I don't keep round counts individually on each rifle but some have over 1k easily. My PSA premium M4 has been more reliable than any Colt/FN M16 or M4 that I was issued in the Army, but that's not a fair comparison as those rifles have a different life.

As far as buying from better companies, ironically, my DPMS Sportical I bought back in 2009 has been my most reliable factory bought AR. It's almost comical, I feed it everything and haven't had an issue. That doesn't mean I'd recommend a Sportical to someone else, but all the snobbery and "my brand is better than your brand/home built POS" is laughable.

I don't think you would have been very happy with your PSA or DPMS if you put it through the same stuff as your issued weapons. I had issued rifles as well. FN M16A4s and Colt M4s. Weird, they were always really good. Are you sure you didn't have magazine issues, since those are generally a lot older and more abused than our weapons were.

I had a factory new DPMS 'Classic 16' which had either a loose barrel nut or barrel extension.

Gun snobbery goes both ways, but more often in the opposite direction as stereotyped. Especially here. Builds are builds, generally put together by newbies and/or garage tinkerers. No more than that, usually.

From my understanding of your question buy or build using complete upper and lowers I would see that cost would be an issue for you.  The easy answer to that first part is build.  You can really save money if you buy a complete upper and build from a stripped lower.  With so many brands to choose from it’s hard to suggest the one that best for you without knowing what your likes are.  Luckily there are hundreds of YouTube reviews on any product you can name.  Do your homework and be ready to spend $550.00 to 650.00 to complete your AR.

When it comes to buying an AR-15 many company are selling them at very low costs than in years past.  Most major names in the industry offer very good entry-level rifles to customers not looking to break the bank.  The AR-15 that I like best in the under $700.00 price range is the Armalite Defensive Sport 15 & 15F.  The lowest I’ve seen them starting at is $629.00.  Outside of the great price this rifle has all the features common to the AR-15 and has a 1/7 twist chrome lined barrel.  Most AR’s like this one cost over $900.00.  

So, a pay stub from Colt or Spikes makes someone better at building a rifle than anyone else?

And training and skill are only available at these places.  It is issued when you sign on.

(You really can pack your own parachute and not get killed too.)

Yes, you can usually spot gun snobbery almost immediately...



Oh look, here's some!

You couldn't possibly know any of this or judge any build without the prequalification of being a paid professional.

Store bought ar's are priced really low right now. If you are not really picky on how you want it to look than go the store bought route. They will all shoot just fine. They prices are very similar between the two though. My friend just got done building a 300 Blackout for pretty much as cheap as possible and he ended up spending about $600. You can find fully built guns for roughly the same price. Del-Ton has really good prices and good quality on parts to build with and completed rifles. Check them out.

GARAGE TINKERERS. Need I say more?