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Posted: 12/8/2006 12:56:57 PM EDT
| is it a bad idea to try and build an upper from parts for a first timer? how difficult is it? |
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If you are mechanically inclined and don't have an aversion to buying a few specialized tools, go ahead. You will have the option to specifically use the parts you want without buying a complete upper and scrapping the un-wanted parts. You will have the option of buying the parts a few at-a-time if you can't plop down the money all at once. Buying the parts seperately IS likely going to cost more than buying a complete upper to start because there is more price competition on uppers than on parts. There is certainly the pride of DIY in this as well and that's gotta be worth something. When I built my first upper, I went all-out. I bought a barrel extension. I machined the barrel from a remington take-off barrel I was given. I machined the barrel nut and freefloat handguard from aluminum remnants at work. I machined the low profile gas block from aluminum remnants at work. Not everyone would take the path I chose, but I did it just to see IF I could.    That first barrel still shoots pretty good:  |
No shit!?  How hard do you really think it is for an average guy to put together an upper without having any experience with an AR or having one to compare it with? I know a lot of guys build kit guns early on, but the uppers are together already. edit also to be fair you obviously had experience with machining parts and so on so putting an upper together would not be as big a deal, I don't think-well not that it's that big a deal anyways, but it's not like you were Joe Slob with a panther claw, barrel a receiver and a bunch of parts staring at it with a big  over your head.edit-"Well I bought a barrel extension, so I might as well just machine the rest of it out of bar stock..." 
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Oh man would I have killed for a panther claw and a barrel wrench... I ALSO made my own receiver block (actually really similar to what PRI sells) and pin-style barrel nut wrench for my freefloat tube's barrel nut. THEN, I made the two spanner wrenches that tighten the handguard tube against the locknut on the barrel nut. It's all very YHM-esque, but this was years before YHM was making handguards. The ONLY things I bought for that upper were the gas tube, receiver, bolt carrier group, barrel extension and charging handle, basically the parts you CAN'T easily machine yourself. The really funny thing is that I STILL use that barrel wrench sometimes. |
It would certainly be easier if you had a complete upper to compare against, but Falarak's BIY write-ups are pretty damn good. I had never assembled an upper before I built the one above. I did take some measurements from my first upper (a J&T), but that's it. I got the barrel dimensions from the American Rifleman article on "upgrading to an HBAR barrel for competetion" This article was published before the AR was even winning matches. |
With a barrel nut wrench and an upper receiver block (and a decent bench vise) it is very easy. Read the tacked thread on barreling an upper. If you're planning on buying all new parts, you'll find it cheaper to buy an upper already assembled. |
The front sight base (gas block) will come already installed on the barrel. The gas tube simple pushes into the front sight base and one roll-pin holds it there. It's really so simple that no explanation is necessary if you had the parts in front of you and know which end of a hammer and punch to use. |
You must of also have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express 
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It doesnt?
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Does that answer your question? I am not sure I fully understand what you are asking? Hold the gas tube to the block, or hold the block to the barrel? |
| Well...if you make a mistake how easy is it to wreck parts? When I was building my lower the worst thing that could happen was knocking off an unsuported piece of the reciever when knocking pins in, that was just a matter of being carefull though. How easy is it to make a stupid mistake like that when building an upper? How many things can go wrong? |
Honestly - MUCH less. The lower has so many opportunities to screw up... scratching the lower, launching pins, and snapping a trigger guard ear. The upper is cake. It is one nut. Once you figure out how simple that one nut is.... well, there is nothing else to figure out. |
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