Build own AR-15

mcmoon03

mcmoon03

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Hello to all. I know I will never have the cash to buy an AR so I am going to build a little at a time. I am picking up the lower receiver from my FFL this afternoon and plan to start ordering parts in the near future. I have found a good site:cheaperthandirt.com which seams reasonable. Is any one familiar with the quality of the products. Are they worth the money or should I spend more with another vendor for better quality.
 

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I can't really comment on Cheaper Than Dirt in most regards. I have ordered some stuff from them and had no issues, but others have posted their frustrations with the company. In 2007, I built an AR with a kit from Del-ton. That has been a few years, but I was satisfied with their prices and quality. That said, the price of ARs has come back down, and if you're patient, you could probably find a used one in the $650 range. Good luck!
 
That lower is fine.

If you don't mind the shipping times Palmetto State Armory has good parts and prices.

Bravo Company, Rainier Arms, and Weapon Outfitters are other guys I've ordered from. Midway USA tends to have a very good selection. Aim Surplus will have some great deals from time to time.

Finding stuff locally can help on shipping costs for individual small and large items.

The hardest thing to decide is exactly what to make of it.

If is fun and satisfying.

Good luck.
 
I agree with you on building being satisfying. This will be my first firearm build but I have built computers and servers in the past and enjoyed it.
 
I recently built two with parts from Primary Arms. They are good guys, with excellent an reputation. My last one was a gift for my son. We talked about what he wanted, I picked up the parts (their showroom is close by) and had a completed rifle that night.
 
mcmoon03 said:
I have found a good site:cheaperthandirt.com which seams reasonable. Is any one familiar with the quality of the products. Are they worth the money or should I spend more with another vendor for better quality.
Click to expand...

I would never do ANY business with cheaperthandirt!!! They gave me a bad taste after all the Sandy Hook stuff.
 
Lots of places selling parts. Just google. As for CTD they aren't as cheap as you think and a lot of people have a bad taste from their gouging prices, compare their prices. Palmetto State Armory will run some good deals especially on blemished parts if you can wait for them to ship. They aren't the fast I just ordered a VZ from them and it took two weeks to ship. Heck you can even but some parts from Amazon if you want and they ship fast and have good prices. I've bought from several and never gotten a inferior or bad part. I know this didn't answer your question but research you will find deals out there. Here is a partial list I've dealt with that gave good results and I know I have missed several.

OutdoorGearBarn
Botach
MidwayUSA
JoeBobOutfitters
Brownells
SportsmanGuide
Palmetto State Armory
NatchezShootersSupplies
PrimaryArms
Lanbo's Armory
GrabAGun
Amazon



Cheaper The Dirt. as a last resort because I had no other choice because one had any VZ2008 magazines at the time.
 
Thanks to everyone for the great advice and resources. I will shop around with each resource and compare my options. Thanks for the price list JJEH. I will move that to my Drafts folder for safe keeping.
 
So many bad reviews on CTD I would avoid them. Never have used them so I can not say but do read the review.

As to building an AR. With the prices on them now, I do not see how you can build one for less than buying one. ?

I am all for do it yourself projects and if it is something you enjoy then that of course is a different story.

There are so many good ones (new and used) out there you may want to calculated the cost of all the parts VS a assembled one. Generally the price of separate parts it more than an assembled item.
 
My son just built one. It turned out very well, but he could have bought one several hundred dollars cheaper.
 
Rule3 said:
So many bad reviews on CTD I would avoid them. Never have used them so I can not say but do read the review.

As to building an AR. With the prices on them now, I do not see how you can build one for less than buying one. ?

I am all for do it yourself projects and if it is something you enjoy then that of course is a different story.

There are so many good ones (new and used) out there you may want to calculated the cost of all the parts VS a assembled one. Generally the price of separate parts it more than an assembled item.
Click to expand...

I built one last year and have around $750 in it. You are correct and one can be purchased complete for less then that today.
However; Building one from parts was a good educational experience and a lot of fun as well.
Jim
 
shop,shop, shop. tons of info out there and if you watch what you are doing some real deals are out there right now.The AR boys are caught up and you can get anythying you want quick and easy it looks like to me.
 
