a lot of good suggestions, I’d highlight the following:
-PSA (it works, can pick up a whole rifle for sub 500 if you watch the sales)
-Aero Precision (granted I have a personal preference towards them cause I could pick up their blems in house for cheap)
-S&W M&P sport. Have limited personal experience but have a lot of friends that bought them and like them. I’d watch for a sale on them honestly.
To make a better recommendation, is there a certain set up that you want? Do you want free float rials? Front sight base? Carbine midlength or rifle length gas system?
For home defense, I’d make the suggestion to build it out as a pistol instead of rifle. That way you can have it set up for home defense (pistol version) and just buy or build another lower as you have time/funds. Then once more time/funds come up, build or buy another lower for the rifle set up.rifle for awhile, personally I’d go with a mixture of PSA premium line
But above all else, go ahead and start stacking ammo and mags now. Closer we get to the election the more expensive and potentially harder it’ll be to find. We all remember the early days of Covid and the madness that ensued.