Hey everyone, obviously were all aware of the current issues regarding all these platforms. I'm mainly interested in either 7.62/5.45x39. I think my most affordable route is to piece-meal it, get the lower first then assemble the rest. I have a buddy who knows more about what I'll need and how to do it but I figured this place was a good resource to start with to learn on my own as well. thanks for the help in advance.

I would highly suggest you buy the lower now, and if you can decide on the caliber get some mags ordered too before any bans go into effect. The uppers probably wont be regulated. Be prepared to pay a premium price.

good info, is it that caliber choices specifically or pretty much anything as a whole due to the current situation, meaning are they're better alternatives I need to be looking at caliber wise?

I had a Colt upper in 7.62x39 about 5 years ago. With good commercial soft points ( W-W, Rem.) it would group 1 1/4"- 1 1/2" at 100. Shot a few deer with it. Only thing I didn't like was it would only feed with the 5 round Colt mag that came with it. All the aftermarket mags, 20 and 30 round were crap. A company called C Products was coming out with better mags for AR's in 7.62x39 and other calibers as well. But they had production delays for like a year and a half, and I ended up selling the upper to a friend. I believe they worked the bugs out of the mags and are selling them now. The 7.62 x 39mm, due to it's stubby bullet and fairly low muzzle velocity, starts dropping quite a bit beyond 200 yards. But it has the advantage of good penetration and ammo availability/cost. I would like to try the 6.8 SPC, as it would be flatter shooting at longer ranges than the 7.62, and have more weight than the 5.56 and 5.45 for penetration and retained down range energy. But, unless it becomes more widespread, finding ammo and mags isn't as easy as the other calibers. One cartridge I noticed in my Hornady reloading manual looks pretty impressive. The 30 Remington AR is a stubby, fat case that looks like a blown out 7.62x39. It is about the same length, and has a standard size rim, but the case is much fatter, so it can hold an average of about 40 grs. of powder, compared to about 25 grs. average for the 7.62x39mm. Velocities are 2700-2800 with a 130 gr., and 2600 with a 150 gr. so a lot closer in performance to a .308 than the 7.62x39. a good 500 fps. faster than the Russian round. However, probably only Remington makes uppers for it, and ammo and mags would be harder to find than other calibers.