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Posted: 5/30/2025 9:31:25 PM EDT
[Last Edit: brownLtDan][Edited]
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Good evening, I am new here and decided to register since Reddit was making me take deep sighs instead of getting any assistance. I have owned but never built one until tonight. I will list my parts to make it easy to figure out what I’m possibly missing. I’ll omit the pistol grip, upper, and comp etc as it seems unnecessary however can list those if it helps. Sons of Liberty Blaster Starter Kit w/o pistol grip or trigger. Battle Arms Nickel Boron Enhanced Trigger Group Strike Industries 3.5in Pistol Buffer Tube Sharps Bros Showdown Lower Reciever I am assembling my first AR, opting for a small form factor and I am running into issues with figuring out the rear detent as well as the buffer tube as it has no rear set plate nor a castle nut. My lower parts kit doesn’t have one either. Secondly do I need the latch plate as well? I’ll post my progress and see if maybe anybody would happen to know. Also can anyone give any tips on how to finish this mag release up. Can’t use the trick due to the design of the lower. Thank you in advance for any assistance. I think I chose a very odd set of parts which left me in this position. I would like to finish up the lower but stuck on issues mentioned above. Tried to attach pics however not sure if they will work. Pic 1 Pic 2 |
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Looks like you'll probably need to buy the nut for the tube separately, don't know if it really needs the fancy one like this, but it shows them with them. They mention it working with most standard castle nuts in the video for it.  Strike Industries Pistol Buffer Tube When you say finish the mag release "up" not sure what that means. By the pic it looks like you just need to tighten it. Push the mag release WAY in, may even need to use the end of a flat pencil (or something) that has worked for me, then just tighten another turn or two. Once you get it in, check it with a few mags to make sure its tight enough to lock into place but loose enough to release when the mag release button is pushed. |
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Here's a pretty good video on how to build lowers that may help you too. https://ugetube.com/watch/build-your-ar-15-lower-receiver_biFzSA1lPsy7yWG.html |
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Wow so this made a whole lot more sense. I’m stopping by my LGS this morning to pickup the castle nut and rear end plate. As far as the mag-release, I really appreciate it. I just need to slide a punch through it to push out the latch even further for easy rotation. Thank you for your helping me decipher this! I’ll definitely check out that vid. Not finding vids as clear and concise. |
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Glad you could find some help here, and welcome! First couple builds, especially if you step off the mil-spec path, always involve learning experiences. I too don't find most videos as helpful as good written explanations w/diagrams, even when others think the videos are very good. Some people just learn better with different presentations of information. Nothin' wrong with that, and nothin' wrong with many of those vids. Takes more than one type. |
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Originally Posted By brownLtDan: Wow so this made a whole lot more sense. I’m stopping by my LGS this morning to pickup the castle nut and rear end plate. As far as the mag-release, I really appreciate it. I just need to slide a punch through it to push out the latch even further for easy rotation. Thank you for your helping me decipher this! I’ll definitely check out that vid. Not finding vids as clear and concise.  I put my first lower together thanks to that video & have done, well lets just say a "few" more since then.  |
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: I too don't find most videos as helpful as good written explanations w/diagrams, even when others think the videos are very good. Some people just learn better with different presentations of information. I struggled with videos, too, and found the tutorials on PewPew to be very helpful. Their upper tutorial is excellent as well. https://www.pewpewtactical.com/build-ar-15-lower-receiver/ |
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| I kinda enjoyed learning the process (though my lower had some QOL upgrades built in) so next time I’d be excited to do it again from scratch. Learned which kits came with what. A few additional days of waiting and several trips to the LGS. It was fun not grueling as I thought. |
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Yessir, the diagrams helped me put tremendously.. I really enjoyed learning the process and currently just tweaking and removing components and now adjusting to my liking now that I can safely know where they go and how they work. Shoutout to my thumb and pinky. Sacrificed for hammer and trigger tests. |
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