One thing I've learned after several AR's.........
The manufacturers mark up the prices....a lot. Please don;t pay $900 for a shelf rifle......
99% of your performance and reliability is in the upper. Lowers really don't matter much as long as they are in spec.
You can "build" a semi custom AR15 for $1000 or under and have a
guaranteed .5 MOA gun. The simplest solution is to get a RRA or Stag (both made by CMT.....the only difference is the rollmark) from
Eagle Firearms . That will run $200 complete. RRA/Stag lowers are tight fitting to the upper and don't have the rattle the Bushy's tend to get.
Next, mate that lower to a quality upper. If you want a varmint or competition gun, the
Clark Gator is guaranteed to run .5 MOA with handloads. You also get a carbon fiber float tube, chromed bolt and carrier and match barrel. Another option is the
White Oak Armament uppers. These have the 1:7 twist to run the heavier bullets out to 600 yards+.
With those varmint/long range setups you can have money left over for a custom trigger as well for your $1000 and change........a LOT more than buying off the shelf.
Of course, you could pull out the stops and buy a
JP
As for the AR10, that can be a bit more pricey, but you could just get another lower and mate it to a 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC, .243 WSSM, .25 WSSM, .50 Beowulf, .458 SOCOM, .204, or any other upper than will fit a standard AR15 platform.
Oly makes the .25 WSSM and .243 WSSM uppers and those have the capability of mid sized game guns as well as pushing lighter bullets at 4000fps........