What To Look For In Your First AR-15

If you're just looking for your first AR-15 without having to read about things, here you go. Otherwise, keep reading!

AR-15 & Tier	Cost	Buy Now
Radical Firearms RF00028 - Budget	$399	Buy Now!
Smith & Wesson Volunteer XV - Mid	$658	Buy Now!
Colt CR6920 Enhanced Patrol Rifle - High	$1349	Buy Now!

If you've been reading this blog since it's humble beginnings in May of 2016, you'll probably realize that this article may not be for you. By now you've probably got a few ARs, an AK or two, and some handy pistols to call your own. Along with tons of ammo. However, you may know someone who has finally had their Come To Jesus moment with regards to the Second Amendment, and is finally looking for an AR-15. Or, through the magic of search and Grok, you may have found your way here all on your own. If so, welcome aboard, citizen.

Thankfully, as of this writing, the time is right. With the recent inauguration of President Donald J Trump, the overall panic has subsided. While it's not a real "Trump Slump" like during his first term, there is a noticeable abatement in sales numbers across the board. Dealers have inventory, ammo pricing is "good for the current year", and everyone seems to offer some sort of sale or promo code. You can go down to your local gun shop, or order online at a fine retailer and have it sent to your preferred dealer for the usual background check litany, and walk out the door with a serviceable AR-15 for way under $1000. It's a buyers' market, so take advantage of it.

Whether your chosen outlet is digital or brick-and-mortar, you'll be presented with a bewildering array of options. ARs of all sorts of configurations, calibers, and included accessories will present themselves. Especially in a brick-and-mortar local shop, you might feel some pressure to purchase whichever AR-15 has the most marketing "oomph" behind it. Whether it's a flashy banner ad (yes yes, there's one below this section!) or a salesperson looking to hit their KPIs, the "buy me" scenario ratchets up considerably. As with all marketing, what is presented may not be your best choice. The AR-15 the clerk behind the counter is pushing may be part of an overall incentive from the manufacturer. The banner ad is just that, a banner ad.

An AR-15 is a major purchase. You're looking not only for a version of America's Rifle to call your own, but for a tool which you can reliably count on to help you defend your life, the lives of your loved ones, and your property. You want something you can count on for decades to come. You want something you can grab at a moment's notice, and know that when you press that trigger, the rifle will go bang, and the projectile will impact wherever you point the barrel at.

Fortunately, an AR-15 that meets or exceeds those qualities isn't going to break the bank. You'll need to save a little, of course, but it's not like taking out a mortgage.

So, with that out of the way, what should you look for in your first AR-15?

Note: For the purposes of this article, we'll be focusing on AR-15s chambered in 5.56mm with a 16 inch barrel length. Remember, this is a guide to your first AR-15.

The Basics - What You Need To Know Before Purchasing An AR-15

Believe it or not, the AR-15 design is almost seventy years old. Unlike a lot of other industries, the core concepts in firearms design tend to hang around for awhile. The 1911 .45 ACP service handgun was first made in (wait for it...) 1911, even. Anyway, the first AR-15 was designed by the legendary Eugene Stoner and manufactured by ArmaLite in Hollywood California in 1956. Yes, the gun Hollywood loves to hate was born in Hollywood. Despite the lore and fake news you may have heard, the first AR-15 was actually intended for military use. It was a magazine-fed direct-impingement (some of the gas from the fired cartridge is directed back to cycle the action) select-fire (meaning you can switch between semi-auto and full auto fire modes) rifle chambered in .223 Remington, a then-new small-caliber high velocity cartridge. After WWII, the military felt it was better to have more ammo on hand per soldier, so they drifted away from intermediate cartridges such as .30-06 and .308 Winchester. The idea was to give more troops more chances to score hits on opposing forces, in that a smaller cartridge paired with a smaller rifle could be utilized more effectively by a greater range of soldiers.

Thus ArmaLite Rifle Model 15 came about. That's where "AR-15" comes from, by the way. It doesn't mean "Assault Rifle 15", despite the fact that the original was technically an assault rifle, in that it utilized an intermediate cartridge and has select-fire capability.

Anyways, to keep it simple, our military took a shine to it, and started placing orders, which ArmaLite was not able to fulfill, so in 1959, they sold the design and trademark off to Colt, who then, with a few tweaks, turned it into the rifle commonly known as the M16, which was then used to fulfill the military contracts in 1964. Around the same time, Colt also debuted the SP1, which was functionally similar to the M16, save for the fact that it was semi-automatic only, in order to stay within the confines of the National Firearms Act of 1934.

