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Posted: 6/25/2014 8:57:14 PM EDT
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AR15 Cost
Double D Armory Billet Upper - $130 Double D Armory Billet Lower - $200 Mil-Spec Hard Coat Camo Anodizing - $100 Parallax Tactical PXT FFSSR 13" handguard rail - $230 Rail Anodizing - $45 Shadow Ops Nickel Boron BCG Blem - $120 Simply Zombie Dust Cover - $18 BCM Pistol Grip Mod 0 - $30 BCM Charging Handle Mod A44 - $70 BCM Dust Cover Assembly - $9 BCM Forward Assist Assembly - $16 Spikes LPK w/o Hammer/Trigger - $50 Spikes Buffer Tube Assembly w/ ST-T2 - $90 Spikes 16" FN CHF 5.56 Barrel & Gas Block - $270 SOPMOD Enhanced Stock - $100 Melonite Gas Tube - $18 AAC Flash Hider - $60 Geissele SSA-E - $230 BFG Vickers 221 Multicam Sling - $105 Total - $1891 AR Tools: Precision Reflex Barrel Nut Wrench - $25 RRA AR Stock Wrench - $10 Spikes Block Worx - $57 Grace Roll Pin Punch Set - $35 Brownells Pivot Pin Install Tool - $16 Brownells Bolt Catch Pin Punch - $16 Brownells Reaction Rod - $40 Brownells Roll Pin Holder Set - $50 Tools Total - $249 With that out the way, this is my first AR build. I've had a AR for about 4 years. In times before the panic CDNN was selling S&W M&P-15 Optic Ready ARs for $700 with free shipping. S&W was directly offering $100 MIR on any S&W M&P-15 purchase. $620 for a prebuilt quality AR. I jumped on that. Recently a friend of a good friend was in the market for a AR & I offered to sell mine for $625. He got a AR kept in great shape for a fairly good price & I got money to round out my build. I started planning this last summer. I decided I wanted to begin building a new custom AR from the ground up. I have previously converted a Saiga & had fun with that. S&W makes a very nice AR & I wanted to take this a step above. I wanted all top quality parts with the build. I started with a quality billet upper & lower from Double D Armory out of Colorado. I originally placed the order Sept 2013. I wanted a billet for the build vs a standard forged receiver. They were a new company but looked reputable & I was willing to give them a chance. I also didn't want just a standard EBR. I wanted to get a camo pattern on the rifle. Well they take it one step further than a standard paint such as Cerakote or Gun-Kote. They offer a Mil-Spec Hard Coat Anodize of camo patterns. I was interested in this. I opted for the Moravas digi pattern. When speaking further with Double D Armory they were also able to do a handrail in a Hard Coat Anodize to match the upper/lower. I bought a Parallax Tactical PXT FFSSR 13" handguard rail to have them match. It has taken a little longer than expected to get my upper/lower & handrail from them. However all good things come with patience. It's now March & i'm just getting ahold of my upper/lower & handrail. However that worked out for the best to give me time to save up money for quality parts for the build. I managed to pick up a Shadow Ops Nickel Boron complete BCG for only $120. It was a blem, but there are 2 small spots that are hardly noticeable finish differences, not even machining marks, that can't be seen unless BCG is pulled from rifle. More than pleased with this product for the price. I got a custom made dust cover from Simply Zombie. Outstanding quality product. Diamond etched with a custom design for only $18 for both sides. Highly recommended. As always any quality build has to feature some BCM parts. Pistol grip requirements were I DO NOT like grips with the notch for dividing your fingers. I wanted a completely flat grip with good texturing with a storage compartment on the bottom. BCM grip Mod 1 does this perfectly. Again, more BCM love with a quality charging handle. I went with the ambidextrous model, Mod A44. Not much more to say other than top quality. My custom dust cover was exactly that, ONLY a custom dust cover, not the assembly. I just bought a BCM dust cover assembly & have a spare dust cover, but only needed the assembly part. While ordering from BCM they had forward assists in stock, just added that in since it was needed & i'm assured quality. The other main parts to my build are Spikes Tactical. Again another solid reputable quality company in the AR industry. I went with the Spikes LPK. Save a few bucks as I don't need a trigger/hammer assembly. Since I opted for a Geissele SSA-E. Spikes makes a pricey but assured quality Buffer Tube Assembly. Keeps matching with my other Spikes parts. I wanted a simple but good barrel for this build which was of good quality. This is my only/primary rifle for right now. It should support the most broad range of ammo possible for any situation such as HD, SHTF, etc. I wanted