It depends on how you intend to use the gun.
Is this gun a plinker or a range toy? If not, then the advantages of the higher-end guns are fairly meaningless. Darn, your bolt cracked. Buy another bolt. Big deal.
Is this a game gun? Matters a bit more. A failure can cost you a stage. Still not exactly the end of the world.
Is this gun a defensive gun? Then it matters more. At what point does the (admittedly small, given light use) risk of using a non-MPI'ed bolt justify the extra cost? That's for you to decide.
Is this a defensive gun that you plan to take to lots of classes and shoot a lot? It suddenly starts to matter quite a bit. Shooting a high volume of rounds will cause parts failures, period. The better the parts you have (read: generally, the more expensive the gun), the longer each critical part will last, and the less likely you are to experience a failure at any given point, be that in the middle of a carbine class or while trying to save your own life, or the life of your family. You WILL eventually break parts, even good parts, even in the Snob Guns, if you shoot a lot. The only question is how often.
Believe in gun bans or TEOTWAWKI? Might be a good idea to have guns that last longer, no?
I'm not a raving Colt Snob (don't own a pony), or even an AR freak. I just note that the people who teach carbine classes (and see more rounds go downrange than most of us ever dream about) have certain preferences, and those preferences are developed by watching their students and seeing, first hand, what works and what doesn't. On the other side of the scale you have JimBob who bought his AR used back in 1998 and has put 200 rounds through it since then, and he says it's just as good as anything else and cost half as much.
I dunno. For his use? He's absolutely right.
Mike
Is this gun a plinker or a range toy? If not, then the advantages of the higher-end guns are fairly meaningless. Darn, your bolt cracked. Buy another bolt. Big deal.
Is this a game gun? Matters a bit more. A failure can cost you a stage. Still not exactly the end of the world.
Is this gun a defensive gun? Then it matters more. At what point does the (admittedly small, given light use) risk of using a non-MPI'ed bolt justify the extra cost? That's for you to decide.
Is this a defensive gun that you plan to take to lots of classes and shoot a lot? It suddenly starts to matter quite a bit. Shooting a high volume of rounds will cause parts failures, period. The better the parts you have (read: generally, the more expensive the gun), the longer each critical part will last, and the less likely you are to experience a failure at any given point, be that in the middle of a carbine class or while trying to save your own life, or the life of your family. You WILL eventually break parts, even good parts, even in the Snob Guns, if you shoot a lot. The only question is how often.
Believe in gun bans or TEOTWAWKI? Might be a good idea to have guns that last longer, no?
I'm not a raving Colt Snob (don't own a pony), or even an AR freak. I just note that the people who teach carbine classes (and see more rounds go downrange than most of us ever dream about) have certain preferences, and those preferences are developed by watching their students and seeing, first hand, what works and what doesn't. On the other side of the scale you have JimBob who bought his AR used back in 1998 and has put 200 rounds through it since then, and he says it's just as good as anything else and cost half as much.
I dunno. For his use? He's absolutely right.
Mike