Building your own AR??
 

Been scouring the net, mainly ar15.com, about building my own rifle. My god there is a lot of stuff out there. Anyhow, I am planing on starting a DIY project for my 1st AR. Real simple stuff, nothing fancy. I am wanting to do this for 2 reasons. One being that building your own is a little cheaper then buying it outright. Secondly, I want to get my hands on the guts to really understand the ins and out of the rifle and its operation as I build it.

With that being said, any you guys taken up the task of putting your own AR together from scratch. Pros Cons?? Successes Failures?? Enjoyable Experience or Nightmare?? You get the picture.

Thanks
TW

Re: Building your own AR??
 

You'll need a barrel wrench to attach the barrel to the receiver, a few punches and maybe a small ball peen hammer. Suggest you setup the barrel mount with the gunsmith who gets the receiver for you so you don't have to buy a wrench for a one time good deal. Otherwise it's like putting a snap-tite model together.

I seem to find deals that are cheaper dollar wise when I'm in the middle of a build. Don't let that bother you. It might have exactly the same parts you are using but there is a value with knowing how well it's built.

What receiver are you going to base it on?

Re: Building your own AR??
 

The bag of small parts can look scarey but it really isn't. Pick up a US TM at your local show. There are some decent guides available on ar15 website for the fire control group and lower assembly too.

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Good advice MISRy, unless you plan on building a few, the wrench can be an avoidable expense.

Re: Building your own AR??
 

I just finished putting a lower together last weekend. It was pretty fun overall and didn't take long. I haven't decided to build or buy the upper. I want a mid length and barrels seem a bit higher for that then the normal M4 profile.
The lower (CNMG) went together pretty easy. I only shot one spring across the room (Tip: vacuum before starting the build) and everything went together really well. I got the complete lower build kit ($149 - Lower parts kit plus MOE stuff) from Palmetto State Armory. I used the instructions from www.perfectunion.com under AR15. www.ar15.com has really good instructions too.
Tape up everything on the lower reciever that you can hit when assembling the lower. The instructions tell you to support the reciever when putting the trigger guard together. A (dull) wooden handled steak knife was the perfect thickness to support my lower when assembling the trigger guard.
Good luck.

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Use a large plastic bag to play with springs - assemble the parts inside the bag and the bag catches flying springs.

Midway has (had) new stoner 16" m4 style chrome moly barrels for 110. I recently saw some site had chrome M4 surplus barrels for 100 ( http://www.buymilsurp.com/barrel-ar1...d-p-41394.html )

Get a receiver vice block set instead of a barrel vise.

You can put the whole lower together in about 1-2 hours at an easy pace. Uppers are ofter cheaper to buy outright, its hard to sve much on a upper unless you get a good buy on the barrel and receiver.

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Buy matching upper and lower receivers for best fit.

Buy the quality upgraded parts...bolt carrier group, extractor springs, o-rings, etc.

Good source for parts: http://www.pkfirearms.com/

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Was looking at YHM or DPMS as the lower receiver with a DPMS assembly kit. But I did find a Double Star receiver on clearance at MidwayUSA for $93 (about $40 less then the YHM or DPMS). Also found an Olympic Arms complete assembled forged lower with 6-position stock at midway for $233, but that kinda takes away from the "I built it" desire I had.

Any comments on Olympic or Double Star??

Re: Building your own AR??
 

DPMS is okay. Double Star is okay. Olympic Arms has a spotty reputation.

Re: Building your own AR??
 

You could buy a kit with an assembled upper and then buy a lower elsewhere. Assembling the upper is more difficult and requires special tools.

http://www.del-ton.com/Rifle_Kit_p/rkt103.htm

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Great posts, the ONLY thing I would consider if I were you is to look at a nice trigger. Just my 2 cents.

Re: Building your own AR??
 

It is not difficult, in fact it is a great way to really know your rifle. If you spend some time at the AR15 forums, you will see the name MEGA come up very often for the best lower receiver, MEGA is excellent, for LPK's recommend Stag or RRA, again AR15 forums confirm these are good brands. Brownells is the place for tools, recommend a roll pin punch set for the lower build.

You may wish to build the lower and purchase the upper for a first build, this is the simplest to start. If you go Mega, Balistic Sounds or Rainier Arms are stocking reputable Mega dealers, there are others! PKFIREARMS is a great place to buy an upper!

