Putting together an AR

MTLean

MTLean

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Hey guys,

recently i've been fiending to put together a nice looking AR. I do not have lots of gun smith skills, i did order the book that was suggested in another thread to put a AR together, watched the Brownells videos and got some knowledge on AR15 dot com forums.

I did a little reasearch on the topic, and i am now debating if i should buy a complete lower and complete upper and just go from there. Does chosing your lower receiver components make a huge difference in quality of the build & price total?

I'd like to have it chambered in .308 but if its that much more expensive i can start with a 5.56 / .223 compatible barrel (1/9 is the twist to make it compatible with both NATO & .223 right??)

Any other Canadian websites i should check apart from Questar, Arms east & DLASK ?

Any help, info, comment, opinions are welcome.

Cheers
 
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Kinda hard to answer your questions. A lot of dependent factors.

If you want to learn your rifle inside and out... and you want to spread payments over a longer period of time. Build it yourself.

If you just want something to blast away with. Buy it complete.

You pay for what you get.... so in either case you spend more you get more.

308 lower is diff then a 223 lower.

Lots of people will talk about the diff between 223 and 556. But one thing to keep in mind is that the US does not allow export of 556 "Evil military" firearms. They do allow the "sport" 223 rifles..... so US manuf tend to take there 556 barrels and mark them 223. So in short there are a LOT of "223" that is actually made to 556. (Just need to ask the right questions when your getting it)

Sorry if my response is kinda scattered or broken..... I am just sneaking online during my lunch break :D
 
OH, and if you want to put one together..... it is not hard, nor is it rocket science.... dont hesitate or worry about doing it that way.... if you get stuck youtube or CGN will always be there to help.
 
JoKa said:
Kinda hard to answer your questions. A lot of dependent factors.

If you want to learn your rifle inside and out... and you want to spread payments over a longer period of time. Build it yourself.

If you just want something to blast away with. Buy it complete.

You pay for what you get.... so in either case you spend more you get more.

308 lower is diff then a 223 lower.

Lots of people will talk about the diff between 223 and 556. But one thing to keep in mind is that the US does not allow export of 556 "Evil military" firearms. They do allow the "sport" 223 rifles..... so US manuf tend to take there 556 barrels and mark them 223. So in short there are a LOT of "223" that is actually made to 556. (Just need to ask the right questions when your getting it)

Sorry if my response is kinda scattered or broken..... I am just sneaking online during my lunch break :D
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all good thanks for your input :)
you said .308 is different lower than a 223, how come when you have a 223 lower you can add different caliber uppers on it? Or am i wrong here also :)
 
I put my lower together and used AR15 dot com. I really enjoyed the whole process to be honest. I do not have any great smith skills either but everything went together perfect. I put tape on the recommended areas to avoid any kind of scratches.

308 upper will not fit....think about the size of the magnel needed to accomate the bigger bullets. You can add a 9mm upper but there is mods needed to the lower, inlcuding happer and magwel adapters for instance. You can put 22LR uppers on the top with little to no mods.
 
Farmboy said:
One Shot Tactical Supply ;)
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One of the only things you don't carry is AR 15 crush washers for attaching muzzle brakes and flash hiders

I need some, and one of the "other" board sponsors that does have them demands your PAL #, Date of Birth and your place of birth, just to order a friggen washer. :confused: No thanks.

You guys are way less hassle. You also need bolts, carriers and other small components. Please.:)
 
One of the only things you don't carry is AR 15 crush washers for attaching muzzle brakes and flash hiders
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We have a bunch of crush washers in stock.

I'll get them up on the website.

You guys are way less hassle. You also need bolts, carriers and other small components. Please.
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Working on it :D
 
NATO uses the 1:7 twist because of the length of the tracer bullet. It is not necessary for conventional bullets to 80gr.
1:9 will definitely stabilize bullets to 69/70gr. 77gr Sierras would likely be OK, some 75s might work. 77gr. Sierras will run through the magazine. 80s won't.
1:8 is probably the most useful twist.
If a US mfr. gets caught stamping .223 on 5.56 chambered barrels to ease export, they are likely going to be out of the export business.
 
Clobbersauras said:
One of the only things you don't carry is AR 15 crush washers for attaching muzzle brakes and flash hiders

I need some, and one of the "other" board sponsors that does have them demands your PAL #, Date of Birth and your place of birth, just to order a friggen washer. :confused: No thanks.
Click to expand...

Ya, I've been to that place too. Same as you, I ran away without looking back.
 
Ar build

do a search on Claven2's cheap AR build. It helped me to source parts, I used One Shot, Arms East and ATRS. Wasn't rocket science which is good since I'm no rocket scientist. There's a few things I learned that I would do differently next time but it's damn fun. I don't get what everybody says about reliability either with a home build, mine has run flawlessly so far. I went the cheap build route but you can do whatever you want and get whatever you want. Have fun!!
 
Farmboy said:
One Shot Tactical Supply ;)
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i dont know all the supporting dealers by heart yet :p
The pieces without a price are not in stock?


CdnCombatMedic said:
I put my lower together and used AR15 dot com. I really enjoyed the whole process to be honest. I do not have any great smith skills either but everything went together perfect. I put tape on the recommended areas to avoid any kind of scratches.

