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Posted: 1/28/2015 12:02:14 AM EDT
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Note: due to length restrictions, this is going to be broken up into many posts.
As a complete noob to the AR platform and to putting together an AR, i thought i might help other beginners with my thoughts as i put together my AR. As of right now, i have only assembled the lower receiver. I have pictures, but i read that this isnt the forum for it, so once im done with my build, i will post the pictures in the proper forum. My lower receiver is an aero precision "im your huckleberry" receiver. im doing a semi-cheap build and the $90 or whatever it was, for the lower was a little more than i wanted to spend, but im a sucker for that movie and that role by val kilmer. i then bought a lower parts kit (LPK) from PSA that included magpul MOE trigger guard, grip and stock. Here are my thoughts as i put these two items together. |
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First, i found a walk through on this site to assist in the building. in addition, i found a youtube video that walked through assembling a PSA lower, so i had my ipad by my side during all steps. i bought a cheap set of punches with hammer, what a mistake that was. So far from what i've found, you get what you pay for and to make life easier for yourself, get some quality gear! i will be replacing all my cheap tools before my next build.
The first part you assemble, the magazine catch, is pretty easy to assemble and no real thoughts on it. to push the magazine catch button in while i turned the magazine catch, i used needle nose pliers with a cleaning cloth covering the tips so i didnt mar the catch button. you can use a number of items to push the button in, but make sure you protect the button so your lower stays pretty. |
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The second piece i installed was the bolt catch assembly. the guide on this site has you install the trigger guard second, but i followed the youtube video and installed the bolt catch assembly second. Here is where you first find out how good of tools you have, buy good punches and a good hammer. i followed the youtube video and put layers of blue painters tape on the lower to protect the receiver. This didnt work well enough, sadly. i tried adding some electrical tape on top of the painters tape, but that didnt work either as the punches slipped off. sadly i marred the receiver a little, but im hoping its nothing a black sharpee wont clean up :)
using the punches and the hammer, making sure everything is going in straight while making sure you dont ruin the lower is a lot harder than i anticipated. i couldnt find a punch that would hold the bolt catch assembly in place. i dont know if that is because of the punch set i bought or what, but it made this part a little harder. before having to hold the bolt catch assembly in, i started the pin and got it going pretty good, knowing full well i was going to have to hold the bolt catch assembly in place with one hand while i tried to hammer the pin in with the other. i got the pin in pretty good, until the end...it's flush with one side, but it isnt set in as much as it should be. i just cant get the pin to be set in any deeper than merely being flush with the receiver. at this point, ill take it, but i blame the tools :) if anyone has suggestions, ill take it. |
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the next step is the pivot pin. this went well, kind of. i thought i figured out how to install it without the fear of losing the detent, oops! i have this bendable, thin blade i used to cut spray foam insulation. the metal was thin, so i used it to hold the detent and spring down, hoping i could slide the pivot pin in there while i held it down. sadly i had the lower pointed towards the sky and the blade slipped, and there goes my detent! after that, i got a little smarter. I used the second detent that came with the LPK because i wanted to get the pivot pin done. so, i held the lower in my lap and had it pointed towards a tshirt, using the tshirt as a catch in case it happened again. it did, twice, but the tshirt stopped the detent from flying away, making it drop down on to the carpet at my feet. eventually, my strategy worked and i was able to get the pivot pin installed, minus one detent. so my tip to all you beginners, have something in front of you to catch the detent in case it goes flying.
the next part you install is the trigger. nothing too complicated about this. the only problem i ran into is that even when all the holes were aligned, the pin wouldnt just slide right in. i took the hammer and gave it a slight tap, which is all it took. so that would be my only suggestion, if everything is aligned properly and the pin still isnt going in, give it a slight tap with the hammer and you shouldnt have a problem. My comments above goes the same for the hammer assembly. so long as you follow whatever guide you're using, you shouldnt run into any problems worth me mentioning here. the only thing i would mention is that when you function check the trigger and hammer, make sure you stop the hammer from slamming into your lower and your bolt catch assembly. i used my thumb to function check the hammer every time. it doesnt feel great, but i didnt want to break anything. |
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the next part was the selector and pistol grip, as you will see in the guide, you do these parts together because the grip holds the selector detent and spring in place. i had an MOE grip as part of my LPK. when i started this process, i got the selector in, the detent in and the spring in before i tried putting the grip on the lower. i quickly found out that putting the grip was going to take a little muscle and i didnt want to lose any of my small pieces while i did it. so i took everything out, then i started the grip first. i got it as close to the detent and spring hole, leaving just enough room to get those two items in there. i then installed the selector, the detent and the spring, then forced the grip into place. once you get the grip in place enough to stop the spring going anywhere, i didnt worry too much about losing the detent or the spring, i just made sure as i forced the grip into place the spring stayed straight. Other than those little highlights, the rest of this process went well.
