Need rifle input

When I left home for undergrad constructive activities in my free time took the back seat to partying. I guess when working full time and going to school I thought the partying was a good way to relieve stress and relax. Well I've matured a little I guess and drinking has completely lost its luster and I've been looking for things to do to keep me entertained in my free time that I can also invite others to do with me so I still have some friends. The only thing to do in Greenville, NC is drink, it sounds terrible but those who live here should agree that if you're here for school and don't own private land there is nothing around. I haven't been partying for about 8 months now so I spend way too much time sitting at home twiddling my thumbs. I've been shooting since I was 5 years old with my dad and grandfather and I have a few guns here with me in Greenville (home is in Concord) I enjoy taking to the range. They are a Glock 20, Ruger LCP, Mossberg 500 regal 12g, Revelation 12g(the beater), Mossberg home protection 4.10, Rossi .22 rolling block, Remington viper .22 auto(the beater).

What I'm interested in is a rifle that I can put plenty rounds through. I really enjoy precision shooting but I don't have tons of money to throw at it and ammo is expensive. I was looking into AR-15's because of their versatility and seemingly endless configurations.. I have a lever 30-06 and a 30-30 I use for deer hunting but they stay at my dads as they are his and he hasn't handed them down yet. I felt like an AR would be sufficient to take out hunting also if I wanted to go around Greenville. Armslist.com has multiple dpms setups one of them even has the .22 conversion asking $1150

http://www.armslist.com/posts/311557/asheville-north-carolina-rifles-for-sale--fde-dpms-ar-15
(^This caught my eye because of the conversion for plinking and still the ability for larger ammo, but what does the conversion entail and how hard is it to swap back and forth? Just change the action by breaking down and reassembling or what?)

First- Does someone have a better rifle I should be looking into for what I plan to do?

Second- With the AR whats a reasonable price? I know it depends on the components but lets call it mostly DPMS, Magpull, S&W or Colt parts as I've seen plenty in the 800-900 range.

Third- If I'm looking for an accurate gun what should I look for or avoid specific to an AR. I know good brand firearm accessory makers but I'm an AR newbie by all means. (fixed or adjustable stock, barrel length, trigger brands, iron sights brands, scope mounts...)

Thank you for your input

 

lots of good ar makers to choose from these days, ..each seems to have cult followings of sorts ..

1) yeah i think ar would be a fun all-around rifle to shoot. i have two, and am building a lower for a third!

2) your price range sounds about right.. you might find a little cheaper, check aimsurplus...

3) depends what the intended uses are.... a standard type ar w/ 16" barrel should be plenty "accurate" for recreatinal benchrest shooting, for three-gun, etc.. if you are talking long range target shooting, then perhaps look for something w/ a bull barrel and maybe even free-floated handguard/foreend.. also for long range you'll want a rifling twist rate of 1/7 to stabilize longer/heavier bullets that are better suited to long range, ..wind, etc..

no shortage of accessories, ..i like YHM and midwest industries, ..but there are a lot of good makers out there..

 

if you want to shoot the most rounds for cheapest then go .22

otherwise, shoot a .223 or 7.62 x 39

or you could go the sniper route where the rounds are more expensive but you shoot fewer since you concentrate on accuracy

 

I would build your own AR-15 from scratch so you can have what you want...You dont need a bolt action to be accurate, an AR can be the best for what you want, and when shooting for "cheap" run Wolf, Brown Bear, Silver Bear and what not.....If you have any questions P.M. me...

 

For inexpensive - and affordable - shhoting and something you can readily use for hunting, you could go with one of the reproduction Russin Mosin-Nagant M91/30 sniper rifles. They are built from original M91/30s peoduced for WWI/III and the scopes are new Manufacture but made in the same plant and to the same specs as the originals. They can be had for $400 - $550 depending on where you buy them and what your gun shop charges to transfer (assuming you don't have a firearms license). 7.62X54 ammo is extrememly inexpensive and readily available.

As noted above, 7.62X39 is also cheap and plentiful - you could go with an SKS or an AK47 type and sent all the lead downrange you want.

Of course, the various US AR configurations are popular and there are lots of options. I collect MILSURPLUS rifles so I can't offer much advice on the ARs.