I used to shoot High power competition and spent a few years reading and buying competition grade AR's then progressed to the point of building them myself.
I think learning what to look for is more important than identifying who claims what.
In short there are a couple of things that make it accurate, and those have to do with precision built (trigger, barrel, and chambering type per what you are shooting, and free floating the barrel).
There are also a few things that have to do with how easy they are to shoot. Those are how they fit you, and how consistent you can be with the rifle as it recoils back.
Past that it's just quality of materials...
Most rifles have something shooters want to change over time, buttstock, forearm, ... so depending on how much your rifle cost it might be smarter to piece part it. This would be someone who wants a AR with features of the 1800-2800 off the shelf price range.
The $500 jobs will not have a "great trigger," or Match barrel so long term if you keep it and upgrade those you are throwing away money ....
Now if you move to 308 AR platforms the equations change drastically, but for the common AR, it's pretty much that way.
At the moment there are plenty of good sales so if your careful you can get what you want and not toss too much in the trash when buying an off the shelf rifle.
Last edited by Spotshooter; 01/25/17.
