Question on legality of building an AR

A

AZJames

Inactive
Hello all,

Hope everyone had a great holiday.

So I've been looking into building an AR-10. I would love to know how they work from the ground up so I can maintain, upgrade, and make this into a nice pet project.

That said I know nothing about how to do this and am a little nervous building a rifle and then firing a bullet down it for the first time. So, I was curious to know how much help I can get.

I am not going to use a receiver blank. I plan on buying a stripped receiver that's already stamped/serial numbered. If I get a receiver like that, can someone help me put it all together? Or is that illegal?

I know someone can't help me with drilling my own receiver blank, but I'm not sure how the laws apply if I buy something already registered and do the whole FFL thing.

My hope is I can just pay someone $100 to sit down with me and walk me through putting all the parts together with no illegal drilling or anything. But I'm not sure that's legal.
 
AZJames said:
Hello all,

Hope everyone had a great holiday.

So I've been looking into building an AR-10. I would love to know how they work from the ground up so I can maintain, upgrade, and make this into a nice pet project.

That said I know nothing about how to do this and am a little nervous building a rifle and then firing a bullet down it for the first time. So, I was curious to know how much help I can get.

I am not going to use a receiver blank. I plan on buying a stripped receiver that's already stamped/serial numbered. If I get a receiver like that, can someone help me put it all together? Or is that illegal?

I know someone can't help me with drilling my own receiver blank, but I'm not sure how the laws apply if I buy something already registered and do the whole FFL thing.

My hope is I can just pay someone $100 to sit down with me and walk me through putting all the parts together with no illegal drilling or anything. But I'm not sure that's legal.
Click to expand...

its perfectly legal for someone to help you assemble a 100% purchased receiver

as far as firing the first bullet the only thing you need to worry about is setting the correct head-space when you assemble the upper receiver to the barrel. They make a check fixture for that you can easily buy. For the most part the machining tolerances are well in spec and its a non-issue.
 
When you buy the finished lower, you have legally bought the rifle.

I really hate the use of the word "build" when talking about ASSEMBLING an AR, but that's a personal gripe.

It isn't a "build" like building a house, where you cut, and do things to lumber stock, or even like building a model kit where you have to cut pieces off the sprue, trim, sand, glue, etc.

It's more like a jigsaw puzzle where you just fasten together the pre-finished pieces.

And there's no need to pay anything, lots of people here can walk you through it, and there are tons of U Tube videos.

There are also books you can get (those obsolete things that you can look at without a computer screen:rolleyes:).

I used to assemble & repair M16A1s for Uncle Sam, and have done a few AR-15s for myself, and with friends. Never did an AR 10, but I'm sure the same things generally apply, though you might need some different special tools, depending on who's parts you use.

General tools needed will be a bench vice, proper screwdrivers, punches, barrel blocks, allen wrenchs (maybe) torque wrench (ft/lbs and in/lbs) hammer, breaker bar (so as not to use torque wrench until needed), and the special tool(s) for the barrel nut, buffer tube, and flash suppressor. And maybe some others, depending on parts used (like slip ring pliers, etc.)

And the knowing of how it all goes together...

And the headspace and other gauges to check that it all went together right.

some things can be bought pre-assembled bolt carrier for one, or you can get completely assembled uppers and lowers and just mate the two together and push in the pins...

If you are doing it for a project, then you probably want to do most of the work yourself, so you will need a few tools. And knowing the torque specs for the parts that should be torqued.

There might be some quirks to the AR 10 that regular "builders" know and I don't, so my advice here is just general in nature.

(if you wanted to "build" a Viet Nam era replica M16A1, then I could give you detailed information on how we used to do it..:D)

Good Luck, and let us know what further questions we can confuse you with...:rolleyes:
 
Buy a lower receiver. Legally it is the rifle, so it will have to go through an FFL if from out of state or if your state does not allow private transfers.

Once you have the lower, you just assemble the parts.
 
Caution: While perfectly legal under federal law, there are some restrictive states that prohibit an individual from legally assembling (or building) a firearm. New Jersey is one I know of. Also, if the finished firearm would be considered an "assault weapon" under some state laws, there may be other restrictions and requirements (or it may not be legal at all).

In what state do you reside?
 
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