As for the handguard, if it's just a couple index pins on the upper those can easily be removed but it would have made a lot more sense for them to put the index pins on the handguard instead of the upper which would have done the same thing for less money and would leave the upper compatible with any brand handguard.
No flames here but I don't fully agree with a couple of your points.
I agree that a person buying one takes a risk they might not like it or the weight/balance of the rifle but when you buy a firearm (that wasn't assembled by children in China) you should be able to buy rifle and expect it to work and you should be able to expect decent consistent workmanship, especially since so much of it will be CNC machined with only a small amount of finishing after it comes out of the machine.
This is not a newly developed product, at it's core is a well know and widely used operating system, the only thing they had to develop was the CNC program to make a more modern version of the old design.
I was actually expecting a little better accuracy from it as well, the one thing NEA had before was decent barrels, they've always had a poor reputation for their finishing work and consistency but their barrels other than being a little overgassed were always decently accurate. I wasn't expecting sub moa from this barrel but that's what aftermarket is for and also why I think many are complaining about the changes, hopefully the barrel compatibility hasn't changed from Gen 1 to Gen 2.
The risk you take buying a rifle from a company that hasn't hasn't made it before? NEA has been building AR-15's and the NEA-25 for a long time, this isn't some new company that just started out. Just a name change to try to run away from their old reputation.
I'm also grateful to them for bringing it to market, the more rifles like this in the NR category the better, I just wish they were more consistent in their manufacturing so you weren't taking such a gamble buying one.
I don't think anyone is upset they are making changes, especially if those changes translate into an increase in reliability. I think what people are upset about is the prospect of not being able to buy as much aftermarket parts that will fit. As silly as it is some guys are simply looking at these as an $1800 upper/lower to do their dream non restricted AR-10 build from and if it all of a sudden changes to proprietary parts between generations after they've already taken people's money for the rifle then I don't think it's unreasonable for people to expect the same parts compatibility from Gen 1 to Gen 2.
People who pre-ordered for the second batch figured they would be buying the same rifle with maybe a few tweaks to make it run better not expecting it to be a completely new rifle.
Yes they are kinda obligated to keep the design the same, The rifle was granted a non restricted FRT based on the sample they submitted to the lab. That means that future rifles can not stray too far from that original sample rifle.
I don't really think it's on the guys who bought parts thinking they would fit, that's why they waited for the second pre-order, so they could see what worked and what didn't work then placed the order for the rifle and bought the parts, NEA/BCL changing parts to proprietary between batches and basically creating a Gen 2 without any communication until after guys had paid for the rifle is out of the consumers hands and I think they have a right to be a little upset. Had it been communicated prior to taking people's money that would be a different story but that's not how this went.
Glad to hear you got a good one, be sure to post a report once you've got 1000 rounds through it, I'm hoping these turn out to be a decent rifle.
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... lol... Or use them to zero in my build... Win Win lol...
, for some people I'm sure NEA parts will work just fine when they pull the gun out of the safe to show their buddy before putting it back in the safe. Judging by the posts of many of the gun owners on this site a lot of these rifles will be lucky to see 500 rounds put through them in the next five years.
