I'll guarantee you'll never complain about a Wilson Combat UT-15. But then again, that's likely more than you want to pay.

I've only had one colt AR-15 and one Armalite. I've still got my Army, I sold the colt 5yrs and over 10,000rnds for enough to buy my Rock River Arms. I've got two bushy's one high grade stainless target model and one realtree (full camo version, not just the stock set)...oh yeah, plus my Wilson parkerized O.D green on black UT-15...

The wilson is far and away the best shooter, definitely worth the money, I don't regret buying it for a second, and I'd buy another one if this one "died". My colt wasn't really impressive, it shot about on par with my other "standard" model AR's that it cost about double the cost of, but it didn't feed well most of the time (worked flawlessly with Wilson magazines however). My Army didn't have anything bad about it, other than I paid the same price for it, a standard model, as I did the full camo parkerized Bushy. My standard camo model bushy is great, it's with me most places I go, the varmint model is what it is, too accurate and expensive just for spraying lead, but absolutely a blast to hunt coyotes and P-dogs with. The RRA is probably the best value.

If I were buying my first AR-15, I'd buy an AR-10...no just kidding (AR-10 is the .308win version of the AR-15, in case you're wondering)....

Seriously, I'd buy the RRA or Bushy (RRA prefered for price) and an aftermarket stainless match grade bbl, and a few Wilson combat magazines in various capacities (two fives, two tens, and 4-10 30 or 32rnd magazines would be my starter kit)....That'd be the best deal on an outstanding performer. You'd have about $1000 into it at that point, but you'd have a rifle that'd shoot 1MOA to 200yrds in the right hands and likely be able to cycle 300rnds per minute from a semiautomatic!!