AR-15 question

N

Nightcrawler

New member
My friend is thinking of building an AR-15. He wants to buy a Bushmaster or DPMS complete A2 lower first.

When he decides which upper he wants, he needs only to slap it on there and he's ready to go, right? No gunsmithing required?

What about if he buys upper parts seperate? (first receiver, then bolt assembly, for instance).

Second question. Looking at the Shotgun News, "Model 1 Sales" has complete upper receivers for $285.00. What kind of quality do these folks have?

What about M&A Parts Inc.? How's THEIR quality?

Thanks.
 
W

woodland

New member
Yup! That's right. They should all go together without any trouble. He will want to make sure he stays with quality parts if he pieces together the upper.
 
B

Badger Arms

New member
The shipping and trouble would be way to much to piece it together. Sounds like a good idea buying the upper and lower separately. My suggestion... buy Bushmaster Lower and Armalite or Rock River Arms Upper. Put them together and don't look back. I've tried both combinations with good results.

I believe that Bushmasters are the best built rifles on the market but their uppers are overpriced.
 
N

Nightcrawler

New member
THe thing is, a lot of the uppers run $400 and up. If the cost of the Bushmaster or DPMS lower $275 ish) plus the upper costs more than $700, then he may as well just buy a complete rifle, yes?
 
J

Jeff White

New member
You Get what you pay for....

Nightcrawler,

I have heard both good and bad about Model 1 and M&A Parts. I personally wouldn't buy from them. The nice thing about building an AR15 is that you can budget it out if you need to. Lower one month, upper the next, then barrel etc....I'd recommend buying quality parts to start with. My personal preference is Colt, Bushmaster, Armalite then DPMS in that order. I've heard good things about Rock River Arms, but I have no first hand knowledge of their parts.

Assembling an upper is pretty straight forward. The harderst part is the A2 sight, I'd recommend buying an upper that already had the sight assembled. There is no headspace adjustment to worry about with the barrel, just make sure you torque it down 3 times like it says in the manual.

HTH

Jeff
 
R

Redlg155

New member
One of the main advantages of building your own AR15 is that it allows you to purchase the rifle in seperate components. This can be extremely helpful for folks with a tight budget. If you have the $750 on hand, it would be better to purchase a complete Bushmaster.

Second question. Looking at the Shotgun News, "Model 1 Sales" has complete upper receivers for $285.00. What kind of quality do these folks have?
Click to expand...

Check the fine print on that. That more than likely is a price of an upper minus Bolt and Charging Handle.

I'd also try looking at JT's for upper kits. I've built up several rifles and have been completely satisfied with them.
http://www.jtdistributing.com/

They have AR kits for $435.00+15 for shipping. Rock River Lowers run $95-100 plus $5 shipping and $25.00 FFL fee. Rock River quality is just as good or better than Bushmaster in my opinion.

For about $580.00 you can have a very nice rifle. Add another 50 dollars for a Bushmaster Lower reciever instead of Rock River. That brings you to $630. Still a very acceptable price for an AR15.

Give me a hollar if you need some info on good places to buy the parts.

Good Shooting
RED
 
S

Spydie Man

New member
Model 1 sales

I have built three ar-15s and for two of these I have used model one kits on Oly recivers I have had no problems with any of them
I would consider them very high quality I have had complaints about Oly uppers and Bushy uppers. I have not had any problems or complaints with the Model One Uppers. They also offer their uppers in two different tones so you can get the closest match to your lower , at least they did when I built the last two. I have a Oly 16 in barrel that I discovered has no crown or accuracy.

Needless to say I am not impressed. Another thing that Model One offers that is difficult to find Is the Option of a crome lined bore and chamber The crome lining affects accuracy to some degree. However the Military insists on it In select fire weapons It is easier to clean and less prone to jambs. I personally prefer At least a Crome lined Chamber.

As for price You cant beat it either. Another point The Parts such as the upper recivers Are mostly all made by Alcola You may notice a funny looking little A on alot of ar-15 rifles of different manufacture this is the company that forges and or casts the alluminum.

