Damn it, Bruther! I've been convincing myself that a Custom 1911 isn't for me for about a year. Now I need to spend ludicrous amounts of money to get a high end 1911. Great to hear you're liking yours.
That's exactly the spot I'm in. I was eventually going to get an AR, but the AWB just made the decision.
This will be mostly a range and plinking gun, though it would double as a home defense.
Okay. 16" or 14.5" it is.
14.5" is the M4, 16" is the minimum length to be NFA compliant. If you have less than 16" of barrel then you must get the register the weapon as a Short Barreled Rifle for $200 and a paperwork wait if your state allows it. The exception is "permanently" attaching a muzzle device that extends your barrel length to 16" or more. Both barrels use the same gas systems.
It's generally recommended that you run 16" for a general purpose rifle. 1.5" of extra metal isn't much compared to the 14.5 and the extra length of the 18 and 20 inch barrels aren't worth much more bullet velocity. Unless you want an M16 clone, are gearing up for 3-Gun, or are very serious about benchrest shooting, stick with the carbines.
In terms of price, this is a little harder. At pre-AWB scare prices, I would have no problem spending $1000+ on a quality AR. But with prices doubling or tripling, I don't know if I can afford something that is now this expensive.
Ignore anyone who tries to gouge prices. They suck. Many people are selling AR's for the same price that they were before the craziness.
Search the prices on Rainier Arms, DSG Arms, and G&R Tactical. I'm sure they're out of stock, but they'll show you the ideal price. Don't buy from a shop that up-charges too much from any of these.
What are some of their advantages?
DD: They make all of their own parts in house. Excellent rails.
BCM: They make a great mid-length. Low recoil, great base gun.
LMT: Built like a tank.
All of them are more expensive than the Colt, but offer considerable advantages. Many rifles come with $300 of parts, so if you were planning to upgrade you would be getting a good deal.
Also, have you heard of Aero Precision lower receivers? How are their quality and what do you think about them? They seem to be pretty reasonably priced.
You mentioned that the lower receiver doesn't see a lot of stress, and that it's almost always done right? I assume that means that I shouldn't have to strictly limit it to the good brands you mentioned above?
Yes. The lower receiver itself and the lower receiver parts are hard to get wrong. It's perfectly fine to use a lower receiver or use a lower receiver parts from any of the brands I mentioned in the "would not buy" section such as RRA. There simply isn't much to go wrong.
Aero is good to go. Probably the most well respected at that price category.
You can buy a stripped lower receiver and then assemble the rest of the lower with parts. It will probably take you a couple hours. The parts come together pretty easily.
It is common to build the lower then buy a completed upper to learn a bit about the rifle and save some money. I built both receivers so I could get the parts I wanted and because it was fun.
If you're considering building the whole gun and want to know how it compares performance and price-wise to factory guns, here's my tip... You can build a better rifle. You can build a rifle for less. You cannot build a better rifle for less.
I think it would be a good idea to take advantage of a deal on an Aero lower for now. You can assemble the lower with parts and then when all of this craziness dies down, look for a completed upper from a good manufacturer.
I know it's the worse time to buy, but if an AWB isn't coming up, I wouldn't be in the market right now. I'm keeping an eye out on any good deals that pop up on ArmsList.
You're looking to buy used? Okay, chances are you're going to find a gun that someone has made changes to. Here's a quick list of upgrades that are good, and upgrades that aren't so good.
Good:
BCM Gunfighter Charging Handle - Very common. This charging handle is made of steel instead of aluminum and features an improved latch design. It feels much better to use and you won't break it if you torque your latch the wrong way.
Magpul, Troy, Tangodown, VLTOR Furniture - Things like grips, butt stocks, and hand guards. There are dozens of other companies that build quality stuff, but the most common are the ones I listed. They make the gun a bit more ergonomic and snazzy looking.
PMAGs - Or any magazine with an anti-tilt follower. Most AR malfunctions are due to worn out or crappy magazine. Often times you won't know if the follower is anti-tilt in an aluminum mag. Almost all polymer magazines include anti-tilt followers.
Aimpoint, EoTech, Leupold, Trijicon, Vortex Optics - Quality optics, nuff said.
Bad:
Tapco furniture - It's just plastic junk. Luckily most of it is pretty cheap and quality replacements are reasonably priced and easy to find.
No-Name Optics - Nothing is worse than a bad optic. Fakes of good brands also exist. Something to look out for when deals are too good to be true.
Piston AR's - Do you want a nose heavier, more expensive, harsher recoiling gun with proprietary parts? Then get one of these. If not, ignore. Only use if you plan to run two of the following: Suppressors, Short Barrels, Full Auto.
Nickel Boron (NiB) coated internals - Wonder coating that was supposed to make AR's run without lube. Turns out this treatment is basically a waste of money.
Grip-pod - Bad at being a vertical fore grip, worse at being a bipod. Expensive and thus adds a lot to the price too.
Color filled engravings - Do it for me. It's a gun, not Barbie's mansion. Just no. The only exception is safe-fire selector markings.
There are many more good and bad upgrades. I picked these because they tend to be common from what I've seen. You can always post a picture or search other forums for feedback on a certain product. Try to stay away from thefiringline or thehighroad. m4carbine.net is my preferred place.
Please do go into the technical details if you want. I'm an engineer, and I like to understand the technical and the engineering behind a product. At the very least, other people in the future can reference this later down the road.
Okay. Next time I get a chance I'll sit down and write a short technical guide. The stuff above should be enough to help you when looking for a purchase.
Glad to hear it's been reliable for you though. 👍
Good luck Joey!
I so want to cash in on the action, but once I sell it, most likely, I'd be screwed. 
but that was out of many rounds and actually 3 diffrent kinds. 
