Both of our LT's have AKs

I had never heard of diamondback firearms when I bought my AR, they only had 2 in the store. They had a standard low end looking one, then the DB15 platinum edition, it was love at first site!! 

can personally attest to the shittiness of DPMS. After maybe 400 rounds my entire hand guard/gas seal came loose. 

40 minutes ago, Schoony said:

can personally attest to the shittiness of DPMS. After maybe 400 rounds my entire hand guard/gas seal came loose. 

We used to refer to them as "Panther piss arms". I've worked on more DPMS rifles trying to get them to run halfway reliably than any other brand. It's cringe inducing when guys show up at a range with them.

1 hour ago, Skillet said:

 

We used to refer to them as "Panther piss arms". I've worked on more DPMS rifles trying to get them to run halfway reliably than any other brand. It's cringe inducing when guys show up at a range with them.

I must hugely disagree with you. I've put easily 3k rounds through mine and it has run flawlessly. DPMS and Bushmaster are made on the same assembly line, different names. I have had mine through the mud, snow, dirt and rain and never, not once, a single malfunction save the occasional FTE, which I blame wholly on bad rounds here and there. I'm not into name brands. I use what works. My panther works more than fine for me. 

Check out the Warfighters at Tactical Edge Arms if you are looking for a world class firearm.  Amazing quality . Check their website. They are located in Clarksville. 

My first AR platform that I bought straight out of the Marines was a DPMS. At the time it was the cheapest available back in early 2000's. I paid $950 for it, because back then all AR's were $1000 plus. I have had zero failures from that rifle and still continue having zero failures. So I don't know what you are doing wrong. 

A lot of times you will find that there are a multitude of AR manufacturers and only a few machine shops that make and supply the uppers and lowers.

If you have to spend tons of money to make you feel better about you're rifle, that is perfectly ok.

I have two good friends that are such gear snobs that if you don't pay over $1200 for an AR, you don't have anything. They have to buy the top echelon gear they can find. There is nothing wrong with that. But, don't push those beliefs on others.