Let me preface this by saying that I am a civilian and primarily shoot my weapons for personal enjoyment. I also train with them for self defense and sincerely hope I never need them for that purpose.

My father taught me to buy the best product available rather than settling for second best or "good enough". I have found that following this advice has been a wise decision. Almost every time I have settled for something less than the best I usually regret it. Now I will go without until I can save enough money to get the best product.

My first AR was an Armalite M15A4 National Match. It is a great shooter but the fit and finish are not the best and it lacks many of the desired features some of the top brands have. After buying that rifle I read as much as possible about ARs on TOS, M4carbine.net and finally WE. The last purchase I made was an LMT Defender 2000. I felt since this carbine would be used for home defense that it needed to be one of the best products available.

It is my experience that the extra amount spent to get the best product is more than outweighed by the better performance and satisfaction you receive.