Easy to maintain? Whatever. Any cheap ass POS that necessitates an anti-jam plunger and carries with it a few tens of thousands of dead Americans is no friend. Our love affair with the AR is ridiculous no matter how many silly toys you glue to the rail.
I wasnt talking about silly furniture. I didnt say it was the ‘best’ rifle. No rifle is. You need two or three at least to meet the variety of needs (game, CQB, long range precision, etc). What I said was versatile, and I explained that from the stand point of being able to easily and relatively cheaply barrel with caliber of choice, swap uppers, change out barrels, customize to ones liking for weight/length, etc. I run mine as light as I can build them. No useless furniture.