What books to educate me on how and why of component choice

[DMTJAGER]

I currently have Patrick Sweeney's book on Gunsmithing the AR-15 and have downloaded, printed out and made into a binder the USGI Technical manual for the M-16/M4 series of firearms platforms. Thank God I can use the printer at work with complete anonymity.

First I would like to say I fully realize and accept the cause for my problem of having the difficulty I describe below is almost entirely the result of the current (IMO well planned and completely orchestrated) hysteria my nation is suffering through.

Both these books are excellent sources of how to operate, assemble/disassemble, clean, maintain, fix and even accessorize my AR-15's.

But what I have come to realize and accept is I do not posses the knowledge or experience on how to tell the difference between (and therefore how to buy or most important NOT to buy) what are in FACT NOT opinion but FACT components or complete rifles that are considered functional but of minimal, unknown and possibly questionable or undetermined quality to components that are for lack of a better way to state it, in the mid level better than entry level or average level of quality that while not the best will give me a level of reliability and dependability I can place my trust in if I ever find myself in a TSHHTF situation. In short I'd LOVE to by a new Lexus LS500h but can only afford a good used Toyota Corolla.

I have gone to a large number of websites that sell complete uppers and complete lowers who list of specifications for same are impressive and have the specifications known to be needed in a good quality reliable complete upper or lower but I am unfamiliar with their company name. As a precaution I would then post at another VERY well known AR forum asking for experienced based opinions of this same company. I have been rather shocked at the replies i have received. By that I mean when a person would make statements proclaiming the company makes junk I would thank them for their reply and then ask for specifics as to why they felt that why. More often than not their stated basis for their poor opinion was anything but credible and would then chastise me for asking to justify their criticisms with some fact or experienced based evidence.

There are literally over 100 companies and more almost daily it seams that now sell AR-15 rifles, AR-15 parts, complete upper and lower assemblies. I also know like almost everything else there are but a few, actually very few companies that make most of the major parts for the AR-15 platform like the srtipped upper and lowers as well as barrels and BCG's.

I know from personal experience that AR-15 parts are no different from automotive parts in that the same company can make the same exact part but to dramatically different level of quality control per their customers specifications. My most dramatic example of this was when I worked as an outside contractor for one of the largest manufacturers of automatic transmission parts in American history. They made parts for almost every car company but the vast majority of the parts they made were sold to Toyota, Ford and GM/GMC.

I spoke at length with the head engineer in charge of QC who also held several engineering degrees and asked him who he felt made the best transmissions. He replied that without exception Toyota demanded the parts they made for them be held to the highest possible standards, Ford was a close second and GM/GMC a distant third. Considering most companies that sell AR-15 parts or complete rifles do not make most of the parts they sell or use to make their complete upper and lower assemblies and even complete AR-15 rifles and in point of fact very similar to the auto industry and are more of an assembler of AR-15's then actual builders of AR-15's.

I would absolutely LOVE to buy all my AR components, uppers, lowers etc. from the best known and respected AR companies like DD, Noveske, LMT, or Larue. But considering my AR's are strictly 'fun range guns" only and I do no hunting or competing with them and due to extreme impracticality never take them along on vacation for personal protection like my HG's and Keltec Sub2000 G2's so to be brutally honest I absolutely can not justify the expense let alone afford to equip myself and my sons with AR's made from the top AR producers. In short I can not afford to buy or build at the same level of quality AR-15 as our Special Ops troops use, but with some good education can I afford to build a AR-15 at least on par or close to with what our conventional forces carry? My instincts tell me I likely could have pre-PLANdemic.

So that leaves me in the same very crowded boat of AR-15 owners who CAN NOT afford the best money can buy but still want the best for our money.

