I thought people thinking about build their first gun might find this helpful. These are the actual prices I paid. This is a "Parts Gun" nothing was preassembled except the barrel extension and front sight. Everything else was purchased by the piece. My pictures were posted earlier this week.

My AR-15 Build; M-4 Carbine

Costs

I built my gun from scratch; I purchased all the parts individually for this build. Here is the breakdown:

Tools I bought:  
                       
Upper rec. vise block, Model 1: 39.99 Fulton Armory
Magwell vise block:  11.64    Ar-15 Pro
Barrel wrench, GI type;  24.83  Model 1
Stock nut wrench, M-4 style;  9.60 Local shop
Roll pin punch set, 5 punches;  21.60 Sears
Pin punches, 5 punches;  5.45 Sears
Torque wrench, ½" click type; 16.32  Harbor Freight, local
Roll pin starter punch set, 2 pieces, but 4 starters;  24.00 ADCO
Gun Oil, tetra lube, white lithium grease;  12.00 Local

Total, includes shipping or local taxes; $165.43

Gun parts I bought:                    

Upper receiver, flat top, stripped (blemished, minor paint), M-4 ramps;  60.00 Grizzly/LAR
Lower receiver, stripped, Grizzly/LAR; 122.63 Coldwar Shooters
Barrel, Model 1, M-4, 16", with sight & barrel ext, 5.56, M-4 ramps;  192.00 Midway USA
Bolt Carrier, crush washer, detent spring, Delton;  66.34     Delton
Lower parts kit, DPMS;  67.45     Midway USA
Furniture: Tapco; 6 pos stock, forearm w/rails, grip;  122.63 AR-15 PRO
Magpul, MBUS front/rear sights, new; 85.00 Ebay
Magpul 30 rd magazines, 2; 50.00 Local
Upper parts: flash hider, gas tube, forward assist, bolt,                                        
bolt parts, ejector, ejector parts, firing pin & retainer
gas tube pin, charging handle, ejection port cover assembly,
delta ring, weld spring, snap ring, gas key & bolts;  182.00 Midway USA
Ammo: Monarch, 55 gr, brass case, 2 boxes of 20;  21.60 Academy, local
The Complete AR-15 Assembly Guide, by Walt Kelly & Clint Mckee;  21.64 Amazon

Total: includes shipping or local taxes ; $991.18

Total Cost for My Build; $1156.51

I spent about $150 more than I wanted, but the shipping costs and taxes make up that difference. I also got EXACTLY the rifle I wanted. I shopped around and tried to get the best prices I could. I was not able to find all the parts at one place. Midway USA was the cheapest on lots of the "small" parts needed. Plus Midway has fast and very reasonable shipping, I got everything I bought in 3 days. I did not buy everything at one time I started this build August 1st and finished assembly Sept. 12th.

JOHN
http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx124/jbovinich/Finished%20AR-15/MyAR-15001.jpg
http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx124/jbovinich/Finished%20AR-15/MyAR-15004.jpg
http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx124/jbovinich/Finished%20AR-15/MyAR-15006.jpg
http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx124/jbovinich/Finished%20AR-15/MyAR-15002.jpg

got any pics??

I just added.

Looks good..........you could have gone all magpul, if cost was an issue, the MOE stuff would have been nice(stock, grip,stock)!

I bought some tools for my builds.......only punches(3), rubber hammer, the rest was just screw drivers, channel locks, razor, tape!

At least you now have everything, I would have liked to have the vice blocks, but I dont have a table for a vise, so I had to use a table and my son helped holding the lower only when installing the trigger guard, and mag catch.......

Looks good and you've got the tools for the next one!

Congrats. Really nice build.

You'll find that Model 1 Sales barrel to be a really sweet shooter.

Sweet rifle. Looks awesome!

John - nicely done, pretty satisfying doing it yourself as well.  

I have an pretty handy spreadsheet that shops parts & keeps track of your build cost for each weapon.  I can send it to you if you want it.

Nice rfile.  I just did'nt count the cost of the tools into my first, because I will have most of them for a long time, and they came from a "different budget" (Wife doesn't realize that AR tools are not to fix her car).  The 2 Magpul mags for $50 is kind of scary.

Yeah I did not want to wait for mail order and they were $21 and $25 locally. I won't buy local again. Y eah I'm thinking I will build a dedicated 22 long rifle as my next build.

John