Building AR15

[a117240]

It's customary to introduce yourself in the introduction forum when you first come onboard.

I am a black sheep, nothing works normally with me

 

[a117240]

If you have facial hair stay away from the VLTOR stock.

That's a very good point thank you

 

[clandestine]

Is that too hard? I am great with tools but this will be the first one

Lots of people claim AR's are like Legos. Unfortunately that's no longer true.

People do get lucky from time to time by throwing one together without checking things. Building an AR is closer to building a 1911 than most people realize.

 

[DutchV]

Is that too hard? I am great with tools but this will be the first one

At bare minimum you need to check headspace.

 

[a117240]

All of that stuff, just looking some of it up, seems to be top-shelf in terms of price and quality. I should put together a quick spreadsheet to see what the bottom line would be all is said and done in terms of price, and because of that I wonder if we're getting pranked.

For me, my first AR was a total budget build. Actually, all of my ARs are budget builds - working to get a good "bang for the buck" on price vs quality. My first build was a blem Del Ton midlength rifle build. I've since replaced the trigger, but otherwise it's still like it was when I got it, and it had a completed upper, so I didn't really "build" that one.

They all shoot well within the specs of what the US Government expects out of an M4, and they all function without issue - no jams, misfeeds, etc.

I think that the AR platform is one of those things that has been unnecessarily modded and customized well past the point of diminishing returns, all under the guise of "if you're going to trust your life with it, you NEED to spend a lot of money on it."

It's like the doctor or lawyer who wants to spend ungodly amounts of money on a custom guitar from either boutique guitar makers, or places like the Fender, Gibson, or Paul Reed Smith custom shops, plug them into expensive boutique pedals that run into expensive boutique amps, and then they never gig - they just suck as musicians in their practice room at home.

At least they can't blame the gear.

I went to one of the gun shops in Rockville, the gun I was looking at was $2400, then someone said why don't you build one for yourself? With that price tag, you can make much better AR.
Then I saw a great-looking AR on fb and asked the guy if he can share his built sheet, so he gave me his sheet, which is the parts I mentioned.
Now my question is, how do I know these are MD compliance(The lower receiver), even if I buy the parts and if they match and assemble very well together? OR is it better or easier just to buy a complete AR

 

[Bountied]

At bare minimum you need to check headspace.

That's probably the most important thing. Building an AR correctly will require the right tools as well. Punches, headspace gauges, armorer's wrench, vice, vice blocks for the upper/lower, torque wrench, as well as all the basic tools. I have an entire set of tools specifically for AR building.

 

[Bountied]

I went to one of the gun shops in Rockville, the gun I was looking at was $2400, then someone said why don't you build one for yourself? With that price tag, you can make much better AR.
Then I saw a great-looking AR on fb and asked the guy if he can share his built sheet, so he gave me his sheet, which is the parts I mentioned.
Now my question is, how do I know these are MD compliance(The lower receiver), even if I buy the parts and if they match and assemble very well together? OR is it better or easier just to buy a complete AR

Easier to buy completed gun. More fun and you will get the exact gun you want if you build. The only MD thing is the barrel, it has to be advertised or marked as an HBAR, the barrel in your list will not fly in MD. Also go with a 16" barrel unless you want to SBR it. I'm not going to get into the pistol brace discussion. If you have a special purpose in mind building will get you exactly what you want without having to swap out a lot of parts.

 

[a117240]

I took the time to do a quick workup on the price. I didn't dig to find the best price available for the parts, I just checked the normal places like Midway USA, Optics Planet, etc.

It's a $2000 build without the optic or suppressor, and it's a $4000 build with them. Give or take. Sheesh - I don't think I have $4k in the four I have total, including optics! I think I worked out one time that I spent about $700 each, give or take, on the "twins" - the matching ARs I built for my me and my son.

View attachment 421159

I'm sure it would be a solid build though - it would probably look pretty cool too with some of the parts being clear anodized.

Thank you for your reply, Honestly I don't have 4K for my first gun, at most maybe around 2K, but prefer much less.
I noticed people saying "Get this gun and then upgrade later". I was like what's the point of spending money and then upgrading later? I'd prefer to pay one time and have a solid build for many years. BTW those guns you built look great

 

[a117240]

Yeah why not just buy a high end pre built gun with that budget? That way you get customer support and some kind of warranty. He also seems to have ghosted.

Bcs I want to save money and also maybe build a better gun at the end.
Which pre-build AR maker do you suggest?

 

[Bountied]

Thank you for your reply, Honestly I don't have 4K for my first gun, at most maybe around 2K, but prefer much less.
I noticed people saying "Get this gun and then upgrade later". I was like what's the point of spending money and then upgrading later? I'd prefer to pay one time and have a solid build for many years. BTW those guns you built look great

The LWRC DI guns may be worth looking into. They used to run around $1k and are IMO very nice. I like the ambidextrous features.

