One piece at a time,,, AR-15...

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bennnn

New member
One piece at a time,,, AR-15.....

Kind of like that old Johnny Cash song,,, Ok, not really.....

But just by flipping through the latest issue of Shotgun News, I can buy all the parts to put a generic, carry handle, M4 looking, AR-15 together for about $520 give or take.....

I know,,, plus tools... Maybe $50 in tools?

So for less than $600, why should anyone (or me) wait?? It would be something akin to the Wasr-10 of AR's...

Right?
 
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bennnn

New member
Buy right the first time and you'll rarely regret it.
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Rarely?

I'm not trying to start a marketing war here,,,,,, but there seems to be a misconception about AR's being prohibitively expensive...

It's just like anything else though, you can spend as much as YOU want to on it...
 
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mtnbkr

New member
That's how I built mine. I didn't use cheap parts, but I was patient and got good parts on sale (Bushmaster barrel, RRA bolt/carrier, etc). With roughly 1500 rounds through it, I'd say it works well. If I'm shooting Wolf, I need to clean the chamber every 500rounds or so, but otherwise, it has been reliable.

They're not hard to assemble. I took my time and it only required about 2hrs of labor (hard to say, I did it in two shifts). I could probably build a second one in half an hour.

Chris
 
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RockyMtnTactical

New member
Rarely?

I'm not trying to start a marketing war here,,,,,, but there seems to be a misconception about AR's being prohibitively expensive...

It's just like anything else though, you can spend as much as YOU want to on it...
Click to expand...

OK... Say what you want. I've seen some lousy quality AR's out there in my time. I've also seen many quality built AR's for reasonable prices (CMT/Stag is the best bang for the buck IMO).

You could spend a lot more on an AR than you would on a Stag.

I don't know what it is about the AR market, but there are so many players out there, it's not unfathomable that there would be differences in quality amonst them all.
 
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RedneckFur

New member
Wouldnt you need an FFL to buy most of those parts? Looks to me that would stop joe gunowner from building one of his own.
 
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Dave R

New member
I could be wrong, but I think the receiver is the only part that requires an FFL transfer. You can get a receiver for $80-100 from AIM Surplus. Shipping plus $20 FFL fee might bring it up to $130 or so.

Then a lower kit, and an upper, and you have a rifle.

The thing that scares me about getting an AR, is that I KNOW I'll not be happy with just one upper. Its like Tinkertoys, or Legos, and firearms, all in one.
 
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bennnn

New member
Wouldnt you need an FFL to buy most of those parts? Looks to me that would stop joe gunowner from building one of his own.
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You, (and me) need to transfer the stripped lower through an FFL.. I've got a local hookup that's only $10.00..... Ask around..
 
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FS2K

New member
Atta boy Bennn!

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't build an AR from parts if you want to. It is a very rewarding experience. Of course I haven't built me a generic one YET but I'm pretty sure you could build a decent shooter out of one. It would be kinda fun actually...A good experiment. I would do stuff like grind my own feed ramps (ala "M4" style) to improve performance.

In any case, the end product couldn't be any worse than a slap together sheet metal, riveted AK. A gun is a pretty basic machine. The AR15 being a modular design is even more basic. The only specialized tool you'll need is a barrel wrench Brother. The rest of the "special" tools aren't nessesary and you can improvise around them. Go for it Bennn, I know you can do it.

Oh and you're right, the lower reciever is the only part that needs to be registered.
 
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Metaloy Industries

New member
Parts guns are great if thats really what you want to do.

One rifle complete from one manufacturer will bring a better price should you ever want to sell.:(
 
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mtnbkr

New member
You're right about the resale, if that's part of your plan.

The nice thing about building your own is that you have detailed knowledge about the guts of the gun and can repair most anything that breaks. If you go buy a complete gun, you won't have that detailed knowledge unless you've worked on them before or built them before.

Plus, you get to spread the cost over a longer period of time, which lessens the financial pain. It's easier for me to spend $50-$200/month than $700 all at once.

Chris
 
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Lane

New member
im sorry for posting this here as iv already posted it on my own thread but can u thread a bushmaster barrel into a colt upper reciever and will it perform just as well?
 
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Lane

New member
but it wont affect alignment or anything im sorry for pressing this i just want to make sure it wont mess up accuracy or feeding
 
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Trip20

New member
I just bought an AR (complete rifle).

Now that I have an AR in the safe, my next will be a build with out a doubt. I want the intimate/detailed knowledge that mtnbkr eluded to... not to mention it would be a fun project.

When I begin this build I'm going to buy quality parts. I'm not going to begin the build project telling myself that the finished project must cost under $____ dollars. That will make me skimp in areas so I can spend in others.

When it's time to buy each part, I'm going to hold out until I get the part I want, not the part I can "afford". Also, I'm not going to spend more on a part for it's name... I'm going to make sure there is a real added benefit to the more expensive part.
 
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RockyMtnTactical

New member
but it wont affect alignment or anything im sorry for pressing this i just want to make sure it wont mess up accuracy or feeding
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The only way it would be a problem is if the colt had M4 feedramps... if the colt does have M4 feedramps, you'd need to buy a barrel with M4 feedramp extensions. otherwise, no problems.
 
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