Relative Importance Upper vs Lower

[CaptainDooley]

As a newbie I had a question... I was looking at the chart compiled by rob_s and reading a little bit and it seems like a lot of the mission critical components on an AR are in the upper receiver... in fact, except for a couple mentions of Grant's LPK most people's instructions on building an AR seem to be "Get a forged lower and a parts kit", with no real preference to "you must have XYZ components or XYZ lower".

So, is one lower (provided it's forged and in spec) and one parts kit pretty much as good as another?

I see stripped lowers from EA for $100 or so on up to Noveske (I think) for around $300... why would one want/need a more expensive lower receiver provided they are both forged?

[bkb0000]

with a few exceptions, a lower is a lower. its been debated as to how quality is a quality LPK, but i'd basically say an LPK is an LPK as well. EA seem to be good to go, from what everyone says. LPKs are so scarce you should probably grab the first one you see for under $75 regardless of make.

[motoman]

on an ar15 type weapon the upper parts especially the barrel and bcg are the essence of the weapon and should be the best you can get imho.