I've never seen a 500 buck one shoot as well as a well built one with the best barrel you can buy. Ever. But a 500 buck one might shoot as well as whatever your demands are.
On a recent range trip, there were at last 30 guys at the range with AR's, and I was the only person actually shooting groups.
There was some expensive AR on the line and not one of them would of been able to tell the difference in accuracy between a .5 and a 2k rifle.
Of course, if you know what you are doing, a good barrel will make a difference.
