If you guys want to build a rifle and do it well fine. you spend $$ on shipping parts and have to buy the tools... For a guy who is just wanting to get a decent 3G rifle telling someone to buy and hassle with putting one together just to get a very specific brand of flux capacitor on your rifle that wont benefit you beyond the pre match penis comparisons..... Buy a quality rifle if your not sure like a JP or one of several good ones. ... IF you have a solid platform and want to upgrade a stock, grip, trigger or barrel that's different.
pretty snarky response considering the title/subject of the thread:
3-gun build questions
I'd wager by far the majority of rifles at 3-gun events are home assembled.
Should I point out the irony of complaining about the cost of a couple of tools, then recommending complete JP rifles...
or the irony of complaining about the cost of tools then suggesting it makes sense to rebarrel a perfectly good factory gun?
That said, there are certainly lots of good factory built 3G options out there... JP, Stag, Colt Competition, etc and I wouldn't hesitate to use any of them. I like putting them together and the cost of the tools was something I worried about almost 15 yrs ago when I first bought them, now I have them and don't think about it. If someone else prefers to buy whole rifles, that's cool too. Certainly w/ ARs that's the only way you'll get re-sale value if that matters (unless Feinstein/Reid get unleashed again).
-rvb