trying to pick one of three or so budget AR15s and need advice
so Im a VA resident who is looking to purchase an AR rifle before the July 1st ban. Im 20 so a lot of online places dont even sell me AR style rifles despite it being legal till july 1. Basically, Im in a budget here around $500-600 ideally. but because I know due to work Ill be a VA resident for at least the next 3 yeears I want something that will be reliable. I probably wont shoot it often, but when I do I want a rifle that just works. if I take it to the range, it will shoot without issue and be reliable and not require a ton of mantinence. ive been doing research for a few days at my local FFL gun store and online and the gun store has a Ruger Harrier 556 for around $560 so from hat ive seen thats a good deal. I wanted to get a smith and wesson volunteer XV but it looks like guns.com wont even sell to me because Im under 21 and its an assault firearm despite it being legal.
so basically to some degree my options are limited to either what I find in my local gun store that said they would sell to me with no issue, or what I can find online that will ship to under 21 to an FFL, which I dont know what sites will do that - will gunbroker work? and if so, what model is the best in this range? is the ruger harrier 556 good? because a lot of sources like some youtube videos, chatGPT, some reddit posts and my gun store all basically told me this was a perfectly reliable and adequate rifle for my needs. I dont need a super nice trigger or eloquent $2k furniture. I just need something that will be a good reliable rifle for at least the next 3 years given I cant exactly get a new AR after july 1st. one reddit post was talking about how it was using cheap anderson parts and how its a more poverty. but I cant differentiate between whether this is people who own $2k rifles and want everything to be perfect or if its anything of substance.
I see a lot of rifles online like diamondback models everywhere but the consensus Ive seen is these arent reliable. which kind of worries me. and the smith and wesson M&P 15 was recommended to me as another good choice but this isnt really in the price range Im looking for.
Im probably just overanalysing this and my rifle will be perfectly fine but would be nice to get some real persnal affirmatirons before I shell out $650 total on rifle + tax or so.