The tier stuff, from what I recall, was some dumbassery from Arfcom that got out of control.  That guy with the yellow visor injected a lot of that stuff. 

Never got into reading anything on that arfcom site.  Seemed like a lot of adolescents posturing and trying for bragging rights.  Those that over-spend do spend a lot of time trying to justify it.

Everything studied and properly fitted will cost more due to the time involved.  The parts are mostly the same.

Only issue I have ever had was a barrel that had a bit of a burr left in the gas port.   Took all of 15 minutes to figure out why it would not lock back.   Fix was a quick pass of a drill bit to knock the burr loose.  I do spend the time to get the port and block properly aligned, with a fine tap left or right to get the sights agreeing on zero windage.  I make sure the gas tube is aligned so I feel no drag from the key as it slips over the tube end.   Takes time and may not matter to anyone but me.

Top tier, if it means anything, may be just a careful assembly of the same parts that are thrown together by others. 

Get a good barrel and float it. Then get a good trigger.
If you have OCD or want to develop OCD - get a borescope

Barrels float?   How come so many are lost in boating accidents then? 

 

Haha, couldn't resist. 

1) Never got into reading anything on that arfcom site.  Seemed like a lot of adolescents posturing and trying for bragging rights.  Those that over-spend do spend a lot of time trying to justify it.

2) Everything studied and properly fitted will cost more due to the time involved.  The parts are mostly the same.

3) Only issue I have ever had was a barrel that had a bit of a burr left in the gas port.   Took all of 15 minutes to figure out why it would not lock back.   Fix was a quick pass of a drill bit to knock the burr loose.  I do spend the time to get the port and block properly aligned, with a fine tap left or right to get the sights agreeing on zero windage.  I make sure the gas tube is aligned so I feel no drag from the key as it slips over the tube end.   Takes time and may not matter to anyone but me.

4) Top tier, if it means anything, may be just a careful assembly of the same parts that are thrown together by others.

1) You're lucky then.  When I was first getting into ARs, I read everything and anything.  That's where I picked up the "hearing the signal through the noise" thing.  But I agree that a lot of that tier stuff was attempts to justify that they bought, liked, etc.  Both ways as well.  People defending their choice to spend more and those trying to say that their budget stuff was "just as good".  To me, get what you want, shoot it and learn.  Don't need to justify for make excuses.  To me, much of that dumbassery was from folks who never really shoot.  No experience, but are experts because of interwebs.  Can see much of that here.

2) Yup.  Many think building one's own will save $$$.  While I think it can, to me, that's generally not the case. 

3) You probably have quite a lot of experience to be able to track down where issues likely came from.  For beginners, who may not even know how to field strip the gun, that can be a lot and lead to a lot of frustration.  Frustration that I personally would have been really turned off when I was starting out.

4) QA is a big part of that.  And I'm not talking about blems or fit & finish QA.  That said, there are companies that produce parts to excellent tolerance (like Geissele and others) and some that I've noticed where their QA on tolerance is prob performed by monkeys. . .

forgot to add - avoid using Paypal

Barrels float?   How come so many are lost in boating accidents then? 

 

Haha, couldn't resist.

They all float down here!      

No experience, but are experts because of interwebs.

Yep, those ignorant millennials and their iFag Google searches are the equal of those with years of practical knowledge.,

Just ask them.

Yep, those ignorant millennials and their iFag Google searches are the equal of those with years of practical knowledge.,

Just ask them.

Wonder which are worse.  Them types, or Cross Fit folks?   

As for saving money doing a home build, the only way I see that happening is finding the parts you want/need on sale during special promos and avoiding the inevitable swapping of parts on a factory gun. 

Each handguard, pistol grip, gas block, BCG, charging handle, butt stock and safety switch you swap out represents more money invested in that "cheaper" factory-built rifle.  If you are satisfied with the "as delivered" features and parts, then the factory rifle would normally be less expensive had you built one of equal quality parts.

The Spike's Zombie rifle my daughter and I built ran about $1,000+, not counting any tools which I already had from my own build.  Most expensive part was the barrel.  Put a lo-pro adjustable gas block, VTAC Alpha handguard, Magpul storage grip, Magpul AFG, Aimpoint PRO red dot, Magpul BUIS, Magpul ACS stock, and Geissele trigger.

If I were to have purchased a factory rifle then upgraded some of those parts, the cost between that and a home build would be similar.

I've owned only the mid tier and poverty level parts
I only bought one complete AR, a Core15 and it functioned flawlessly, after building a few I ended up selling the Core15. The rest of my AR's are built on Aero and Spike's lowers with complete uppers from Aero and Veriforce Tactical. I like to upgrade bcg, trigger, furniture, CH. Reliability, fitment, and accuracy are great. 

I've shot a friends Sig piston AR which is very good, and a POF AR which was also very good. I think my built AR's are comparable to those POF and Sig AR's as far as weight, trigger, and accuracy goes, but that piston system is nice.

Buying a top tier AR is great if it's in your budget. If it's not,  you can build a very good one for less.

all those companies from that "tier" list get their forgings from 2 forging houses. One of them is Alcoa. After getting the forgings they may do the machining themselves or get it done by another machine house. I have an early 1st gen Rock River lower that I bought from that doodoo head Legal Transfers. The mag well was cut thin and is odd looking if you stare at it long enough; but it still functions fine - no problems 19 years later. Mags work and drop free, triggers work (Geiselle and RRAs).
Unless something is grossly out of spec, I'd use all of those brands with the exception of UTG. However, with barrels you get what you pay for. As I said before, if you really want to get picky and develop OCD - get the $50 borescope I posted about on Amazon. Barrels I've used and will continue to buy are Wilson, Shilen, Krieger, Douglas and Criterion. I have a Black Friday deal Del Ton full kit and I don't know what they used to cut the bore with but it is fUgly. I won't be buying barrels from them again.

