Best low budget, factory built, off the shelf AR-15

[MohawkSlim]

If anyone's asking you about buying an AR right now tell them to hold off for a few weeks. We're going to see Black Friday deals like we haven't seen in 20 years. ARs (the "entry level" ones we're talking about here) will be $349 shipped. Maybe even less. From Wednesday night at 9 through midnight on Cyber Monday they'll be giving away all the Hillary-extravaganza ARs, magazines and accessories.

At present, people shouldn't be paying over $500 for one including taxes and fees.

Please, please, PLEEEEAAAASE encourage all buddies/friends to still spend the $1000 for their first AR. $500 on the rifle and the other $500 and ammo and training. We don't need a community of gun owners. We need a community of shooters!

 

[BehindBlueI's]

If anyone's asking you about buying an AR right now tell them to hold off for a few weeks. We're going to see Black Friday deals like we haven't seen in 20 years. ARs (the "entry level" ones we're talking about here) will be $349 shipped. Maybe even less. From Wednesday night at 9 through midnight on Cyber Monday they'll be giving away all the Hillary-extravaganza ARs, magazines and accessories.

At present, people shouldn't be paying over $500 for one including taxes and fees.

Please, please, PLEEEEAAAASE encourage all buddies/friends to still spend the $1000 for their first AR. $500 on the rifle and the other $500 and ammo and training. We don't need a community of gun owners. We need a community of shooters!

Sweet.

 

[Bapak2ja]

Can you blame them? For a noob building is as daunting as bringing home your first baby. It has seemingly endless complications and ever increasing costs. It takes time, research, and more research to figure out where to start building an AR. Consider:

1. A1, A2, A3 or A4? Before you can make that choice, you have to learn what these four categories are.
2. Tools. There are the professional sets, the essential sets, the "I did it with chewing gum and baling wire" sets, and the "use what you have and buy what you need when you need it" options. Then there are the sets that do not include this or that essential tool for that spring or pin installation, but you can get by without it as long as you have a clean workshop and can find the spring or pin that flies away.
3. "Complete build kits" that have different parts lists. For example, one complete kit lists the charging handle but the next kit does not mention it. Does that mean it is included in the upper assembly of the kit that does not mention it, or do I have to purchase one separately? How do I discover what is not mentioned because it is included so I do not end up with three of the same part because it was included in different sets but not listed, so I ordered one separately?
4. Parts list. Brownell's list runs 14 pages. How do I know which ones are included in the parts kit and which ones I have to order separately? Which ones are essential and which are optional?

For someone without military experience or tool/die, machine shop, gun smithing experience contemplating a build is as daunting as heart surgery. It will take months of study, using every spare moment, just to figure out where to start. At this point the noob, who has a job-maybe even two, a wife, two kids, a budget-with college funds for both kids, a mortgage, and at least one car payment asks, "What is the best I can get already assembled for $600?"

Paraphrasing Boromir, one does not simply walk into a gun shop and walk out with a cool build kit to be assembled in 90 minutes. It is a bit more complicated than purchasing one off the wall. YMMV but for some of us noobs that learning curve is overwhelming. I am close to retirement and have some available cash, so I have started the journey; not all are so blessed.

In class with Mike Pannone this past weekend (he may know just a wee bit about AR's) he mused that he couldn't figure out why people would build franken guns when there are so many quality reasonably priced AR's out on the market. He followed it up with mentioning that most home built guns he sees in classes have problems.

Just an update on my experience building my own AR. It was a long journey, over a year, to get a completed AR. I began thinking I would build a Vietnam-era AR, but I soon discovered that was a very expensive, time-consuming, and frustrating project. I finally opted for a Vietnam-era look-a-like. I used an INGO-inscribed lower (VUPD Blue's second group buy), a PSA upper parts kit purchased from another INGOer who had already assembled it, and a lower kit whose origins I have forgotten and do not want to take time to look up now. It shoots great. It will never win a target competition, but it accomplished my goals.

1. I learned how to assemble the AR.
2. I increased my ability to maintain and operate an AR.
3. I can shoot holes in paper with it, and I can cover the groups with my fist.

I bought a few tools for this task, and only used a few of them. The ones I have will be necessary when I need to disassemble for complete cleaning and maintenance. Altogether, I put about $600 into the rifle at the time when prices were their peak and ammo was scarce.

Would I do it again? Absolutely not, for these reasons.

1. Re-sale will be impossible, or nearly so.
2. Prices have dropped. I can purchase a better quality rifle than I can build for less money.
Frankenstein guns are not trusted. One never knows what Bubba did to the unit, and you cannot trust what a seller says. Just a fact of life.
3. No one want to buy a Frankenstein when factory built are so cheap.

My bottom-line conclusions are:
1. Doing a build once is very educational, and worth the effort, but not cost-efficient.
2. Factory builds are reliable, warrantied, and re-saleable.
3. Purchase a cheap, entry-level AR to learn the platform. Practice on it. Disassemble it, then re-assemble; this is a good way to learn to maintain the platform.
4. Purchase a quality AR for regular use. Pay the cash for a quality build and don't mess with it. Do you fancy add-ons to the cheap one. That way you always have on you know will work the way it was designed and one that can be returned tot he factory for warranty service.
5. Enjoy shooting them both.
6. Ignore the gunsmith experts who mock you for not wanting to Bubba up a Franken because that is how real gunners do it.

Enjoy shooting them both. Just .

 

[seedubs1]

The key to the Frankengun:
- Only build if you never intend to sell the entire rifle. Sell parts only if you want to modify the rifle.

I've built quite a few.....for myself and others. I'll never sell mine. Why would I? I guess people grow tired of their AR's??? I have re-evaluated and modified mine quite a few times, but never sold the lower receivers. I've changed rails, barrels, triggers, etc... a lot. I have the tools to do it myself, so why not if I decide I need it changed for some reason or another. If I have a 16" lightweight and decide I want a 18" SPR, I can swap parts and change it myself. That's normally cheaper for me than selling a factory 16" and buying a new rifle in the configuration I want.

At this point, I'm really happy with where I am with my custom builds. I have:
1) 14" lightweight for home defense with a light and red dot
2) 18" lightweight built for really low recoil for plinking and running steel with a Low Power Variable optic
3) 18" SPR for shooting small groups, lollipops, etc... with a 3-15x optic

It took me a LONG time swapping parts and changing things around to get the rifles exactly how I want them. If I didn't build myself, I can't imagine all of the factory rifles I'd have had to buy/sell/trade.

Right now.....If I were wanting a new rifle, I'd buy one if I could find something in a configuration that suits what I want. Factory rifles are dirt cheap right now. It'd cost more to build than buy something comparable right now. That isn't/wasn't always the case.