AR Build

I ask because I'm looking to get my first (cheaper since 1st) AR. I've seen people talking about getting M&P15 for about $599 (sale) and then I've heard people saying you could build one for about that same price. I'm not sure so I wanted to ask.

When building one, what all do you have to get?

Upper Receiver
Lower Receiver
Bolt Group Assembly
Charging Handle
Mags

Is that about it, or am I missing some other parts?

Does $599 sound about right, or could you possibly build one cheaper?
 
I just picked up a very nice but USED Compass Lake AR with a 24" SS bull barrel, CL 2 stage trigger, and many more extras for $800.00. Bought this after looking at some other used and new from $550.00 to $1800.00. This one is built on a Bushmaster XM15 E2S lower. Check out the local gun shops, pawn shops, auctions....$599.00 would not be a bad price to start.

When building one, what all do you have to get?

Barrel, sights, rails or no rails, scope, grip, stock configuration, ect.= There is no such thing as a plain jane AR 15 any more. The "standard" I think is a word of the past.
 
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Cheapest possible or cheapest that I'd be actually willing to own?

For the cheapest possible, you could get a Blackthorne kit, mate it to the cheapest lower you can find (should be able to get one for $100ish) and you'd prob. have just over $500 in the gun. You're also likely to have an unrepentant piece of junk of an AR-15; Blackthorne has a HORRIBLE rep and from what little I've seen personally of their products, it is much deserved and perfectly justified.

For the cheapest I'd be willing to own, I'd take that same $100 lower, get a RRA or Daniel Defense LPK ($80), stock kit (prob. another $70ish), for a total of $250 in the lower. Then I'd just get a complete upper, probably Rock River, DPMS, Spike's, Del-Ton, or Bushmaster (as I said, this is as cheap as I'm really willing to go), and with a rear sight you're probably talking about anywhere from $450-550 depending on rear sight, barrel length and profile, etc.

So in other words, this quick and dirty pricing for a build would result in a price tag of $700ish, maybe up to $800. For another couple hundred, you upgrade the upper and BCG to a really good one (say, Bravo Company), and then you have a rifle that's capable of about anything you might want to do with it.

You don't save a lot by building if you're looking at the low end. However, where you save the money is when you are willing to pay midrange prices but you want to get a top notch rifle. That you can do.
 
Yeah, I'm new to this so I'm just starting to look. Is it better to buy the Upper/Lower receiver assembly groups or individually? Also, where should I look around for parts?
 
For your first time out, I'd recommend just getting a complete upper or a barreled upper. The difference is that a "complete" upper is usually everything less the rear sight- barrel, upper, BCG, charging handle, handguards, etc. (but sometimes includes that). A "barreled" upper is usually just the barrel and upper with the delta ring assembly installed. You'd usually need your own handguards, BCG, charging handle, and rear sight. Assembling the upper is not generally recommended for a first timer- you will need an upper vise block and barrel wrench; specialized tools are not required for the lower.

For the lower, the three things you need are the lower itself, the lower parts kit, and a stock assembly. You can get a complete lower, but if you actually want to build something, the lower is a good place to start.

Generally, I get most of my parts from PKFirearms.com and Brownells. Bravo Company also carries a decent selection of stuff and is a great place for high quality uppers. AIM Surplus can have decent deals on some things, but their stock can be chancy; they might or might not have what you want in stock.
 
I like building my own, I can build a plain jane mil-spec m4 for about $500 - $650 (depending on how much you search and prices) and my nicer builds is about $1200. i use mostly yankee hill uppers $90.00, and barrels. I use Yankee hill barrels $190-$220 for the nicer builds and I use whatever gunbroker has for under $150 for my plane jane, lowers are almost always DPMS, Spikes or R-Guns just cause its what the local dealer usually carries, I get them for $110-$125. Lower parts kits run for around $65-75 locally, I like to order one from brownells that missing the grip, hammer and triiger for my nicer builds due to the fact that I like to use nickel Boron coated hammer and trigger from spike and also like the CAA grips, Magpul MIAD or ergo grips for my nicer builds that spikes kit runs for $60 for the NiCB coated parts. NiCB bolt assembly is about $200 or a milspec for $109, I but the CAA CBST stock with tube, spring and buffer for my milspec builds ($100) and I use magpul stocks with wolff buffer spring and spikes tactical buffer. I use YHM, free float quad rails or regular or magpul MOE, and A2 muzzle device or a Battlecomp.

Mil-Spec
Lower:$110-125
Assembled Upper:$90-$115 depending if you want the handle or not
Barrel:$150
BCG: $109
Stuck w/Tube, spring and buffer: $100
Lower PK: $65-$70
Gas Tube:$14
A2 front sight: $20-30 or get a YHM flip up front for $65.00
So about $650 on the high end,
Prices vary but I have found most of these item cheaper on some occasions.

Here are some pics of my last builds,

This ones total cost $1950 with the Elcan Sight
IMG_0526.jpg


These are some other builds.
IMG_0494.jpg
 
Thanks. I think for my first build I want to make it as simple/cheap as possible... that way I can really learn more about the gun and parts.
 
