I truly agree with the other post, if its dependable and works then stick with it.
But if it’s marginal and you yearn for a better rig, secure that rig first and then sell yours. You wouldn’t want to get caught in the struggle with your pants down.
I own a Colt but am testing the waters on a Frankenbuild. Love my Colt but wanted something more role specific and wanted to obtain the experience from a build.
All the best on whichever you decide!
The upper is the most important part of the rifle.
Two things to build an analogy –
In 1989 I facilitated a small group in an educator’s seminar at Black Mountain, NC and about mid-week two of the guys in my group approached me and said, “Rick – at first we had you pegged for a tea-sipper, but we have concluded you are a real guy.” From there they educated me on some finer points of the rivalry between men who attend Texas A&M and those who attend the University of Texas. The aggies refer to the UT men as “tea-sippers.” As the two aggies put it, the tea-sippers are consumed with a sense of self-importance.
Next, I have been riding motorcycles since age 15 and after years on dirt-bikes and cruisers I eventually graduated to a Gold Wing. A while back I bought a kit and built my own cargo trailer to haul behind the Wing. I saved a lot of coin in the process, and while it does not have the finished look of a Bushtec or a Hannigan, it works great and my camping kit stuff is none the wiser. Additionally, I fabbed a custom tongue with a swivel hitch, and wired it with some features that the factory trailers lack or that would cost a lot to include.
There is a certain convenience to buying a complete … anything, whether it is a rife, trailer, or whatever. And in the case of a weapon, the warranty is indeed a factor.
But at the end of the day something you build yourself is uniquely personal, and you enjoy some intangible benefits that cannot be had through another approach.
If the rifle is reliable, fits you, and you are otherwise happy with it – it’s all good.
Finally, not everyone who buys complete has a tea-sipper attitude. But when you run up on that, if you can overlook the posturing of the crowd that sniffs, “I have a … (insert name here)”, then just enjoy the thoroughly researched, custom built, personally fitted, and intimately appreciated extension of yourself and let the narcissists continue preening in the mirror.
Otherwise, you risk being seen as a tea-sipper and the rest of us will be snickering behind your back… :sarcastic:
Complete factory rifles generally fetch a higher price than custom builds, which is important among collectors/speculators. But in current market conditions, most of us can’t really be picky 
Rickwinger brought up a good point that I missed in my first post here. For a couple of months prior to this latest round of gun-grabbing non-sense, I had been looking to add a couple more good ARs to the safe. I looked at all of the offerings from the top companies and could not find one that had ALL the features I was looking for. I was using a process of elimination to decide which one I could buy and spend the fewest hundreds of dollars customizing it to my preference. The LMT lower is perfect in my mind. Love the SOPMOD stock and the Ergo grip, but I couldn’t find any lowers available. For my upper I wanted the 16" light weight barrel, lopro gas block and a 9" rail. I could not find the combo of all of that, so I decided to build it myself. I found the Areoprecision lowers through my firearms training school, and ordered up the parts from all over. Ergo grips, DD lower parts kits and MBUS from form Midway. B5s from G&R. Buffer tubes, buffers and springs from BCM, etc… DD was the only company I could find that could/would custom build the uppers I desired. They made it easy to order. Price was fair. And they delivered in less than two weeks. All I had to do was add my sights and a light, and, VOILA! The perfect AR. (For me anyway…)
I went this way because it was the cheapest, most effective way to build the specific AR that I wanted. I could not buy what I wanted off the shelf.
With the current state of the gun legislation and the effect it is having on the limited availability of M4’s (and their parts), I would keep what you have until this either blows over or becomes a law. I know too many people that are being caught weaponless because they were caught offguard or out of money when this current issue hit.