In todays market someone can easily build a quality rifle under 1k. My first build is at about $1100 and that was built in 2016. My second cost me $300 to build.

The colt 6920 is the standard. It may not be the best but its the standard that others are measured against. There are a lot of better rifles out there. If I were going to buy a complete rifle for serious use I would probably try to score a lightly used BCM. New they start at about $1200 and go up from there.

Aero precision would be my second pick and that should come in under $1k nicely. There is something to be said about buying a complete rifle, IMO. That said, both my AR's I built.