You cant make a Corvette out of a Pinto

Over and over I see where somebody somewhere will buy a piece of equipment, whether it be a rifle or a radio, and then attempt to "upgrade" it and make it "as good as the one that cost 3x as much."
I am definetly in favor of saving money and making due with what you have, but there are some things that cannot be compromised. On a recent forum I subscribe to, a person had bought a $500 rifle, dropped $1500 into some custom fabricated parts, and swore his rifle would hold up to any other rifle out there to 1000 yards. This may be true, and I dont doubt the honesty of the person, but for $2000 I could buy one hell of a rifle that has been tested, tryed and true.
Lets say the starter on your car went out, so you go to your local auto parts dealer and get all new parts for that starter. Brushes, solenoid, etc. and you take the next several hours rebuilding that starter. When your finished, you have basically a new starter...basically. When all is said and done, you have spent nearly as much as a factory remanufactured starter, several hours of your time, and no warranty what so ever. Yes, youve saved a few dollars, but is your time worth anything, and are you proficient in autoelectrics enough to let your daughter drive that car?
The other point I'm trying to get across (hence the name of this blog) is that even if you drop a corvette engine into a pinto, its still a pinto. Its not going to handle like a corvette, nor look like one. A Pinto body was never made to handle that kind of horsepower and speed, the same as some rifles were never made to handle larger calibers or MOA accuracy. You can spend hundreds of dollars to modify anything, but most (emphasise the "most") times, you will spend more time, money and energy on modifying something that was never ment to do what you are attempting to accomplish. Even if you save a little in the end, will that product be as reliable as if you had spent a little more to begin with? Remember, the products that we are discussing here, may be the difference between life and death for you and your family.