Now I can post questions here and other AR-15 forums or utilize the search function of this and other AR forums to answer my questions but I do not want to be one of those AR owners who post questions asking the same questions over and over and do use the search function here and other AR websites. I also have and still do HOURS of research on line on trying to find fact based evaluations of AR parts manufacturers to answer my questions, but we all know how much bias and even BS can end up in people's evaluations of most things they buy but in my experience peoples opinions of firearms are as full of bias and BS as are people's opinion of pickup trucks. Thankful this website seems populated with the least ego driven status minded AR owners and their opinions and advice have reflected that at least in my experience so far.

As an example I have read countless posts by people professing on how all of XXX popular branded AR-15 components are absolutely junk and just as many saying the same XXX branded parts have served them well, myself being one of them. Same applies for my other brand of AR rifles and components. Most of my AR components I bought from one maker and never once has anything I bought from that maker let me down but I have read many who claim that maker while is OK is still of lower end quality.

I also realize I have never put one of my AR-15's through a true torture test but I have fired over 3k rounds combined of almost every make of ammo including my reloads out of my two favorite Ar-15's alone and except for regular lubrication never cleaned them beyond their first and only complete cleaning when new. I also have put my mags through although not a test until failure evaluation I have made it a point to drop, stomp and mud test them and thy still have worked very well for me.

So does anyone know of a book or several books that I can buy that will allow me to educate myself on how buy the best AR-15 parts for my money, or as I suspect the field of AR rifles and parts retailers is growing so quickly that save for the most well known and long established AR-15 parts and rifle retailers, it's simply not possible to to keep up to date on who makes good quality affordable AR parts and rifles?

[Sparky5019]

Read everything offered here in the technical stickies for starters. There are no books per se. Most is based on experience and recommendations from SMEs and high round count end users as well as instructors. I tend to tell people not to go too Gucci and stick to mil spec for best parts interchangeability but there’s people on both sides who have optimal and dismal results from Gucci and mil spec builds. This why most of us have boxes of crap we’ve tried and didn’t like for our purposes/applications. I’ve had guys who shoot Bushmaster rifles tell me BCM is over priced junk. His rifles keep having issues and my BCM based builds run forever with zero issues. It’s all in your application for your gun and the round count you intend to fire annually or over the service life of the gun. You might be ok with a mid grade rifle for light use, I wouldn’t want to take into a SHTF scenario not knowing when it will fail. Ultimately it’s your call (or the wife’s call if she has the checkbook lol).

Study what’s available here and listen to the guys with high post counts. You’ll start to see a recurring theme and you’ll see the same things being said repeatedly; buy quality once not crap repeatedly. I also recommend buying a solid rifle then building one and not the reverse. This way you have a rifle that you can depend on.

Question all sales pitches and weigh the necessity of gadgets. Buy top quality optics because they’re your life.

Good luck.

[turnburglar]

I don't think you really appreciate how fluid the industry really is; and how little each brand really controls their manufacturing. Any published work claiming to be an 'authority' on all parts AR, is either out of date or missing a large portion of the industry. For example two very large names in the AR business: Colt and DD, have both had differing levels of involvement in their own manufacturing process. PSA is another good example of a company that has evolved over time.

You want a quality AR? Sure. Stick to the TDP or mil spec grade parts; this website used to have "the chart" that outlined very single component of the TDP. Get CURRENT information from a fluid medium like YT or this forum. A book? Sounds kinda laughable.

[DMTJAGER]

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I strongly suspected there was little to no chance of any book that is or was the definitive source for reliable AR parts or lists those that make the most reliable compleat rifles, uppers or lowers.

I will as advised read the technical stickies here and use them as a base of my education.
"I don't think you really appreciate how fluid the industry really is; and how little each brand really controls their manufacturing. Any published work claiming to be an 'authority' on all parts AR, is either out of date or missing a large portion of the industry".
Well I do to some extent as I tried to state in my transmission manufacturing plant analogy I listed. I was pretty sure and now thanks you you are certain nearly all companies that manufacture AR parts and rifles are essentially like most other companies that make products that are comprised of a large number of individual parts that they have to subcontract out making of a large percentage of those parts as a matter of financial reality and survival, especially the less critical ones as to be determined by the individual parts importance or lack thereof.
I guess a good example would be choosing to either make your on forged uppers and lowers VS billet uppers and lowers. I can not see how a smaller AR maker could possibly afford to themselves make anything out of billet AL as it is much more expensive than the finishing processing of a forging.

