[Retsol71]

A lot of absolutely dogmatic statements in this threat. I just want my bullet launcher to go boom when needed. Like today. First shots through my “Heretic” of a Colt ; CR6920. Red coffee can at 100 yards.

 

[Bravo32]

I have never assembled a whole AR at one time. It has always been that I will assemble an upper or lower at one time and then the other a different time. I would say that it takes me 3-4 hours to assemble an AR.

 

[Milsurpfan]

My $.02 on some of the comments:

I agree better equipment does not make you a better shooter. However, at some point (barrels, optics) better equipment is required if you are competing. More important the farther the distance.

I can also assure, most everyone who competes (especially at longer distances) does not shoot anything close to a book handload. They are maxed out and beyond, carefully, to hit the highest velocity node that is still accurate.

 

[273andme]

it takes an hr to assemble after you search for, find and order all the parts you want if you can find them and waiting for them to show up at your house.

 

[airdrop]

About 1.5 yrs ago I bought my first AR15, the S&W m&p sport 2, when we started to see mass riots taking place. I bought it because it was affordable and available at the time. I made a lot of upgrades to it because the stock furniture on it was garbage. With that said, I consider this rifle to be mid tier and will get the job done.

now that I’ve had time to research and review other more expensive brands it begs the question, are there diminishing returns when spending $1500+ on an AR? I understand that the more expensive brands will typically use better materials and manufacturing processes, but at the end of the day are you really getting more for your money or are you just paying for the name brand?

I’m thinking that if I do buy another AR I’d want to get either a BCM, Geiselle or Daniel Defense. All of these brands have great reputations and are mildly more affordable than say Radian or Noveske.

Go to youtube an look up Grand Thumb for some of the best reviews on battle rifles you can find , then make a choice .

 

[Steve_In_29]

it takes an hr to assemble after you search for, find and order all the parts you want if you can find them and waiting for them to show up at your house.

Or you can buy a kit from any number of brands, throw in a stripped lower and be done.

Someone new to ARs isn't going to be hunting down parts from multiple sources that may or may not work well together.

 

[ajole]

I just a while ago stopped turning my head and squinching both eyes shut when I test my reloads. I don’t need to start building my own guns.

I know you are just goofing around....but I DID have a 5.56 blow up and wipe out a mag and an extractor. I was testing a load, the previous load was good, the next load was .2 grains more, but still .4 grains under max.
Scary, but no parts left the gun at speed, no blood, no issues. Rebuilt the bolt and it works (but it is now a last ditch backup), and the gun is fine.

Depending upon the manufacturer of the parts used.

While AR platform are supposed to modular, and considered "Legos for men," not every part attaches exactly as similar parts from other manufacturers. Sometimes it takes a bit of time to figure it out.

Sort of agree.....

I've built 18 AR's....never had ANY issues with that, until this last one. And it's not the small nor mismatched brand parts.

The Anderson lower I just built pinned to the first upper without issue, but the next upper, also an Anderson, it won't quite line up the takedown pin. Tried mixing and matching all my uppers and lowers, and the ONLY thing that won't work is THAT specific upper and lower combo, both of them will pin to EVERY other unit I have, and every other unit is 100% OK with swapping to everything else.
Fixed it by putting a rat tail file lightly through that one upper, and now everything works with everything, and the upper is still tight on any other lower I put it on.

So while I agree it CAN happen, tolerance stacking is a real thing....I'm not sure it's anything to worry about.

it takes an hr to assemble after you search for, find and order all the parts you want if you can find them and waiting for them to show up at your house.

Or you could spend that same time searching for the specific pre-built gun with the correct barrel length, twist, chamber, handguards, trigger, and all the rest....

 

[Inittowinit]

Go to youtube an look up Grand Thumb for some of the best reviews on battle rifles you can find , then make a choice .

already did that 😂 Right now I have 3 contenders: BCM 14.5” recce rifle, Geissele Super Duty 14.5” and the Daniel Defense M4A1. The Geissele is at the top mainly because of the trigger and that it has a Surefire warcomp flash hider.

 

[AZ_HighCountry]

Same as Steve; I will say it again: I can build a similar rifle, nearly identical to theirs, and in many cases using THEIR parts even. What I won't have is the same price as they have on their parts nor their name stamped on the receiver.

Give me a matched Aero, Colt, or FN upper and lower, and after that, mine won't look any different from theirs.

 

[fsrepairfabrication]

already did that 😂 Right now I have 3 contenders: BCM 14.5” recce rifle, Geissele Super Duty 14.5” and the Daniel Defense M4A1. The Geissele is at the top mainly because of the trigger and that it has a Surefire warcomp flash hider.

You might also consider the LWRC m6 and the FN tac3, i would consider both close contenders to what you just mentioned.

 

[Skynet17]

Actually you do run into the Top Tier snobbery on other gun forums. There was just a thread on Snipershide where some were basically stating that if you didn't buy a $3K AR that you were going to die if shtf. Their common insult over there is "poors".

They conveniently seem to miss the postings from guys who have seen/had their top tier AR crap the bed and they were Geissele...KAK. This from people who are actually going there and doing that in the real world..

I fear the guy with a cheap AR + training and mindset over the Armchair Rambo with $3K AR any day....

 

[Steve_In_29]

Same as Steve; I will say it again: I can build a similar rifle, nearly identical to theirs, and in many cases using THEIR parts even. What I won't have is the same price as they have on their parts nor their name stamped on the receiver.

Give me a matched Aero, Colt, or FN upper and lower, and after that, mine won't look any different from theirs.

