Its looking like I am going to build the AR. What I would like to know is which type of receiver (upper and lower) makes more sense. I see "billet" and "7046" and polymer all mentioned.
Also for barrels. Who has a good selection at reasonable price? Seems an M4 is a good choice. I see Wolverine has a DPMS lower kit and that would be nice but how about the US guys? I see Dlask and Irunguns mentioned a lot and they have quite a selection. I know these are restricted so what part of the AR is restricted when you are doing a buy? I have been watching Youtube vids and am getting a sense of what I want. Not so stuck on the pushrod but that would be nice. If there was a good deal then I would easily go with DI. Too bad the Wolverine ad is 2yrs old. I would gladly have paid $300ea for an upper and lower. This will be used by both of us not just my wife. We are not getting 2 ARs guys. I am digging the MOE in dark earth. Gets away from the "black death machine" feel too. I am reading this and paying attention so thanks to all of you especially matteblack. Most helpful. This might be a really cool fun build. Like a 1022 on steroids with attitude. Keep it coming. Im soaking it up.
As far as lowers go, which is the restricted part, you will be served just fine by the 6061 or 7075 aluminium lowers. Forged or milled from a billet will do just fine for the rifle. If you have dogs, don't get polymer. Dogs like polymer, its chewy.
For barrels, see if you can get a Daniel Defense or PWS barrel. The DD barrel is a chrome lined cold hammer forged and the PWS is an Isonite stainless, both provide incredible durability and great accuracy. Make sure that whatever you buy, get a 1:7 or a 1:8 twist barrel, that'll handle the most effective range of round weights out there (80-ish down to 50-ish). I run 5.56 NATO 55gr, 62gr, 75gr and 77gr through my ARs without any variance in accuracy, although the POI drops with each increase.
When it comes to the grips and butt stocks etc, you can get them all in a wide variety of colours and styles. Magpul is not the only company making this stuff, so keep an eye out. As far as breaking up the silhouette of the rifle, beauty is a can of krylon away.
You'll want to think about sights for the rifle as well, since weight is a consideration, you'll want to look at the lighter side of optics such as Aimpoint($$$$) and maybe Vortex($$) and Holosun($$). I used Aimpoint T1s professionally and found them to be quite good. I dropped a battery in at the beginning and it didn't need changed out until two years later from what I was told (all the environmental changes did play hell on the battery, up and down the mountains, hot and cold climates, in and out of humid places etc.) but the sight remained on for the entire time. Be sure to get a decent set of
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Sights for the rifle as well. Since there will be two of you using it I recommend that you get a parallax free optic and use a true co-witness for the optic and BUIS. Now many people go out and buy a real disco rifle and then throw the cheapest sights they can get away with on the rifle, this is a disservice. Every trigger puller I know spends as much time considering their sights as they do the rifle they're putting them on.
If you're going to do any courses with the rifle, be sure to get a good sling as well. There are many options out there right now, among my favs are the SKD PIG sling MkII and the Savvy Sniper QD Adjustable Single/Double Point.
Of course there is something else to consider. Often overlooked but always necessary, magazines. For these I would recommend P-mags. Gen II or III it doesn't matter, both are great. I remember when we were being issued those bloody heavy HK AR mags, those things worked well, but were almost as heavy empty as a loaded P-mag and the P-mags handled so much more abuse.
-S.
