Is it cheaper to buy an AR upper than to build one?

[BumbleBug]

I just finished building an AR lower from PSA with parts kit that cost a total of $153 shipped & I paid my FFL $20 to keep it all legal. I enjoyed the build & learned a lot. I'd like to state this build is a "budget" project for my learning experience & I like getting into the mechanics of the AR 15.

Now I'd like to build an upper, but I have discovered that it seems a lot cheaper to buy a completed upper than buy a barrel, receiver & parts kit. Not to mention the tools for the build (mainly the receiver vice mount & barrel wrench). Acquiring tools is not part of the deal since they can always be reused or sold off.

If I build the upper myself I can fix it, adjust it & have a bit of fun. I was also hoping to save a couple of bucks - maybe pay for the tools. Am I missing something?

TIA...

..bug

 

[madmo44mag]

To build a quality upper or complete rifle for that matter you have to watch for sales and know who makes what and who is who - well kinda.
I just finished a rifle that would have cost well north of $1,000.00 for $750.00
Took about 6 months.
As for tools a upper vise block is all you really need and a armorers wrench but not required.
Check out Youtube for build videos and check out this video for the who's who and what's what.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPDtI_UZ0Do

 

[tahunua001]

in standard 5.56 it is no longer cheaper to build than buy but in specialty calibers the cheapest road is still building.

 

[markm_04]

I am starting a build too and looked into putting together an upper and quickly decided that with my first build I would go with a complete barreled upper. Havent found exactly what I am looking for yet as there are alot of options and many places seem to be out of stock. My FFL has my PSA stripped lower so I figure I can start putting it together while I search around for an assembled upper.

 

[ParabellumJ]

Cost of parts to build is about the same as buying a complete upper. Once you factor in tools and having no warranty buying one complete becomes more and more attractive. I say build the lower, buy the upper complete.

 

[Ibmikey]

i choose to build, ignore the expense and select each component carefully in order to make the best rifle I can. Sometimes the upper is offered in completed configuration and meets the needs of that build but normally I am happier selecting each component separately. "Building cheap" normally gives you what you paid for in the end, but my form of build does require my eating more Banquet TV dinners than I like.
Don't forget ammo expense as part of your build, again I am selective and with no intent to start the steel case war again, suffice it to say I will never use steel in my meticulously built rifles.

 

[ar15man2009]

Upper

Personally, when I'm thinking about building an upper I use a simple formula to figure out how much it will cost. 100$+barrel+forend. With the 100 you can get a Psa stripped upper(40), UPK(25), YHM Gas Block(20), YHM Gas Tube(15). Other than these things all you need to do it select the quality of barrel and forend you want and find about 2 hours of free time. You could get a cheap barrel for 100 and cheap forend for 30, which would give you a $230 complete upper. I have never ever seen a complete upper for that or even close really. And it would probably still be a better upper than a lot of the cheaper ones you'll find out there.

I'm not saying that you SHOULD buy the cheapest parts, only that you could. As usual you get what you pay for. But you can pick the parts that are fitting for your needs and price range. The last upper I built used a 16 inch chrome lined barrel that cost me $150, and a Troy 13 inch alpha rail that was $170. That only made it $420 total and it would shoot 1 and 2 inch groups at 100 and 200 yards respectively, all day long.

 

[oryx]

The answer to the question depends on whether you want a completely custom gun or an off the shelf production gun. There are lots of production varieties out there to choose from that might be to your liking. The trouble starts when you get washy washy in your decision making and start settling for certain parts that you "can live wit that for a while - I can always upgra in the future if I want".
If you find yourself doing that I would consider saving your money to get what you actually want. It's easy to change direction and spend more money changingp arts ... I suppose you can always sell them on the EE at a loss. To some thatis just part of the fun and keeps it fresh

 

[Mobuck]

As far as I'm concerned, the small additional cost of having the upper assembled by knowledgeable people is worthwhile. The lower is fairly simple to assemble while the upper requires tools and knowledge that SOME folks don't have. There's a difference between just putting the parts together and turning out a quality upper. Gas block alignment, gas tube alignment, barrel nut torque all play a part in the functionality of the upper. I buy most of my uppers assembled.
I've swapped barrels and gas blocks w/o problems but then I've overhauled engines and transmissions and fixed every sort of mechanical problem for over 40 years.

