Mike,

I don't know of any "no-name" piston AR builders. Just because you don't know the name of an AR builder doesn't equate to low quality ... in fact it's often just the opposite. Many small custom AR building shops build AR's that are FAR superior to the Names You Must Know.

Those big names ... Bushmaster, DPMS, Stag ... even to a somewhat lesser extent, Colt ... are mass produced conglomerations of mil spec parts.

Mil spec doesn't mean better ... just within tolerance. That's why a lot of AR's from the big names rattle like a can full of marbles and shoot 3 MOA.

Small shops that take a bit more time can pick and choose parts that fit together better than just mil spec and can easily shoot sub MOA.