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Posted: 4/14/2007 6:38:15 PM EDT
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Hi all, I am starting off with my 1st AR15 project. I have never owned or fired an AR15 before. My experience with guns is limited to my Remmington 700 30-06 that I use for deer hunting 2-3 times a year and a Glock 23 for Home defence. AR15 looks just awsome and I think i'm going to really enjoy having it showing off. I know it is kindda stupid of me to buy a gun just for looks and cool factor but I think once I get one i will get sucked into this hobby and would want more. Atleast that is what all my friends tell me :) Ok, lets get down to business. To buy or build? -- I have been browsing this website and reading up on what to purchase. Some say easy way to start is to get a used an inexpensive one. I'm afraid I dont know enough about them to tell if it is in good condition or not or if it will be a good fit for my needs. I have been browsing various online stores posted on this web site and it seems there are so many different options and price ranges. I am all confused. There seems to be lot of good deals out there in the equipment exchange section. I'm just not sure what to buy. There are many articles and recommendations suggesting that it can be build fairly easily and anyone with common sense should be able to do it comfortably. I guess building my own will probaly get me a perfect rifle for me and not compromise on any thing (color, feel, looks, perfromance, etc). But above all, building my own will allow me to enjoy it lot more than a prebuilt one and in process i'm sure I will learn a great deal. The Lower Recevier ---- I went to Dixie Gun and Knife show today in Charlotte, NC. My first ever gun show visit. To be honest with you I expected a bit more dealers and vriety. Having said that, I think the trip was certainly worth it and i enjoyed looking around and feeling out various AR15s. I don't know if it is a decent deal or not but I puchased a Double Star stripped lower for $145.00 including tax and a Double star lower parts kit for $65.00. They also had a bushmaster striped lower for $199.00 but I went with the less expensive one. The guy said AR15 Lower receivers rarely have any performance impact so I should save more money for other important components on the rifle. I think i can spend about $300/month on this project and no more than $1200.00 in total but who knows as I might add more to the budget if i get a really good deal on something. My 1st question is did I make a mistake on purchasing the receiver part kit if I would like to install an upgraded trigger and a grip? What should be my the next purchase? I'm sure as I go though this project I will have lots of questions. Looking forward to joing the club :) thanks in advance! Arsalan |
| You might want to buy a complete upper that's been assembled and test fired if you don't want to invest in the tools necassary to build your own. If it's going to be a hobby and you will use the tools you can build your uppers. Myself I buy my uppers complete and assemble the lowers. |
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Double Star has good lowers from what I have read. $145 is an OK price for a lower since you have the tax included in that. Also, you saved shipping and transfer fees. I would try the trigger that came with the LPK to see if you like it. I really like the trigger that came with my RBPrecision LPK. I haven't shot any of the double stage NM triggers, however, so I may not know what I'm missing. I do know that the trigger on mine has very little travel before it goes bang and I like it. The grip is a $5 item, so no big deal there purchasing the LPK. I recently picked up a Duckbill grip from PKfirearms and I really like it. It is just like the A2, but without the bump on the frontstrap; it's only $10. I also would get a complete upper when you start on the upper receiver. You won't need any extra tools to put a complete upper on the completed lower. Just line up the front area and push the pivot pin in and then rock it back to insert the takedown pin. If you are going with a collapsible stock, I would get a Stag Arms, it comes with a mil-spec receiver extension. This will allow an upgrade to one of the better stocks later, like the LMT SOPMOD. Some of the stocks are expensive, so this is the way I went. I figure I can add the stock later now that I have the mil-spec extension. Some companies, like Magpul, are making their stocks to fit the comercial extensions instead of mil-spec. $1200 is a nice budget, even if you plan on a high quality red dot. If you are just going with iron sights, $1200 is awesome. If you can save the $300/month, you can get an upper assembled just as you want it, rather than trying to pick up all of the components and buying tools to install everything. Although, if you buy a flat top upper, you can get buy with a multipurpose wrench like the DPMS. You can use blocks of hardwood to clamp a flattop in a vice. Then you wouldn't need an action block to hold it. Also, if you go with a Vortex, you wouldn't need a barrel clamp for the flash hider. You just snug it up a little and it is supposed to tighten as you shoot it. The DPMS wrench is like $30. An action block will cost you $30-$40. If you really want to have some fun, spend $200 of your $1200 on a tax stamp from the ATF and build a SBR. I would love a 10.5" barrel on one of mine! ETA: QUIB said in another thread that a person should get the action block so as not to deform or crack the receiver. |
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