 

[oryx]

Agreed, it's no for everyone, but it's not that hard either. Some have the desire to learn and others refer not to mess with it.... Good advice Mobuck...... It should certainly be part of the consideration.

 

[SHE3PDOG]

"Building cheap" normally gives you what you paid for in the end, but my form of build does require my eating more Banquet TV dinners than I like.

And ramen...lots of ramen. Anyways, I had a lot of fun building my first two uppers last year. Do a lot of research beforehand and you will be fine. If there is something you are even a little unsure about, look it up.

All that being said, I don't really think it is much cheaper, if any, to build an AR upper in 556 than to buy one. There's just something about shooting a rifle that you completely built that feels great though.

 

[SVTCobra306]

I just built an upper using a PSA BCG and RRA barrel/parts.

Here were my costs:

Stripped Upper: 39.99 shipped (on sale, I grabbed two)
Upper Build Kit: 24.99 shipped
BCG and Charging Handle: 109.99 shipped
RRA Chrome Lined Midlength Barrel: $255 shipped
Barrel "parts" (gas tube, crush sleeve, flash hider, sight post, etc): 31.50 shipped

Rock River wants $550 for an assembled A4 midlength upper, I built it for a total just north of $461.00, for a setup with a nice midlength barrel, and I only have $140 in the lower, lower parts kit, and stock kit with buffer tube/spring/and buffer. Made for a cheap rifle for what it is, I'll be adding a bit better trigger and have a great rifle for under $700.

I also was able to get a DTI barrel kit that came with everything to put it together for another build for just under $250 shipped, so the next upper will technically be about $40 cheaper than the one I just built. Not going chrome lined would have saved more money on either, but I wanted chrome-lined.

If you don't want to go midlength, it's about as cheap to buy as to build. If you want a midlength setup with a decent barrel, there is some savings to building. If you want a free floated setup or anything custom, it's considerably cheaper to build rather than buy.

 

[lwknight]

Everyone should build one from the ground up at least one time. You will know every part and how to change/replace it.
I bought a complete upper on sale with a 22LR conversion included so with that bonus I ended up with a little more value than I could have just bought the whole thing ready to shoot.

Basically , it looks cheaper to just buy a ready to shoot than build from scratch.

 

[Brotherbadger]

I'd say it's more cost effective(bang for your buck, if you will) to build your own. If you are looking for the cheapest possible upper, then you probably won't be able to beat some of the deals out there. I built my own because i wanted a certain setup that i could not find pre-built at the time. I saved a bunch of money(bought during sales/C&R prices) and got exactly what i wanted. It also helped me to familiarize myself with the platform, but that might not be a concern for you.

 

[Justice06RR]

My short answer, no its not cheaper to build an upper vs buying one complete.

You can buy a complete upper from PSA right now for $399. This is their Premium Midlength upper with FN barrel.

If you build with cheaper parts, then it is possible--but not if you want to use quality parts. Good Barrels usually cost $200 and up for anything that is chrome-lined and 1:7. Add the cost of upper, handguard, etc then you are about $400 or more depending on what parts you use.

To me its cost vs time. Whichever one is more important to you is what you have to go with. If you want a complete rifle now, then pay the price of a complete upper and go shooting.

Sometimes it can take at least 6months (more or less) if you are building an upper. That is a lot of lost time shooting; my last upper build took about 6months but it is because I had a specific parts list that I wanted to use.

 

[lmccrock]

They manufacture the parts or buy at wholesale, then charge you labor and overhead and profit, vs. you buy parts and tools at retail. The answer will change based on parts cost and the exact components chosen. Price out what you want and see if it works out, but remember you already will have the tools for the next one. Yes, there will be a next one, or you will want to tweak something on this one.

First AR? Buy it complete with warranty. Learn the system without worrying about whether a bag of parts from 8 different vendors will play together. I have a couple uppers (same vendor) that do not fit on a particular lower (another brand). The lower fits on the other uppers, just not those 2. Hard to point fingers since everybody said their parts were spec

2nd or later AR? Experiment. Buy the tools. Torque the barrel; I did not own a torque wrench but I do now. (Torque wrench not necessary but nice to confirm). The guides on ar15.com make it straight forward.