First AR build...$@%#$(!

[SundownRider]

Am nearly finished with building my first AR lower. Everything was going well and I am 99% completed. What's left, you might ask? Well, I have to wait for a new take down pin detent because the last one effectively launched itself into oblivion when my finger slipped putting it over the spring. (Insert proper curse word here) I had no idea concrete dissolved those things. I know I was supposed to build it in a box, but that thing vanished faster than a baloney sandwich at a homeless shelter. Oh, well. Everything else went fine, right up to the leftover part a the end. Turns out it was a disconnector spring I didn't read about in the instructions. Live and learn. Actually a lot easier than I hoped for. Now to explore the world of uppers!

 

[longranger]

Is there a question or a point to this thread? What I got was build your AR-15 lower in a box ?

 

[davlandrum]

If you do it in the shower, you have to cover the drain - but it makes the pieces easy to find...

 

[dk148]

Do it in a well lit, clean floor/ work space environment. And gaffers tape (prevents marring) works wonders on the business end of a set of vice grips to get those pins in without a punch.

 

[rantingredneck]

Standard issue for building a lower.....or it should be....

1) insert clevis pin of appropriate size into where the takedown pin goes.

2) insert spring and detent into hole in clevis pin that lines up in the hole the spring and detent goes into.

3) use punch to push detent and spring inward and then rotate 90 degrees.

4) use takedown pin to push out clevis pin and everything snaps into place.

No boxes, no flying springs/detents.

 

[hodaka]

Great idea, that clevis pin. I have also launched a few detents when building lowers. I never thought of that trick. Thanks RedNeck!

 

[rantingredneck]

Not my original idea. I learned it from Tim Hicks at Cardinal Armory when I bought my first stripped lower from him. It works great though.

 

[AR-15 Rep]

sometimes using a clear plastic bag works. I used the tip of a knife once to hold things in place.

 

[Technosavant]

I've never had problems with that pivot pin detent, and I've put together 3 lowers.

1) Clamp the lower in a vise (preferably using a vise block, but padding will work).
2) Insert spring into the channel.
3) Hold detent in small needlenose pliers in the proper position.
4) Use the small flat end of the pivot pin to push the detent into the channel.
5) When pushed far enough, just flip the pivot pin 90 degrees and slip it into place.

Piece of cake, haven't needed a baggie yet.

 

[IZinterrogator]

If you think that is tough, try doing the reassembly on a Colt Gold Cup with the extra piece and spring on the sear. I'll build AR lowers in a sandstorm in the Sahara before I do that again.

 

[Alleykat]

Or, you can pay Brownell's $10 for their bent version of a clevis pin!

http://www.brownells.com/userdocs/learn/Inst-282 M16 Pivot Pin Det.pdf

 

[rantingredneck]

I didn't even know they sold one .

My $1.39 Lowes Home Improvement version works just fine for me .