AR : mixing lowers and uppers vs factory

[andy t]

I have an AR that I acquired used from a member. It has Mega lower and an unknown upper. It seems to shoot great, however, I would like something with more name recognition.
I am thinking of either shelling out the cash and getting a brand new made by either Bushmaster, RRA, LMT, or DPMS.
Alternatively, I can combine lowers / uppers of different manufacturers. I am wondering if going the "everythng done at factory route" has benefits in terms of quality/reliability, etc...Or will combining different branded lowers/uppers will yield the same results?

 

[LORD of WAR]

andy...as long as your using quality parts and take care of your AR keeping it a fine oiled machine i dont think there should be a problem...i originally had an all bushmaster carbine that was jamming about every other mag...i swapped out the upper and replaced the trigger with a stag arms upper and a rock river trigger...i keep it well oiled and clean and it has yet to have any malfunctions ::knock on wood::

i dont think mixing different breeds will hurt the guns performance

 

[LoginName]

The only fly in the ointment is with mixing and matching Colt upper/lowers and other manufacturers uppers and lowers. Colt purposely used a larger pivot pin so
owners wouldn't swap out uppers and lowers. Fixing the problem is as easy as buying an expandable or off-center pivot pin or pin with bushing (they're only about $5.00 - $8.00).

You might also run up against the problem of getting either a tight fit, or loose fit between different uppers and lowers. I know RRA makes the fit between their own uppers and lowers really tight. Either problem is easily corrected.

Mixing and matching a bolt from one manufacturer with an upper from another manufacturer shouldn't be a problem. If done it wouldn't be a bad idea to check the headspacing.