OK guys, so I am looking to purchase an AR-15. I know in advance that I will want to attach a light to it since it will be a home defense gun. Down the road I may also want to attach a vertical grip and other accessories to distract others from my lack of skill.
Given this I figured it would be a good idea to buy an AR with a rail system already in place. I did some googling and research and these models popped up often:
DPMS for $746
New DPMS AR15 Tactical Rail & Flip Up Sights AR-15 : Semi-auto at GunBroker.com
Daniel Defense for $960
XV EZ Daniel Defense M4 Carbine AR-15 5.56 NATO : Semi-auto at GunBroker.com
Colt for $1300
Colt 6940 (NEW) : Semi-auto at GunBroker.com
So I'll get to the point. Do you guys think the price difference between these rifles is justified? During my research I didn't come across anything really bad about DPMS. And it seems like a lot of people are willing to pay a lot for Colts just because they're "Mil-Spec." I do realize that the bottom two have twist rates of 1:7 and the DPMS has a 1:9. I plan on shooting 55 grain 5.56 and I as I understand it the 1:9 twist rate is slightly more conducive to 55 grain rounds, but correct me if I am wrong on this or if the difference is negligible.
I can afford any of these rifles however I don't like wasting money just for the name of the side of the gun. I figure if the DPMS is 98% as good as the Colt but because it's $550 less I can buy 2000 rounds of 5.56 (there are places online selling 1000 round boxes for $280), then I would go with the DPMS. Or heck I could even spend that saved money on some more of that "training" stuff.
That being said, I am not into gun collecting. My interest in getting a rifle is purely utilitarian. I only want to have one rifle and in the long run I likely will not remember blowing $500 extra on a Colt if it offers something a little extra in terms of durability than the other two due to it being "Mil-Spec". However if the Mil-spec hype is something that only matters to the 300 pound keyboard warriors then I can live without it.
So if anyone has any input that would be great, or if anyone knows another model I should consider you can give me feedback. Thanks.