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Ditto on the trigger. Rock River 2 stage triggers are a good value. There are more expensive ones. Sometimes when you buy a kit you can get the RRA trigger for $80 extra which beats paying $100+ for one later. Stock triggers are hard and gritty.

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Have an update. Picked up my first part. Got a new Rock River Lower (stripped) for $90. Hitting a show this weekend to get a feel for stocks (one piece or collapsable). Hope to find me a assembly kit for my lower too.

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Excellent! I would recommend that you buy two full LPK sets for each lower, and if you go with a collapsible stock, also buy an extra full size stock.

Ever try to use an AR collapsible stock to move from prone to standing?
One reason the Garand and M1A are such successful battle rifles is because they can be used as blunt force weapons, but not so the AR with a collapsible stock, uber-optics, lights, bells and whistles. Too many potential points of failure for use as a bat, or even a zealous bayonet charge.
Still, I love the AR, as it is a natural extension of my arms.

You may even want to buy extra roll pins and the smallest springs, as these are the most likely projectiles while building.

If you buy any parts from Bushmaster, they will usually include their catalog, which includes exploded view parts diagrams, which are very helpful for building and repair, and can be kept with spare parts.

You should also obtain a complete spare parts set for your bolt carrier group and a spare charging handle.

In order to keep flying parts from straying, I perform my lower builds with my head and shoulders inside of a large box.

I prefer to obtain complete uppers from CMMG, and there are others.

This is my favorite build, but YMMV:

CMMG A3 16 in. 1:7 twist Dissipator with full 20 in. iron sight radius and full length gas system. Any spec lower with a full stock. Back up rear iron sights (BUIS) with tritium illuminated front sight post. Optics are added after the rifle is zeroed and worked hard with iron sights first. KISS.

http://hchq.biz/mia_photos/argh2.JPG

Re: Building your own AR??
 

AR's are adult Lego toys. Simple stuff. The bigger companies tend to not put out too much in the way of krap. I recently put together a kit M4gery from Del-Ton and like it very much. (I also like supporting the little guy.) An AR wrench is a worthwhile investment. I'm nor referring to a barrel wrench, as I've not had the need to worry about a discreet barrel change.
RRA trigger is nice.
Don't skimp on spare parts, especially extractors....but parts are relatively cheap and I see no reason to not have the better part of a new rifle on the parts shelf. Along with the extractor, you might get an extra strength spring for it. I have Wolff and love the consistency of extraction. Think Sig 226.
Shorter barrels (usually) have shorter gas tubes which shorten the extraction timing. Look up the topic and you'll see the gas tube pressures are higher in M4s vs. 20" systems. The relative violence of the process is one reason to enhance the strength of the extractor spring. Note that it's not totally necessary- as long as your unit works. Just a thought.
CMMG looks like they're building what looks like Ciener drop-in .22 kits. I have a ciener and love it. Relieves me of high ammo costs. Along with these kits it is now common to get 25 round mags that closely approximate the size of a 30 round 5.56 mag.
The funny thing about building your own rifle with the intent of knowing the guts is that you'll likely not need to tear down your rifle for a long time. Hope you have a good memory....I don't, so I got to refamiliarize myself with the process. Truly fun.
Don't worry about auto vs. semi bolt carriers. The auto units are a bit heavier and this helps dampen the cycling rate on auto's. Not your concern....unless your gun doesn't work.
I wouldn't sweat upper/lower fit too much. The sighting plane is connected to the barrel. If your hold is good, no great shakes. There are products out there to help with that if need be.....but these rifles are built to spec. A bad fit means the manufacturer isn't playing according to Hoyle.
Go get one and have fun!

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Working on two Builds right now, to keep the rest company...

1st wil be mostly all YHM, except for maybe a few add ons, it will be for short to mid range shots...
2nd will be mostly RRA, Varmint style, will be built for 100+ Yard shots...

Why, Because its fun... Like someone else said, They are a mix of Legos and Pringles....

Get some!!!!

BTW, I spend a lot of time over on ar15.com too... Check out your hometown section... You can get in on some shoots, group buys, if you need a special tool, sometimes a local ARFcom'er can hook you up....

Re: Building your own AR??
 

its intimidating but really not that hard. i didnt use any special tools except for connecting the buffer tube. beware of flying springs. work in an uncluttered contained space just in case

Re: Building your own AR??
 

Info for you all
http://www.deltapress.com/catalog/page8dp.html
Then see this.
AR-15 Modificaton Manual
http://www.deltapress.com/catalog/page32dp.html
Have fun..
:headsand: