You guys are great.

I'm favoring the M4A3, which as I understand it has a removable carry handle so that you can add a scope. I've been reading at ar15.com, but as a newbie to the game, I am unfamiliar with a lot of the terminology.

I favor the M4 because I've always sort of favored carbines even though you might surrender a bit of range/accuracy. I like the adjustable butt and I intend to mount some stuff on the forearm so I'll probably have to consider ordering the forearm to accomodate those type of options.

I'll be using the rifle for general plinking and the destruction of the Ohio groundhog population at distances up to about 250 yards, but occasionally maybe 300 to 350 yards at most.

Like I say, I'm trying to read up on it as there seems to be a number of great options out there, but I'm leaning toward Bushmaster.

A local dealer has some rifles from Olympic Arms that have something like "For police or government use only" stamped on the magazine insert area. He claims that he bought these before the ban was lifted and states that the ban will probably be reinstated at some point, thus the stamp will add value to the guns that have that stamp on them, yet still be grandfathered and legal. The prices he's charging don't seem to reflect a premium for that stamping, for what it might be worth.

Still leaning toward a Bushmaster though.

Would like to know more about "building" one....How can this save money? How difficult is it? What would you guys suggest I order and what options should I consider?