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Hello all,

I am going to be buying an AR-15 within the next month and wanted to get everyone's opinion on which one I should get. I really don't want to spend more than $1700 if I can avoid it. It will mainly get used for target shooting and maybe the occasional boar hunt.

Travis, welcome to the board! You should be able to find a really good AR for that kind of money or less now, ARs are becoming available again in the gun shops and the frenzy after the Messiah got elected seems to have abated a bit. A Smith & Wesson M&P, DPMS, or even LMT rifle can be had for that or less, and if you wish to save more you can buy a Bushmanster which is also a very good rifle. My advice would be to get one configured in the A3 style so that it would be easier to add a red dot or optic in the future, and get as many 30 round mags as you can hide from the better half... An AR spare parts kit from Midway USA or Brownells wouldn't be a bad idea either, it will get you running again at the range if you break a spring. Buying the rifle is only half the cost, the rest is the ammo. You can save a LOT if you reload, at least as much as if you buy the Russian ammo and you will still have brass cased ammo that won't look like it's burning coal-dust when you clean the gun. If you are new to ARs, AR15.com is a fantasitc resource but don't get your feelings hurt over there, they can be a rough bunch.

I honestly don't know how effective the .223 is on boars, I suppose it depends on the size and shot placement as always. You might think about an additional upper in 6.8 later on if the .223 is marginal for them. Let us know what you get and how you like it!

Thanks for the welcome and the reply. I was just looking at the M&P yesterday. Nice rifle. I will definitely be going with A3 with some sort of scope, not sure which yet. When I buy the rifle I'm planning on getting at least 5 extra mags and with no better half to worry about, THANK GOD!, this will be easy. I didn't think about the parts kit, good call. I want to start reloading but finding dies and primers in my area is next to impossible right now. This will be MY first AR but I have a few friends that I go to the range with.

Any specific accessories I should get? Planning on a bi-pod eventually but that isn't really a priority.

Travis:
With your budget you should be able to do very well. You could go with one of the high-end ARs such as a Noveske if you wanted to spend that full amount just on the rifle. There was a guy that posted about buying a Colt 6920 in Ft Worth for about $1300, so that will give you an idea.
If you want to research your purchase some more, here's some info you might find useful:
If you want a lower noise-to-signal ratio look at the website in my sigline. There is also a good resource in http://www.m4carbine.net.
On Wevo we have an extreme use build thread. Lots of info on what to look for on heavy use defensive/duty weapons. You may not be looking at the AR for that, but it will give you an idea of the high endurance stuff and some of the important things to look for. Before you start pulling things out of here, be aware that a lot of this is going to be used on seriously used and abused carbines. It is good to see what the high end/high performance stuff is so you have an idea of what the top end is.
http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/sh ... .php?t=838
We also have a thread for explaining various members' carbines. The components they used, and why. A good point for seeing some very simple platforms that are still quite functional.
http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/sh ... .php?t=817

Here is the infamous "Chart" that gets a lot of people worked up. It runs down most of the major M4-type carbine producers and details where they meet the TDP (Technical Data Package) or MilSpec. It is not a value judgement, it is not an insult to anyone's mother, it is not a personal judgement on any individual. It is not totally inclusive, but Rob does keep it fairly up-to-date. The discussion in that post has a lot of basic info and explains certain features of the various components. Good info for a beginner to look at.
http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=6642
Here's some further expansion/explanation relating to the above Chart and some more good basic info.
http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=24397
A metric buttload of info links, all in one place.
http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7009

As for hunting, it is quite serviceable for boar. Your load will make a difference. I don't how big the critters are in your area, but you may want a heavier/deeper penetrating load due to the gristle/fat/bone. Arfcom has a hunting forum, and there are a lot of hog shooters in my area that use an AR.

One more gun I like is Olympic Arms. They are well made and as Patrick Sweeney has pointed out in both his AR-15 books Olympic Arms is the company that makes the hightest presentage of the parts in their guns. There are many well made ARs out there but Colt and Olympic made the ones I own. Another two rifles I would like to buy are made by Remington (R-15 carbine) and S&W (Basic AR-15 Carbine). I personally have no need for a railed forend but if I need one I like the Surefire 73 forend. It fits in place of the original handguards without modifaction of your rifle.