My 1 cent.

all those companies from that "tier" list get their forgings from 2 forging houses. One of them is Alcoa. After getting the forgings they may do the machining themselves or get it done by another machine house. I have an early 1st gen Rock River lower that I bought from that doodoo head Legal Transfers. The mag well was cut thin and is odd looking if you stare at it long enough; but it still functions fine - no problems 19 years later. Mags work and drop free, triggers work (Geiselle and RRAs).
Unless something is grossly out of spec, I'd use all of those brands with the exception of UTG. However, with barrels you get what you pay for. As I said before, if you really want to get picky and develop OCD - get the $50 borescope I posted about on Amazon. Barrels I've used and will continue to buy are Wilson, Shilen, Krieger, Douglas and Criterion. I have a Black Friday deal Del Ton full kit and I don't know what they used to cut the bore with but it is fUgly. I won't be buying barrels from them again.

My 1 cent.

Have you looked down a bartlin barrel?

Have you looked down a bartlin barrel?

i doubt it

I've owned only the mid tier and poverty level parts
I only bought one complete AR, a Core15 and it functioned flawlessly, after building a few I ended up selling the Core15. The rest of my AR's are built on Aero and Spike's lowers with complete uppers from Aero and Veriforce Tactical. I like to upgrade bcg, trigger, furniture, CH. Reliability, fitment, and accuracy are great. 

I've shot a friends Sig piston AR which is very good, and a POF AR which was also very good. I think my built AR's are comparable to those POF and Sig AR's as far as weight, trigger, and accuracy goes, but that piston system is nice.

Buying a top tier AR is great if it's in your budget. If it's not,  you can build a very good one for less.

Core 15 is the polymer lower, right?  I knew a guy who had one that shot it a decent amount and seemed ok.  I had seen many reports of them failing near the ring where the buffer tube is secured.  I recall there was another polymer lower that was reinforced, but don't recall the name.  I would be interested in seeing how it would hold up over say 400-600 rounds in a multi-day class.  But that's just my interest. 

all those companies from that "tier" list get their forgings from 2 forging houses. One of them is Alcoa. After getting the forgings they may do the machining themselves or get it done by another machine house. I have an early 1st gen Rock River lower that I bought from that doodoo head Legal Transfers. The mag well was cut thin and is odd looking if you stare at it long enough; but it still functions fine - no problems 19 years later. Mags work and drop free, triggers work (Geiselle and RRAs).
Unless something is grossly out of spec, I'd use all of those brands with the exception of UTG. However, with barrels you get what you pay for. As I said before, if you really want to get picky and develop OCD - get the $50 borescope I posted about on Amazon. Barrels I've used and will continue to buy are Wilson, Shilen, Krieger, Douglas and Criterion. I have a Black Friday deal Del Ton full kit and I don't know what they used to cut the bore with but it is fUgly. I won't be buying barrels from them again.

My 1 cent.

Did you notice a big difference between performance of the DelTon and the other match grade barrels?  I am assuming yes, but curious.  I don't shoot rifle matches, so the difference would probably be lost on me. 

Did you notice a big difference between performance of the DelTon and the other match grade barrels?  I am assuming yes, but curious.  I don't shoot rifle matches, so the difference would probably be lost on me.

I haven't done a real test with all the same variables but I'd say confidence in the Del Ton barrel is not there. With 77s it's a 1 MOA barrel versus a .5 MOA on the other barrels.

I haven't done a real test with all the same variables but I'd say confidence in the Del Ton barrel is not there. With 77s it's a 1 MOA barrel versus a .5 MOA on the other barrels.

That's quite a bit of difference. 

I know my BCM barrel seemed to like the FGMM 69 and 77 gr SMK loads.  But the same setup didn't shoot that well with Black Hills 77 gr.  Can't rule out "shooter error".  Heck, I've shot some pretty good groups with that gun and 193. 

Core 15 is the polymer lower, right?  I knew a guy who had one that shot it a decent amount and seemed ok.  I had seen many reports of them failing near the ring where the buffer tube is secured.  I recall there was another polymer lower that was reinforced, but don't recall the name.  I would be interested in seeing how it would hold up over say 400-600 rounds in a multi-day class.  But that's just my interest.

I have 2 Frontier polymer lowers that I have shot thousands of rounds out of. One with a 5.56 Noveske upper and the other with a 300 BLK CMMG upper. So far, no cracks or failures of any type. I have a third Frontier lower but I have not shot enough rounds out of it to mention.

Was your bushy the one with issues with the "dribbles"?    

Nah, it was the "Flame Thrower". 

Core 15 is the polymer lower, right?  I knew a guy who had one that shot it a decent amount and seemed ok.  I had seen many reports of them failing near the ring where the buffer tube is secured.  I recall there was another polymer lower that was reinforced, but don't recall the name.  I would be interested in seeing how it would hold up over say 400-600 rounds in a multi-day class.  But that's just my interest.

https://core15rifles.com/core15-scout.html

Not polymer. It's your typical milspec AR. 7075 T6

https://core15rifles.com/core15-scout.html

Not polymer. It's your typical milspec AR. 7075 T6

Ahh. Frontier was the one I was thinking about. The brand Inspector has.

https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2015/3/4/polymer-ar-lowers/

From that article, seems like at least one user is an instructor and has been beating up on one for a while. Interesting. Not that I envision buying a lower any time soon.