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Posted: 2/27/2017 11:45:31 AM EDT
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So I am determined to build my own AR-15, I am hoping I can use this forum and get some help from a few generous kind souls here willing to guide me along with advice and help when I get stuck? Please?
I just ordered two books and a 3 hour DVD on building an AR15 so I am willing to do my homework, plus I will read threads here. Main thing is I want to be sure I order the right components when it comes time to order the parts (in a week or two i hope) so I do not waste money buying wrong parts!!! I don't have any experience building guns and I know little except recently learned the main parts seem to be the lower "receiver" and the upper "receiver", I assume the upper includes the gun barrel and rail (hand rest?), the lower includes the butt that goes on my shoulder. My background with guns is as a teen ager owning and using several shotguns, a winchester 30-30, a scoped Ruger .22 semiautomatic rifle, and re-blueing a shot gun barrel and reloading my own shotgun shells. But that is all i know of gun parts and such. I know for sure I do NOT want an 80% finished lower receiver which from what I gather requires a drill press and milling neither which i have, i mean i do not even have a work bench or vise; I think what I will want  is the "stripped lower receiver" that will only require a few simple tools like a punch and hammer???
Anyhow just checking in, just joined the forums here, hoping I can get help along the way? ( I will give back once I learn!) RacoonRebel :) |
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A great way to learn is to watch YouTube videos. Many people have posted videos on how to build and the best ways to do it and it would be pretty helpful to a new guy.
Oh and by the way, once you build one, it turns into 2,3,4,5,6 ... next thing you know you're spending your $3,000 tax refund on optics and magazines You will be bitten by the BRD bug 
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Welcome to the forum. You come with a deeper background thsn myself so you should pick this up quickly.
My advice would be to read a few of those books and just get to know the AR for now. Once you become familiar then you can start shopping individual parts and this site is good for learning quality parts. Also I wouldn't hesitate to start with a very entry level complete AR such as a Smith & Wesson M&P or similar models. You will learn a lot of what you prefer and also get to shoot while you research further for a first build. So I will also say start your parts search with a quality barrel as that is the heart of any gun. Then build from there. Also now that the political climate is in our favor again, no need to rush buy. Take your time and buy the best quality for the dollar. Have fun and be safe. It's a great hobby. |
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Welcome
You are right a stripped lower is easier that an 80% for sure. The striped lower is considered the firearm by the Feds. After reviewing the videos of assembly it should answer most of your questions. There is always someone here ready to help. Stripped Lower plus a kit such as this Just one company out of many that offer kits. Or a striped lower and individual picked parts then assembled in to a AR. Depends on what you want. You need to decide on what type of AR you want. Look around the link it will give you a lot of example to choose from Good luck. |
| Strangely enough I really enjoyed the planning part as much as building it. Building it went so quick it was almost anti climatic! Once you are familiar with what to get, use google images to look at all the options on different parts and brands. Are you just wanting to build the lower and pin on a complete upper or build the upper too? Like someone said before AR15s are just Barbie dolls for men. |
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Quoted:
Strangely enough I really enjoyed the planning part as much as building it. Building it went so quick it was almost anti climatic! Once you are familiar with what to get, use google images to look at all the options on different parts and brands. Are you just wanting to build the lower and pin on a complete upper or build the upper too? Like someone said before AR15s are just Barbie dolls for men. LOL (barbie dolls)! I am looking to build simple, as much prebuilt kit as I can find. I know this sounds stupid but one reason is my OCD with brand names, I just can not deal with "Windham" as in the carbon fiber Windom ar15 at the local Gander Mtn sporting goods store. I want to thus build my own, semi-brandless, but one part i found was the TEGRA lower receiver (stripped) and that reall appeals to me because it is "Tegra" not "Windham" (i know i know, stupid but i can not flip the switch off in my head on that damn name brand thing), and it is a carbon/polymer and I am looking for light weight and the carbon fiber thing is kinda cool. So yeah I am looking at the TEGRA stripped lower maybe, the one with the butt/stock, then as complete an upper as i can find although I would kinda like to pick out the rail / handrest part myself and make it custom to go around the barrel (I barely understand the "rail" thing, mysterious, I guess it kind of clamps on the barrel with some screws right?) |
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Thank you all for being willing to be here, thank you AR15.com for having this forum!
