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Posted: 9/19/2011 6:55:35 AM EDT
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Hi all, I've been lurking around here for a few years now and I think its finally time for me to get my first AR. I just shot in a small 3 gun match over the weekend and now that I've shot an AR I've got to get one. I have gone back and forth and talked to a few local people about the pro's and con's of building vs. buying. Unfortunatly, of the people I talked to, half of them are on the build side while the other half think buying a stock rifle is the way to go. I am leaning towards building but my first question would be this, how difficult is it to assemble a rifle from the ground up if you have never owned an AR before? I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot of articles on the process but my fear is sinking money into a rifle that will in the end not be reliable.
I would be using this rifle for home defense, the small 3 gun that I will be shooting every year from here on out and range time. Possibly some pest control as well. My top priority would be reliability followed by usable accuracy. I say usable accuracy because I do not see myself shooting the gun out to 400 yards. I anticipate most of my shooting will be 100 yards or less but I would like the option to shoot out to 200 or 300. That being said I'd like to be able to get good groups at 100 if I do my part. I'm thinking around the 1/2" range would be ideal. I do reload and have been reloading for pistols and hunting rifles for awhile now so I like to tinker with different loads to squeeze accuracy out of a gun so to speak. So now that all of that is out of the way, here is what I was thinking for parts. Lower Spikes Tactical stripped forged lower Magpul CTR Stock - Orderd from Spikes with the mil-spec buffer tube and ST-T2 buffer Geissele Enhanced Combat Trigger Spikes Standard Parts Kit Magpul MOE Grip Upper Spikes Tactical Forged M4 Flattop Upper Noveske Recon Barrel Mid Length Gass System Lo Profile Gas Block Noveske 5.56 Bolt and Carrier Group Daniel Defense Omega X 12" Rail Vltor BCM Gunfighter Mod 4 Charging Handle AAC Blackout Flash Hider - I can see a suppressor in my future so this way its ready for one. Troy front and rear battle sights I plan to end up with an aimpoint and a flashlight and some type of forward grip as well but I haven't decided on those items yet. I figured I would get the rifle built before I got into hanging a bunch of accessories on it. Any thoughts or suggestions as to the parts I'm looking at for what I will be using the rifle for? I was also thinking of swapping out the Spikes upper and lower for a Noveske Upper and lower but I only want to do that if there is actually a quality difference between Spikes and Noveske stripped recievers. I don't want to spend more money just to get a name. The Noveske upper and lower would be an additional $109 in the price of the gun. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice. |
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You'll get a thousand suggestions on the core of your build. The barrel is where the bulk or the rifle's accuracy lies and there's a little in the trigger and your choices look fine to me.
The only thing that jumps out at me is the Blackout...might consider the Brakeout to add a little longevity to your (future) can. |
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I just got done building my first AR. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most difficult I would say it is a 3 or 4. It's pretty easy. A 1/2 " drive torque wrench is pretty handy to have for the barrel nut installation.
I don't have enough experience to comment on any of your parts selection and reliability. Make sure that the barrel, gas block , and gas tube also comes with the gas tube retaining pin. When I did my build that was the part that I was missing. I assume since those look like they come as a bundle from Noveske that they would include it. |
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Thanks for the info so far.
I believe the gas block comes with the pin. It looks like according to the noveske website that it comes with the gas block installed. http://noveskerifleworks.com/cgi-bin/imcart/display.cgi?item_id=b-16-556&cat=158&page=1&search=&since=&status= It states that the barrel is shipped with the gas block installed but then later it says that installation of the gas block dowel pin and gas block are required to complete the assembly process. I will take a look at the brakeout for sure. Looks like it doesn't control the flash as well but I saw a thread yesterday with some pictures of the wear on a suppressor if you don't use the brakeout so it looks like there are probably more advantages to the brakeout than the disadvantage of a little extra flash. |
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I think i have decided to go through Rainier Arms for the upper and lower. They have a noveske matched upper and lower for $275. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. Any opinions on Noveske?
I also found a Daniel Defense lower parts kit at Midway USA that would be about the same price as the Spikes standard kit with the $10 off orders of $50 or more that they are running right now. That kit includes the Magpul MOE trigger guard which I was possibly going to purchase anyways so I would be ahead of the game in that aspect if that kit is decent. Anyone have any experience with the Daniel Defence lower parts kit? Aside from that I am trying to decide what to do for a buffer tube and stock. I believe I am going to go with the kit from Rainier Arms but I'm not sure I have the coin right now to put out another $150 on this order so it may have to wait. I'm just excited to get some of this started. Anyone have any other thoughts on my parts list so far before I jump into this. Thanks. |
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