Long time lurker here finally got around to building an AR and being on a budget I had to go with a cheap kit and here's my take on it.

I bought a FMK lower for $57 with tax & FFL.
Eagle Lite "Standard" Carbine kit $260 shipped
UTG 4.2" red dot $30
eBay special BUS $7
Total $354 not including mags or ammo

I got it in the mail yesterday, put it together with a regular punch (couldn't find my roll pin punch), xacto knife to depress pin detents, a 32mm wrench for the barrel nut and an armorer's wrench for the flash hider. It went together just fine considering the tools I used, nothing reared its ugly head and idk what else to say, it was a breeze. Had I been able to find my receiver blocks & proper punches it would have went much smoother.

As far as a range report goes, I only put 25 rounds through it, 20 federal brass, 5 field & stream steel cased and it ate it all and was ejecting around 2-2:30. Only time will tell how it holds up but so far, I like it. I just need some dirty bird targets or a spotting scope and to zero the buis

All of the parts are "standard" but it does have a 16" 1/8 5.56 barrel.  The A2 grip is what it is but it doesn't fill my hand at all and I'm choked up on the trigger. Any recommendations for a beefier pistol grip?  I have large hands and even my XD gen1 is a bit slim. I saw someone had a Magpul grip in the exchange but only bit I have to offer in return is a standard trigger guard, I haven't amassed any extra bits and pieces yet. It's either that or about 70 30-06 casings, once fired

http://imgur.com/gallery/GkDVuuU

Congrats!  Now we just need to see pictures

That'll have to wait until tomorrow, I got sidetracked before with errands and didn't get a chance to take any. That & it started raining. I should have done it when I was adding another slot to my chainsaw rifle box but I didn't think about it

linked in with imgur, nothing spectacular, yet.  but it does work, bit noisy compared to my 243 bolt but i'm guessing it's normal to hear the action cycling.  i have a damn good cheek weld with rds and irons so i guess that's why its prevalent

Nice job, we'll casually wait for your 5th build now.

if you want to fund the builds, i can start tomorrow.  i wouldn't mind a flavor of the week selection of AR's lol.

If that was a reference to BRD I was infected a long time ago but I was living in NYC.  Now I'm living in the glorious Commonwealth of Pennsylvania & let me tell you something:

IT FEELS GOOD TO BE FREE

First off, congrats on the new rifle!

Now, to the bolded section. Knowing you’re on a budget, I’d suggest you do the same with your targets as you did with the rifle: roll your own.

I’ve made my own reactive/splatter targets for a while. It’s inexpensive and easy. You may even have everything you’ll need on-hand already. Which is...

-Fluorescent poster board, index cards, or similar type card stock
-Clear packing tape
-Flat Black spray paint

Once you’ve collected the above supplies...

1) Cover the poster board in a single layer of clear packing tape. You only need to tape one side. And it doesn’t have to be perfect. It’ll still turn out fine if there are some gaps between the rows of tape.

2) Hit the taped side with your flat black spray paint. Let it dry. If necessary, reapply to cover up any spots where you can see the florescent color still showing. Let it dry. Repeat as necessary. Again, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I’ve never applied more than 2 coats. Typically, it’s only 1 and some minor touch up.

The whole process is really forgiving. Unless you really screw something up, you’ll have some awesome homemade splatter targets. A couple tips...

- If you’re using large sheets of poster board, you’ll likely want to cut it into sections; yielding multiple targets. For pistols, I’ll typically make 2-6 targets out of one sheet of poster board. For rifles, I’ve pretty much switched entirely to using 3x5” and 4x6” index cards. There’s far less waste. Just last week I made a batch. Spent less than $5, and ended up with 100 individual 4x6” reactive targets.

- Your going to want something for your bullseyes. Personally, I buy a bulk pack of something like these adhesive stickers. The stickers don’t need to be reactive. I place them on top of the paint, and try to use a bullseye color that contrasts with the target color. So, the bullseye hits will show just as well.

