AR Building Basic Pointers Needed

[Sine Wave]

Hi there, I'm considering building an AR. Reason is curiousity/learning opportunity, as well as maybe saving a little in the end.

Anyway, I have read AR-15.com's guide which isn't too much more than "buy stripped lower. Buy parts kit. Assemble. Done." (that's not really fair but it's not far off).

A search here on CGN reveals two topics on building one's own AR that I can find, and they both talked about having bought the parts piecemeal.

Now, I'm interested enough to be sniffing around and I know where to buy lowers, and basics like the furniture come from the local shop -- but what about the uppers (with barrel) and other parts? I never see them on the shelf and I sure have never seen uppers or "parts kits" advertised on the sites I check with the exception of the .22 LR upper from marstar.

Is buying the rest piecemeal just something I'll have to do? I'm interested in the building, but not so much the hunting down of components.

Thanks.

 

[RobertMcC]

Hi there, I'm considering building an AR. Reason is curiousity/learning opportunity, as well as maybe saving a little in the end.

Anyway, I have read AR-15.com's guide which isn't too much more than "buy stripped lower. Buy parts kit. Assemble. Done." (that's not really fair but it's not far off).

A search here on CGN reveals two topics on building one's own AR that I can find, and they both talked about having bought the parts piecemeal.

Now, I'm interested enough to be sniffing around and I know where to buy lowers, and basics like the furniture come from the local shop -- but what about the uppers (with barrel) and other parts? I never see them on the shelf and I sure have never seen uppers or "parts kits" advertised on the sites I check with the exception of the .22 LR upper from marstar.

Is buying the rest piecemeal just something I'll have to do? I'm interested in the building, but not so much the hunting down of components.

Thanks.

Are you a member of CGN Equipment Exchange Forum? Becuase I see uppers, lowers, parts kit listed all the time under EE Black Rifle, or Parts and Bits.

I was able to build 2 AR's by mostley just buying parts off CGN. I only had to buy a few things from the states. Mostley everything came from CGN EE or members of CGN. I found uppers, tools, lowers, barrels, mags, FH, lower parts etc.

 

[NavyShooter]

Contact some of the dealers (ie The Shooting Edge, Wolverine, Epps, Etc) to buy a complete upper, or keep an eye on the equipment exchange forums. The complete uppers show up there now and then.

NS

 

[RifleDude]

Hi there, I'm considering building an AR. Reason is curiousity/learning opportunity, as well as maybe saving a little in the end.

Anyway, I have read AR-15.com's guide which isn't too much more than "buy stripped lower. Buy parts kit. Assemble. Done." (that's not really fair but it's not far off).

AR15.com has a very detailed thread on building your AR here. Keep scrolling down, since it's quite long: http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=4&t=226782

 

[Sine Wave]

Wow, that looks like a good read. Thanks!

As for uppers and whatnot, I guess I'll sniff around the equipment exchange for what I need, or maybe check with my local retailers. I was hoping for a more off-the-shelf approach, but this will be OK too.

Thanks for the pointers.

 

[d4l3k]

Here is how i built my first AR15, i wanted a good project so i finished my own lower from a 80% complete lower, which means i had to drill some holes and do some finishing work on it

Bought 80% Lower from DLASKARMS ~190$ http://www.dlaskarms.com
Bought Finishing Jig from CNCGUNSMITHING ~90$ http://www.cncgunsmithing.com/tooling.html
Bought 1 inch Drill bit from Princess Auto ~5$
Bought Mastercraft Drill Set from Canadian Tire ~7$
Bought extented 3/32" drill bit and 1-3/16x16 tap ~60$ from http://www.kbctools.com/can/main.cfm

AR-15 Lower Parts kit from ~120$ www.wolverinesupplies.com

4pos Stock /w spring&buffer from Exchange Forum ~60$

Complete upper DLASK 14.5" barrel /w colt carrier+bolt ~750$ from Exchange Forum

And topped it off with a Russian Kobra Holosight ~230$ from http://tantal.kalashnikov.guns.ru/bstkobra.html

Fun project if you like to work with tools and metal

so I spent about 1500$ on this project, I could have bought a new one for the same price, but like i said, i wanted a project

here is how it turned out

Basically, if you want a easier build, you will need

Complete Stripped Lower
AR-15 Lower Parts Kit
Butt Stock with spring and buffer
Complete Upper with Barrel, Charging Handle, Bolt and Carrier
And of course some Mags and Optics