a 1:7 twist barrel 5.56 rated. I don't have the tools to pin gas blocks & didn't know what to do in regards to that. I held out on this part until the last few weeks & was browsing Aim Surplus & found the Spikes Tactical FN 5.56 barrel with pinned LPGB. Solves all problems in one nice neat package. Quality barrel which is actually fully manufactured by FN right here in SC. They hold the military contract for the M249 barrel production. These are CHF barrels. Spikes just tosses there name on for sale to civilians. Has a pinned LPGB already installed so that saves me the trouble of tracking down a local or sending off my barrel to have a GB installed. I wanted to go with a mid-length gas system on this build. My S&W M&P-15 had a carbine system & I was interested to see what the AR was like with a little less recoil. So I wanted a 16" barrel & the Spikes FN fit the bill. Standard AR stock is ok, but i'm interested in the more sloped cheek weld of the SOPMOD stock. I love compartments & since i'm going all out, I opted for the enhanced SOPMOD stock. I didn't want a bright stainless gas tube, I wanted one that was black to blend with the barrel. A fellow AR15 member is selling melonited mid-length gas tubes. Picked up one off him. I wanted a flash hider over compensator incase rifle ever needs to be used at night, I would rather not be blinded. The go to choices I have read are either the Smith Vortex or AAC flash hider. Needed to order stuff from AIM & they had the AAC in stock so I just opted to go with that. Pricey, but works & quality. Ah yes, the icing on the cake, the Coup de grรขce, the finale. Since I sold my S&W M&P-15 & had funds from that I went ahead sooner rather than later & bought a Geissele SSA-E. I have read so much about Geissele triggers & just couldn't let the rifle suffer without one. I was going to hold off on putting one in just to complete the build, but because I sold the AR just before getting my parts I was able to pick this up. I've heard the SSA is good but that some people have had a few grips about it & wished they had went with a little lighter trigger. I heard really good things about the SSA-E & opted for that shooting in the dark hoping for the best. I wanted quality parts for my quality build. I have put enough stuff together to know that the right tools make a job go so much smoother & easier. I didn't want my parts breaking or my tools breaking. I originally wanted a Gem State Armory armorers wrench, but they were sold out & have been for a while. I sent an e-mail to inquire on a restock timeframe with no response. Brownells offered the Precision Reflex barrel nut wrench along with my other needed equipment. I saw this as a recommended item in a fellow AR members build. Ended up not even needing it, handguard ended up using a proprietary barrel nut. I'll use it for another build, still good to have. Just picked a random stock wrench. RRA was $10. Grace roll pin punch set. Quality, & included all needed punches. 2 small parts i've heard make life easier are a bolt pin catch tool & pivot pin install tool. Brownells makes both. I figured might as well grab those. I've read support during barrel install is cruical to keep from breaking parts or tools. I opted for brownells reaction rod typed device. 1/3 the cost & in stock with my other parts. Being my first build I just watched & rewatched youtube vids. Everything was incredibly easy. I've already done my own saiga conversion so i've tore a gun apart & put it back, so this wasn't anything super hard. I had my cousin help me in holding a few parts & being a 3rd (and 4th) hand. No problems to report on assembly. I put it together back in late March/April. I've taken it out to the range I believe about 3 times now. About 500 rounds through it. I had one odd jam in about the first 50 rounds where the case was stuck on the extractor weird & it was at a odd angle upon extraction and jammed. No other problems to report. All ammo was brass cased hand loads to 223 specs. Accuracy is good. Not really done any precision shooting at targets, just milk jugs & water bottles @ 100 yards with irons. I just got a Aimpoint Comp ML3 for it. I will probably take it out in 2 weeks or so & try that out. Need to load up some ammo, now that I just got ahold of more rifle powder. I weighed it without the aimpoint & mount, so without those, I believe it weighed in at 6.2lbs for a complete rifle. Very light. Of course no ARFCOM thread is complete without pics. Not the best, but decent. I will try to get some of the rifle outdoors in natural lighting with no flash. 
Sling in 1 point config 
Sling in 2 point config |
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