Excuse me if this is old news for most of you, but I recently learned about the Federal Excise Tax on firearms.  In looking at several major manufacturer's websites (RRA, Bushmaster, etc.) it is apparent that it costs about 20% more to buy a complete rifle compared to a separate upper and lower.  About half of this is due to the 11% FEC, I assume.  I'm not sure where the other 10% comes from since I would imagine that the prices of the uppers and lowers already includes profit.  Given this fact, and the ease of assembling uppers and lowers, why would someone pay more for a complete rifle?  I am assuming that it would not be considered tax evasion to buy a separare upper and lower and assemble them.

the other 9% you mentioned is to pay for the tools/consumables, electricity, insurance, and the guy assembling it to a complete rifle.

All that to push two pins in?

KS, a lot of people go this route to save some money. Many go so far as to buy a stripped lower and a kit.

There is a bit of money to be saved this way depending on what features you want, and when you want them.

Complete rifles, come with a box, an owners manual, a magazine, sometimes a sling, and a factory warranty.

Rifle kits do not come with this.

Keep in mind that those two pins are rather hard to manipulate when the rifle has not yet  been broken in...

David_Hineline,

If a buy a complete upper (or lower) from RRA or Bushmaster wouldn't it have a warranty?  I understand parts kits not having a warranty, but I would think that an assembled upper would be covered.

Warranties are worthless. All the manufacturer's will warranty their parts or assemblies, and the (good) dealers will warranty their kits. And if anything ever does break, you'll know what it is and how to fix or replace it. Screw the FET!