose to go with…
Last, if you need help finding a good quality AR-15 and want me to point you in the right direction, I strongly suggest that you check out my list of HIGHLY Recommended AR-15s by clicking the link below…
I hope this helped you out. Good luck on your search for an AR-15 and Godspeed!