Tier 1 parts in lesser Tier rifles; worth the effort or waste or time?

[Bad Karma 556]

This may be inviting ridicule, but would replacing the parts that affect reliability/are subject to the most wear such as the bolt, bolt carrier,fire control group, and buffer make an appreciable difference in reliability?Or is this just throwing good money after bad?I realize that lesser quality guns will always be lesser quality, but it seems to me that upgrading certain crucial parts should make enough difference to make some of these guns viable self defense weapons.I may be off base and welcome any feedback.

[Cameron]

Actually I believe the upper and lower receivers are generally made by the same company, for many of the manufacturers. These is info around here about the different forging companies that make all the receivers and which companies use them. So with a decenet set of in spec receivers a small prts upgrade would probably cure most of any potential for problems.

Cameron

[Mr.Goodtimes]

as long as youve got an inspec upper and lower receiver everything else can really be changed and upgraded to make a teir 1 rifle. the only difference is it wont have a fancy roll mark.

[RojasTKD]

In witch case you probably better off just building a rifle from quality parts.

that will be cheaper than buying a rifle then buying quality parts to replace lesser quality parts, you basically already paid for.

Now, if you already had a rifle that was of questionable quality, upgrading some crucial parts would probably be of benefit.

[rat31465]

Its always been my Philosophy that anytime you swap out a questionable part for one of higher or known quality its definantley a good thing.
Especially if its on a rifle that you intend to keep!

[Bread is People]

Good question, I'd like to hear what the experts think on this one.

IMO, yes, it would help, but only to a certain extent. Plus there is the whole "right side of the chart" stigma and brand name recognition/reputation thing. But if it works well for what you need it to do, then why not give it a try?

[Pappabear]

I had asked the same thing for my RRA lower. I traded for a hunting rifle. I got a trigger job and an EMOD Vltor stock and ergo grip. I was advised by many, now run it till it craps out, then replace broken parts.

I would definitely change the BCG if its not quality. But you could stake the screws and get some milage out of it. Before replacing it. If you get lucky, or don't run it too hard, it may never fail??? Good luck.

[bkb0000]

of course adding good parts to a shitty gun helps. absolutely.

if your shitty gun came with an un-tested crappy bolt made from poor quality steel, adding an LMT BCG vastly improves the reliability of the weapon.

thats really about the only major upgrade you can do, aside from accessory parts. your LPK might be inferior, but how would you ever know till something broke? most LPKs are tough enough. you can swap out the barrel, if you're willing to spend the d'oh. new barrel and BCG- $400-550

really, the BCG and barrel are the biggest weak points to an inferior gun. other stuff is just a pain in the ass... non-"f" FSBs, commercial REs, plastic hanguards with no heat shields, etc. these aren't reliability issues.

[SWATcop556]

Taking shit parts out of a gun and putting better/proven parts in will almost always help. I wouldn't throw $600 into a BM, DPMS, Oly but if I wanted to keep it, a couple hundred and a few stakings here and there and it woud be better.