Is it cheaper to build your own AR?

Eluoci

Eluoci

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Hey guys! So here is a dilemma. Should I save up and get NEA15 when it comes out, or get a Armalite lower from Wolverine and start slowly building my own. On one side i know i would enjoy very much building my own and get it to what i wont (i still dont know what i wont:p) or get some thing that was put together for me by some one who is professional and will be cheaper as i've been told by some AR enthusiast. So is it true that building your own ar is more money then getting new one, and if yes roughly speaking by how much?
 
It would depend very much on the quality of the components you use and upon the number of tools you need to build the upper (the lower is easy, the upper requires specialized tools). If you have friends who have the tools and who will lend them to you, it just comes down to the cost of components.
 
No way was my build cheaper. My first AR was a Bushmaster that I made some changes to...after that I was hooked. I went with a Spikes billet set and all high end components. Even spending alot of time sourcing things it still came to about $2k (not including optic). You can get a darn fine AR for that price...but nothing beats the pride of doing one up yourself.
 
By the time you get all the proper tools and stuff, its not cheaper. People do it mainly for fun. It has a worse resale value to.
 
Cheaper to buy a made rifle and it will always have a higher resale over a "franken" gun. If you want it exactly your way and are doing it for fun, building one is the way to go. If you are just doing it because you want a quality AR-15 for the lowest price, there is no way building it will be cheaper.
 
USP said:
By the time you get all the proper tools and stuff, its not cheaper. People do it mainly for fun. It has a worse resale value to.
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Yup...

Also, consider all the things that a quality gunsmith or manufacture can preemptively deal with... I.E., Stiff safety selector, overly stiff take down pins, canted front sight or gas block, extremely poor transition from the feed ramps into the barrel, proper positioning of the gas tube, etc...

I can probably name a couple of dozen things that I've regularly seen people mess up when building an AR-15... Even people who "know" that they need to look out for x, y, and z... They still overlook those items.


Until you reach the point that you plan on building many of then, then its probably not worth getting the tools... OR the point at which you go through so many parts because you shoot so much, that it would seriously cost too much to use a gunsmith.

In the end, you'll be much happier with your first AR-15 being one off the self... That way, if you do have an issue... You'll be taken care of.
 
thanks for replies guys )))

now i dont even know what to do: get on of the shelf not worry about QC, and save money. Or do it myself, get it where i want it, screw up but have fun building it )). i can probably get access to thetools, im just afraid that that person will help building it so much, to the point where i want be able to say i help building it ))). I do want to build it my self unless it's say twice the price for the same thing of the shelf, i'm poor student now and cant spend too much money on it, im thinking around 1500 with no optics, can it be a decent build made for that much, say i dont have to spent money on the tools?
 
OK, we are talking about assembling a rifle from a collection of finished parts.
There is a risk that if a sack full of miscellaneous parts from Brand X, Y and Z manufacturers are assembled, there could be a problem with stacked tolerances or out of spec parts simply not fitting together properly, resulting in a rifle that simply is not satisfactory. There are all sorts of parts on the market, made heaven knows where, to whatever quality standards the manufaturer accepts. There is a huge market, and all sorts of businesses to meet the market demand.
Most of the "builds" seem to be an assembly of the maximum number of stylish tactikewl bits and pieces. An incredible number of bells, whistles and bobbleheaded dolls can be hung on an AR.
You certainly cannot go wrong buying a rifle made by a reputable manufacturer.
It is entirely possible to assemble a quality rifle using quality parts.
It isn't rocket science, and there is a vast amount of information available about how to do it properly.
It's not as if you are looking at a couple of aluminum forgings and a barrel blank and are wondering where to start cutting.
Can you assemble a quality rifle cheaper than buying a quality rifle? Can you assemble a quality car from finished parts cheaper than you can buy a quality car?
It is a lot of fun, and educational, to assemble a rifle from bits and pieces. Is it cheaper? Only if you get really lucky with the parts you buy. Can you get exactly the rifle you want? Sure.
I would suggest that it is more important to get a decent rifle and sight, and get out to the ranges and do some shooting.
 
https://shopquestar.com/shopping65/shopexd.asp?id=1735&bc=no

I have no idea of the quality of this one, but I just bought a LMT CQB from Questar and I am very happy with it.
 
From your post I'm guessing that you aren't that familiar with the AR platform. I wouldn't recommend for a novice to attempt to build their own right out of the gate. The modularity of the platform is one of its greatest strengths. Right now, you probably don't have enough experience with it to really know what you want.

I would suggest waiting a few weeks and picking up one of the new NEA rifles for $1K. Based on other NEA products the quality should be top drawer. When you get it, shoot the crap out of it and learn the platform, then you'll be in a better position to decide what you want vs. what you need in a build. Plus you'll have real-world experience as to how the rifle works.

As for build costs themselves, it all depends on how you go about it. Buying new parts from a dealer, unless you luck into one heckuva sale the costs associated will equal or exceed the cost of a factory rifle.

If you're patient and religiously watch the EE, hit gun shows, etc and jump on the real deals that pop up from time to time, you can save more than a few bucks. You need to watch shipping costs, however, since they will add up if you buy 15 different parts from 15 different sellers across the country.

You'll also need to invest in some specialized tools, including receiver blocks, punches, castle nut wrench, a quality bench vise, torque wrench, etc... (depending on type of build). You can find a complete list of tools on Brownell's website or AR15.com. If you have to buy all of these new, the price adds up quickly.

In the grand scheme of things, if all you're looking to build is a stock M4gery or similar "common" rifle, buying factory new and complete will probably be the better and more cost effective option. If you're looking for something a little more esoteric or simply want to enjoy the satisfaction of building your own rifle, the equation balance changes somewhat.

There are a number of quality AR building videos available on-line, including at the Midway USA website, Brownell's and on YouTube. Beware of the latter, however, as there are some gun butchers on there that will show you how not to build an AR.
 
I am a total n00b and built my one and first AR. Cost more, but damn if it doesn't look cool as hell, and it was pretty satisfying building it :p

I think I will pick up one of the NEA ones too, I want the PDW. Or, might just buy the PDW stock and a few other parts from the rifle and build it myself since I have the tools now.
 
fozzybear said:
https://shopquestar.com/shopping65/shopexd.asp?id=1735&bc=no

I have no idea of the quality of this one, but I just bought a LMT CQB from Questar and I am very happy with it.
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This one's pretty good, so far I'm fairly happy with it. I think if you're content to just buy an inexpensive rifle and just have fun shooting it, then this one's good enough. That said, for a little more there are the NEA-15s and then One Shot will customize you one starting at 700$ (link), not a bad deal IMO.

That being said, the Questar one's nice, but I ran into a minor issue with the Vulcan lower. Nothing wrong with it, however due to the construction of the carbon lower, I couldn't install the Magpul MOE trigger guard.... but for 100$ more Questar will install an RRA lower which should be mil-spec, in hind sight I should have done that.
 
justinchow said:
This one's pretty good, so far I'm fairly happy with it. I think if you're content to just buy an inexpensive rifle and just have fun shooting it, then this one's good enough. That said, for a little more there are the NEA-15s and then One Shot will customize you one starting at 700$ (link), not a bad deal IMO.

That being said, the Questar one's nice, but I ran into a minor issue with the Vulcan lower. Nothing wrong with it, however due to the construction of the carbon lower, I couldn't install the Magpul MOE trigger guard.... but for 100$ more Questar will install an RRA lower which should be mil-spec, in hind sight I should have done that.
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Thanks for info justin, i appreciated it ;), im still doing research on what should i do.
 
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