everything minus stripped lower...Best price on the web?

Probably Del-Ton

Here is the cheapest thing I have seen.  I do not have any personal experience, but there is a lot of bad things said about this company on several forums.

Let the flames begin.

I wouldnt buy from them based solely on the quality of their website.




Id much rather buy from a site sponsor that is KNOWN and reliable.

Id look into Del Ton. Great quality for the price.

Look at this:

“Contact us” at the top of the page:

E-mail: [email protected]
For Technical issues please e-mail your questions to: [email protected]
Call us at 952.232.5832 Monday - Friday,  12:00 - 4:00 Central
Mailing Address:
Blackthorne Products LLC,  P. O. Box 2441, S. St. Paul, MN 55076-8441


“Contact us” at the bottom of the page:

AK Parts kits
PO Box 2441l
Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076
(952)232-5832

Does that give you any hints?

Blackthorne = Vulcan = Hesse = Junk

Del-Ton $395  http://www.del-ton.com/AR_15_Barrel_Assembly_p/dt1029.htm

I just got this in a email from Del-Ton

Also Del-Ton gives a discount to ARFCOMers

This is Blackthorne Products. I've never dealt with them and have heard mixed reviews all over. Best to google them for reviews.

I'll be buying a DelTon M-4 kit and other items right from their site next month. They give a discount on everything to ARFCOM members.

Do you know what type or what % discount they give?

Honestly... it doesnt matter what type of discount they give... they still will be your best bet as far as quality in that price range.  You should consider the discount a bonus

But i think the discount is 10% off... from a quick google.

So in my quest to build a good budget AR I did hours of pricing and repricing in order to find the best prices with quality parts. I kept these sites in hopes it may help someone else who who wants a AR but cannot spend a lot of money on one.

JSE Surplus Complete Upper $335.00
http://www.jsesurplus.com/custom16hbarmidlength1x9flattopuppercompletestandard-2.aspx

MOE Lower build kit $149.00
http://www.palmettostatearmory.com/598.php

Includes:
Magpul MOE stock
Magpul MOE trigger guard
Magpul MOE grip
Daniel Defense lower parts kit
Mil-spec buffer tube assembly

Palmetto State stripped lower $69.95
http://www.palmettostatearmory.com/1560.php


That is a total of $553.95 plus you will need sights and does not include shipping.

I believe Palmetto is having a 10% off sale right now.. i got in on that for all of the misc. parts to complete my current build.

And i think they are out of stripped lowers... grab a SAA one. From AIM - 59

You could buy the DPMS Oracle kit from Midway for $539.99 , then use their Promo Code 61010 to get $60 off the order. Total (without shipping) would be $479.

About ten dollars on a kit. Makes a $465 kit $455

i just finished my second blackthorne kit- a spr.the first was the m4 flat top.  Both have been mated to a spikes tactical lower receiver.  I will start by saying that I am an m16/ar-15 family certified armorer and, up till this point had only worked on colt rifles.   the order process was very simple, online only.  received shipping notice and tracking numbers withn hours of orders.  both kits were received in less than 5 days.  Upon intitially receiving the kits, i was less than impressed with the packaging- nothing fancy just a plain cardboard box,with upper wrapped in bubble wrap, stock in plastic bag, and lower parts kit in seperate bag.  The quality, fit and finish of both kits seem to be on par with other rifles i have worked on.  I did note in both kits that the roll pins that were received were crap and i replaced them with spare pins.  All parts mated perfectly with the spikes tactical lowers.  The m4 kit has a trigger comparable with others i have used, the spr kit's trigger breaks clean and crisp with a light trigger pull.  the finish on both rifles are uniform without blemish or scratches.  I have used the m4 kit extensively, firing several thousand rounds with it.  I mounted a strikeforce red dot on it for testing, and use magpul pmags exclusively.  I have not to date had any malfunctions, failure to feed, or fail to fire issues with this gun.  I used it to qualify at an instructor school without a hiccup.  I have yet to fire the SPR.  My personal feeling's with regard to these kits are as follows:  approach with an open mind.  many people comment on items based upon what they read without actually owning them.  I have had bad and good experiences with many different companies and am basing my opinion of blackthorne on my experience with them so far.....
1.  fast easy order process
2.  fast ups shipping and delivery.
3.  quality seems to be good, functional, and servicable
Certainly if a person were to want to spend more on a kit there are hundreds of options out there, but if you are looking for an innexpensive kit to break into the ar community and get shooting, I have found no fault with blackthorne kits(other than the crap roll pins).  A friend of mine also built one in a varmint configuration and fired hundreds of rounds at a groundhog shoot out to 300 yards plus without a problem.

