AR "Newbie" Questions

Boomer454

Boomer454

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Although shooting has been a "full time" hobby for about 20 years I have never had an AR 15. Now I am trying to fund my first AR, and have some questions.

As it turns out I can not afford to just go and buy one, but wonder if there is any problems with buying all the parts as I can afford, and putting it all together later?
Is it better to just start with a complete rifle? If so why?
Is it a bad idea to use uppers and lowers from different manufacturers (Rock River Arms upper on a Stag lower)? Or does this cause fitting/mating issues that require gunsmith tuning?

If you buy a complete upper, and lower assembly (from Questar for instance) at different times, is there anything missing or do you have the "whole" gun then?

I hope these don't seem like silly questions. I just don't really have much of a knowledge base on AR's yet...

Thanks in advance
 
I don't think it makes too much difference. I believe that it is a question of personal preference.

I do not own any ARs right now so I can't tell you from my own personal experience. However, I have done same research that you are doing right now and came to my own conclusion.

For me, anything that I do must start as FUN and it should not be too complicated. I may save a couple of hundred dollars if I buy parts kits and assemble myself. And dollar is a dollar and it sure means something. But I wanted to start shooting AR first and have some fun before anything else. If I really enjoy shooting AR and learn more about what I like and what I look for myself, then I will come up with a plan to build that "dream rifle". If not, if it turns out that I only enjoy shooting AR once in a while then I have a reliable rifle already put together for me in my safe.

For me it is "start simple" plan that I have. I have started to save money to buy my first black rifle as well. I think I am going to go with M1A. (Hopefully Springfield)

I chose M1A simply because it is less time consuming to maintain it than AR. I lead a busy life right now with two small children at home. I really don't want to spend two hours in the range and two hours off the range to clean it up. From what I have gathered so far is that AR is a dirty rifle. If you want to prolong the life of rifle you should do "military clean" every time you shoot it. And this military style cleaning can take up to 2 hours depending on your familiarity and efficiency and experience.

If you can save a few bucks by buying complete upper and lower and "slap them together" at home, then go ahead and do so. There are plenty of video clips on youtube and AR15.com to show you how to do it.

Just don't make yourself wait any longer than you have to get your hands on your first AR though. I hear AR is whole whack of fun to shoot.

I am just jealous that you will be a weekend warrior before me.:D
 
Buy it in parts or whole. If all you can afford is parts, buy the lower first and get it registered.
Uppers and lowers should match except some Colts with different sized pins.
How well they mate is another question.
I say you can probably put one together with at least the skill of who ever is doing it at the factory based on what I've experienced.:rolleyes:
I started by buying the whole rifle and learned alot swapping parts. It's great way to learn and the AR is specifically designed to be easy to work on.
Go to ar15.com and buy the correct tools!
 
Boomer454 said:
If you buy a complete upper, and lower assembly (from Questar for instance) at different times, is there anything missing or do you have the "whole" gun then?
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A whole gun will usually come with some mags and a case. Not sure if there will be anything else missing.

I'm planning on doing the same thing and have many of the same questions. Hopefully there will be some more input.
 
Join AR-15.com and read the stickies. Seriously - there's a lot of step by step articles on there about building and cleaning an AR. Once you see what's involved you may fall madly in love or you may decide to pursue something else.

I don't enjoy cleaning guns so my laziness forces me to stay away from AR's, blackpowder firearms, or anything that's considered cheap to shoot because there's surplus corrosive ammunition available for it.
 
I started with a stripped Bushmaster lower that I got from Epps. I now have a complete rifle(A2 16 inch) that I test fired not long ago. It goes bang every time. It was a bit of a learning curve to put everything together. But every part dropped into place.
I have only one small scratch on the lower caused by using vice grips to start one of the roll pins. I wont use that technique again. I would make a roll pin starter. I even spent one night making my own stock nut wrench from scratch out of nessesity.
Its probably cheaper to buy a ready built rifle if you include the labour cost to build it. I built a standard A2 rifle with a chrome lined 16 inch barrel for under $700. All the parts are made in the U.S.A..The experience you will gain by building it yourself will stay with you for life.
 
