If you were building an AR...

[M67]

Not that it matters to me but it doesn't say if its milspec or commercial?

Anderson does mil

 

[ADDICTED2TONE]

Anderson does mil

Thanks! I never got that deep with them. I have two black rifles and don't anticipate another one.
My buddy just bought some Anderson parts. Upper, Lower and I was impressed with the machine work on them.

 

[ddavidson]

Speaking of Anderson, anyone have on this?

ANDERSON M4 GUN KIT ? Anderson Rifles, The World's Only NO LUBE AR-15

 

[maxmayhem]

Billet is overrated...buy a spikes receiver and get the parts used ..get a good bcg and barrel and trigger assembly

 

[M67]

Billet is overrated...buy a spikes receiver and get the parts used ..get a good bcg and barrel and trigger assembly

There's some places where you post pics of a Spike's lower and you'll get shamed....those evil double dongs....


I love billet receivers, they do cost more, they're heavier, but they're unique. There was a time where firearms were works of art, they had character. Those times have long since passed and now they're just pass produced hunks of metal with locks and warning labels. I go the billet route because it adds character, gives it a personality and makes it unique; plus you have to love beautiful machine work.

Make a firearm yours and own it sort of things.

 

[Vlad the Impaler]

There's some places where you post pics of a Spike's lower and you'll get shamed....those evil double dongs....


I love billet receivers, they do cost more, they're heavier, but they're unique. There was a time where firearms were works of art, they had character. Those times have long since passed and now they're just pass produced hunks of metal with locks and warning labels. I go the billet route because it adds character, gives it a personality and makes it unique; plus you have to love beautiful machine work.

Make a firearm yours and own it sort of things.

Guess I'm a bit too practical. Beating a large cast bar into a large forged ingot and then finding a lower in there, while producing a lot of chips and tool wear instead of just forging a net shape is just plain wasteful in my mind.
Yes, they are a bit more sexy, but not for my $$.
I'm not knocking other folks tastes and desires. Just different strokes.

Congrats to Que on a nice start to a fine rifle. Killer deal on the DD barrels. These are relatively good times for building firearms. Buyers market.

 

[BDS JIN]

I'd buy a BCM upper. Right now. One reason is they have that sale going on, buy a BCM upper and receive a FREE BCM BCG.

that's what I did for my first buil.

 

[ChooterMcGavin1973]

I would say it depends on your leading factor of either time, cost or quality of build. Of course all will come into play to some degree. For me, sales that are too good to pass up would be a reason to not worry as much about the lead time of certain items. The way I look at it is if I save enough on parts I've already budgeted for, it will allow me to possibly upgrade something else.

 

[Psode27]

Id buy a barrel first. the type of barrel you are buying probably determines the direction of the build. then probably the lower if you dont have a spare floating around your house somewhere... in my current two uppers i'm building up I'm being much more picky in parts selection than I have been in the past, gas block selection, forged vs billet upper, yadda yadda. trying to build an SPR-ish rifle right now so i'd like to make it as accurate as i'm capable. The lower pretty much falls together, though a necessary step, not one that i'd worry too much about.

As far as building or pretty much assembling it, it isnt too hard. I wouldnt say its as brainless as some have said, but its not bad either. I'm anal about making sure everything is the correct torque. A good barrel nut wrench ( not the combo tool... IMO) is a big plus. common sense goes a long way while fitting parts as well too. If you buy good parts they say you should be okay. So far my experiences support that.
I have to disagree with the "internet is a bad place to learn gunsmithing" statement. though you have some BS to wade through here and there, The folks on Weaponeer and Weaponsguild can talk you through about any predicament you could put yourself in. Things can go wrong, and do not work out of your comfort zone, however don't under estimate yourself either. you dont have to be a wizard in a machine shop to assemble a rifle...

 

[Big Papa]

A good assembly guide. I found "AR-15 Complete Assembly Guide" by Kuleck and McKee to be a big help for some one who has never even shot an AR.

 

[chezuki]

Well, since this thread was dug up anyway... Que, I recently finished my first AR build. The very first part I actually purchased was a stripped upper (Damage Industries had a $50 flash sale). I follow that with an Anderson lower and then slowly accumulated parts over the period of a few months.

 

[Que]

That looks awesome, Chezuki!

 

[chezuki]

That looks awesome, Chezuki!

Thank you sir. I had a lot of help and advice from fellow Lurkers with a wealth of cumulative experience.

 

[Fordtough25]

Looks great Chezuki! I just started a similar build, have a stripped lower and a stripped A1 upper. Going for an IDF carbine clone, my KISS rifle I guess.

 

[looney2ns]

What optic did you use? Happy with it?

Well, since this thread was dug up anyway... Que, I recently finished my first AR build. The very first part I actually purchased was a stripped upper (Damage Industries had a $50 flash sale). I follow that with an Anderson lower and then slowly accumulated parts over the period of a few months.

 

[chezuki]

What optic did you use? Happy with it?

It's a TRS-25 with a UTG riser that I got a great deal on. It works for now and seems to hold zero fine. I will eventually put an Eotech on it as my crappy eyes prefer the reticle to a a single dot, but it's not in the budget yet.

 

[lovemachine]

I'm in the middle of a build. And I'm trying to decide if I want/should go with a Geiselle trigger...

 

[gregkl]

I'm in the middle of a build. And I'm trying to decide if I want/should go with a Geiselle trigger...

I really like my SSA-E!

 

[DeanSports]

I agree with everyone else. the receiver. Only part that is regulated.

 

[M67]

I'm still waiting for my $399 Black Friday DSG upper to ship, got the lower half ars'd built. Already looking into swapping out the rail though, I really want to give the Fortis REV a try

Kind of want to use a different lower already but I'll build it and use it. Regardless of what people say, not all lowers are created equal