I bought my 1st AR-15 years ago, just before the 1st Clinton AR ban went into effect, (1994)
My 1st was a made in Windham, Me. a Bushmaster that featured everything that was going to be banned..
A telescoping stock, pistol grip, bayonet mount, & flash hider.. because I bought it very close to the date the ban was to take effect,
I paid 2X what the rifle was actually worth ( would have sold for ) well before the ban was announced to take effect.
As it had a fixed carry handle on the upper, I didn't shoot it much., as I didn't shoot it very well.
Had plenty of 223 ammo, ( as I'd bought a Mini 14 probably 10 yrs. earlier) but the iron sights + my eyesight = not too accurate.
My Bushmaster did have a 1:9 twist rate & has a heavy barrel. I eventually got a scope mount that screwed into the carry handle,
placing the scope way above the bore...with the scope , I shot it better, I still didn't shoot it much.
Years later , I found my gunsmith, & he did a trigger job on it. What a difference!
Reading about "building" an AR on gun forums, ( years later) I decided to try this, & bought a PSA AR-15 kit.
Funny, checked PSA site & couldn't find my 1st order. ? Earliest order shown was for my AR-10 upper,
bought in 2018. I bought the PSA AR-15 kit years before that.
Anyway, my PSA AR-15 kit was "assembled" by watching youtube & using tools I had on hand.
Went together rather easily , only really had to assemble the kit-provided parts onto a stripped lower I had to purchase separately
This kit has a flat-top upper, so I added a set of rings, scope , brass catcher attachment, and a bipod. I was excited to see if / how well it worked,
looking forward to test fire it. Had a few issues , talked them over with my gunsmith ( how to polish a rough AR chamber)..
I kept tweeking the rifle a spring kit for the trigger, then, swapped out the trigger for a drop in, .sent the rifle back to PSA, with a long, detailed
explanation of what issue I had, ...rifle was returned to me with NO report of what, if anything,was done to it.
Kept using it , discovered that if I concentrated, it could shoot pretty accurately, esp. with some hand loads I'd assembled.
Long story shortened ( really ?) this got me interested in the AR format. Bought an Adams Arms gas piston AR ( it was on sale)
did many of the same mods to it..later added a PSA AR-10, .. this became my favorite rifle,as it was very accurate,( & it shot .308)
Actually stopped shooting my M1A , as I could shoot the Ar-10 more accurately.
I then learned that a AR-15 lower could shoot 7.62 X 39, with a different upper, BCG, & mag..so got one of those.
I already had 7.62 X39 ammo, components, dies, etc..('cause I already had a Mini -30)
a local manufacturer Combat Armory , behan producing & selloing AR parts, so bought a very inexpensive 223 upper, with ch & bcg,
thinking , I would usei t to shoot cheap steel cased Tula/Wolf ammo that @ the time, was selling for aboutrthe same price/rnd. as it cost me to reload 223.
Decided after it arrived, I'd try shooting some of my handloads 1st, before using steel cased stuff.
Imagine my surprise when this "bargain bin" upper shot the best groups of any of my other AR's.. ended up selling nearly all the steel cased 223
ammo I'd purchased , during the most recent ammo shortage.
This describes how I became a strong advocate, even fan of the AR format.. What's not to love ?
Inexpensive guns, & parts, , very accurate, easy & inexpensive to modify.. able to easily switch calibers, tons of accessories available, hard to imagine anything better, IMO.