Out with the old in with the new!

cccanady · #1 03-27-2017, 06:14 PM

Well guys it all started with wanting to replace my strike industries handguard. I had a perfectly good reason to replace it. It had developed a crack and finally split toward the end of the rail. Not bashing SI but this handguard is meant for looks not anything morel, I use my gun as a tool and not a safe queen Sonia tend to be a little hard on them. Okay to the point and pictures! I decided to go with the Geissele 13 MK4 rail. Sure glad i did this thing is a tank and the gas block is rock solid!. Then after I order that I realized I needed a Geissele Super Charging handle and trigger to go with the rail. Then I decided I wanted to go from FDE furniture to Black, then I decided I wanted a BCM BCG as well as a shorter flash hider so I went with a Smith Interprises Vortex. Then I decided I needed to get some new BUIS and bought the magpul pro. And an Aimpoint Pro to go along with it. Pictures below show the previous build and the new. Oh I also forgot i decided to build the wife an AR as well.

cccanady · #2 03-27-2017, 06:23 PM

Here are some more pics. Just to let you guys know I did have a vise on the barrel as I was drilling it on the drill press. I have it pinned and dimpled with loctite just as the instructions give for the had block.

Whitwabit · #3 03-31-2017, 07:09 PM

Would it have been more cost effective for you to have sold your AR and then built one from scratch the way you wanted ?? Instead of changing out as much as you did ?? I'm new to AR's and was wondering ..

cccanady · #4 03-31-2017, 08:34 PM

Yes and no I used some parts to build my wife a rifle and sold some to a buddy, I saved money buy not having to buy as much for the wife's build. The only thing I was out was the money for the handguard that was cracked.

hdwhit · #5 04-01-2017, 12:17 AM

Quote:

cccanady wrote:
The only thing I was out was the money for the handguard that was cracked.

Not to mention the value of your time.

Rastoff · #6 04-01-2017, 03:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whitwabit

Would it have been more cost effective for you to have sold your AR and then built one from scratch the way you wanted ?? Instead of changing out as much as you did ?? I'm new to AR's and was wondering ..

This is the eternal question. If you price out the cost of the parts you want, it's going to be cheaper to build from scratch. However, it won't be cheaper than just buying a built gun.

The thing is, when we buy parts, we tend to go for the more pricey parts. Maybe it's because we want the ultimate in durability or some special widget. Either way, it usually costs more than the cheap parts. In the end we have a better gun, with exactly what we want. Cost not really a primary consideration.

If you start with a gun already built, and then add parts. At least you have a gun the whole time you're upgrading. I have upgraded slowly; a part here a trigger there. I've always had a working gun as I've done this. If I built the same thing piecemeal, it would have taken a year or more and I wouldn't have had the gun. Did it cost more this way? Maybe, but I've also sold off some of the old parts to defray costs. In the end it was pretty close to the same.

Disabled1 · #7 04-01-2017, 09:43 AM

I say to each his own. If you want to buy an AR then add a Trillion $$$ of add ons, so be it. Let that person do what they want. If you're not funding his build you really can't tell them how to or not build their AR. I get the point where it makes sense, you're just trying to help, and, it would be cheaper to do this or that.........Did anyone ever think that they might just be having fun adding parts?

BTW OP, very nice AR's!