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Posted: 1/22/2015 1:42:44 PM EDT
| This is my first post after reading for a few weeks so I will start by saying hello. Just so everyone knows I live in ca so I will be building a ca legal gun. I've been reading the forums for a little wile now and I have so many questions. I want to build an ar15 in a 16 inch barrel and mid length gas system. I will mostly be range shooting this gun but I want it to be accurate enough to varmint hunt too. My big struggle right now is picking my OLL an upper receiver. I don't want to buy a lower till I know want I want in a upper because I'd like them to be the same brand so they match best as possible. My local gun store carry's stag, spike and Anderson which was told Anderson makes spike. I'm trying to decide whether to build the upper or buy one built. I really want to focus a good chunk of my budget to a nice accurate barrel. I was thinking a .223 wylde barrel. So I guess to get this project started I would like some advise on choosing my lower and upper receivers. I would like to build as nice a gun as I can for 1,200-1,500 not including any accessories. Any advice I appreciate and I'm sure I will need a lot of it before I get done. |
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Hi Nat05gto,
Welcome to the forum. I think the place to start is with your lower receiver. If you want a matched set upper and lower those are available. They even come in colors. The lower receiver is the part that is a firearm and has to go through an FFL (here in CA). There are billet and forged receivers, you might as well compare them to see what tickles your fancy. A lower receiver can be used in any configuration from a pistol to a long range sniper rifle. You don't have to make the decisions on all your parts yet and the set up before you get your lower. You can buy a complete lower, or a stripped lower if you want to choose your trigger and stock. Most lowers are typical unless you have a favorite brand or logo / roll mark. If your going to use a regular pistol grip, you will have to have a bullet button on it to make it a 10 round limited fixed magazine rifle. -W |
| I fully intend on building the gun with bb 10 round mags and over 30 inches to be ca legal. Are there any brand lower or uppers I should be looking at over others or am I pretty much on as long as I go with a mil-spec piece. Is it really worth buying billit parts or is forged going to be good. Like I said i think I want a brand matched upper and lower so I'm trying to decide what I want overall before I buy the lower. I'd like some input on building my own upper or buying one that is already completed. Thank you, Nathan. |
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.223 wylde sounds good for accuracy, might as well do a 20" barrel. As far as receivers. None of mine match, except for my colt. The fit varies between them, but honestly, unless you're going for billet receivers, and you want the upper and lower to look the same, forged receivers are all pretty much the same. Anderson, Palmetto, Etc... they're all gonna vary in fit. Don't worry about a little wobble between the receivers, doesn't affect anything. Most of mine are blems. I don't really notice any blems on them. I guess if you want them to "match", then get an upper or lower with the same forging marks, usually either a keyhole (Cerro) or square (Brass-Aluminum) are the common ones. And no, there's no brass in a BA forging, just the name of the company.  I'm not picky when it comes to the coatings being a perfect match, or slightly different color, either. There's my $.02, but I'm a 13'er, so...  |
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Well I think I decided on a mega arms forged lower. I really like the billet version but I think I'd rather see the money spent elsewhere. I'm going to see if my local shop can order me one today, they are pretty good about ordering things they don't have so I don't see it being a problem.
On a side note I am having a little problem with the search function on this site on finding things, Is there a knowledge base section or somewhere you could point me to a complete list of parts that I will need to build the lower and tools and parts to build a stripped upper. I have a pretty good Idea form my reading and youtubeing but I don't want to mess up and have to place multiple orders. Thank you, Nathan |
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Went down to my local gun shop hoping to order a mega lower but it was going to be more complicated and cost more than I wanted to deal with because they are not a mega dealer so I ended up buying a spikes lower.
So far I am waiting the 10 day dros for the spikes lower and I ordered what I think to be all the parts to build my lower which are: Bullet button Palmettos Lower parts kit Geisseles ssa trigger Bcm buffer tube with H spring Magpul ats-l butstock Let me know if I'm missing anything. Thanks guys. |
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I finally got my lower all put together tonight. Not to bad of a job with the assistance of YouTube. I have a few of my upper parts bought already and some that I'm still trying to pick out. My biggest problem right now is choosing the rail, as stated in another thread of mine. I have it narrowed down to the Daniel slim rail and the bcm kmr and I just haven't been able to pull the trigger on one yet. I have some time to make my decision though, because the upper receiver I want is not supposed to be in stock for 1-2 weeks.
I know I have another thread on the topic but if you have any opinions on the bcm kmr vs the dd slim rail (key mod) please feel free to chime in. |
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