You cant go wrong with Del-Ton.  They make good products,  fast shipping, and theyre  cs is awsome.

Blackthorne is OK for someone who:

a. Has the time to go over the parts with a fine tooth comb when recieved, assemble the kit and shoot it within their return period. (5 days)

b. Has the patience to deal with their B.S. or the skills to simply fix a defective part.

c. Doesn't care if the parts might have a little extra paint or anodizing to hide blemishes 'a la' Century Arms.  Mind you, CAI deals mostly with abused
   surplus parts for their rifles while Blackthorne's parts are brand new.

d. Is aware of their quality control practices or lack thereof.

e. Doesn't have plans of one day selling their build.

f. Is fine with the fact that said company and its predecessors have burned a lot of their customers.

Just IMHO.

this.

don't give your business to people who don't deserve it.

And don't trust your life to shady companies.  Whether your talking about in a self defense situation or a malfunction situation possibly causing a kaboom or something.

there is NO reason to buy a blackthorne kit.  saving a few bucks shouldnt be worth your integrity or safety.

http://www.model1sales.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=208

$485

Your would do better putting money aside until until you can buy a quality kit from a trusted source.  Any of the above advertisers would be fine.

Best deal going by far is a Stag Arms kit from LegalTransfers on the EE 614.00 shipped. Comes with everything to build a rifle except lower. Chrome lined barrel and even flipup rear sight.

––––-


In my experience their parts and kits are worth less than what they charge for them as too many critical parts are out of spec junk.  If an entire upper receiver is out of spec your out $100 bucks.  If a barrel has an oversize gas port or chamber, your out a barrel.  I don't see how their doing anyone favors with their pricing.  

Anyone heard about or dealt with KB Design & MFG? The have a $460 heavy barrel rifle kit. Page 63 of the newest Shotgun News.

If it were me I would from one of the fantastic manufacturers that sponsor this board. They frequently post in the industry board and will be glad to resolve any issues you have. They actually want your return business, not to sell you one kit

Agreed. I'll be buying from Del-Ton but he asked for the cheapest kit.



SARCO Inc. has an a-3 kit for $449. Their kit with the carry handle is $465. They had the kit in package at the last gun show in Harrisburg, Pa. I wasn't ready to buy so I just took a quick look at it and can't give a description. I don't know of anyone who has used one of their kits. I used their 1911 kit for some of the internals of my 1911 build and it worked fine. Not all the parts in the AR kit are new but most are new and some are "as new" according to one of the guys working the show. I believe that may be the cheapest on the net but you take you chances. I'll do one-stop-shopping at Del-Ton is a couple weeks. I plan on emptying my wish list over there.

screw that noise. it said its not even assembled and that it contains used parts.  head over to delton and get a much better, assembled and test fired kit for a whopping $15 more.

LOL!



The question was, which was the cheapest kit. It wasn't which was the least expensive quality kit.

Great stuff.  Thanks for all the input people, just what i was looking for as I enter into my first build!

I'd go for the P.A. lower and lower build kit.  Probably the best price going and they're really good about customer service.

+1 and my 2 kits (20" chrome moly and 16" chrome lined) shoot tight groups

The RRA holiday special looks good!

edit: Never mind.

I've got a 20" kit (chrome moly) on backorder from DelTon. I can't wait for it to get here! I want to see how it compares ot the two 16 inch carbines I have.

DSArms has some good deals, picked up an upper from them and Im happy with it.

Why is it always some expert with a low post count who comes on to talk up Blackthorne? And I see you are in NY, yeah this place is littered with P-Mags.

Del-Ton has an excellent reputation on this board. One they have had for a few years now.

I agree!  I made the mistake of purchasing an upper from Blackthorne, all of the components were out of spec.  
Luckily I was able to sell it and buy a BCM M4.  
Go with Del-Ton or other recommendations of site sponsored manufactures.

I just bought a Del-ton kit. Everything minus the stripped lower. Recieved it in 8 days. Upper is fully assembled, headspaced, and test fired. Lower parts kits were great qty. Far as I'm concerned it's the best deal around. My only faught with the Del-ton kits is the trigger is not very smooth.

The Cheapest quality kit I think is the Stag from one of the vender's around here. I think it is 604 or 614 shipped with a good quality BUIS included.

Del-Ton is your best bet.

Pick Del-ton

it is what it is- the fact that i have only made a few  posts means that i dont blow wind where it doesnt belong. these are my experiences with blackthorne so far. if and when the time comes when i am wronged by them or they sell me a piece of crap i will certainly post about it. If my experiences with them offend others online i will refrain from further posts. i thought the purpose of an information forum was to provide honest experiential information.