[JediGuy]

There’s plenty of good advice on this forum, and plenty of knowledgeable people who call out nonsense when they read it. I’m bored for a few minutes here, so...

They is to buy from the most reputable companies, which does not have to mean expensive. One could also say “Too good to be true probably is.” I will share my personal preferences here, but understand that this isn’t exhaustive, nor do my experiences match everyone else.

1. For complete uppers, I have only purchased BCM and Colt. Does that mean others are not good? Of course not, but if I’m paying for an off the shelf upper, it better darn well work. Those two brands do. I haven’t purchased a complete Centurion upper, but I wouldn’t hesitate to do so (fellow NWI resident, Centurion Arms is down toward Indy). I did pay BRT to assemble an upper for me with their barrel, and did so confidently. I’m sure DD is fine.

2. For small parts, it depends on the part. I picked up a stash of Colt parts from Shark Arms and Brownells when they were available. If I need springs or detents, etc, I get the Forward Controls Design sets. Damage Industries seems fine for single parts, though I have avoided wear parts from there in general since I don’t have much info on them. I also purchase(d) SOLGW blaster packs to give me a stash of backup and should have gotten more. I recently got some White Label Armory LPKs as backups based on recommendations here. CMMG seems to have a good rep for LPKs, but no personal experience.

3. Barrels? There are a massive number of opinions, and I have limited experience. There are plenty of fine options (outside of BCA), just use common sense. I avoid Faxon based on reports of massive gas ports and QC issues more recently; others have fine experiences with them. Ballistic Advantage has been good, I’ve got a SOLGW on backorder from OpticsPlanet (Father forgive me), Colt obviously is fine. BRT (Black River Tactical) is where I look first these days.

4. Bolt Carrier Groups are where I get picky. I sold off my PSA Premium and rando Toolcrafts not because I had problems (though the PSA was super gritty) but because I had a limited number of uppers and wanted the best QC’d BCG’s available. BCM and Sionics NP3 were all I had until I built an upper during 2020...I took what I could get for that one and made sure to headspace it. I currently have a couple ‘just for fun’ builds coming together, and I’m using a Brownells BCG and will get a random nitride for the other. But these two guns are not planned as ‘go-tos.’ For standalone bolts, I have DD’s as backups and may grab some rando’s again just because you never know. Replacement BCG parts are mostly Colt, though I did grab some (Damage Industries?) more unknown gas rings to build up a stash.
Edit to add: School of The American Rifle gauged out an AimSurplus BCG, and I think it did very well. So that’s a solid budget option if you can catch it in stock.

Aero Precision is a good source for receivers and even handguards. Note here, that I did get an Aero lower that was not fully milled to correct dimensions, so a hammer would not function; I took a video, used their help desk, and they replaced it. I avoid Aero small parts based on internet reviews which may have limited validity...but there are other available options.
CMT has a good reputation. ALG is good for handguards, and I have to think their BCG’s would be good to go.
The elephant in the room is PSA, and whenever they are mentioned, things get interesting. I will say my only current SBR is a PSA lower, though at this point the only things I haven’t replaced are the takedown and pivot pins/springs/detents. I do not have anything else from PSA, and I would be inclined to only get items that I personally assemble. It has been a few years, but the quality difference (I’m not saying functionality, but definitely finish) was noticeably better on BCM and other items than on PSA (receiver extension, bolt carrier, enhanced trigger). I’m not poor, so I don’t see the point in getting items that are prima facie lower quality than other readily available and not unreasonably priced options. The lesson here for me was, to quote the Rankin Bass version of The Return of the King, “Less can be more...”

