Some people handle these rifles as if they were "tinker toys". Others buy a "lower end" product and spend countless hours "improving" it. I guess they have the disposable income to "perfect" their AR pistol/rifle. I wouldn't want to "fix" what shouldn't be
absolutely necessary.
:banghead:
No disrespect, but why buy "inexpensive" then pour excessive amounts of money and man-hours to correct the issues/problems?
One of these again.
Not everyone is made out of money, and it's easier to justify multiple smaller expenses spaced over the course of months than it is the make one large purchase. Holiday season lay away programs are evidence of this.
So yes, it may be easier for someone to buy a $550 AR-15, low end, bottom of the budget AR, then spend an additional, unknown amount over the subsequent weeks, months, even years, to get the equivalent of a $1550 higher end AR.
Individual parts purchased individually, in my experience, can be slightly more expensive than buying them as a whole in a custom gun, but again, not everyone can drop that much all at once.
The major expense in AR's comes in certain components. Receivers are generally inexpensive and one is generally as good as any other. Barrels, bolts, and trigger groups are where the expense comes in. Hand guards run the gamut from super cheap chinese aluminum stuff to American top brand name. They all generally do the same, and unless it's a true "go-to-war" firearm, a cheap chinese hand guard will serve just fine. As will a $40 Magpul, which are outfitted on a lot of USGI rifles and carbines.
A cheap AR can run side by side with high end AR's for a good 80% or more of typical use. That 20% is the true, hard run work that 99% of AR owners simply don't or won't put through their guns.
As for "man hours".... that's just laughable. With very little experience, someone can assemble an AR from nothing but a pile of parts in maybe two hours. With experience, it can be done while watching TV in an hour, all without the use of specialty tools. An AR armorers wrench can be had for $15, so there's no reason not to have one.
I pulled and replaced a fire control group from my AR pistol, installed an enhanced FCG, and reinstalled the pulled FCG into another build all in less than thirty minutes last weekend. And because I enjoy tinkering, changing, upgrading and so on, it's not work, it's not tedious, it's not a chore.
Because it's relatively easy to buy an inexpensive AR-15 and spend the time and money to upgrade it over the course of time, the question is why would someone buy a $1500+ AR and settle for what they get, just to justify the price they paid?
I guess they have the disposable income to "perfect" their AR pistol/rifle.
I guess I do. So what?
I wouldn't want to "fix" what shouldn't be absolutely necessary.
Replacing a FCG with something better, or a hand guard to something different isn't "fixing" the gun. It's improving function, it's customizing to a personal liking.
Sure, I'll replace parts if/ when they break. It's expected that eventually you'll need to replace a firing pin or an extractor spring, that's basic maintenance. That's fixing something that's absolutely necessary. Replacing functional components with different functional components is not "fixing."
