[RedTail]

Forged milspec uppers and lowers are all made by a handful of companies. The forge PSA get's their receivers from varies over time. Same is true for most AR makers. You can have high and low end AR's with receivers from the same forge. Quality can vary in finishing.

Barrels... Quality can vary a lot here. PSA's hammer forged barrels are from FN. Not sure about the others.

BCG.. A crucial part. PSA uses Toolcraft. No frills, but generally solid.

Feed ramp alignment has been good on all the PSA's I've seen (not that many).

PSA's FSB's are solidly pinned. Not sure how their other gas blocks are fixed. Anyone?

PSA lower and upper parts... basic milspec. They work ok. Upgraded triggers, buffers, bolt catches, and charging handles are worthy investments IMO.

Furniture.... Depends on what you buy from them. They use magpul on some. I like magpul.

Finishes... Comparable to most. Their nitride is really good.

I have limited experience, but based on what I've seen PSA's can be solid defensive carbines with some break in and a few upgrades. I'd say unrefined, but typically decent.

I don't like em because their wait times can be ridiculous.

 

[RedTail]

If you know anything about trigger groups you will know thats not how it works. Yes, stronger springs CAN cause a harder trigger pull but sear geometry is far more important. And most important of all is reliable primer ignition which is the purpose for the extra power springs in the first place...particularly when shooting Russian 7.62x39 ammo which is what I shoot more than anything else through an AR.

Of course you should also know that trigger weight has no direct bearing on accuracy if you have learned how to pull a trigger without moving the rest of your hand, like say, from spending years working on DA revolver pulls.

But, I don't care all that much what you know or not because as I said, trigger springs etc are a matter of personal preference, which is why there are various strengths manufactured, light or heavy springs are not a mark of quality or lack of quality but of operator preference.

Jerrry Miculek would still be a phenomenal shooter with a milspec rifle, but he'll shoot even better with a rifle that's tuned. Skill and practice matter the most, but the actual physical differences in triggers and other parts does affect performance. That said, I agree... different tools for different needs and that's up to the end user.

Personally, triggers make a difference for me. A Larue MBT may be the best $87 spent on upgrading. To each their own.