Del-Ton AR-15
 

It looks like the prices of AR-15's are dropping, maybe the confiscation scare is losing steam. I seen a few of these Del-Ton rifles at the LGS for $499. I have always wanted an AR-15, but not bad enough to pay skyrocketed prices. This looks like good deal to me. Of course I want to ask all you fellow gun enthusiasts because I never heard of this brand before. Maybe someone here is familiar with this company or has some advice on buying an entry level AR-15.

The best thing about AR-15's is that they are modular.

So you can buy a "mil-spec" AR and switch out parts as you want.

Del-Ton is as good as any entry level AR to start with IMO.

they are all about the same
RR

So much truth about the modular part. The LGS guy showed me all the stuff I could add or swap with this rifle. I never imagined AR's could have so many options.

My first AR was a Del-Ton. Still have it, and it's had a lot of rounds through it. I've built a handful of them using Del-Ton stripped uppers and lowers. They make a pretty good product. Even if you wanted to go with a basic model, it would be easy to upgrade it later.

Just to be fair, DPMS is another good brand. They make a model called the Sportical. I think you can still find them on sale for $499. They're nothin fancy, but throw a nice trigger in one, and they'll shoot with the best of 'em.

Del-Ton kits have been around a long time, heck, they've been around before most of these other folks got into the AR-15 game. I wanna say that it was somewhere around 2002 that I bought my first del-ton kit. They're not great, just mil-spec rifles, but if you want a cheap rifle that will run (what AR-15 won't?), then they're not a bad choice - but I wouldn't buy one.

The problem, however, is that you can buy a DPMS or Bushmaster carbine for the same price during sales, or $100 more at regular price, either of which will be a better finished rifle that will better hold resale value.

All in all, I wouldn't buy another Del-ton rifle or kit. There are better rifles at better values and at the same price out there.

Most of the internal parts in a Del-Ton come from DPMS, anyway. From what I've seen, Bushmaster is on par with Del-Ton and DPMS, not better.

Go resell one - the subjective "better" becomes pretty objective pretty quick...

While I'm not as "up on" AR's as Mercy (little doubt that many are really, dang kid is a genius with them) from a business standpoint on assessing value to a product, DPMS and Bushmaster would hold a higher value since they make their own parts while Del-Ton is merely an assembly plant. Also, in my own lightly educated opinion, DPMS and Bushmaster both have a finer finishing than the Del-Tons I looked at when getting my first AR. And I looked at, shouldered, test fired, and went over quite a few different brands from Del-Ton, DPMS, Bushmaster, LaRue, Novesky, Daniel Defense, just to name a few that I tried out.

Not hardly. In today's used AR market, the imaginary lines between DPMS, Del-Ton, Bushmaster, Windham, and dozens of other "bottom tier" AR manufacturers are totally blurred. There is nothing objective or empirical about this so-called "fit and finish" factor you guys keep touting that make any of the other manufacturers "better" than Del-Ton.