possum, no offence but get real.. not everyone is a wannabe Spec Operator... not everybody that buys an AR style rifle feels like they should be either.. Not everybody that buys an AR is preparing for "battle" or a "fight" like yerself..
Correct, not everyone is an "operator" and that's just fine. Where things get disputacious is where folks claim that their "budget" AR is "just as good" as someone else's Colt or LMT or Noveske, et alia. It is just too simple a phrase to apply to the whole spectrum of uses an AR may be called upon to deliver. For a range gun, the good news is that virtually
any off-the-shelf AR will perform well in that function. Where "serious social use" is concerned however, some brands simply
are built better than others, made of better parts and demonstrating better skill in assembly. In sum, a Colt 6920 is in an inherently
better firearm than a DPMS AP-4. It cannot be disputed that the Colt is made better, and made of better parts. What
is disputacious is whether or not the added quality (staked gas key, shot peened MPC'd bolt, 4150 CMV steel, etc., etc., etc.) is
worth it to the buyer. The futher a particular rifle or carbine strays from the technical data package (TDP), the more likely there will be problems in a "hard use" environment. Just how much more likely? No one can say. Claims that "my DPMS M4 went 10,000 rounds without cleaning, in the jungles of Myanmar" cannot be disputed if, indeed, the weapon did accomplish that stunning feat. Of course, the observation has little relevance outside of simply being a neat story to tell (references like "my DPMS bolt broke after 100 rounds aren't relevant either, taken singly). Some AR manufacturers can sell weapons more inexpensively because it costs them less to manufacture them, because they aren't spending as much on materials and QA/QI/QC. Again, that's fine, if the shortcuts are not important to the consumer. If they are important, then the consumer has to define for himself
how important those differences are, and what's on the line - money? life? These are questions of a personal nature and have no bearing on the intrinsic quality of a weapon.
Not all AR's are created equal by any means- some are truly better than others, and some are not so bad as they are often portrayed. If you subscribe to the Stalinist ethic that "best is the enemy of good enough" then you'll likely do very well with just about any brand. If you need the added assurance of certain features, materials, or quality of assembly, you'll have to pony up the bucks.
vanfunk