The National Firearms Act, aka the NFA, is the arcane body of legal morass that prevents people like us from easily acquiring fun stuff like silencers, short-barreled rifles, machine guns, and other cool items. In most cases, you'll have to pay a $200 tax, and register your fun stuff with the Feds to stay compliant with the NFA. You can dig into the crates on RGG if you want to know more about that mess.

However, in 1964, non-NFA firearms such as the SP1 were available for sale over-the-counter or via mail-order, straight to the customer's door. Yes, in 1964 you could get an AR-15 shipped straight from Colt or their distributors right to your home. Funny how the world didn't end? The SP1 proved to be somewhat popular, with it's space-age looks, light weight, and ergonomic handling. The .223 Remington cartridge didn't lend itself to taking anything beyond medium-sized game, so aside from enthusiasts looking to get a "clone" of the M16 without the NFA mess, it was mainly of interest to those looking for a solid target rifle or something they could tote along on a hike. Remember, this was the 1960s, and people buying firearms primarily for defense needs hadn't come along yet. It was still "Gun Culture 1.0".

Interestingly enough, in 1977, the patent for the AR-15 expired, and Colt chose not to go through the effort of extending it. Thus the groundwork was laid for the situation we're looking at today, where untold scores of manufacturers in the United States craft and assemble AR-15 variants. If we're to get technical, unless your AR-15 is from Colt, it's actually not an AR-15. If you scoop up a PSA PA-15, it's an AR-15-style rifle, but not an AR-15 technically. This is because Colt let the patent lapse, but not the trademark. That's why to this day, you'll see AR-15-style rifles labeled like PSA's PA-15, Daniel Defense's DDM4, etc - but none except Colt will label them (in trade dress, rollmarks, etc) as "AR-15". Even though those other rifles function exactly like Colt's AR-15s to.

Which brings up another point - the magic of the AR-15 platform is that it's all modular and interchangeable. With maybe a little gruntwork to account for machining tolerances, you can actually take original parts from a 1964 SP1, and fit them in a PA-15 made this year. Or vice versa.

But, enough history for now - unless you're seeking out an SP1 as your first AR-15 just to be pedantic about things, you just want to know what to look for in something you can get today, right?

So, we'll break down what to look for by the major "subsystems" of the AR-15. Your lower receiver, your upper receiver, and all the important parts contained therein.

What To Look For - The AR-15 Lower Receiver

The AR-15 lower receiver is the lower "half" of the firearm, to keep it simple. The lower receiver houses the trigger, the safety selector aka the fire control group, the magazine release, and the bolt carrier group catch. This is in addition to smaller components such as roll pins and the like, the details of which are technically beyond the scope of this article. Of course, if you are building an AR-15, all those little components are critical - but if you are building, you're probably not reading this piece, ha ha.

Additionally, the lower receiver is the attachment point for the buffer tube, which houses the buffer weight and spring. The buffer tube also acts as an attachment point for the AR-15's buttstock. Also, the lower receiver holds the AR-15's ammunition magazine - obviously!

Something to note is that the lower receiver of the AR-15 is legally the "firearm" under US law. You can buy pretty much everything else that makes up an AR-15 without filling out a 4473 and being subject to a NICS (or your state's equivalent) background check, but if you just buy a lower receiver, that will require the check.

Anyways, in a complete AR-15 rifle, you'll want to check that some key benchmarks are met in terms of the specifications of the lower and the components associated with it.

• The lower receiver itself should be made from 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. It's a lightweight alloy that's quite strong and durable. Fortunately this is the minimum standard for the most part these days, but some manufacturers may try to sneak in a weaker alloy on occasion. Always good to check.

• The finish will likely be a black anodized one. It's kind of hard to screw this up, but keep an eye out for cosmetic defects which could progress to rust later.

• The lower receiver can either be forged, i.e. the receiver is molded from a superheated block of 7075-T6 alloy, or it can be billet, i.e. machined directly from a block of the same. Forged designs tend to be basic, with no fancy flair - they are being made from a mold, whereas billet designs tend to be more sophisticated and precise, since they are being machined from a precision lathe or CNC mill. The latter is a little more expensive due to the labor and expertise to make. Generally for a beginner AR-15, the lower will be forged. Some may argue one is more durable than the other, but in a practical sense, both will hold up to almost any abuse thrown at it.

