Purchasing AR-15

My adult son mentioned he wants to buy an AR-15 for plinking targets and hunting, while I have thought about it for home security. I have done research on brands etc. and feel overwhelmed. I have plenty of rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Any experienced suggestions being in the $1200 range for quality and dependability? Everything I buy is for the long haul, and want to be satisfied with the purchase.

If I knew what the other guy had, it would be easy to say a pistol is enough or the best choice. Not so sure how it would stack up VS an AR etc. I am not trained in defense , so I may be wrong but when I see the military clear rooms/houses there is not a pistol in sight. Mrt.

I have 2..  One is a Danial Defence.. pricy but of good quality..  only thing I did was 'enhance' the trigger.. ( 50 cent trigger job on youtube..) ( cost me $12.50 because I wrecked the trigger, had to get a new one..)   The other is a cheapie I picked up a couple years ago, polymer lower, cheap plastic components... bit the bullet on that one and put in a drop-in quality USA made trigger $140. Both guns are sub-moa ..  both are 1/9 twist, the like 65 gr. bullets and varget powder.. with the box store ammo they are in the 2 inch / 2.5 inch range... you get what you pay for, I lean towards metal lowers, and metal components.. Bob

Keep in mind, K&M sells a GREAT 22 conversion kit for your AR. Takes less than 3 seconds to convert your 556/223 to 22LR. About $150. You'll save that in a year.

Jimbo

.450 Bushmaster is an AR15 cartridge...it shoots a 250-300 gr. bullet in the 2000-2100 fps range. .458 SOCOM and .50 Beowulf (12.7x42) are also in the same general category. Huge recoil in the AR15 platform tho compared to other cartridges. I decided to go with the new 350 Legend that was developed by Winchester in 2018 and released at SHOT Show 2019. It shoots a 150-180 gr. bullet at 2100-2350 fps range and is a deer and hog killer to about 200 yards, plus has greater magazine capacity than the larger 'Thumper' rounds listed above.

If he is looking for a strictly home defense cartridge, the .223/5.56 with a very light (35-40 gr.) varmint bullet would be better. Less chance of over penetration. Still good for hunting things like coyotes and other nuisance animals, but is marginal for large midwest whitetails. It has a larger following in the southern states for whitetails because their deer run smaller on average. Other hunting cartridges in the AR15 platform are the 7.62x39, 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC and a few others. Ammo for these can be difficult to find other than online. 7.62x39 is everywhere, but the magazines can have issues in the AR15 platform when it comes to reliable feeding. Not a big deal for hunting...HUGE deal breaker for home defense. If you want the 7.62x39 for a defense round, buy an AK. It was designed around that cartridge.

For those using shotguns for home defense and having over penetration issues, don't use 00 or 000 buck...use 3 buck or 4 Buck. It is smaller, has more pellets, and still hits like a truck. Its like being shot 20 or 25 times simultaneously with a .22 LR. If you don't train very often or have a spouse that doesn't have a lot of shooting experience, a shotgun is probably the best HD option out there. I actually have my wife's Mossberg 500 Bantam 20 gauge loaded with 6 rounds of 4 buck with an Improved Cylinder choke. She shoots trap and turkey hunts and is familiar with the firearm, which is important should she ever need to use it. The short barrel on the Bantam model is also nice for HD. I would never dream of forcing her to use an AR to defend our house/family.

Edit to add: The nice thing about an AR15 is the modularity. For example, if you want a .223/5.56 for home defense, but also want to hunt deer, you can buy the 5.56 rifle and a 350 Legend, 7.62x39, 6.5 Grendel, etc. and with two pins and about 15 seconds, you have a whole new rifle for less than half of what another whole rifle would cost. Something to think about if you want to shoot several calibers without breaking the bank.

Forgot the full name of the .450 . It was created for the states like Illinois that finally allow rifles . But they must be a straight wall cartridge of a minimum  , maximum length . So no .44 mags or ,45 70 .

Rock river 100 yds, need I say more 

snakester

Too hard to keep track of all the cartridges made for AR15 platform, it might be the 450 Bushmaster

Plus now there's the .450 . A large slower bullet that would probably not have much over penetration. 

Snakester - I like the Ruger alot, no problems with it but I don't have alot to compare it to, I don't know mcuh about AR's.

As far as home defense I have some handguns placed throughout the house in hard to find places but easy to get to. Once our newborn gets older I plan to buy more safes. The AR is in a soft case under the bed with some loaded magazines. Not sure when I would ever use this in rural WI but we live in crazy times. I agree with a shotgun being a great choice for home defense. 

When I lived in Alaska I always had a loaded shotgun with me when camping and at home for bears, along with a .454 revolver with bear load that I carried on me when I was out hiking or fishing. First two rounds in shotgun were buck shot, last 3 rounds were slugs. Better chance of hitting the bear with buckshot and scaring it off without killing it. 

For home security, I would use a pistol

I bought a Ruger AR-15 4 years ago for around $650. Not the best built AR but gets the job done. At the time there was a big push to ban AR's and the local gun shops could not stock them fast enough. They got 15 in stock and the next day there was only one left so I bought it. Shot a box of ammo through it after I bought it and its been sitting ever since, but ready to go if needed. Ammo is not cheap compared to plinking with my .22

I wish I would have bought an AR-10 in .30 cal, the .223 is a pretty weak round.

I only have one AR that is a high-end rifle. It's an Anderson Mfg and I got if for a steal. 

My first AR-15 was/is a Del-Ton in 5.56mm. My ex-military friend who got it for me said that Del-Ton is a quality company and actually makes parts for more popular brands like DPMS. I've not had any problems with the rifle and have shot cheap Soviet metal rounds through it. 

My second AR has a Yankee Hill Machine receiver chambered in 6.8 SPC. The barrel assembly is a DPMS. Again, never had an issue with the rifle but I've only shot match-grade ammo through it. Would recommend YHM. Nelson Tactical had this as their signature brand when I bought the receiver. 

My Anderson AR-10, well, it's an Anderson so I can't compare it to lower-cost models.

Good Luck!