When it comes to an AR-15, less really is more.
I started shooting tactical rifle matches in the late 1980s, mostly because there was often a match the same weekend at the same ranges where I shot service rifle matches with my M1A.
I shot my first tactical rifle match after hearing about it 2 days prior. They had both a .30 caliber "battle rifle" division and a "light rifle" division for .223 and other intermediate rounds. My M1A would be fine for the battle rattle, but I did not own an AR-15 or Mini 14 at the time, so I bought a very nice surplus M1 Carbine for $125, both boxes of surplus .30 M1 carbine ball ammo the shop had, and three new surplus 30 round magazines. I used 10 rounds to zero the M1 carbine on an adjacent range just before the match and then shot the match.
When I showed up with it, the AR-15 crowd gave me a lot of condescending looks while talking amongst themselves about the advantages and benefits of heavy barrels, muzzle brakes, their various optics choices and their custom triggers and other mods on their mostly 16" AR-15 carbines. I and my M1 carbine were not regarded as contenders at all, especially given that there were targets on the 200 yard line. I won the battle rattle division and took second place in the light rifle division, behind the match organizer and his HK93. Which of course meant me and my M1 carbine beat every single highly modified AR-15 there that day.
The takeaway here is that it's not the gun as much as it is the shooter.
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Fast forward 25 or so years, I'd moved a couple times dropped out of tactical rifle shooting and then joined a rifle and pistol club that decided to start having tactical rifle matches. It was a little different this time as picatinny rails were all the rage and shooters were taking light and handy M4geries and hanging about 3 pounds of tacticool crud on them, slowing them down for no useful purpose.
By this time I had a number of AR-15s in various configurations, but I chose to use an XM-177E2 clone as the majority of the targets were short range and the longest was at the 100 yard line, a light, fast handling carbine with standard aperture sights was far more effective than a tarted up M4 with a red dot or reflex sight and all kinds of useless tactical stuff hanging off it. People were again surprised that I shot so well with such a plane jane carbine.
What people forget is that picatinny rails are used in the military so that the weapon can be quickly configured with just what it needs - and only what it needs - for a specific purpose, not to enable it to carry every accessory in the inventory at the same time.
The other mistake people make with "upgrading" an AR-15 is thinking it needs some level of improved quality in the parts. Back in the day "mil-spec" was the thing people wanted. That generally signalled that the person telling you mil-spec was the thing to have, had:
1) never actually been in the military,
2) didn't actually understand what mil spec meant, and
3) didn't understand the differences between the military's needs and his or her actual uses for the rifle or carbine.
Now, it's evolved somewhat to high end top tier parts, which not surprisingly are promoted by top tier companies and the shooters they sponsor (and echoed by all the wannabees who want to sound knowledgeable). Most of those "improvements", and in particular piston driven AR-15s, all have sharp downsides or other compromises that create other potential flaws. There's no free lunch.
With the exception of Colt and FN, both of whom were given the original technical data packages, all AR-15s on the market are reverse engineered from a Colt. Virtually all of them have been reverse engineered quite well and provided the parts meet minimum specifications, parts are parts and they'll be plenty good enough.
There have been companies that made out of spec uppers, lowers and other parts, but they come and then go very quickly and are widely known and reviled in short order. You'll also find crappy barrels that were not properly stress relieved, but those are quick, easy and not to expensive to replace.
If you buy a mid tier AR-15 from a reputable company from PSA on up, it'll be just fine (maybe a new barrel for the PSA). Rock River, DPMS, S&W and Ruger are all good examples of companies that make decent mid tier AR-15s that don't need to be futzed with. Buy it shoot it a lot, and then decide what if anything might make it more enjoyable for you to shoot.
And by the way WELCOME to the Forum!
