Which AR15 gunsmiths are considered the top five in America? For Lowers? For Uppers? All Around?

Frank White/Compass Lake Engineering

*All around best AR-15 gunsmith

That's pretty ambiguous since almost all gunsmiths specialize.  

The guy that works on my Single Action Colt isn't going to have a clue about setting the timing on my M16.

The guy that reparkerizes my military stuff probably isn't going to be able to do engraving.

See where I'm going with this?

My vote goes to Kurt at www.kurts-kustom-firearms.cityslide.com

He's as good as they get and you can't beat his prices.

John Holliger does great work.  He specializes in competition-oriented rifles/uppers.  I like his work better than Frank White's, but Frank does a good job t serving competitors too.

Kurt seems to be targeted more at the tatical crowd,

Depends on what kind of work you want done.

I have always heard good things about Kurt on this board from many satisfied customers but I never had any work done on my weapons yet.

I've personally dealt with:
www.jpar15.com and
www.compasslake.com/
and have been completely satisfied with both of them.

Frank White & John Holliger are two of the premier AR 'smiths when it comes to rifles built for highpower competition. Frank is more oriented towards mass production with his CNC lathes & milling machines, but that doesn't mean he's sacraficing quality in the process. His chamber reamer design is one of the most popular among HP shooters. If you talk to both Frank & John, I guarentee you that they will both complement the other on his work. They're both gentlemen, and it's been my pleasure to do business with both. John's A2 rear sight modification is a work of art, and the four barrels I've had chambered by Frank were all within less than .001" of each other on headspace. That's consistency, and speaks volumes about the care Frank takes in cutting his chambers. There are plenty of other good AR 'smiths out there who build rifles for HP & other purposes, but these are the two I've done business with, and will continue to.

Ken at www.sawlesales.com/

he knows more than all of those guys combined!

Quoted: ....almost all gunsmiths specialize.

This was my first thought too.

Bob at ASA...