308 upper will not fit....think about the size of the magnel needed to accomate the bigger bullets. You can add a 9mm upper but there is mods needed to the lower, inlcuding happer and magwel adapters for instance. You can put 22LR uppers on the top with little to no mods.
Click to expand...
You bought a stripped lower? Which one did you pick? I am liking the DLASK lower i gotta say :)
going with .308 wouldnt be the most convenient thing to do based on what you are saying. I am just scared of the "bang for your buck" factor on the .223 caliber. Luckily i will be trying the CQM4 this sunday with a friend i met on CGN, i guess i can criticize and go from there.
Thanks for your input

tiriaq said:
NATO uses the 1:7 twist because of the length of the tracer bullet. It is not necessary for conventional bullets to 80gr.
1:9 will definitely stabilize bullets to 69/70gr. 77gr Sierras would likely be OK, some 75s might work. 77gr. Sierras will run through the magazine. 80s won't.
1:8 is probably the most useful twist.
If a US mfr. gets caught stamping .223 on 5.56 chambered barrels to ease export, they are likely going to be out of the export business.
Click to expand...
why would 1/8 be more useful? the higher the grain the better distance i get out of it?


Clobbersauras said:
Order sent, also picked up a chest rig. I have to stay off your damn web site.

Went in to buy a $6 crush washer, got out $120 later...:mad::D
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lol what did you end up buying? :eek::p

Klemmy31 said:
do a search on Claven2's cheap AR build. It helped me to source parts, I used One Shot, Arms East and ATRS. Wasn't rocket science which is good since I'm no rocket scientist. There's a few things I learned that I would do differently next time but it's damn fun. I don't get what everybody says about reliability either with a home build, mine has run flawlessly so far. I went the cheap build route but you can do whatever you want and get whatever you want. Have fun!!
Click to expand...
I will check it out! Whats the addy to ATRS? What are the things that you would do differently this time around on your next build? What is the cheap route? Right now i see the LMT going for cheap as a complete shooting system, but i wouldnt learn much on actually "building" although i would be taking it apart and such... hmm tough decision!
 
MTLean said:
i dont know all the supporting dealers by heart yet :p
The pieces without a price are not in stock?



You bought a stripped lower? Which one did you pick? I am liking the DLASK lower i gotta say :)
going with .308 wouldnt be the most convenient thing to do based on what you are saying. I am just scared of the "bang for your buck" factor on the .223 caliber. Luckily i will be trying the CQM4 this sunday with a friend i met on CGN, i guess i can criticize and go from there.
Thanks for your input


why would 1/8 be more useful? the higher the grain the better distance i get out of it?



lol what did you end up buying? :eek::p


I will check it out! Whats the addy to ATRS? What are the things that you would do differently this time around on your next build? What is the cheap route? Right now i see the LMT going for cheap as a complete shooting system, but i wouldnt learn much on actually "building" although i would be taking it apart and such... hmm tough decision!
Click to expand...

http://www.albertatacticalrifle.com/
 
MTLean said:
You bought a stripped lower? Which one did you pick? I am liking the DLASK lower i gotta say :)
going with .308 wouldnt be the most convenient thing to do based on what you are saying. I am just scared of the "bang for your buck" factor on the .223 caliber. Luckily i will be trying the CQM4 this sunday with a friend i met on CGN, i guess i can criticize and go from there.
Thanks for your input
Click to expand...

I went for a custom Spike's Lower with Infidel Engraving on the RT magwel and colour fill for the Spider and Fire/Safe.

I would not recommend DLASK lowers as there has been many threads about QC issues like magwells being out of spec and the tolerances not being there. Although they have great customer service, its a pain when you are halfway done your lower and you cant get the pistol grip one because screws do not line up.

If you want to go with Canadian go with ATRS. Although they are pricey for a lower.

The Spikes lower went together perfect, no mods at all. The only problem that I had was the screw for the pistol grip from a RRA was completed rounded and had no way to tighten it. Luckly I had another one kicking around. They have the basic ones on Questar for 199.99 I think.

My Spikes lower did match my VLTOR upper, but thats kinda a crapshoot.
 
CdnCombatMedic said:
I went for a custom Spike's Lower with Infidel Engraving on the RT magwel and colour fill for the Spider and Fire/Safe.

I would not recommend DLASK lowers as there has been many threads about QC issues like magwells being out of spec and the tolerances not being there. Although they have great customer service, its a pain when you are halfway done your lower and you cant get the pistol grip one because screws do not line up.

If you want to go with Canadian go with ATRS. Although they are pricey for a lower.

The Spikes lower went together perfect, no mods at all. The only problem that I had was the screw for the pistol grip from a RRA was completed rounded and had no way to tighten it. Luckly I had another one kicking around. They have the basic ones on Questar for 199.99 I think.

My Spikes lower did match my VLTOR upper, but thats kinda a crapshoot.
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it would be this one? https://shopquestar.com/shopping65/shopexd.asp?id=1217&bc=no
How much more $ for the color filling? Also im not sure where exacly the INFIDEL engraving was on this lower? I am trying to spot it with no luck, unless that is custom work that they do?

I will certainly keep the DLASK info in mind...!

ATRS are very sweet also, a bit pricey like you said but i will certainly read more in depth on their products.

When you said you had a problem with the RRA lower grip but had another one kicking around you mean you had to change the whole grip to something else?
 
We have a few Cadex lowers in stock in AR15 and AR10.

We can provide this with a Daniel Defense lower parts kit installed as well. :D

268605_214250408625312_140872812629739_721732_4024981_n.jpg
 
Farmboy said:
We have a few Cadex lowers in stock in AR15 and AR10.

We can provide this with a Daniel Defense lower parts kit installed as well. :D
Click to expand...

Very nice! Do you guys do the custom logos? As i see some of the receivers with skulls and bone, infidel and other cool logos? I thought infidel was a model... ahhh the good ol' noob stage =)

let me know

cheers
 
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