• In the lower itself you'll notice a "pocket" behind the trigger assembly, which is where a little widget called the "auto sear" would go if the AR-15 was to be fully automatic. Since the whole process of making a semi-automatic AR-15 into a fully-automatic one is fraught with legal hurdles, some manufacturers keep that pocket blocked off. Those are known as "high shelf" lower receivers, and the idea is to make it just that much more difficult for someone to convert their rifle. If the pocket isn't blocked off, it's known as a "low shelf" receiver, and it's a little easier to make the conversion process happen. It's not a showstopper either way, but low shelf is preferred, mainly for aesthetic reasons and it's nice to have just in case you're really taking those next steps and navigating the NFA that we spoke about earlier. Most lowers these days are low-shelf, so you can usually just chalk this point up to "likely is" and not have to worry too much. And yes, to keep the legal team happy - please, if you're thinking about making your AR-15 go fast like that, be aware of the litany of laws surrounding the process and the idea. Just the auto sear itself is considered a machine gun, by federal law. Dumb, yes, but those are the breaks.

• Something a little more important than that would actually be the buffer weight and buffer spring. The buffer weight and spring act to capture the bolt carrier group as it flies backward after you press the trigger and a round is discharged. When the bolt carrier group goes backward, it goes into the buffer tube, and is stopped by the buffer weight and spring, which promptly does what a spring does and sends it back forward, resetting your trigger for the next shot, and stripping a fresh round from the magazine and loading it up for your next shot. Your buffer weight will typically be a carbine-weight one, which will do the job. Something to look for though is to see if the weight is of the "H2" type, which is slightly heavier. The slightly heavier weight is a bit of an extra insurance policy on proper cycling of the AR-15, and is especially useful if you eventually fit your rifle with a silencer, since the extra gas coming back can throw the system off a little, depending on other variables. Buffers are cheap and stupid easy to swap, so if it's not an H2, don't worry - you can buy one down the line. As for the spring itself, usually what comes with the rifle will suffice in the beginning. But if you're looking to really fine-tune down the line, you can source third party buffer springs easily, such as those from Sprinco out of Texas.

• Of course, the lower is the place where you'll find that all-important AR-15 part - the trigger. Generally, most AR-15s will ship with a mil-spec trigger, which is to say the trigger itself is designed to meet a military specification. On the AR platform, the military spec calls for a single-stage trigger that has a pull weight between 5.5 and 8.5 pounds. It's a wide variance, to be fair, but most off-the-shelf mil-spec triggers for an AR-15 will settle in around 6 pounds. Not light, but not exceedingly heavy. Realistically a mil-spec trigger provides plenty of room to "grow into", without being a huge detriment. 99 percent of accuracy issues will be you, not the gun, by the way.

• There's various other components in the lower as well, like we mentioned. The fire selector, the magazine release, the bolt catch, and so on. Most AR-15 manufacturers put in generics of all these parts, and with rare exception, they'll do what they are supposed to do. Don't obsess too much over them.

With that out of the way, we'll break down just what you need to look for in the upper of an AR-15 rifle.

What To Look For - The AR-15 Upper Receiver

On an AR-15, the upper receiver is the main component which holds the barrel, charging handle gas tube, bolt carrier group, and handguard together. It attaches to the lower receiver by means of two simple large pins, which are affixed to the lower. This modularity makes maintenance and quick upgrades a breeze, by the way. You can have 1 AR-15 lower, and many different uppers for different uses. You can have an upper with a longer barrel if you want to dabble in longer-range shooting. You can have an upper chambered in a different caliber like 300 BLK if you want to experiment - they will all mount to the same lower with no problem.

Anyway, your upper receiver, along with the barrel and bolt carrier group, have some key benchmarks that should be met.

• Much like the lower, the upper receiver should be made from 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. It can be billet or forged, depending on your budget or preference. Usually, complete ARs will have both receivers forged, or both receivers in billet form. Mix-and-match from a manufacturer is rare.

• Like the lower, the upper will likely be a black anodized finish. If your handguard is metal, it'll likely be of a similar aluminum alloy and finished the same way.

• The upper receiver itself will house the all-important bolt carrier group. If anything is the "heart" of your AR-15, it would be the bolt carrier group, aka the BCG. As the main component which "powers" the firing sequence, of course the BCG is critical. To stand up to those forces, it needs to be made of some pretty resilient materials. At the minimum the bolt itself should be made of 9310 alloy steel, and the carrier should be made of 8620 alloy steel. Most mainstream AR-15 manufacturers will include a BCG that meets these specs, but it is definitely a good idea to check, especially with budget-level AR-15s. In some cases, you may see BCGs where the bolt itself is made from Carpenter 158 steel, which is fine, but you may want to look into an upgrade. Fortunately, quality BCGs aren't very expensive, and the upgrade process is literally "drop in the new one". In the same vein, BCGs have a wide variety of coatings to enhance performance. While a lot of the wild ones like titanium nitride are beyond the scope of this article, you can usually be sure the BCG in your AR has been treated somehow. If you are really digging deep on the BCG, check to see if has been magnetic particle inspected (MPI) as a quality control check. When it comes to BCGs, any reputable AR manufacturer will usually put these specs front and center.

