Good quality for budget build. - Radical Firearms Complete Upper Assembly 16 inch 5.56 M4 Contour, A2 Flash Hider, w/BCG and CH

1st time buying a Radical Firearms upper. Upper came nicely bagged, covered in heavy oil, inside in a foam padded box. The barrel and bolt are nitrided so that is a plus. Loved the FCR handguard, very light. However, here are my gripes:

1. The color was not consistent across the handguard's Picatinny rail. It looks like during the anodizing process there were some artifacts. The middle up the Picatinny looks almost brown-purplish in some areas. Not a deal breaker, but I wouldn't have kept if I was building for someone else.

2. Machining marks can be seen at the bottom of the retaining pin blocks. Again, something you would not see once it is matched to a lower, but not as refined as other manufacturers.

3. Lastly, the barrel nut. My upper came with a SOCOM barrel, which is very nice but heavy. I bought a 14.5" pinned Gunner from FAXON to replace the barrel, and to my surprise, the barrel nut required a large wrench (~ 30 mm) or a crescent wrench to remove. No way of knowing the correct torque when using these.