I think you'll have a lot of fun and learn a ton building.

As far as financially... Building makes a lot of financial sense if you want specific aftermarket parts like a trigger, barrel, BCG, sights... that just can't be bought as a complete rifle. So you build a rifle rather than buying an inexpensive AR and then have to replace everything (buying twice). But just to build an AR that can otherwise be bought whole isn't usually a money saver unless you do somethng like buy a blem lower from Palmetto for $50 and a rifle kit for around $400 which would give you a rifle for under $500.

There are endless choices have fun.
 
Pretty hard to build one and save money over a decent commercial one with a warranty. Not sure what Bushmasters are going for, but an ammo outfit named Lucky Gunner ran endurance tests on several BMs together recently and they all went some ridiculous figure like 10K rounds without problems. About the only worthwhile add-on to a commercial AR is a better trigger.

Not sure what the current low prices are on Colts, but they're right down there, excellent quality, and resale on them is easier than anything else.

Your $.
 
Buy your pieces a little at a time from Bravo Company. When they have blems to sell, or a sale - spurge. You can't go wrong.
 
I have used Palmetto State Armory for various parts and they are good to deal with. I tried to deal with Botach - it didn't work out well. I would not do any business with them. Your luck may vary. I have used uppers from DPMS as well. They have functioned fine as well.
 
Good luck on the build. Check prices carefully. A good, name brand AR can be found like someone said, in the 600 to 700 range. Prices have come down recently, at least that's true in my neck of the woods. S&W ARs are a prime example. With a build, using good parts, it will be hard to get out for under that price. Then, unless you have all of the parts from a reputable company like, Palmetto, Colt, S&W, etc., you end up with a "mutt". Hard to recoup money on a build, even with the best of parts. You have to find someone very knowledgeable on ARs and it would have to be someone who wants exactly what you built. Otherwise, they'll just buy the parts themselves and build or buy a complete brand name gun. Just food for thought. I ran into this when I built mine. Had to separate the lower and the upper, basically part them out to break even.
 
I built one, and picked up parts from Bravo Company, Palmetto State Armory, Primary Arms, Geissele Automatics, and a local dealer, as well as the upper and lower receivers and bolt control group in a group buy on another forum.

I got great service from all these companies.

It was an interesting project, but it didn't take very long to assemble once I got all the pieces together. I'll say that you'd be hard pressed to build just one cheaper than you can buy one, unless you can borrow all the tools needed. They add up in price.
 
After reading this thread I didn't see that anyone mentioned arpartsfiner. It's a pretty good site that has a running inventory for many of the pieces that you'll be looking for. Like others have said, prices have come down so you'll be very hard pressed to build one cheaper than you can by a stock AR, however, the satisfaction and learning curve is what I like when I build a rifle.
 
I've built three now because I like to and not really saving money even though prices were up when I built mine. You don't really need the tools for building them but it makes it much easier if you do as I've done it both ways. Brownells is a good source for tools although others have them too.
Building them can be addictive though. I'm waiting for my brother to come up with the money to buy one of mine so I can build another one, probably a varmint variety this time.
I bought lowers with well known names like S&W and DPMS so I'd be able to sell them easier if I decided to. Something to consider too.
 
Just like S&W revolvers there Colt ARs, Best deals ever on NEW Colts right now! Lay one away, make payments, never miss the cash that way. Colt are milspec and will hold their value. Regards Ernie
 
I've built several and below are my latest.

I've found you will need a few specialty tools to make assembly easier. For me these include: roll pin punches, a barrel wrench, and some means to clamp the upper into a vice. There are several jigs made for this and they allow you to secure the upper without marring it while you install the barrel.

Building your own allows you to buy the exact components you want. The other option is to end up with a box full of parts you took off a stock rifle as you customized it.

If you want a stock rifle or find one set up like you want, it might be cheaper to just buy it already assembled.

Edmo

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Brownells are great people to do business with. Have also had very good experience with Aim Surplus and Joe Bob Outfitters. After you build the first one, my guess is a second will be close behind..
 
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