Why are people so afraid of and don't want rifles that are "pieced" together?
The only AR s I have ever had problems with are the ones that use pieced together and / or parts of inferior quality. An AR built with quality "mil spec" parts shouldn't be a problem.
See Rijas Services, LLC and look at their product offerings and price and you'll see why 
In all seriousness, the problem with "pieced" together rifles is questionable components and knowledge by the bubba who assembled the rifle. It was mainly an issue about 10 years ago when milspec was a unicorn that no one really knew about nor the non tier 1 manufacturers cared about. Colt actually meant something and was a quality standard.
It's a bit different today. Most median priced AR components are mil-spec. It's hard to find a bolt that isn't at least HPT/MPI batch tested, if not individually tested. Proper gas key staking and 7075 T2 Aluminum used for the receiver and buffer tubes are almost the norm now. Finding chrome-lined / melonite / nitrided barrels at a good price is relatively easy now, too. Plus most people are now semi-educated when it comes to proper timing of the gas system and the advantages of using a mid-length gas tube vs carbine and the usage of H, H2 ,H3 type heavy buffers to smooth out the cycling and ensuring better reliability.
My main issue with buying a pieced together lately is price. You'll see people clobber together a Model 1 or Delton rifle with a 1/9 twist m4 profile barrel with a carbine gas system, with cheap UTG rails, UTG m4 stock that is "milspec" but made with 6065 aluminum and ask for upwards of $1200. Even $900 is too much, imo for these type of rifles. You can build a rifle primarily consisting of Palmetto State Armory components for less than that and be truer to milspec and own a better quality rifle. I won't even buy a Bushmaster or DPMS from the factory for $1200, let alone a crappier bubba's rifle for $1200.
However, if it's pieced together with quality components, then I would not hesitate to buy it if the price was right.
In all seriousness, the problem with "pieced" together rifles is questionable components and knowledge by the bubba who assembled the rifle. It was mainly an issue about 10 years ago when milspec was a unicorn that no one really knew about nor the non tier 1 manufacturers cared about. Colt actually meant something and was a quality standard.
It's a bit different today. Most median priced AR components are mil-spec. It's hard to find a bolt that isn't at least HPT/MPI batch tested, if not individually tested. Proper gas key staking and 7075 T2 Aluminum used for the receiver and buffer tubes are almost the norm now. Finding chrome-lined / melonite / nitrided barrels at a good price is relatively easy now, too. Plus most people are now semi-educated when it comes to proper timing of the gas system and the advantages of using a mid-length gas tube vs carbine and the usage of H, H2 ,H3 type heavy buffers to smooth out the cycling and ensuring better reliability.
My main issue with buying a pieced together lately is price. You'll see people clobber together a Model 1 or Delton rifle with a 1/9 twist m4 profile barrel with a carbine gas system, with cheap UTG rails, UTG m4 stock that is "milspec" but made with 6065 aluminum and ask for upwards of $1200. Even $900 is too much, imo for these type of rifles. You can build a rifle primarily consisting of Palmetto State Armory components for less than that and be truer to milspec and own a better quality rifle. I won't even buy a Bushmaster or DPMS from the factory for $1200, let alone a crappier bubba's rifle for $1200.
However, if it's pieced together with quality components, then I would not hesitate to buy it if the price was right.
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Problem with pieced together rifles is Noveske doesn't make one.
I second Aestus' opinion
Somebody somewhere pieced it together. I just did it myself so that I could be my own QC. If something didn't look right, I would look into it. Not that I am some AR guru but I just wanted the piece of mind and understanding of how everything went together and functions. To each their own. With the current market if you cant sell it as a whole because its "pieced together" then take the damn thing apart and sell the pieces. Probably sell faster that way anyhow.
I can understand being leery of buying a rifle SOMEONE ELSE pieced together, because you can't always verify that all the parts are what they say they are; and especially when you're talking about dudes putting their own barrels on and stuff, you don't know whether he knew WTF he was doing.
But not wanting to put your own rifle together? That I don't understand. Even if you don't want to build the upper yourself, you can save tons of money by buying a stripped lower and putting it together yourself and slapping a complete upper on it. Plus then you can put it together more the way you want. If you can change your own oil, you can put together a lower receiver. And plus it teaches you about how the rifle works, and that is good stuff to know anyway in case you have to make repairs in the field.
But not wanting to put your own rifle together? That I don't understand. Even if you don't want to build the upper yourself, you can save tons of money by buying a stripped lower and putting it together yourself and slapping a complete upper on it. Plus then you can put it together more the way you want. If you can change your own oil, you can put together a lower receiver. And plus it teaches you about how the rifle works, and that is good stuff to know anyway in case you have to make repairs in the field.
A rifle you pieced together is fine.
A rifle someone else pieced together is sketchy.
In a world where half the gunsmiths in Oklahoma have no formal training besides youtube, and just a piece of paper from a fake internet "university". (AKA Phoenix State University, which is a fake school/diploma mill, and NOT related to the University of Phoenix), I'm even leery of gunsmith built AR's - though I assume there are plenty out there that are great.
A factory AR has been built to established standards by people that build ARs all day long. It's been built from parts that are known to work well together and generally from a bill of materials generated by an actual engineer.
I have no problem buying the occasional piece-part AR, but will either be parting it out or will need to double check every single thing on the gun, so I would never pay more than 50-60% of what the parts would cost you, because there is a good chance the builder screwed something up when he assembled it and you're just buying their problems. If someone spent all of this time and money ordering all of the best parts they could find, and assembled it so well - why would they sell it?? I know I don't sell guns I built myself.
ALSO - What is it with so many people who just built their first AR out of the best bargain basement parts out there suddenly getting in a huge financial bind and having to sell it so quickly?
A rifle someone else pieced together is sketchy.
In a world where half the gunsmiths in Oklahoma have no formal training besides youtube, and just a piece of paper from a fake internet "university". (AKA Phoenix State University, which is a fake school/diploma mill, and NOT related to the University of Phoenix), I'm even leery of gunsmith built AR's - though I assume there are plenty out there that are great.
A factory AR has been built to established standards by people that build ARs all day long. It's been built from parts that are known to work well together and generally from a bill of materials generated by an actual engineer.
I have no problem buying the occasional piece-part AR, but will either be parting it out or will need to double check every single thing on the gun, so I would never pay more than 50-60% of what the parts would cost you, because there is a good chance the builder screwed something up when he assembled it and you're just buying their problems. If someone spent all of this time and money ordering all of the best parts they could find, and assembled it so well - why would they sell it?? I know I don't sell guns I built myself.
ALSO - What is it with so many people who just built their first AR out of the best bargain basement parts out there suddenly getting in a huge financial bind and having to sell it so quickly?
I pieced my frankenstein rifle together over time with the cheapest possible parts I could find. Several thousand rounds later, not a single malfunction, regardless of what I feed it, with fairly tight groups (I just use irons though, so I'm not sure what kind of precision it's capable of).
On the other side, my dad bought a complete Roggio Arsenal rifle which got FTE's out of the box and the company went out of business before he could get a refund, so complete rifles are not always better.
On the other side, my dad bought a complete Roggio Arsenal rifle which got FTE's out of the box and the company went out of business before he could get a refund, so complete rifles are not always better.
I also pieced my AR-15 together using cheap parts and it works fantastically. I've done all manner of hunting with it and have never had an issue.
A lot of the people who think an AR has to be all matching are the guys who spend too much time on AR15.com.
A lot of the people who think an AR has to be all matching are the guys who spend too much time on AR15.com.