• You'll want to pay close attention to the barrel of your first AR-15. A surprising amount of manufacturers will skimp on this part, usually when it comes to the barrel twist rate. What is the twist rate though? Basically, the term "rifle" comes from the term "rifling", which is the lands and grooves etched on the inside of a gun barrel. The grooves twist, causing the bullet to spin as it passes through the barrel, which stabilizes it's flight. Originally, the AR-15 was spec'd to use lighter projectiles, notably the 55 grain .223 or 5.56mm projectile, so the twist rates were 1:9 or 1:12, which means for every one revolution of those grooves, 9 inches, or 12 inches of barrel length is required. With the advent of heavier projectiles, a faster spin was required to stabilize them, so after the late 1970s, ARs started to show up with faster twist rate barrels, usually 1:7, which means for every 1 revolution of those grooves, it takes 7 inches of barrel length. To this day, you'll still see the slower twist rates pop up, so it's always good to check this factor when purchasing your first AR-15. While a heavier bullet will "pass" through a barrel with a slow twist rate, the accuracy will suffer noticeably, and the heavier bullet may even destabilize and tumble in flight. TL:DR - check that twist rate.

• The barrel material itself is pretty crucial, but fortunately most manufacturers will not skimp in this regard. What you'll likely see is the barrel is made from a 4150 chrome-moly-vanadium alloy, with some form of corrosion-resistance treatment like nitriding.

• Check for proper feed ramp extensions on the barrel assembly as well. What you'll be looking for is M4 style extended feed ramps. This is important, especially with heavier ammunition, to ensure proper, reliable, and repeatable chambering and feeding of ammo. If the extended feed ramps aren't present, the risk of a malfunction is greater. Not something you want in a tool you will be trusting your life to.

• There's a lot of back and forth about the "gas system" in an AR-15. What the gas system consists of is a gas block on the barrel closer to the muzzle, and a gas tube leading back into the upper receiver itself. What this does is it directs some of the gas and pressure from the expelled projectile backwards, in order to drive the bolt carrier group back into the buffer tube, where it hits the buffer and buffer spring, and then moves forward to load up the next cartridge to be shot. In most AR-15s, there's two types of gas system lengths - carbine and mid length. Carbine is the "mil spec", whereas mid-length is the new hotness as it were. A mid-length gas system is a little bit longer than the traditional carbine length, giving the whole system a little more (in microseconds) dwell time in order to begin the firing sequence again. What this means for you, the end user, is the felt recoil is noticeably less and the whole action is less stressful, leading to longer component life overall. Some will argue carbine-length systems function better in harsh environments due to less dwell time, but for everyday use, this isn't going to be a major dealbreaker. The TL:DR of this would be - mid length if it's there, but don't let it be a dealbreaker if everything else is up to spec.

• The muzzle itself will almost always have a standard A2-style flash hider on it. This is pretty standard and on-spec, so you won't have to worry about it too much. You can swap it out later if you need something more specialized, i.e. to mount a suppressor you will need a muzzle device specific to that.

• Also important is the handguard. The handguard, also known as the "rail" is the part of the upper which acts as a shroud to the barrel. Gripping the barrel of an AR-15 while shooting it isn't a good idea - it'll be kind of hot, to put it mildly. The handguard provides a place for the user to grip and stabilize the AR-15, and also as a place to mount accessories such as lights, bipods sights, and sling attachments. You'll want to make sure your handguard has a suitable mounting system such as M-LOK or Picatinny. Most handguards these days will actually have both - M-LOK on the sides (and maybe the bottom) and Picatinny up top. You'll want to check the handguard is made from 7075-T6 or 6061-T6 aluminum alloy.

What To Look For - AR-15 Accessories

The neat thing about the AR-15 platform (hint, if you want to impress the 2A nerds on X, call it a "platform") is that it's all pretty modular. Things from 1 AR-15 will work with another with little to no effort. You'll definitely want to see if the AR you are about to purchase includes some standard accessories.