One reason that building your own (even just snapping a complete upper on a complete lower) is cheaper is that you aren't paying the 11% Federal tax on a complete gun.

 

[big guy]

When I first decided I needed to own an AR, I knew little about them. I was a handgun guy. I talked to a dealer i knew and told him I have 2 small kids and a wife who is opposed to me spending much money right now. He sold me a Olympic arms AR. for 450.00 otd. I was excited and pleased with it. Only later did I learn it was apparently a lowest grade pos, equivalent to a Lorcin or Jimenez pistol. Not knowing this I enjoyed the rifle immensely. It goes bang when I pull the trigger on decent ammo and hits what I am aiming at as well as my old eyes and shaky hands will allow. My only problem is it will not handle steel cased ammo. they stick in the chamber till they have to be driven out with a wooden dowel So I don’t buy steel cased ammo and I don’ plan on carrying any rifle into battle.

 

[AZ_HighCountry]

One reason that building your own (even just snapping a complete upper on a complete lower) is cheaper is that you aren't paying the 11% Federal tax on a complete gun.

A very true statement.

 

[Wyomike]

I know you are just goofing around....but I DID have a 5.56 blow up and wipe out a mag and an extractor. I was testing a load, the previous load was good, the next load was .2 grains more, but still .4 grains under max.
Scary, but no parts left the gun at speed, no blood, no issues. Rebuilt the bolt and it works (but it is now a last ditch backup), and the gun is fine.



Sort of agree.....

I've built 18 AR's....never had ANY issues with that, until this last one. And it's not the small nor mismatched brand parts.

The Anderson lower I just built pinned to the first upper without issue, but the next upper, also an Anderson, it won't quite line up the takedown pin. Tried mixing and matching all my uppers and lowers, and the ONLY thing that won't work is THAT specific upper and lower combo, both of them will pin to EVERY other unit I have, and every other unit is 100% OK with swapping to everything else.
Fixed it by putting a rat tail file lightly through that one upper, and now everything works with everything, and the upper is still tight on any other lower I put it on.

So while I agree it CAN happen, tolerance stacking is a real thing....I'm not sure it's anything to worry about.





Or you could spend that same time searching for the specific pre-built gun with the correct barrel length, twist, chamber, handguards, trigger, and all the rest....

Did you ever figure out why?

 

[ajole]

Did you ever figure out why?

I think it was simply THAT gun and THAT load are not compatable.

Getting sub MOA a few tenths down, so I didn't bother pushing it, and didn't feel the desire to try it in any other gun, so I tore the rest down.

 

[WILL]

Here's some interesting talk from the owner of Battlefield Los Vegas on PSA ARs. Summary- Battlefield Los Vagas is a renown firearm rental company that shoots an extremely high volume in full auto. PSA makes affordable AR-15s that were purchased and used by Battlefield Los Vagas. The report on their performance was positive and on par with more expensive brands.

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?192329-Shooting-Range-in-Vegas-sharing-info-on-what-works-and-what-doesn-t/page13

 

[John Galt 1]

Wait a sec... are you saying that an $800 - $1,000 M&P Sport (or whatever) will be as reliable as a $2,200 DDM4 V7? I don't know much in the way of stats and numbers about how many rounds can be put through a semi-auto rifle before it begins to fail, but I have to think I'm paying for better materials and workmanship in a DD or POF rifle. This goes for the homebuilt arms as well. I stand to be corrected 'round here (that's easy), but what you're saying just isn't adding up...

Cool your roll against the basic inexpensive M&P Sport. I picked one up about 5 years ago for $550 plus tax and it's been 100% reliable. Not the most accurate with my handloads, roughly 2.5 MOA but after 2500 rnds never a problem. I've never bothered to develop a handload for the rifle so accuracy may improve but for the money that rifle is a great deal considering most buyers aren't capable of sub moa shots without a prepared sandbag supported position.

 

[fsrepairfabrication]

I dont think anyone is saying the m&p or equivalent is not accurate or mostly reliable. The point is when you step up a tier you get the highest level of reliability possible, and the reason why is the features/specs of those guns are clearly on another level.
Bear in mind, 2500 rounds without an issue is a good indicator of reliable gun, but is still a low round count. I just tore down my lwrc after 2000 rounds straight in less than 2 months with no cleaning or oil (done on purpose for testing) and had zero malfunctions. It was gritty and nasty but still functioned like new. My round count is somwhere between 8-10k total on the rifle, i used to know exactly but lost track recently.

 

[Inittowinit]

I dont think anyone is saying the m&p or equivalent is not accurate or mostly reliable. The point is when you step up a tier you get the highest level of reliability possible, and the reason why is the features/specs of those guns are clearly on another level.
Bear in mind, 2500 rounds without an issue is a good indicator of reliable gun, but is still a low round count. I just tore down my lwrc after 2000 rounds straight in less than 2 months with no cleaning or oil (done on purpose for testing) and had zero malfunctions. It was gritty and nasty but still functioned like new. My round count is somwhere between 8-10k total on the rifle, i used to know exactly but lost track recently.

+1

That was my rationale in an earlier post. My m&p will no doubt do what it’s intended to do. My biggest concern, and the primary reason why I’ve gravitated towards a top tier brand, is the components wearing out or failing prematurely with my m&p. I don’t want to have to think about parts failing like the bcg or barrel. Now, I’m not trying to be some wannabe operator or act like it’ll be the battle of Mogadishu, but if sh*t truly hit the fan I want to know my primary weapon won’t fail on me. It’s also prudent, imho, to have a back up just in case