Anyone have 5 star recommendations for a smith to put together my ar?

I dont have the tools and experience. I have invested a lot of money on quality parts and dont want  to end up with some pieced  together crapfest. So im looking for workmanship that I can be proud about having chosen them.

also does an upper small parts kit exist? i feel like ejection door and forward assist  are hard to find.

It’s not hard anyone can do it,  and it’s fun

Red Planet Arsenal

1669 Thomaston Ave, Waterbury, CT 06704

203) 525-6951

Aka Madsmith

JoJo's

Just out of curiosity what kind of lower do you have to build on?  ARs are not legal in CT unless you have a pre-ban lower or are making an "other" as many here will tell you.

This build will be as an other.


But its all the same as far as craftsmanship.

If i had torque wrench i might try my self on one of my other lowers but this build has some expensive parts that i dont want to screw up.

As mentioned, you can't go wrong with Red Planet or JoJo's.

Another vote for JoJos.

If you’re in northeast/central CT and want to borrow a torque wrench I have one you can use.

I may take you up on that offer in a couple months. Once I recoup some slush funds i want to put together a 308 other. maybe set it up fo long range as everything i own is setup for short range.

although there isnt anywhere to shoot past 15 feet that I know of in ct

The money you will waste paying someone to build could be spent buying a couple of special tools. The rest of the tools you need are tools most anyone has in their garage tool set.

Unless you are one of those people whose tool kit fits in a kitchen drawer you can do this.

Lots of stuff online, websites, forums and videos that can walk you through it. If you are anywhere near Stafford I am glad to help you out. You are not building anything you are just assembling a pile of parts. Other than scratches if you are not careful you can't do any harm.

A .308 is  a fun gun but those can be a bit more tricky. No so much screwing it all together but getting it to run right. AR15 has a mil-spec that is followed by vendors. the .308 not so much. One of mine ran flawless after assembly. The other two took some tweaking. I had to open the gas port .003" on the barrel on one of them to get reliable cycling.

AR15s are Legos for men.

Depending on the parts used, you need a torque wrench, a good bench vise with pads, a receiver clamp and magwell support to hold the receivers while working, a punch set and brass hammer, a center punch (to stake the castle nut) and an armorer's wrench (barrel nut, muzzle device) plus a screwdriver for the pistol grip screw (or a hex wrench depending on hardware). That's it for a basic build - and you're looking at around $100 in tools if you already have a torque wrench and bench vise. Proprietary rails usually come with their own barrel nut wrenches. Obviously if you're looking at something like trying to pin on an FSB - yeah, you should pay someone for that. Otherwise, YouTube is filled with videos on how to put stuff together. The AR15 is a very easy platform to work on with those basic tools.

In 20+ years, I've built 40+ uppers and have never used a torque wrench.  While it may be ideal, it's not required.

As to what others have said--it's really not hard to do if you take your time and can follow simple directions.

You mentioned that you have nice parts for the rest of the gun.  Check out V Seven Weapon Systems.  They make very nice port doors and forward assists and all other parts too.  You can buy direct from them, or from many different vendors that sell their stuff if they don't have it in stock themselves.

Thanks.

I got impatient and grabbed some strike parts off midway. I can always swap stuff after assembly.

Delta Arsenal’s smith in Wallingford has built two uppers for me over the years that came out great. Pin and weld was also extremely clean.