FWIW, there's a man named John Hollinger who accurizes AR-15 for match shooting. 5 years ago the only production uppers he would work on were from RRA- so at one time RRA did make superior uppers. Hoolinger went on to open White Oak Armaments which makes their own match uppers and rifles now.

I have a feeling that since RRA has taken off, they have geared more to compete with Bushmaster, Armalite, and Colt. They make an excellent carbine that is one of the best made for under $1500, that costs less than $1000. This is no knock on RRA, as some or all of the other big makers have had quality control issues with their rifles- Bushmaster with overtorqued barrels and improperly staked gaskeys, and others with improperly stakes gas keys and/or use of inferior parts, and as far as I know, RRA hasn't had any majorproblems.