- If you want to get a little more mileage out of the targets, you can try using those repair dots that come with traditional reactive targets. For as cheap as it is to make the targets, there isn’t much of a cost benefit using repair dots. Especially for the small, index card sized targets. For the larger targets I make for pistols, the repair/replacement dots make a little more sense. Recently, I thought about even hitting the larger targets with some spray paint again while at the range. Kind of like what you’d do with steel targets. I believe one or two touchups should work reasonably well. But will need to try it next time to confirm.

Sorry for the slight sidebar. Just figured it was a good opportunity to help out my budget minded peers. It’s easy, cheap, and they work every bit as well as the store bought targets. For those inclined to give it a try, you can also do some creative designs. My wife made me a multi-color version recently. I’ll probably cut it into 4 equal sections before painting. Should look pretty cool...



FWIW, she cut slits in a one sheet (highlighter yellow color), then cut strips from two other poster boards. She then fished the strips through the slits; and taped it up like one normally would.

Congrats on the build and the move to a free state.

Thanks to all the congrats and as far as the DIY targets go, I've read about them before but I think they were using trash bags in some way but I like your idea better.  I think I'll just cut the board in half since I'm not a great shot and my wife shoots as well and she can barely hit the broad side of a barn with a rest.  I actually just bought a pack of reactive targets since I'm using "irons" and a 1x RDS it's kind of hard to dial it in from 25 yards since I don't have a spotting scope yet.  Well, that and I was shooting the AR & 22lr at the same target.

Lastly, have you noticed a difference between the "good" tape & the cheap stuff?  Family Dollar is 5 minutes away versus Staples or Walmart that's 25 minutes away & there's always a crap ton of people driving that rout who LOVE to ride the brake down every hill they come across.

For $354?  Good for you!

Swap out trigger and grip for LaRue MBT2 and an ERGO grip.

With mag & the first 140 rounds I put down the throat I'm at $411.  But for someone who has mags & ammo already, $354 is spot on.

I wanted to post a range update since I put a few more mags through it but I didn't want to start a new post for it.  In total with 3 short trips I've put 140 rounds through 'Merica (my wife named her) 100 rounds of F&S steel cased, probably rebranded tula or wolf and 40 rounds of WWB with not so much as a hiccup.  Watching my wife shoot though revealed that it is overgassed and ejected around 1-2 o'clock.  But I think it's a general consensus that overgassed is better than undergassed.  If I had a few bucks I would get an adjustable gas block but that will have to wait.  I COULD shift the gas block a hair to partially block the port & effectively "adjust" the gas flow but I might also run into an issue with that too & I'd rather not short stroke it.

Oh, one more thing, that little $30 UTG red dot holds zero pretty damn well.  At 25 yards with cheap ammo I can maintain a 1" group from a rest.  My wife wants me to put a scope on it so maybe a magnifier is the answer.  I have scopes on my other rifles but 1 is wonky (it blurs out at 8-9x) and the other is a permanent fixture on my .243.

Forgot to mention, I looked over the steel casings & couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.  The primers were seated a little deep compared to WWB but everyone went bang and no light strikes, sticking, nada.  I love it, she eats everything & asks for more.  And since I just picked up 200 rounds of the steel cased for 18c/round I can shoot more!

Can't afford to spell LaRue hardly & the mil spec trigger isn't that bad actually.  It's a bit heavy & gritty but not horrible, there's no creep and a predictable break.  The more I use it, the more it'll smooth out.  I have catcher's mitts for hands, I do need a better grip but I can deal with the A2 for now.  I want to get a feel for a few of them before I buy one but I'm not near Cabela's and I'm not sure what Gander has.  I'll probably be over there tomorrow so we'll see

So Gander was a bust as far as grips go,  they only had MFT brand and I couldn't wrap my hand around it,  literally. In the meantime though I have craft foam and ranger bands for a diy grip. It feels allot better but looks like ass lol.   If I get a bug I'll either contour it and use adhesive instead of ranger bands or make one from wood and stain or paint it. I could build up the grip with bondo since I have a crap ton of it but I have to see if my can is any good. Its been a while since I used it

Op, instead of messing with the gas block, try a heavier buffer.  For $22 and free shipping, this Heavy buffer is exactly what ‘Merica needs.

http://www.tomstactical.com/toms-tactical-carbine-h1-buffer