novice questions about budget AR build

4

44 AMP

Staff
the guys at the local "tactical" gunshop consider PSA to be the bottom end of acceptable quality, but then, they are in business to sell stuff...

I've seen threads here about people having issues with PSA components and I've also seen a lot of people say "I have PSA "X" and its fine."

I don't have any personal experience with them, so I guess its just roll the dice, and see what comes up.

I will say that in a HUNTING rifle, there is little benefit to a very short barrel, and in some places 18" is required legal minimum for big game hunting.

16" is the Fed minimum length for rifles, but state game laws can be different. Check and see what is allowed where you live/are going to hunt.

There's no question an 18" gets you through thick brush better than a 26", but if you aren't doing house clearing or climbing in and out of APC all day, going to a shorter barrel doesn't get you much practical advantage and might cost you some velocity you might wish to have in the game fields.

Good Luck, and let us know what you decide and how well it works out for you.
 
A

AgedWarrior

New member
6.5 Grendel is a good cartridge in the AR platform. It is not nearly as cheap to shoot, but much better hunting cartridge. Elander mags work good in mine.
 
B

Bartholomew Roberts

Moderator
And can someone clarify "high shelf" vs. "low shelf"?
Click to expand...

In the rear of the AR15 lower is a “shelf.” A low shelf has the same height as the original AR15 and M16. A high shelf lower has a taller shelf that blocks the installation of a drop-in auto sear. There is no legal requirement to do this but some manufacturers build ARs this way just to better distinguish their rifles from M16s.

If you aren’t planning to use full-auto, it makes no difference. If you buy a high shelf and later want to convert to full auto, shelf height is a minor problem/cost to overcome compared to the other costs and issues.
 
Last edited:
E

ed308

New member
I've used a lot of PSA parts included their lowers. All have worked and function fine. The first 6.8 I built back in 2012 has one of PSA's FN barrels installed on it. It shoots .5 MOA with my roads. That rifle is more accurate than the Colt, Bushmaster, DPMS and LWRC ARs I've purchased over the years. So quality (ie: expensive) don't always translate to most accurate.
 
K

Kreyzhorse

New member
Lowers are easy and fun to build. Uppers, for me, not as much.

Anyway, all of my guns are built on either PSA or Anderson lowers. No issues with them at all. In fact, I see no reason to spend the additional money on a lower than PSA or Anderson. Instead, spend the money on better triggers or optics or barrel and bolt.
 
I

idek

New member
Thanks for all the good information everyone.

I'm still in a holding pattern regarding the rifle... the stamp for a suppressor that I ordered in January came in recently, so my attention has shifted a bit for the time being... a little like a kid who just got a new toy.
 
S

SDF880

New member
PSA, Anderson, and a CMMG lower here and no issues. Like others I swap around the uppers 22LR, 5.56, 300BLK.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top