My ultimate reasons for having an AR15 are for home protection, having fun target shooting, and having a valuable commodity if and when a pandemic or something were to cause a breakdown in societal order (I hope that never happens. But I have a medical background and I know statistically speaking we are overdue for a major pandemic, as horrible as it would be; i know enough microbiology and such to know what can and likely will happen at some point, scary. I just want to be able to protect myself, my home, my food, etc if the SHTF) |
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Quoted:
The striped lower is considered the firearm by the Feds. Is the stripped lower pretty much the only part that needs to be shipped to a federal licensed firearm dealer-- hoping that is the case, otherwise i could get nickle and dimed on the fee for shipping parts to a licensed dealer, etc. If only the lower and upper receivers I guess that would be okay for the fee. |
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Be careful with carbon fiber lowers, they have know issues, well most any of the poly ones, and with the price of the aluminum ones right now its hard to beat.
And welcome 
And yes, you can buy anything else from online, the lower is the one item you need an FFL for |
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When you are getting ready to install the front takedown spring/detent and pin, make yourself a custom no-fly hood.
What it mean is, those little detents LOVE to fly off and get lost when you're trying to slide the front takedown pin through to install it. Wear some clear safety glasses and put a light color t-shirt on backwards over your head, so you have a little tent over you, the lower, and the detent and detent spring. I'm serious. This way, when the takedown pin slips and misses (it will, at least once), the detent will get caught in the "hood" t-shirt and not go flying off into the unknown. It will drop harmlessly onto your work bench and you can try again. Sounds dumb, but it works and you won't spend hours searching for and possibly never finding the front takedown pin detent. 
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Quoted:
Is the stripped lower pretty much the only part that needs to be shipped to a federal licensed firearm dealer-- hoping that is the case, otherwise i could get nickle and dimed on the fee for shipping parts to a licensed dealer, etc. If only the lower and upper receivers I guess that would be okay for the fee. Quoted:
Quoted:
The striped lower is considered the firearm by the Feds. Is the stripped lower pretty much the only part that needs to be shipped to a federal licensed firearm dealer-- hoping that is the case, otherwise i could get nickle and dimed on the fee for shipping parts to a licensed dealer, etc. If only the lower and upper receivers I guess that would be okay for the fee. Only the lower ( built or stripped ) is a controlled part. If purchased new it must go through a FFL. Everything else is over the counter or mail order. Did you look at the link I provided? Spend a few minutes wandering around the site it will give you a decent idea of the multitudes of different " kits " separate parts, configuration you can build. Myself I would avoid anything that isn't aluminum for a lower for a first time build. Track record for fiber and plastic is spotty and not worth the hassle for a first build. |
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lots of help here on this board for sure.......do you have a vice? or access to one? my first was a small "bessy" branded one from lowes that I pulled the drawer from my spare room desk, and clamped a board to the top then clamped it to the board....it flexed a little but it worked, now I have a bigger cast iron craftsman I rescued from my dads old garage and restored and bolted to my garage workbench.
an armorers tool [combo type wrench] will get you a long way if using the standard type barrel nuts, otherwise some freefloat rails require proprietary wrench sizes etc. also a clamshell type upper receiver vice block will assist when you mount the barrel [assuming you don't buy a complete upper] http://www.ebay.com/bhp/upper-vise-block check here for many links: https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=ar15+tools&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS471US472&q=ar15+tools+list&gs_l=hp..3.0l4j0i10.0.0.0.6505...........0.WhqtkwZFk8c you of course don't need all these tools but this will show you whats out there, and you will probably get addicted.........I have built 4 so far and still ordering parts for a 5th |
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Don't get a plastic lower for your first build. Buy a standard forged aluminum lower.
If you're still hung up on it after your first build, then pick one up. I'd rather a newcomer enjoy his new build rather than cuss it if/when it breaks at the buffer tube threads. |
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Quoted:
A great way to learn is to watch YouTube videos. Many people have posted videos on how to build and the best ways to do it and it would be pretty helpful to a new guy. Oh and by the way, once you build one, it turns into 2,3,4,5,6 ... next thing you know you're spending your $3,000 tax refund on optics and magazines You will be bitten by the BRD bug This! I built my first by ordering a kit and watching one you tube video. Of course I had built a couple of 1911's before that. ARs are a piece of cake compared to that. |
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