I have heard some good things about Faxon barrels. I saw an IV8888 video where Eric poured 830 rounds through one on full auto without any breaks until it finally blew. I like that it is Nitride and 1/8 twist. I'm open to other options but I wanted more than just the standard chrome lined deal. Aero Precision stuff has great reviews on the sites that I've shopped on, and I hear they are what is used on Spike's rifles.
In terms of the WMD BCG, I like the idea of the whole Nickel Boron coating, I'll also be using a 5-coil extractor spring.
I just watched that video last night.
Aero Precision is a quality lower. I built my pistol with Aero Precision stripped receivers.
Elsewhere on the forum someone listed all of the manufacturers of AR receivers, the list was surprisingly small compared to the number of roll marks that may be applied to them.
While not all receivers are created equal, as long as you don't go with polymer lowers, you should be fine. Stick with 7076 aluminum forged lowers.
What is more critical as far as quality are the guts. Not all springs are created equal. Trigger, hammer and disconnect springs may not be wound to the proper tolerances, causing all sorts of issues from heavy trigger pull to light primer strikes. Get a good quality bolt. It's easy to shortcut bolts. I've got one where the gas key looks like it was staked by a billy goat. It'd be better had they not bothered to stake it at all, but instead they did it half arsed.
My suggestion, build one just to get familiar with how to build one. Don't worry so much on the budget, unless you plan on this being your only rifle. Since that is virtually impossible, and you will want to build more, other variations in the future, start with blemished receivers and standard parts kits from PSA. Go from there. once you gain some confidence and understand what pitfalls to avoid, which parts to stock up on because they will get lost during assembly, and what special tools you thought you didn't need but really do, then start your next build.
