The First Guns to Buy According to Micah and Charlie from Garand Thumb

Seeing Charlie not being goofy is weird to see but I like it

Wars are fought with $500 rifles

That Daniel defense line by charlie was on point. 😂

I think the awesome thing about buying just like a PSA AR, you can just upgrade/swap things as you go. You get a rifle that works and then you shoot it and notice you don’t like the charging handle so you swap that and then next time you notice you’re not really the biggest fan of the trigger so you get a better one and then before you know it your $350 rifle has 1k worth of parts in it but you were never without having a usable rifle, I love it!

Personally, I was born and raised in SC and PSA was obviously the best option considering they were the only legit gun store near me. But I’ve had no issues, the quality is pretty dang good for the price, and got plenty of helpful advice from their staff.

NOTE: A significant concern is that time may not always be in your favor when saving up for the desired firearm. Rapid changes in laws can mean that delaying your purchase might result in losing the opportunity to acquire a rifle altogether. This has been the unfortunate experience for many people I know here in Illinois.

I think Hop has done everything but a rifle tier. He should.

First AR was a Smith & Wesson M&P sport II. It’s a solid platform, mine has the A2 front sight, with a pop up rear sight. My next AR I went hard on; bought a Colt AR15A4.

Loved that sly, cough , reference with that "if the CIA wasn't going to buy me a Daniel Defense" 🤣🤣🤣

Those psa ar/dagger combos are pretty hard to beat for getting into it. Add a mag/ammo package for each, a red dot, sling and holster, and your ready to go.

6:40 dude you really nailed the overwhelming feeling you get when starting on a project that could literally change a million times from your initial thoughts, especially after getting on YouTube or whatever to see other peoples opinions on every little thing you hadn’t even considered

1) M&P 2.0 with light and red dot 2) An AR in the $1500 range like a BCM with a good Trijicon or Eotech 3) Mossberg 590

For entry level, PSA is the absolute best option. Also agree that a 16” is good to start with. I would get one with an MLOK handguard, not the plastic. I think those can be had for well less than $700 all in. Add a sig red dot for $125ish.

My first was a commercial bushmaster lower that came with a A2 buffer system/stock. Threw a bushmaster lower parts kit in and found a spikes tactical 5.56 16” upper for a steal at a gun store and the rest is history. I’ve since put a collapsible stock on it and a cmc drop in trigger but she still runs great. I was a very happy 18 year old lol

Fully agree with Micah. Only thing is I would trade the G17 out for M&P.

My first AR was given to me by my uncle sam when I was 17.

The benefit of not having the atf breathing down your neck the 16 sells itself

My first gun was a ruger p95 from a pawn shop. Few months later picked up an Anderson am15, free floated the barrel and upgraded the hand guard. I’ve sold both of them now, but now I’m rocking a 13.7” build with a PSA lower, solgw mid length barrel, bcm upper and hanguard and bolt, and a kx-5 pin and weld with magpul furniture (that stubby vertical fore grip is boss) with a red dot/magnifier combo and back up flip ups. Painted it like flannel daddy taught us all, and my edc is a canik elite combat with irons, I also have the tp9sc with a dot but that’s for if I’m rockin shorts and a t shirt or tank top. I’m a construction worker so I’m in jeans and a t shirt most of the time so the elite gives me everything I need and more.

Micah finally said it. Barrel length is such a dumb debate. It's honestly a weird debate for me to get into because...I have real world experience with a 10.3 5.56 rifle (MK18 mod1) in combat and I hit people at 300 meters....I think one time even 400? They dropped. I didnt know if they were dead until we had afghans go do the BDA (we made them do it) and they said there was dead dudes right where I remember clapping someone....so it works. The real question is "is it ideal?"...to have a rifle that short especially in a combat zone like afghanistan where engagement distances just vary SO MUCH. I mean One minute youre being ambushed from 300 meters away (sometimes further because afghans dont understand bullets arent lasers and once ambushed us from 1k away) and then before you know it, you hear dudes running up on you 50 meters away closing in to 25. The Mk18 did it. Yea, like Micha said...know your hoids and more importantly just know the capability of that rifle. We had shorty's because we would be up in mountains, then going into the valleys where it turned into MOUT/CQB territory. Some guys preferred their SCARs with the longer barrels and having .308, some guys preferred (our TACP in particular) their 14.5 BLOCK II's....so you had a variety of calibers, barrel lengths, etc...all on a single element and we were all getting the job done. I liked the shorty because were running around the villages alot and getting into nice skirmishes and it was nice to have a shorter gun for that. I watched the SF guys struggle alot with their SCARs but to Charlies point, they still made it work. They just struggled a bit more. Thats all. I think for most, short barrels on 5.56 for MOST people is because it's cool. It's very "operator" looking and dudes love that shit and I dont blame them. I own one myself as a civi now but I know its down falls and also own my 14.5s and my 16 inch guns. But im beyond the "beginner" stage as a shooter and all my rifles are purpose built. I know what I can do with a 10.5 because ive done it before and thats my gun ready to go right now if shit went down for whatever reason. But all my rifles will get the job done no matter what it is....they all just work a bit different. Know the difference and thats all. Yea, shorty's wont give you the best terminal ballistics compared to 14.5, 16, 18, 20 inch barrels....but it's still gonna do its job. Thats it. The reality is - in real combat, youre not on a gun range. Youll be all over the place, youre adrenaline is through the roof. You wont be taking single shots at dudes trying to get all alphas like you do at the range. Youre just laying down rounds and just trying to get them to hit somebody. Thats it. Just shoot the best you can until you watch them drop. They dont even have to be killed. I just dont want them getting back up. I want them out of the fight so we can continue to gain ground. And thats exactly why the barrel length debate is just dumb. A bullet is a bullet and when it hits someone, they dude does not care what barrel length it came out of and when hes hit by it hes gonna go "owwwwwww!" and hes not fighting anymore and thats all that matters.

For my first rifle I bought a PSA upper and an Anderson lower. But I have upgraded it overtime to be a duty rifle. bcm barrel , aero gas block, etc.