Build your AR..Or buy one done?

[bwframe]

If you can build without a time schedule, buying components on sale and used, you can kind of break even on a very nice rifle.

Buying or building with the intent of possibly flipping the end product in a year or two for the next shiny object would likely be a bad investment.

Now would be a great time to put together keeper rifles. Never know when the political climate could change drastically for the worse.

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

I just went through this a few weeks ago. I was looking for something my stepson and I could do together and have fun shooting at the range. For my needs, I didn't need high $$ parts. I ended up with a PSA kit. The upper came assembled. I bought a stripped lower from PSA as well. Putting together was a piece of cake. A friend came over the help us, but my next one my stepson and I will attempt ourselves. I paid $440 for kit plus lower. This doesn't include shipping the lower and transfer fee. I think I was at $469 with everything. Yes, I had found some basic "M16" style ARs for $400-$450 at Rural King or Dunham's. You can also get a carbine kit for $100 less than I paid. My stepson likes the the look of the M-Lok so that is what I got. I know I could have saved a few bucks going with a different option. However, I got the kit to do a project with my stepson and get one he likes to looks of. I have already ordered another kit from PSA. It was easy to assemble, everything fit together perfectly, and it has performed flawlessly. I'm not going to say something can't happen, but I am thrilled with what I ended up with. No matter what you end up with, you can always start swapping/upgrading parts later! Good luck

 

[Tburke798]

In addition to the tools you may have, if you were going to assemble the upper and lower receivers, you would need some form of upper and lower vice blocks/combination block/reaction rod and an AR armorers tool.

I have a AR vise I used for cleaning etc for the old one I have a few years ago, those other tools you lost me....I think I'll stick to buying one...

 

[Deet]

I built my last one using a complete upper and a lower parts kit from PSA. I purchased a lower reciever from Cabelas. It was done for right around $400. I have shot a ton of ARs, but this one I built always makes me smile when I shoot it. I assembled the lower with a few basic tools I already had on hand. A small rubber mallet, screwdriver, needle nose pliers and a couple of punches. It was fun to do, I used a video off of the internet, and it was really satisfying when it was finished.

 

[charley59]

12 years ago, I knew nothing about ARs, but I did purchase the exact rifle that I wanted; a DPMS Carbine with a heavy chrome lined barrel. Chrome lined DPMS barrels are rare, the dealer had ordered it this way. Now I know more and know what I want in a rifle. A 4150 barrel with chrome lining or nitride finished, or 416R. 1:7 rifling. Midlength gas system on a 14.5-16" barrel. Milspec buffer tube. A comfortable stock. A handguard that is adaptable to any accessories I may choose. A good trigger, Geissele. I like good sights on a rifle, and prefer a front sight base. I have built a few, which is fun.
I have noticed the lower priced factory built guns often ship without sights, and with 4140 unlined 1:9 barrels. Not what I am looking for, but this may be a good gun for the user who plans to shoot 200-300 rounds a year from the rifle, after installing some sights or an optic. If you're not intimidated by the process, building a gun allows you to have the stuff that you really want without spending money on stuff you will replace on a factory gun.

 

[scottka]

Sounds like it’s been pretty well covered, but I’d definitely say it’s up to what you want in the rifle. There are some great-priced complete rifles out there right now, but there are also some dirt cheap parts out there too. I bought my first AR and basically just changed out the furniture. That gave me enough of a bug to want to build one. Build my second as an 18” .223 Wylde chambering because I wanted very specific parts.
I’ve built a 300 blackout because I was specific about it and had a color scheme I wanted to go with, and I’ve partially built (upper came assembled) a cheap 10.5” AR pistol that was only $306 completed.
My point being that each of my builds had a specific thought in mind (.223 Wylde for longer shooting, looks, pure cheap fun/short barrel) for what I wanted it to be.
If I just wanted one to shoot with no specific look/length/purpose, I’d probably pick up a M&P Sport II or Ruger AR-556 or whatever suits your fancy. Can’t go wrong.

 

[Ruffnek]

I bought my first AR because I was new to guns and I found one that looked cool and had stuff I wanted. It turns out that I paid well over what it was worth due to buying just after Sandy Hook. It wasn't great but it was mine, and I was the only one of my friends who had one so it let me be the cool guy for a while. Fast forward to a time when I really started learning more about the platform and guns in general and I figured out that my baby wasn't the quality piece of gear I wanted it to be. I sold it and a few other guns that I wish I still had to fund the AR I wanted to have. Including the Aimpoint, I came in just above $2000. I bought a BCM upper with bolt carrier group and charging handle all together, the rest of the parts were hand-selected for quality, including every single spring and detent because I couldn't find a complete lower parts kit that came with everything I wanted and nothing I'd change out. I just couldn't stand the thought of shelling out the price of a factory BCM or DD only to spend more to change out the handguard, grip, stock, trigger, etc.

