Personally, what bothers me is how many gun articles you read and reviews you watch on line that NEVER involve detail stripping a firearm to evaluate its' materials, design, and build quality. Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part.
When you do this, it becomes very easy to see why certain manufacturers products are so problematic. Designs count, the more parts in the design, the more points of failure, rough fit and sloppy finishing is indicative of the time the manufacturer devotes to producing a quality product, materials used is another indication. All of these things are indicators, but they need to be looked at holistically. Just because some of these things are evident, it doesn't make the product sub-standard, but it is a very good indication of what you can expect.
When all of these things are taken into consideration you find that the old adage, you get what you pay for, rings true.
I just wish there was a forum for this kind of review and discussion, it might be very helpful to educating buyers and improving the overall quality of firearms in general.