One more thing, is the .223 the only caliber you can build in the AR-15 or can you build different calibers as well (sorry if that is a stupid question)
 
I've still got a few that I have under $450 tied up in. That's TOTAL including shipping on all the parts. And, YES, they are plenty good enough for me to use for about anything that I might encounter in the field.
223 will be cheaper than other calibers since more of them are available.
BTW In most cases I can buy builder parts for less than what Blackthorne sells stuff for.
 
One more thing, is the .223 the only caliber you can build in the AR-15 or can you build different calibers as well (sorry if that is a stupid question)
Click to expand...

Not a stupid question at all. When you don't know but you want to, it ain't a stupid question. Usually. In this case, no. Ahem. :D

Before I get ahead of myself, I should point out that there's two sized of AR lower, and each can be built into different calibers. There are the AR-15 and the AR-10 lowers. The AR-10 has a much longer magwell for rounds such as the .308 Win. The AR-15 is sized for the 5.56x45, but you'd be surprised at what you can fit in there.

Basically, anything that can fit through the magwell (either entering or leaving the barrel) has been put in there. The following is so very NOT a complete list (it's easily found on the internet) of what you can build off a standard AR-15 lower:
.22LR, .204 Ruger, .223, 5.56x45, 9x19mm, .45ACP, 5.7x28mm (this one is funky, it ejects through the magwell since it uses P90 magazines), 6.5 Grendel, 6.8SPC, .300 AAC Blackout, .450 Bushmaster, .458 SOCOM, .50 Grendel, and somebody even has a single shot .50BMG bolt action upper and even a crossbow upper for the thing.

And that just scratches the surface. Keep in mind that the rollmark on the lower means nothing- it could be roll marked "5.56mm" but have any of the previous uppers on it. Many lowers made for the self-build market are now marked "MULTI" to reflect this, but the only size difference you will see on the lowers is the AR-10 size vs. the AR-15 size.

Guys will often build up one rifle and then get an upper in a different caliber (they may eventually build a lower to complete it, but swapping uppers takes all of 20 seconds and if you leave the optic mounted it doesn't need re-zeroing).

Feel free to ask any questions you like; about the only one we're tired of answering is which brand name is the best- there's a ton of those threads already. :) Just steer clear of Vulcan/Hesse/Blackthorne (they make junk and keep changing their name to dodge their reputation), and you should have something serviceable.
 
Thank you Technosavant,

The reason I ask is for hunting purposes. If I do use this rifle to hunt, was thinking about a larger caliber, but I like the versatility of the .223. Thanks
 
I've seen a few uppers that say "Mid-Length"... What does this mean in relation to other uppers that don't say that?
 
Mid-length is the position of the gas hole on the barrel there for meaning its the length of the gas tube you would need to fit into the gas block all the way back to gas key on your BCG, so be sure to buy the right length gas tube, forearm, etc, for the gas system your barrel has. Whether it Carbine(shortest, fastest), Midlength (Middle, middle most reliable IMHO), Rifle (Longest, slowest).
 
Another point about the midlength is the longer tube gives a softer impulse to the bolt. Over thousands and thousands of rounds a carbine length system can create small cracks in the bolt.

My opinion (which is free so take it for what you will): If you want a cheaper 16" carbine as a KISS rifle in .223
  1. a2 upper if it's cheaper
  2. midlength gas system with front sight gas block
  3. basic carbine/M4 handguard with heat shields
  4. A2 cage flash hider
  5. make sure the chamber is in 5.56, there are .223 chambers out there
  6. try to get "M4 feed ramps" as they are worth the money
  7. Any bolt, but BCM bolts are better but kinda pricey
  8. If it were my rifle, since it's a carbine I would go collapse-able but some people like A2 stocks for the storage compartment
  9. basic LPK for about 50$
  10. any stripped lower, really. Del-ton makes a cheap decent lower and sells good LPK's that are better than the DPMS kits (I have both, but there are better for more money)
 
Using a combination of new and used parts you should be able to build a mil-spec rifle for about $600. It won't have all the latest greatest parts, but it well get the job done.
 
A bull barrel is thicker, primarily to resist bending when heated. It presumably makes it more accurate. In and of itself, most shooters will never see it, because they aren't good enough.

Other more important features in a barrel include material - and quality, homogeneous steel with no inclusions or defects won't likely get stressed internally and bend around warming up. An accurate bore drilled on the actual centerline, and rifled consistently with almost no variation in internal bore diameter is also needed.

Be advised the early HBAR's still had the sling attached to the gas block - they were service rifle grade, not free floated. Since then, lots of barrel makers have marketed bull barrels, you get what you pay for. A $500 Krieger will shoot more accurately than a $240 no name bull barrel.

Plenty of light profile barrels have been made by quality oriented suppliers that shoot rings around the highly marketed and cheap bull barrels. What's basically happened in the AR market is that bull barrels on the low end are exactly that, a lot of bull. Nobody guarantees better accuracy or free replacement.
 
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