Model one told me when I bought my last kit that their barrels were made from douglass blanks.
 
M

Meowhead

New member
JT Distributing kits certainly look interesting... especially this one.

Reading the description makes me wonder, though...I thought 'pre-ban' applied to lower receivers. Were I to purchase the pre-ban kit, with evil collapsible stock and flash hider, would I need a pre-ban lower to make it a complete rifle?
 
R

Redlg155

New member
Meow,

Pre Ban applies to the complete rifle. The Lower must be manufactured and technically assembled into a complete rifle prior to 09/94. To simplify matters, You may put new pre ban and post ban components on a pre ban lower. You may not put any pre ban items on a post ban lower. There are always exceptions to any rule, but this is pretty much a general guideline.

So yes, you would need a pre ban lower with a pre ban kit to be legal.


Spydie,

When did M&A get a manufacturer to provide them with chrome lined barrels? Most of the chrome lined barrels available from distributers like MA, Model 1 and JT's that I have seen were Colt Barrels.

I know Rock River is expected to come out with their chrome line barrels very soon. Hopefully they will hit the market within the next month or so.

Good SHooting
RED
 
C

Commander Fan

New member
One thing to consider...

DPMS uses a darker finish on their receivers(uppers and lowers). It's best described as "Dark Black", not "Dark Parkarized Grey".

I have 5 DPMS lower receivers. Only the rifles with DPMS uppers match(colorwise). My rifles with Bushmaster & Les Baer uppers are 'Two-Tone' Looking. Even with a heavy coat of oil on my Les Baer upper, the difference is really noticable. When the lighter colored parts are dry(oil free) the difference is VERY noticable.

Just thought I'd point that out. It doesn't bother me at all, but might disapoint some people.

DPMS claims it's "Mil-Spec" anodizing, but it's darker than all the others that claim the same. I believe Colt uses darker parkarizing also, similar to DPMS's, but I have no Colt receivers to compare.
 
4

4V50 Gary

Staff
I've had good luck with Bushmaster and DPMS parts.

We have one member, Chris (can't remember his member name) who use to work for Bushmaster and was able to give us some insights on how the gun industry, in particular the AR gun industry worked. You'd be amazed how these companies work with one another. When Oly had its big fire (arggh - all the records were lost including my order for a dedicated 22 lower - they refunded me upon proof), it was able to purchase parts from other companies to get it going again.
 
M

Meowhead

New member
Redlg155: thanks. Now the only question is where to get a pre-ban lower..and whether it's actually worth the price over a new one.
 
R

Redlg155

New member
Try AR15.com for pre ban lowers and complete weapons.

On average for lowers

Oly/SGW $800
DPMS $900
COLT 1000+
Bushmaster 1300+

Plus there are a few more lesser known manufacturers out there who have lowers available for $700+ range.

Keep your eyes open and you can find a good deal.

A new stripped Rock River lower is about $100 average, Bushmaster about $155. Quite a bit lower.

If having a flash supressor, collapsible stock and bayonnet lug is on a rifle is worth $700 or more, the yes. If not..then of course no.

I have a Pre Ban SGW I built up to a 9mm and I absolutely love it. A bit pricey, yes, but to me it's worth a bit more to have something "Politically Incorrect".:D

Good SHooting
RED
 
F

Fatelvis

New member
I have a Model1 flat-top upper, with their bolt and carrier, too. I`ve had no malfuntions with it, and decent accuracy, using regular surplus ammo. (never really tried to wring out the utmost accuracy) Good stuff, for the money!
 
2

2minkey

New member
yeah, just check out ar15.com as suggested. i just bought a bushmaster upper (complete) with 200 rounds through it for 415 shipped - something like 120 less than new - from an ad under the equipment exchange on ar15.com. this is my first AR i'm building... now gotta decide which lower, sights, etc. kinda cool to be able to read up on the stuff and spec out the major components. can't do this on all guns, unless you wanna pay out the wazoo.
 
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