at this point, i finally tackled the installation of the trigger guard. this is where everything went wrong! ugh, it kills me thinking about it. i made sure i used a piece of wood so i didnt bend or brake the ears, but thats about the only thing i did right. first off, my LPK came with a MOE trigger guard with a setscrew for the front hole of the guard rather than the standard PSA trigger guard that has a spring loaded pin. the problem is, i didnt know that what i had was a setscrew because i have never done this before and i was too into the build to bother googling how to install an MOE trigger guard. so, i saw the ridges and decided that what i needed to do was to hammer the thing in. i got it about half way in and i just couldnt get it in anymore. |
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so i moved on to the rear roll pin. ugh, this went horrible too. i have no idea what i did wrong, but i beat the h out of the roll pin trying to get it in. im thinking i may not have had it going in straight, maybe. another possibility is that i had taped the tip of my hammer, cause thats what the guy did in the youtube video, and the tape was coming off and going in the small slit on the roll pin. i am thinking that maybe the tape jammed up pin so much that it couldnt close up as it went into the trigger guard...maybe. at this point, i have it to where it is almost flush with the receiver, but i beat the pin up so much, that it bulged the metal of the pin outwards, so it wont go in any further. ill take any suggestions on how to fix this, but my fear is the answer will be to try and get the pin out and get a new one and try again.
at this point i took a break, i had no idea what i was going to do with the front pin that was halfway in. i dont think it was moving. so, i grabbed my ipad and finally thought to myself, why dont i google how to install and MOE trigger guard. i quickly learned that it was a setscrew and i needed and allen (sp?) wrench. i feared that i had beaten the screw up so much, that i had ruined it. but i was able to screw it in. i really doubt that thing will ever come out, so i guess ill just have to build another one :) so here's my tip to the noobs, dont be afraid to take five minutes to google how to install a certain part, especially if you buy a PSA LPK that has another company's pieces in it. |
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the next piece was the takedown pin. because i had an aero precision lower, the back where you put the takedown pin spring and detent was already threaded for a setscrew (hey, i know what that is now). i went to my local gun store, got a couple of detents (had to replace the one i lost), then headed off to buy the setscrew. it was pretty easy to install the takedown pin once i had all the pieces. i first tried it with the full spring, then i kept snipping the spring down until the takedown pin would actually work. as of right now, i think i found the perfect length. if i find out i snipped too much of the spring off, i have a longer setscrew that i can use to create more pressure, but i dont think ill need it.
Then i moved on to the last part, the buffer tube, extension and MOE stock. the video i was watching talked about greasing up the buffer tube and the bolt, but i talked to friends who have done ar builds and they said i didnt need to bother. so, i didnt. i had purchased the wheeler lower receiver vise stand, or whatever its called. i built a workstation where i could bolt that down to use it to tighten the buffer tube bolt with a torque wrench. i quickly learned that the plastic wheeler stand was not meant for that. spend the money and buy a lower receiver vise block and use a normal, metal vise to hold it in place when you start torquing on the bolt. this process went super easy despite me not have the correct lower vise block, and i think it was in large part that i already had the takedown pin installed. Well, that's it. hopefully some of my screw ups will be helpful to someone like me, a complete noob in the ar platform and building an ar. Now i need to buy the rest of my parts so i can finish my build...suggestions on barrels and the like would be appreciative. any brands i should stay away from? |
A bolt carrier group and an EOTech 512 should round off this build.
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Quoted:
Tip for the trigger guard roll pin, get a windshield wiper arm roll pin press (I got mine from Mac tools for around 10-15 bucks) it is the perfect thing for installing, removing or otherwise those ignorant little bastards that they can be at times. Thanks for the tip, i will definetly look into this, cause they are a pain in the bum! |
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