I answered his question. I cannot answer about the cheapest of the cheap cause I wouldn't spend 10 bucks on either. A good product is never knowing the customer service even exists.
Ahhh, snobbARy. Gotta love it.
We're not all operators, we don't all need $2,500 ARs. And you don't have to spend that kind of money to get a good, reliable weapon. I've played with most of them, and while I appreciate the refinement of the high end guns, a lot of it is unnecessary, especially for a guy trying to get into the AR world on a budget. There are plenty of good guns out there to be bought or built in the sub-$1k range. And for the record, I'll put my Armalites up against all those high-end rifles any time. I lost count of the rounds that've have been through it a long time ago, but I know I decided to stop cleaning it about 2,700 rounds ago. It just gets shot with a liberal dose of CLP before a range trip and wiped down externally afterward to keep from getting that black, nasty oil on anything it touches. Save for a total of 3 grossly out of spec rounds that wouldn't chamber in anything and a cheap 40 round gunshow mag that wouldn't feed reliably in any gun we tested it in, the Armalite carbine has never missed a beat.
Here are two recent builds that have, thus far, run 100% with PMC bronze, my mixed-brass & pull-down powder reloads, Wolf and Tula. (I only use Pmags these days, and have not had a mag issue to date)
Both are built on DSA lowers (purchased at LGS for $120/ea)
All prices include tax and/or shipping I paid, rounded up to nearest 5. Optics are stuff I had laying about, so I'm not counting them, either.
The rifle has:
*R-Guns complete M4 upper ($490)
*R-Guns stainless LPK ($60)
*UTG Pro stock and buffer kit ($70)
*UTG Pro Extended quad rail ($65)
*Tapco Intrafuse sling mount end plate ($10)
*UTG carry handle ($30)
*Cheap multi-position grip ($8, until she decides what she really wants)
Everything but the carry handle and quad rail was purchased locally.
Total: $853
(And we're not counting the Insight M3, since it doesn't belong to her rifle)
The pistol is composed of:
*WMD NiBX partially assembled upper ($165)
*Daniel Defense M16 BCG ($175)
*DSA charging handle ($15)
*DPMS barrel nut & Delta Ring ($20)
*Unknown make gas tube ($20)
*Troy low profile gas block ($40)
*Bull Dog 7.5" 1 in 9 chromoly barrel ($110)
*Noveske KX3 "flaming pig" flash supressor ($135)
*Magpul MOE handguard ($30)
*Unknown make front handguard retainer (free)
*DSA Mil-spec buffer kit ($35) (I milled it down to a pistol tube)
*PSA MOE LPK ($55)
Total: $920
(Plus $200 for the NFA stamp and another $90 for the Magpul ACS-L stock going on it when the stamp comes home)
Everything but the buffer tube kit, charging handle and LPK was bought locally.
One could do these builds for a little less ordering everything, especially if you have a real nice FFL who does $10 transfers or something.
Anywho, point remains, I assembled both of these guns for under $1k each, and neither has had one single hiccup (unless you count the rifle's short cut buffer tube debacle I documented in another thread, which I'll elaborate on if anyone cares). They just got hosed with CLP, a quick feed test of about 10 rounds, and then put to work.
So, build your Del-Ton or PSA rifle and enjoy it. I will say confidently that I don't believe you'll have trouble with uppers from any of these respectable companies putting out US-made parts.
PS-
You might have a look at DSA, too. They don't have a pencil barrel middy, but you can get uppers from them less BCG and charging handle for as little as $240. All US-made, good quality from what I've seen. I have an 11" on order from them.