I have avoided small shops and billet receivers, though the Orchid Defense lower at Rainier keeps calling my name.

Edit: Something you could do is watch School of The American Rifle videos on YouTube. Tons of information, and his whole thing is component quality. Lots to learn on there just from watching him gauge and check various vendors’ products.

[bamashooter]

"So does anyone know of a book or several books that I can buy that will allow me to educate myself on how buy the best AR-15 parts for my money ........."

No.

[DMTJAGER]

Thanks Jediguy for your enormously informative and equally impressive response. Will definitely take your advice and subscribe to "School of The American Rifle" YouTube channel.

I have some all be it limited experience with ordering and then using so called "quality replacement parts" not un like those basing thier ordering of AR parts on the lable "Mil Spec parts" where I work. Most of the electrical systems I work on are of vintage 1960's and 1970's designs and although are literally bombproof durable and still work phenomenally well and survive some of the worst environmental conditions one can possibly invision for electrical components I have replaced components that finally failed many after 30+ years of 7/24/365 near constant use some more than 50 years based on electricians before me who installed them wrote the installation date on the component no less

The companies who were the OEM of these parts are all long been bought out or no longer exist and let me tell good sir the replacement parts are OEM strictly in name only and do not last 1/20th the time as the real OEM parts did.

My reason for asking about a parts book was essentially for the same reason. We still have components on hand that are vintage NIB 100% OEM and I have done SBS comparisons of the newest supposedly same exact quality OEM parts and I can tell you it's absolute BS the parts are all made in communist china or mexico POS.

One of the most striking differences was a newly installed 250HP AC motor (made in mexico) we just installed that replaced one built in the 1970's built in America. The MIM motor weighed over 800lbs less (>5klbs/MIM VS <5.8Klbs/MIA) and lasted less than 11 months due to working in an environment of average ambient temps above 120*F and at times above 170*F and about a 80% average humidity.

So I figured the same was likely true of AR parts as there are more makers of AR parts than Quizling's in WDC.
I also knew the odds were either 0 or >0 that there would be a trusted reference source concerning AR parts quality. But didn't hurt anything to ask.

Thanks to all for helping to farther my AR education.

[1986s4]

I don't have any books on this subject but I do read all I can on this forum and maybe another. When deciding on what barrel, receiver, BCG, etc., to get I do a lot of research on the interwebz and I don't base my decision on one opinion but rather a consistent theme of quality and performance from several sources that I trust.

[95fordfleetside]

I'll say I had a cmc lpk and it felt like junk, material quality seemed poor.

[ViperTwoSix]

Read everything offered here in the technical stickies for starters. There are no books per se. Most is based on experience and recommendations from SMEs and high round count end users as well as instructors..

This pretty much sums up my opinion. There are no books or publications, just a vast amount of experiences. As others have said, the SMEs, course instructors, armorers, and high round count users provide opinions based on a much larger sample size than I will ever have. Through research you will begin to figure out who is an expert and who is not, and you’ll also start to see some trends with various parts and manufacturers regarding what is “quality” and what is not.

As you already know, a lot of it comes down to QC. Some companies do more QC than others, and it usually comes at a higher cost. That doesn’t always mean their parts are “better” but it does usually mean you have a better chance of being assured your parts are within TDP spec, and are made from what they claim.

It also matters who you buy from. Every manufacturer makes mistakes, even the best. It’s how they handle those mistakes that can also make or break their reputation. Buy from a reputable manufacturer with a good history or customer service and you can be assured if you do inadvertently get a part that is out of spec or doesn’t work quite right, they’ll take care of you.

It also depends on what is right for YOU, and what you want out of the rifle. If you just want something for the range, and only plan on putting 100 rounds a year through it, almost any AR would suit you. If you want something flashy to show off, there are companies that make all the wiz bangs you can think of. If you want a life or death reliable rifle, there are those too. That’s part of the beauty of the AR platform, you can pretty much make it whatever you need it to be. Some parts are better suited to specific roles than others.