Well after a year and a half plus of reading/watching (information gathering), and moving from NY to Tennessee I FINALLY completed my first "build"

I put quotes on build because I actually didn't assemble the upper.  Since it was my first go around I ordered a complete BCM 16" Lightweight Enhanced with 15" keymod and bcg upper from them.  After a lot of research I don't think I could help but go with BCM.  Great company and stand out products.

I did however build out the lower.  I'm real happy overall with the end result.  Here's some pics.     All in I was at just about $1300 total.

Sweet build! Congrats, your cherry has officially been popped!

If you built the lower, it's a build. No quotation marks needed. Same if you built just the upper. Now, if you'd just slapped an assembled upper on an assembled lower and stuck on the furniture, that's not a build. JMO.

Sometimes it just makes sense to buy assemblies.

Oh, and nice build! I, too, found a BCM upper to be a better route than assembling one myself. The cost would have been almost the same.

Thanks guys.  The upper had me nervous when dealing with head space.  I'm not sure i wanted to mess with that first time around.  And at the time the BCM sale was a solid price for all..not to mention it was BCM.

Here's the parts list...I was tapped out at 2k characters for my first post:

Parts:
BCM Complete Upper - 16" Lightweight Enhanced barrel, 15" keymod rail, BCM Mod0 Comp, BCG, Forward Assist
BCM Abmi Charging Handle
BCM Mod3 Grip
Spikes Tactical Punisher Stripped Lower
Red Barn Armory lower parts kit
Yankee Hill take down pins - already going to replace these with Battle Arms pins.  I set the gun up ambi and can barely hit the right side Battle Arms BADASS because the pin sticks out so far
Troy Ambi mag release
ALG ACT Trigger
Battle Arms Badass ambi safety selector
Magpul Front and Rear back up sights Gen 2
Magpul Buttpad
Magpul Enhanced Trigger Guard - Punisher Engraved
KAK Milspec buffer and enhanced spring
Magpul CTR stock
Blueforce Gear Vickers 2 point sling - I had thought keymod worked for QD Points but that doesnt seem to be the case so I have a keymod qd mount coming from BCM that I'll put on the handguard for 2 point connection.

She shoots well so far.  Only have about 120 rounds through it so far but each pull was a blast.  I was grinning ear to ear the other day.  This was a project that never seemed like it was going to finish.

Enjoy!

I'm a little let down with the ALG ACT trigger I put in.  The reset on it has almost a "twang" to it instead of a click and it still has a gritty feel to it.  The pull on it is nice though.

I am going to swap out the BCM Mod0 with a PWS FSC556 that I already bought.  Since the mod0 came on the upper I figured I'd shoot it a bit and see how I like it.

Congrats on leaving the communist state of NY.

That's a very Solid First Build. Looks great

TRUTH!

This is the first ever unsatisfied comment I personally have seen on ALG ACT or QMS, out of many many build reviews I've seen. If you got a bad one, I bet they make good on it faster than you can blink.

I personally have two ACT; One in a Spikes and one in an Anderson. The top-front corner of the trigger is sharp. The sear faces on the trigger and hammer are glass smooth. If yours have any grit or roughness to them, you should send them back.

Both triggers in both my lowers were grit free with no detectable stagieness or stutter from the very first pull, compared to the sandpaper crap "mil-spec" triggers they replaced. If you're not highly impressed with what you got for the price they asked, you may have a trigger that slipped through without meeting the standards ALG set for themselves.

Outstanding first build!  You got a problem though, now that you have finished the first many more will come

I have to say I was surprised I was let down with the ALG as well.  Maybe I will reach out to them and see what they say although it's hard to describe other than a "twang" and "gritty" :(  Not sure how much they can do for me there.  The other side of this is I ordered the trigger as part of a build your own through Red barn and the kit has sat on the shelf for probably 6+ months waiting for me to build the rifle.  Not sure they'd still honor that although I won't know unless I ask I guess.

Very nice!

Thanks.   I'm real happy with the end result.  Spent a little more $ for better parts in areas to get what I wanted and be happy with it right out of the gate.