I own or have owned pre-9/94 Colts, post-9/94 Colts, and post-9/94 Bushmaster AR’s and I’d have to vote for the Bushmaster. IMO the pre-9/94 Colts are the nicest AR’s made (aside from the proprietary-sized “PC” parts), too bad they went downhill after the 1994 ban. The late 90’s Colt I had was nice but not as nicely finished nor smooth as my Colt Sporter. It just felt more cheaply made. My Bushmasters aren’t as nice as my Colt Sporter either, but the Bushmasters are smooth enough, extremely rugged and well-built, and use standard-sized parts. Plus, Bushmaster is an excellent company to deal with. I know a lot of people have grown to love the RRA rifles, but of all the ones I’ve held and/or fired, there’s just something missing from a RRA AR that I can’t entirely explain. They just don’t seem to be a Bushmaster or older Colt. They just feel “clunky.” Plus, RRA had an issue a few years ago with out-of-spec parts that they tried to deny. That left a bad taste in my mouth too.

In your shoes, I would spend the money on a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle and call it a day. You’ll have probably the best AR-15 made today.