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Well... Its not about intelligence or skill, Its about a lack of information.
Not all bolt carriers within a platform will work with all uppers. Some SR25 platform rifles will work with LAR308 buffers, My Aero rifles had the carriers crash into the lower at the receiver extension boss using LAR308 carbine buffers and Tubb's flat springs. You had to stack a bucks worth of quarters in the tube to keep it from crashing. I eventually went to Spikes heavy buffers. The Aero lowers work better with a AR10B mag catch because its a tenth of a inch longer. Not all charging handles will work with all uppers. Not all bolt catches work in all lowers. Its not like the 5.56 guns where there is a specification and stuff just works. Its not rocket science but you cant just buy a pile of parts you like and slap them together like you can a 5.56 gun and expect it to be bulletproof out of the gate.
If you are talking about bolting on a new grip, dropping in a trigger yes, you don't have much to be worried about, But you can get into trouble with stocks because of different length receiver extensions/buffer requirements. Rails/forends are another thing. There are different offsets, different patterns. What works on a Mega upper might not work on a DPMS upper.
Well, but I am assuming that the person will use their skills and intelligence to do the necessary homework.
My 308 AR is sort of a Frankenrifle. While I certainly did not build it from scratch as the OP here is proposing to do ( I really don't have either the skills or the proper tools to do that ), the upper and lower are different brands, and I also have a third party handguard installed. Yes, you do have to be careful regarding the stock, and having an appropriate buffer and spring.
But I did not find it to be rocket science at all either. You just have to do some additional homework to insure compatibility. It is certainly not a good reason to avoid owning a 308 AR, in my opinion.
In my opinion, the main drawback to owning a 308 AR is the higher cost. Plus the fact that they are also typically heavier rifles.
But the 308 AR platform definitely has some advantages when it comes to being able to support cartridges like 308 Win, 7mm-08, 243 Win, and 6.5mm Creedmoor.
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