According to the opinions of more than a few people, this was a waste of time because a frankenrifle will never be as good as a factory one, even though all the parts are of equal or better quality than a factory gun. I know that I'll NEVER, EVER, EVER get my money back out of it but it was built to use, not to sell.

Another thing to consider, your tastes may change over time. The acessory market for ARs is ever-expanding and new things are being released all the time. You may well find one day that the gun of your dreams is now too "outdated" to satisfy you anymore. Go to the last post here to see the changes my baby went through between her inception back at the end of 2015 to the changes I made just a few weeks ago.

 

[Ruffnek]

I have a AR vise I used for cleaning etc for the old one I have a few years ago, those other tools you lost me....I think I'll stick to buying one...

The most expensive tool that you'll really want to have access to is a torque wrench. The armorer's wrench and a Magpul BEV block can be had for ~$60 depending on where you look (hint: check out DSG arms).

 

[Blakec221]

Just as cheap to buy one if your just looking to throw some sights on and go but if your wanting one set up a certain way do it yourself. Buying a complete rifle to throw out half the parts to replace them with what you want isn’t cost effective either. As stated befor with just a few tools you can throw one together yourself just the way you want. Plenty of good YouTube videos out there to walk you through it. Only bad part is once you get it together you’ll NEED to build another in a different configuration.. good luck..

 

[bwframe]

If I was building my first gun, I would ask to borrow tools here on INGO. You might be surprised how fast you'll get offers.

 

[frenchiectfd2203]

I am contemplating on a new AR myself and played this last week. Build or buy.. It’s tough to beat a Palmetto price and some add ons such as a trigger, optic, and some other add ons.

 

[ditcherman]

I bought my first AR because I was new to guns and I found one that looked cool and had stuff I wanted. It turns out that I paid well over what it was worth due to buying just after Sandy Hook. It wasn't great but it was mine, and I was the only one of my friends who had one so it let me be the cool guy for a while. Fast forward to a time when I really started learning more about the platform and guns in general and I figured out that my baby wasn't the quality piece of gear I wanted it to be. I sold it and a few other guns that I wish I still had to fund the AR I wanted to have. Including the Aimpoint, I came in just above $2000. I bought a BCM upper with bolt carrier group and charging handle all together, the rest of the parts were hand-selected for quality, including every single spring and detent because I couldn't find a complete lower parts kit that came with everything I wanted and nothing I'd change out. I just couldn't stand the thought of shelling out the price of a factory BCM or DD only to spend more to change out the handguard, grip, stock, trigger, etc.

According to the opinions of more than a few people, this was a waste of time because a frankenrifle will never be as good as a factory one, even though all the parts are of equal or better quality than a factory gun. I know that I'll NEVER, EVER, EVER get my money back out of it but it was built to use, not to sell.

Another thing to consider, your tastes may change over time. The acessory market for ARs is ever-expanding and new things are being released all the time. You may well find one day that the gun of your dreams is now too "outdated" to satisfy you anymore. Go to the last post here to see the changes my baby went through between her inception back at the end of 2015 to the changes I made just a few weeks ago.

I wonder why anybody would say this? If barrel is seated in the upper, the bolt locks up, the trigger is smooth, the firing pin hits about in the center of the primer, doesn't it all come down to the quality of the barrel?

 

[ditcherman]

RE 4473

Once you are on the NFA registry, this isn't even a consideration anymore.

~snip~
.

Can you help me understand this? I thought just because someone buys a silencer or other restricted item, the item is registered, not the whole collection. Or are you talking about registering as a manufacturer or something?
TIA

 

[Hohn]

I'd build a quality lower (no special tools needed) and buy a good upper (BCM).

 

[Hohn]

I wonder why anybody would say this? If barrel is seated in the upper, the bolt locks up, the trigger is smooth, the firing pin hits about in the center of the primer, doesn't it all come down to the quality of the barrel?

It really does. Well, that and the bolt's match to that barrel. EVERYTHING else is just supporting hardware to one of the steps in the cycle: extraction, loading, firing.