 

[trickg]

I went to one of the gun shops in Rockville, the gun I was looking at was $2400, then someone said why don't you build one for yourself? With that price tag, you can make much better AR.
Then I saw a great-looking AR on fb and asked the guy if he can share his built sheet, so he gave me his sheet, which is the parts I mentioned.
Now my question is, how do I know these are MD compliance(The lower receiver), even if I buy the parts and if they match and assemble very well together? OR is it better or easier just to buy a complete AR

Ah - ok, I see what you mean now and why you've got that parts list.

Provided that the barrel is long enough, the main thing you need to worry about in terms of being compliant to the regulations of the state of Maryland is that it's an HBAR - heavy barrel. For that you need to bit a bit more specific. Otherwise it's all good to go.

That's probably the most important thing. Building an AR correctly will require the right tools as well. Punches, headspace gauges, armorer's wrench, vice, vice blocks for the upper/lower, torque wrench, as well as all the basic tools. I have an entire set of tools specifically for AR building.

Bountied brings up a great point - I have a whole set of tools too and it's all the same stuff he has on his list. The good news is that we're a great bunch of folks here and undoubtedly if you really wanted to build an AR vs buy one, you'd be able to find someone to help you with that task. The two in the pics I posted above are ground-up builds where they were built with a collection of parts, and it's really not terribly difficult to do provided a person is mechanically inclined.

Something to consider though, do you need a Gucci gun, or do you just want a solid AR rifle to take to the range? The rifle build from the parts list above is Gucci - fairly high end stuff. Remember, the AR platform at its core is a battle rifle, and once you get past a certain point of quality, it's diminishing returns unless it's actually going to see combat, or you build it as a competition gun.

Thank you for your reply, Honestly I don't have 4K for my first gun, at most maybe around 2K, but prefer much less.
I noticed people saying "Get this gun and then upgrade later". I was like what's the point of spending money and then upgrading later? I'd prefer to pay one time and have a solid build for many years. BTW those guns you built look great

I appreciate that! Those were guns that I built on a bit of a budget - in hindsight I might have gone with a different handguard, or maybe a better stock or grip, and eventually I'll probably upgrade the optics, so you have a point in getting what you want from the jump. With that said, I'm not disappointed with either of those two in their current configuration.

 

[a117240]

Good choice on components. Buy once cry once. That being said good parts don't mean all the parts will work together well. It's not the cost, it is how the sum of parts interact together.

The Centurion rails antirotation tabs may have to be trimmed to work on the vltor MUR. May.

Thank you for the replaying, Yes I like the look a lot, that's the main reason I am looking after this build sheet

 

[a117240]

Not sure if it would save money per se but you know the gun is going to work (hopefully) right out of the box. I like the LWRC ambi offerings, the DI series won't break the bank and the trigger it comes with is pretty good. I'm not sure about the warranties I guess that would be a case by case for the different companies.

If your goal is to save money then you wouldn't be going crazy on the parts list like the OP. You build a solid rifle for under $750 if you find good deals on quality parts.

Do you have a modest build sheet to share, please?

 

[a117240]

Get this for the upper and call it a day

https://www.larue.com/products/larue-ultimate-ar-15-upper/

I like this actually thank you

 

[Bountied]

Do you have a modest build sheet to share, please?

I'll have to think. Send me a pic of something like the gun you want and I can try to figure something out.

 

[a117240]

Lots of people claim AR's are like Legos. Unfortunately that's no longer true.

People do get lucky from time to time by throwing one together without checking things. Building an AR is closer to building a 1911 than most people realize.

good point, maybe I am better off buying a pre-built gun then. Any suggestion?

 

[trickg]

Get this for the upper and call it a day

https://www.larue.com/products/larue-ultimate-ar-15-upper/

That's actually pretty danged sexy - it has the quality where it counts.

 

[a117240]

Easier to buy completed gun. More fun and you will get the exact gun you want if you build. The only MD thing is the barrel, it has to be advertised or marked as an HBAR, the barrel in your list will not fly in MD. Also go with a 16" barrel unless you want to SBR it. I'm not going to get into the pistol brace discussion. If you have a special purpose in mind building will get you exactly what you want without having to swap out a lot of parts.

Thank you
No, I don't want SBR. but I want a 5.56/ 223 BCG so I can shoot both calibers
Also, do you know where can I get one of those scroll barrels?

 

[Bountied]

Thank you
No, I don't want SBR. but I want a 5.56/ 223 BCG so I can shoot both calibers
Also, do you know where can I get one of those scroll barrels?

You mean like a spiral fluted barrel? For 223/556 you'll want a Wylde chamber for the barrel. A 1:8 twist will work over a larger range of bullet weights. If you are only shooting 55gr the 1:9 will probably be the best.

 

[Bountied]

You mean like a spiral fluted barrel? For 223/556 you'll want a Wylde chamber for the barrel. A 1:8 twist will work over a larger range of bullet weights. If you are only shooting 55gr the 1:9 will probably be the best.

You should probably build the gun around the barrel since that is the most important part of the rifle.