How Much Does an AR15 Cost? [2024]

Buying your first AR15, or any AR15 for that matter can be kind of a daunting proposition given that there are so many manufacturers, even more terms to learn, and a lot of differences in cost.

In this piece, we hope to make that buying process just a little bit easier by giving you some rough estimates and information to work off of when you’re AR15 shopping in early 2024.

We’ll kick things off with a short discussion about the average costs for these rifles right now. From there, we’ll give you six different snapshots: three of them will be of the most affordable rifles we would recommend, and the other three will be three rifles we would buy ourselves if doing so would not be a potentially poor financial decision. 

After those snapshots, we’ll give you an idea of the rough cost range you can expect from several of the most common manufacturers of ARs so you can get a good idea of the market. We’ll wrap things up with some comments on buying new or used, online or in-store, and some final words to help guide you to making a smart AR decision.

Average Cost of An AR-15

The average price for an AR-15 rifle that is ready to go out of the box is around $800.

This is an increase over prices just a few years ago, meaning that now is a fairly expensive time to buy an AR-15 pattern firearm. 

If you’re reading an article like this one, chances are you’re looking to buy your first rifle, so you’re unlikely to have optics laying around or a spare upper receiver. Thus, for our purposes here, we mean a rifle that comes with an upper receiver, lower receiver, some kind of iron sights, and is ready to fire immediately.

Best Cheap AR15s

For a full rundown on some of the best cheap AR15s, check out our full list here.

Palmetto State Armory PSA-15

For both the budget-conscious and the supporters of the Second Amendment, there’s a lot to love about Palmetto State Armory. Their mission is to make it as accessible (that means affordable!) as possible for Americans to keep and bear arms. That translates to some of the most affordable AR 15s that are on the market today and that are reliable. If budget is your primary concern, then you should head to PSA’s website and check out their sale section. 

For instance, on the day I’m writing this, they have a rifle with a collapsing stock, full Magpul furniture, iron sights, and a magazine for $599. Yes, it is a relatively bare-bones setup in terms of internal parts, but that price for a reliable firearm with more than decent furniture on it is hard to beat these days. 

Smith and Wesson M&P Sport II

The M&P Sport II is a classic in the budget AR world. These come in a variety of furniture configurations depending on the vendor as well as the state. What they all share is the basics: it’s a good, reliable AR made by a well-known company that has reasonably good customer service. They also tend to come with iron sights, making them a good option for people who want a ready-for-the-range package.

At about $800 MSRP, you can almost certainly find one for that, or less, at a local store with a few phone calls. One thing to think about with Smith and Wesson is that they do sell state-compliant models that either come with a not-a-pistol-grip grip for places like California, or smaller capacity magazines for states like Washington. Being able to buy a specific model for your state, while legally onerous in our view, is at least convenient from a consumer perspective.

On something of a side note here, even though the M16A3-style handguard on some of these models does look cool, it might not be what you want if you plan to attach a foregrip or a weapon light, so factor in a replacement handguard into your budget as well if you’re considering one of Smith and Wesson’s budget-minded offerings.

Ruger AR556 

Ruger, another well-known maker of fine American firearms also has well-priced models of the AR platform, which borrows a lot of its features from the Smith and Wesson design mentioned above, for about $1000. For this price, you can expect a fully-featured rifle that has a set of iron sights, a nice set of furniture, and a magazine that is complainant with the rules in your state.

The special trick with the Ruger rifles is that their coolest models are ones that are sold at specific distributors. A black model can be found about anywhere, but, as an example, the olive drab version that looks downright awesome is only available at Lipsey’s. With a little bit of looking around and some phone calls, it’s possible to get a rifle that looks like it costs double what it does, though the internals on all three of these guns are decidedly standard. There’s nothing wrong with that, however, and we include all three of these firearms here because we would trust them to function in case of self-defense needs. 

What Are Some Much More Expensive Options?

FN Military Collector M4

FN Herstal has been making M4 rifles, among other pieces of military kit, for the United States for several decades. It’s about impossible, and likely highly illegal, to get your hands on a military M4 in the civilian world.

This is the closest to an M4 you’ll get, down to the tiny details like the color of the finish, and without the fully-automatic function. Buying this, then, is exactly like buying any of the budget models in terms of legal paperwork, but is quite different in terms of price tag, as you can expect to spend about $1900 on these, MSRP. But, getting one at MSRP would be about impossible, as these are a limited-edition run and collectors are going to want top dollar for these M4 clones. Expect to pay $3000 on the low end if you absolutely must have one of these excellent rifles. 

Wilson Combat Protector 

Wilson Combat has been known for making great competition parts and rifles for years, and their $2000 Protector model shows off a lot of that knowledge. While this rifle shares the same general format as a standard AR, that’s more or less where the similarities end.

Every part of this rifle is premium: all of the internals are meant to function flawlessly, the trigger is awesome, and even the finish is super tough. This is, without a doubt, one of the most durable and precise weapons that are the same general size and shape as the M4. If you’re looking for one of the most premium firearms that money can buy while remaining within the landscape of practical fighting or competition rifles, the Wilson Combat Protector is an excellent choice.

Cobalt Kinetics Special Purpose Rifle 

As it was originally designed, the AR15 was meant as a standard infantry rifle. That is to say, it was meant to hit targets about the size of a human being at around 300 yards.

Cobalt Kinetics seems to have taken those accuracy requirements as a personal insult. For $2,500, they’ll make you a rifle that is meant to shoot at less than half of the overall group distance of the budget rifles that we listed above, and do so, with proper maintenance, for 50,000 rounds.  The folks at Cobalt are obsessed with quality parts and quality control: a lot of the price of these rifles, in all honesty, is in the sheer time that these folks spend making sure that each hand-built rifle is good to go when it leaves the factory floor. This is the rifle for people who care about accuracy and durability over all else in their ARs. 

Prices By Brand

How much does each brand charge for a complete AR15 rifle ready to go?

Brand	AR15 Price Range (MSRP)
Colt	$1,049 – $2,599
Daniel Defense	$1,907 – $3,458
Fabrique Nationale Herstal (FN)	$1,359 – $1,929
Geissele Automatics	$1,500 – $2,225
Knights Armament Company (KAC)	$2,765 – $3,047
Palmetto State Armory	$499 – $1,549
Ruger	$1,019 – $2,049
Sig Sauer	$876 – $1,376
Smith & Wesson	$788 – $1,599
Springfield Armory	$1,023 – $1,379
Wilson Combat	$2,099 – $3,285

Palmetto State Armory 

As we mentioned above, PSA is all about making rifles that are affordable and accessible. With them, you can expect to find rifles priced from $500-$800, and in a variety of barrel lengths, furniture styles, and configurations. All-in-all, we think that they are one of the best options on the market for people who want reliable firearms but do not want to break the bank in acquiring them. 

Smith and Wesson

Over the years, Smith and Wesson have been primarily known for their revolvers. Those revolvers, long the choice of police, military, and civilian shooters, are becoming a little less popular with time, and, to keep themselves relevant, this workhorse American gun company has been in the AR industry for some time now.

Smith and Wesson ARs used to be the most affordable, widely available, reliable rifle we would be willing to recommend, until the introduction and success of brands like PSA. With that said, Smith and Wesson’s rifles still offer a good value on a more than adequate rifle at the $800 price point.

Colt

Colt is likely the name that you think of first when you’re trying to name an AR15 manufacturer, and Colt knows this: that’s why it will be difficult for you to find a Colt model for less than $1000. They made the original military contract guns, and still supply many law enforcement agencies today.

With that in mind, Colt pioneered the “mil-spec” AR, but, in some ways, has not notably innovated in some time. This leaves a lot of AR shooters with Colts wondering if they’re paying more for the logo and the brand’s history than for features and upgrades.

FN

What Colt was to the latter part of the 20th century, FN seems to be for the 21st: it’s a massive, multi-national arms company that makes weapons for militaries, law enforcement agencies, and civilians the world over.

No small amount of the American, British, and other NATO arsenals are FN small arms. With that said, FN more than makes you pay for the quality, and you can expect to spend close to $1800 for one of their AR15 rifles. 

Wilson Combat

Wilson Combat makes some of the best rifles that money can buy, and for a little over $2000, you can get an excellent AR that will likely perform way better than the skillset of most shooters can take full advantage of.

One thing to note here is that, unlike some other premium manufacturers, Wilson does have the occasional sale: we managed to spot a few $1600 Protector carbines on sale around Christmas, and this might be one to look out for if you want what we think would be a very good value on an excellent rifle. 

Knight’s Armament 

Knight’s got their popular start in developing marksman rifles for special forces. That was nearly three decades ago, and, since then, Knight’s has put a lot of their know-how into making extremely precise rifles. 

An AR from Knight’s can easily run up to the $3000 mark, but if you are looking for arguably the best-made ARs in the business, this is certainly a good way to go. 

In-Store or Online? 

As with anything else, it very much depends. Some of our favorite brands, like PSA, sell almost exclusively online. Others, like Ruger, are more commonly found in stores. Local stores can sometimes have great discounts (many have websites or social media where they post ads!) or, from time to time, get in some guns that they’re willing to let go cheap.

These days, buying online is often the better deal, but bear in mind that your local gun store will likely charge you a fee to receive your firearm and then hand it over to you: call in advance, before you buy anything, to arrange this and see how much those fees are. The lowest we’ve seen is in Florida for $25, but some states, like Washington, charge upwards of $60 for such a transaction. 

New vs. Used

Since most firearms are well made and reliable these days, buying used can be a great option, if a few important conditions can be met:

First, we only think about buying a used gun if it is a substantial discount (in this case a, few hundred dollars) over the new MSRP. From there, it only makes sense to be able to inspect the firearm in person, including a function check, a visual inspection, and, vitally, looking down the barrel. Any obvious signs of neglect, or excessive wear, and we’re out.

Lastly, and especially in the case of AR-15s– bring someone experienced along with you if at all possible. It’s not hard to get a “good deal” on an AR only to realize that it was some home-built travesty that won’t likely function.

While buying used can be good, then, erring on the side of a new rifle that makes sense for your budget, and getting it in person at a reputable local gun store is often a better first-time option. 

Conclusion

In 2024, it’s likely going to cost you around $500 – $1,200 to get an AR15 that is reliable, though it is not hard to spend several times that. There are good manufacturers with a wide range of budgets, all of whom offer something a little bit different.

When it comes to buying an AR15, you might also want to consider buying either online or used, though doing some homework ahead of time and exercising caution in both cases is our best advice. When in doubt, price shopping and waiting for sales at the local gun store are also good ideas.