There are several types of AR15 fans out there. You have those classic boys that do not like to modify or change anything on their AR weapon system, the fan boys that are name brand shoppers only, and then you have the AR15 builder. There are different types of builders as well. Some target performance, some target the unique and wow, and some target budget builds.
Classics - These purists believe that nothing should be changed from a milspec platform. Most believe that "the military used it milspec then it must be the best." Right? Wrong! Some key points to highlight. What is milspec? Milspec stands for military specifications, some times referred to as MIL-STD or military standard. It means that the parts used had to meet certain criteria usually comprised of performance tests from various departments, certain manufacturing processes including grades of materials and coatings. These tests usually baseline reliability, ease of maintenance, accuracy, cyclic rate ect. Once the baseline has been set it takes years to improve standards with modern technology and usually the department of defense while having select specs also bases their analysis on what is cost effective. In short, while milspec is good and guarantees that you will have a certain standard it does not mean the "best". Milspec standards can be behind the times in technology and certainly do not reflect the higher tiers of critical manufacturing that some private companies use.
Fan boys - There are a lot of fan boys out there for certain companies that loosely base their "certification of knowledge" on the adds of corporations looking to sell you product. Is that not business? Absolutely it is, however just because a company makes one product that is excellent does not mean every product is. It also does not mean that just because you can that you should. The market is saturated with companies that all buy from the same manufacturer (often imports) slap their logo on, increase the price and sells it as god. More often then not this is done without critical stress testing, practical application and live fire runs. This results in customers overpaying for what you could have purchased for less or customers paying for quality that is subpar to what the company previously led you to believe they represented. Research, test, be critical. There is some great product out there. There also is a lot of bad.
Builders - These are the guys and gals that sway the market, they cause new designs to be implemented and forever tweak the AR performance capabilities. Builders do exactly that. They build, modify, and tune millions of variants of the AR Platform, some good, some bad, which in turn causes some great industry product improvements. There are many USA products on the market that blow military specifications out of the water. Companies that make muzzle devices, barrels, adjustable gas blocks, billet receivers, stronger billet charging handles, better bcg, trigger systems, and much more that really make the base platform of the AR look very weak. Not because the base AR is bad. But because there are many variants that are better. From the use of stronger materials, the practice of more efficient and technologically superior machining, and better coatings for protection against wear are just a few ways the private industry has made a much higher tier of performance then milspec.We always recommend that you build. It allows the user to have a deeper understanding of the functions of the weapon platform as well as learn proper nomenclature, understanding the pros and cons, troubleshooting and advance as a responsible gun owner. If you have any questions as to how or why you should start building or you have any questions as to how our products are manufactured above military specification, please feel free to contact us.
