I need a cost-effective but reliable AR for self defense duty out on the road. I don’t want to carry my good rifles. I need something to throw behind the seats just in case.
What do y’all suggest?
ETA: Thanks for the sugeestions.
Colt LE6920 purchased today.
M&P sport or PSA rifle. PSA pistol for smaller.
Look for a scuffed up police or agency trade in.
Are you looking to keep it loaded? I ask because in Virginia I can’t have a loaded rife in the passenger area of my vehicle, but with a CCW I can have an AR pistol.
Your state might have similar laws.
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I think it’s somewhat ironic that people want the cheapest gun they can have for a truck gun. When this is the gun you’re probably most likely ro actually need in an emergency…
It’s not that I don’t get the the reasoning behind not wanting to leave a KAC sitting and banging around in your vehicle; I definitely get it. However, my rule of thumb is that if I won’t use it for home defence, hand it over for self defense to the person I love most, or be okay with it being my only rifle or pistol in a SHTF situation, then it isn’t any more than a range toy. And I sure as heck am not going to make it my truck gun and trust my, or my family’s life to it
Where do you live?
Ditto the trade ins. Look at Recoil Gunworks.
This is good advice. An old PD Colt would be best bet. AIM has them occasionally I believe
In TX you can have an AR loaded with one up the spout and open carry, or vehicle carry. Not a problem.
Key words in post #1: “cost-effective” and “reliable.”
The Custom Build sub-forum will also yield a good amount of “budget builds” using quality parts. An example would look like this:
$125 Blem Sionics barrel
$100 Centurion Arms BCG on sale
$10 GI charging handle
$60 BCM stripped upper receiver
$40 blem ALG handguard
$10 A2 muzzle device
$50 gas block and gas tube
=$395 for high quality upper
+
$175 blem Sionics lower and lpk
$50 for used grip, receiver extension, and stock from E&E
=$225
Upper plus lower=$620
A few WTB ads in the right places would probably even net you stuff cheaper, since people aren’t opposed to helping a little, and some of these parts are just collecting dust on people’s shelves.
What does your truck look like? 
I need an inexpensive rifle. 
For sure.
If I were you, I wouldn’t go with anything lower than a basic Colt 6920, or maybe a higher quality “blem” build of some sort, as has been mentioned. But I’d go with a nicely broken in 6920 first.
A used (but not abused) LE6920 or a high quality budget build are my recommendations.
Colt gold extractor spring $4
Upper + Lower + Reliability = $624
if cheap is the main point and smaller is better (for vehicle uses), consider a PSA pistol kit ($280), plus lower ($40) and rear sight ($30), all totaling around $350
its what i built for the same need. might not be the finest option, but so far its functioned well:
Yeah , put me down for another vote for an econo PSA build …and shop for as many decent, used parts as you can find.
If it’s something that you’re going to leave “behind the seat” of a truck and it’s going to get beat around with your old Cheetos crumbs and spilled Mountain Dew, and then let go through large temperature swings daily, I’d say you want something that’s not a cheap “may work” budget build.
If you legit think you’ll need to shoot someone and need 100% reliability get a Colt 6720, a DD rear sight, and a couple Okay mags with high quality ammo.
As info - Guns Midwest has new 6720s for $784 as of this morning.
You can get a Colt 6920 OEM for not much more than a S&W M&P Sporter II and have an actual military grade rifle. Clyde Armory has the OEMs in stock last I checked. I’d stick with companies that have military contracts.
I would probably look for a PD trade in Colt, or look for a good price on a new Colt 6720/6920/OEM. Alternately, you could spread your cost out if you wanted to build.
That’s just my opinion.
Honestly, for something like that you can push almost anything into service with a few tweaks.
Make sure the carrier key is properly torqued and staked.
Lots of vibration/crap getting tossed onto it, I would personally want to have fixed sights.
Run one of Ned’s reamer’s through the chamber if the discount price makes you question the in-specness of the chamber.
Make sure the receiver extension is 7000 series aluminum and that the castle nut is properly torqued and staked.
And magically, I almost guarantee you that you will have a reliable rifle. It may not last as long as wizbang barrel steel rifles, and it may beat itself to death slowly because its so overpassed etc…but it will almost assuredly work and be fine for the life of your truck and next truck as something to always have there and shoot occasionally.
It’s a testament to the design how wrong a lot of these things can be and still work.
With all that said, look at your pricing carefully. I’m an old school chart guy. It isn’t the end of the world, but when you deviate it should be for a reason. I think it’s likely that many of the rifles you see that tick most of the boxes are going to be competitively priced with the “bargain” rifles.
If that doesn’t fit your budget, there’s a lot to be said for an inexpensive bolt action in an intermediate caliber…especially with the right sighting system and a concealed handgun.