I am planning to build my first ar scene I retired from the army. The upper receiver I'm looking at is the adm uic billet for 300 bucks and the lower receiver I'm looking at is the radian weapons for 500.00

https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/First-ar-build-since-retired-from-the-army/128-779278/?page=1&anc=8532723#i8532723

I mean, i absolutely wouldnt, and im not a cheapskate, i just think those look like trash. But thats just my taste. If you like em, sure go for it i guess. Do you need to spend that to get a good reciever set? Not even close.

Should you?  Only one who can answer that is you.

I will point out, though, two things. First is that the same money could probably put together an entire rifle with good quality parts throughout.

Second, if it's been a while since you put one together ... It is to an extent a perishable skillset.  So maybe spending an extra $100-$150 for a generic-but-good upper and lower, so you can do a "refresher" build on something you don't mind scratching, is a reasonable thing to do.  

Or not; I don't know what you used to do or how many you've done. I do know that that leaves you with an extra upper and lower, that it would just make sense to go ahead and build out since you already have 'em... :-)

It better blow me and mow the yard No, I wouldn't. Id buy a Colt OEM1, rail of your choice and a good optic. It will be nearly identical to what you had on AD.
That said,  if you really like the looks then go for it. You earned the money, spend it as you see fit.

You do you but I wouldn't buy those receivers. For the money you could get a Colt OEM 1 as mentioned already or you could buy a forged upper and lower, good barrel, BCG and other parts.

I would not, but that is just me. Law of Diminishing Returns and all of that.

If this is going to be your one AR and you just want to focus your efforts on one cool setup, then go with the parts you've listed.

I was able to get a used ADM UIC upper for $160 on the gun accessories for sale subreddit.

I combined it with a Criterion Core 13.9" barrel and pinned and welded a Huxwrx extended flash hider on it to take it to 16.1".

Ripcord LDR1 handguard, badger ordnance gas block, Lantac m-spec bcg.

Aero lower, Larue MBT-2S trigger.  



This is my fourth AR15 though and I wanted to build something nice.  I learned a ton from building out my first three as well as building out an Aero M5 in 308.

There is nothing wrong with a stripped forged upper (M4E1) and lower receiver (A4E1)like an Aero Precison for example that together won't cost more than $225 total.  You can then finish it with the parts you want.

It is better to spend your serious money on:

Quality Barrel from Kreiger, Douglas, Lilja, Centurion Arms, Rainier Arms Utra-Match, just to name a few.
Geissele Trigger that fits your application.
Quality Ambi Safety Like one from Radian, Geissele, or Forward Controls Design
Ambi Charging Handle like one from Geissele or Radian or Aero
Quality Rigid handguard like one from Geissele, Centurion, Midwest Industries, et al.
And finally the best optics and mount system you can afford, be it a Red Dot, LPVO or MPVO

If it’s within your financial means I say go for it. If I had a dollar for every rifle I built and thought “I really should have bought this” I’d have an extra box of ammo.

Even so I prefer Aero M4E1 receivers for all my builds. Not big on the ambi stuff myself.

I took a carbine class from a SEAL and he thought the ambi controls were a very niche use case where you're shooting around a barricade with your off-hand. Even then, you can train to operate your rifle offhand and the ambi controls don't really warrant the extra money unless you just absolutely want them.

THIS ^^^^^

While you can build a perfectly fine AR out of standard type forged lowers and uppers, I also see nothing wrong with spending bigger money on something like say a Radian set. Same can be said about LMT Mars components. Should you do it? Thats up to you. Are they worth it? I think so. There is no wrong answer here.

I've got the ADM upper and lower. I really like them. Upper was thermal fit with a Triarc barrel. I've always liked the Radian receivers too, but I like the look of the lower, upper, and rail together. However, I just did a quick search and the ADM upper looks good on the Radian lower! https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/Upper-Match-suggestion-for-Radian-Lower/4-746054/#i8005691

I bought my ADM stuff prior to the recent price increases and as part of a group buy, so I got a really good deal. Still spendy though. I've used Anderson, BCM, PSA, Aero, Geissele, ADM, SOLGW, etc. If you want sweet billet receivers I say do it. I like the ambi features and they are high quality. If you don't need that or want to save some money, there are other nice options. My $60 BCM demo upper that arrived this week was already assembled, looked brand new, and was thermal fit. My BCM demo upper from 2011 had to be assembled and had a scratch down the entire top of the upper.
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