• Sights. Typically a manufacturer will throw in some sights with their AR-15. Traditionally the AR had it's rear sight built into the carry handle, and the front sigt sitting atop the gas block in a singular assembly - the iconic silhouette of an AR is usually this. However, more modern builds will have polymer flip-up sights, commonly caled "Back Up Iron Sights" or BUIS. Usually made by Magpul, and not of iron, these sights are the bare minimum you'll eed to get going. Some budget models will not include these, but again, they aren't expensive to add on if needed. For reference, they are called "back up iron sights" since they are meant to be the backup to a primary sight which is usually an optic of some sort such as an EOTech or an Aimpoint. You'll want to get an optical sight as you go along, but most will recommend you learn on the traditional sights first.

• Magazines. The manufacturer will usually throw in a magazine or two with your first AR-15. Usually a Magpul PMAG, it'll hold 30 rounds of 5.56mm or .223 ammunition. Magazines are inexpensive, so it's definitely recommended to pick up as many as you can. Impulse buy territory basically.

• Most manufacturers will not include a sling with an AR-15. Mainly since slings tend to be an intensely personal decision, and there's a whole universe of them out there. It's recommended to go to your local firearms shop and try a few on for size before picking one out. For the most part, a sling is impulse buy territory, but you don't really want to have a collection, ha ha. The Vickers 2 Point sling tends to be a current favorite if you just want to pick one up and be reasonably sure.

Don't Forget The Ammo

You've got your AR-15. It's out of the box, function checked, clean, and ready to go. You're going to need some ammo to feed it. As a matter of fact, when it comes down to it, it's usually better to get a lower-spec AR-15 and use the difference in your budget for ammo and training, than it is to max out your budget on your rifle alone. A guy who has a $1000 budget and spends $500 on the gun, and $500 on ammo and training is going to be better off than the guy who spends $1000 on the rifle and has to sweat to buy ammo and pay for training.

Anyways, when it comes to ammo, think of it this way:

• A good metric for what you should have on hand for defensive purposes is 210 rounds of quality defensive 5.56x45mm ammo. This is equivalent to the US military's "combat load" for soldiers equipped with the M4. 210 rounds is more than enough to get you out of a sticky situation, should one occur, and also last you in case of an emergency where there's multiple sticky situations. The idea is that you'll be prudent with your ammo usage, and eventually get to a point where the emergency is over, and have opportunities to replenish. 210 rounds is 7 30-round magazines, by the way. Defensive AR-15 ammo tends to price higher than your standard range ammo, so it's OK if you have to work up to it and beyond. For defensive purposes, you can't go wrong with anything made by the magicians at Black Hills Ammo - their 62 grain Dual Performance 5.56x45mm is great. Hint - if your AR-15 is going to be your go-to for home defense, make sure this is what's in the magazine and chamber ready to go.

• Have as much as possible for training and range use. For cost reasons, you'll typically train with basic 5.56mm ammunition such as M193 and M855. You'll see both loads available from a variety of manufacturers, so in this case buy it cheap and stack it deep. For reference, M193 is a 55-grain 5.56mm full metal jacket round. You'll want this handy for indoor ranges which usually do not allow the usage of M855, which is a heavier 62-grain 5.56mm projectile. Known as "green tip" ammo due to the (wait for it...) green paint applied to the tip, M855 projectiles contain a mild steel core to aid in penetration. Which means it chews up the backstops of indoor ranges, which they don't like. Have both on hand - M855 is probably closer to your defensive load weight and you'll be able to use it at outdoor ranges, but have M193 on hand for when an indoor range is your only option.

Recommendations For Your First AR-15

Though you'll be investing in a tool for defense of self, loved ones, and property, the simple fact is we all live in the real world and the almighty dollar dictates a lot. However, in the case of your first AR-15, it's thankfully not something that will break the bank account to get a reliable weapon at your side. Check out these recommendations below depending on your budget. Again, remember to think about the cost of ammo and training when you purchase.

Notes: Pricing is not inclusive of shipping, sales tax, and whatever fees your local gun shop may charge to transfer the gun to you. Prices listed here current as of June 6th 2025. The AR-15s below have personally been used by RGG staff, meaning the sole author, ha ha. Feel free to cross-reference these recommendations though. Also remember for the purposes of this article, "high" means that the rifle featured is the "high" option for a first AR-15. It's not a "high end" AR-15.

Notes 2: RGG gets a dollar or two if you purchase an AR-15, or anything else, using these links.

AR-15 & Tier	Cost	Buy Now
Radical Firearms RF00028 - Budget	$399	Buy Now!
Smith & Wesson Volunteer XV - Mid	$658	Buy Now!
Colt CR6920 Enhanced Patrol Rifle - High	$1349	Buy Now!

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