If you're going to build it from actual parts, and not whole parts (full upper, or full lower) then make sure that you buy all the same parts from the same manufacturer. They should all be very close to specifications, but I don't think you're going to have to worry about headspace if you buy all the upper parts from one manufacturer, such as armalite, etc.

The easiest way is to buy an upper, and then when you can afford it, a lower or vice versa.
If you build from scratch you should at least know what your doing, and have handled and/or disassembled and read up on the AR platform for a while.
 
I bought my first AR complete, and learned how they worked by taking it apart. I would think it would be a bit tougher to learn the machine the other way around, but they are not that complicated, so it should certainly be doable for anybody with any mechanical inclination at all.

In theory, all standard parts should interchange. Only Colt makes non-standard parts, and then only for their commercial semi-auto products.

In reality, there are a few fit problems between the brands, I believe RRA uppers and Bushmaster lowers are an example. These things usually boil down to a radiused edge that is less generous on one brand or another, and they can normally be persuaded to fit without too much effort.

Major things like trigger parts fit and headspace should never be a problem.

In short, if you can swing a wrench with any kind of confidence at all, you should have no problem buying your AR in parts as money permits. If you do need any help putting it together, I am in Edmonton, and would be glad to help.
 
I've put together two AR-15 rifles from scratch. The only things that I haven't assembled yet is the port door and forward assist. Everything is pretty straightforward if you are mechanically inclined. You need good assembly directions for the trigger group though. I haven't found it to be that difficult.

Fit in between my two lowers and three uppers are all very tight considering that all five castings come from different manufacturers.

The only thing that I have found which doesn't seem to be standard is the cross pin holes for the front sight bases. My 11.5" and 20" barrels have a different spacing.
 
I haven't bought an AR15 yet but it is getting real close! :) I think you are better off saving your money till you can buy a complete gun. Keep the money in your bank (making 2% :p ) where if you need the money for something else important (food?) it will be there. Don't live on the edge with your bank account! Its not fun!

Besides from the time you start buying parts till you are done and can actually put it to use the prices may have dropped even more. More manufactures, more retailers and a higher Canadian dollar helps drive prices down.

skinnadoor said:
Save up and get a complete one, Armalite is a good brand. Good luck.
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berger said:
I am curious. What do they sell for...complete?
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Wolverine seems to have dropped there prices recently. $1075 for a complete Armalite with one mag, a sling and manual. Might even have a case. I was considering a Stag but haven't seen any price drops from Arms East on them.

Rusty Shackleford said:
A whole gun will usually come with some mags and a case. Not sure if there will be anything else missing.
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I think you are better off with the whole gun too, at least for your first rifle. Start playing with it right away. Learn how it all fits together in 3D ;) not from pictures. I haven't seen any exact price comparisons showing a savings by building it yourself (with the exact same manufactures parts, etc.) There are many things in life that you can build yourself but you won't necessarily save money over buying it complete. (I'm not saying you can't)

I think a complete rifle will have a higher resale value. At least to me. This upper with that lower and this trigger group with that stock assembled by Bubba (or whoever I don't know) just doesn't have the same value to me as a factory new rifle. Just me?


Fudd
 
skinnadoor said:
Save up and get a complete one, Armalite is a good brand. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I agree. Do the math and you will find that it will be cheaper, I bought the Bushmaster in MX-15 with the H-bar for $1400 new that was 5 years ago though. I think to try build that now would cost more. Next AR I would buy would be the varmint Bushmaster, if you buy one you won't regret it, mine shoots unreal. Around 2moa all day... very happy
 
You might also want to check out Lewis Machine Tool company (google it) they have a gas piston system... should save you all the AR related maitainence issues... maybe other members over here have first hand experience with it and they can tell you more.

And AR15.com is a must see...
 
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