There are a couple things that have to be done properly, but building an AR--PROPERLY-- is absurdly easy with just a few very basic tools.

Some of the trickier parts (gas block install) can even be farmed out. Order a DD barrel for example and you can have them install the FSB or LPGB you want and it will be installed (pinned) out of the box.

I bought my first AR just because I didn't fully grasp how easy a build would be, and I wanted one turnkey 100% quality gun. But after that, I see no reason to prefer a factory rifle other than a whole rifle costs less than the parts to build it.

 

[CampingJosh]

RE 4473


Can you help me understand this? I thought just because someone buys a silencer or other restricted item, the item is registered, not the whole collection. Or are you talking about registering as a manufacturer or something?
TIA

You are correct: only that one item is registered.

A 4473 isn't a registry of any kind, but some people try to avoid them so as to keep their guns "off the books."

But a 4473 doesn't mean that you own a gun. It just means that you bought a gun once upon a time (or attempted to buy a gun once upon a time).

Some people are worried that a paper 4473 in the filing cabinet at some random gun shop means that one day a government agent is going to come try to take your guns. I have no such worry; my information isn't difficult to glean from decentralized paper records. My information is easy to find in a registry. So why worry about the 4473?

 

[edporch]

Looking for your input on building your own AR...or just buying one? anyone know which is the best bang for the buck?

I say build your own if you have the ability.
Then you can spec out the parts and get exactly what you want.

 

[IronsKeeper]

I bought my first as an assembled lower and assembled upper. The rest I've built, and even my two dream rifles (sold one at a huge loss..... Had to at the time, not gonna do that again if I can help it) had plenty of savings to justify the tools I bought and then some.

Once I finish my hunting AR pistol, I'll have $485 in it with a $155 Vortex optic. Wife's was around that with hydro dipped Magpul furniture.

My dream rifle I have $740 in with $155 optic, but I got awesome New Year's sales and a whole lot of parts normally on $1100, $1700, $2300 factory rifles, to name a few. Billet upper with matching 15" M-LOK handguard, Anderson closed lower, enhanced LPK, Aero bolt and barrel set, etc.

Timing is key, as is knowing what a good deal genuinely looks like. For a cheap rifle I'd buy complete or as a two piece set with desired features from each.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

 

[cce1302]

I bought my first as an assembled lower and assembled upper. The rest I've built, and even my two dream rifles (sold one at a huge loss..... Had to at the time, not gonna do that again if I can help it) had plenty of savings to justify the tools I bought and then some.

Once I finish my hunting AR pistol, I'll have $485 in it with a $155 Vortex optic. Wife's was around that with hydro dipped Magpul furniture.

My dream rifle I have $740 in with $155 optic, but I got awesome New Year's sales and a whole lot of parts normally on $1100, $1700, $2300 factory rifles, to name a few. Billet upper with matching 15" M-LOK handguard, Anderson closed lower, enhanced LPK, Aero bolt and barrel set, etc.

Timing is key, as is knowing what a good deal genuinely looks like. For a cheap rifle I'd buy complete or as a two piece set with desired features from each.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

Timing is key, and patience. I've assembled quite a few lowers and attached complete uppers. I only assembled one upper from parts I selected piecemeal. I've only bought during buyers' markets, not sellers' markets.

If you want to build, my advice would be to establish your build list, then watch for sales from multiple outlets and buy each part when it hits a price you want to pay for it.

Franken guns can be just as good as many factory guns, even better than some, but would not automatically command the same resale price.

It's the same with cars. You can add aftermarket parts in order to improve performance, but they don't typically add to the resale value.

Build a gun to make it what you want, not to improve resale value.

I don't care about what other people think my franken guns are worth, because I'm not going to sell them.

 

[Midskier]

Buy a complete rifle for $400 or less ...... assemble your own lower @ your kitchen table while watching a youtube video and buy a completed upper for (all in) $400 + ..... hand pick each piece ... well that's just maddening and $$$$$$$$$
and you get what you bought assuming you don;t know what you think you want. I tend to buy mil spec several lowers around $50ish, find a deal on a lower parts kit ( I currently like Strike Industries enhanced lpk $40 - $70) JP trigger springs $10ish, Hogue grip and stock or whatever you like. Maybe a drop in trigger set (?) $100+ ............ get the parts you touch that you like and buy an assembled upper of your choice there are 100s if not 1000s to choose from. Good Luck BKG