Is it worth the time to build my own ar-15 variant

Ottoshot

Ottoshot

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Ive been debating this for some time, im confident I can do this with little experience. It will take some time and research and tools, but I think I can do it. I would just buy a factory one but i want one with so many custom parts I just want to build it myself.

I keep finding posts and articles on the internet saying dont bother cause it will just end up being a crappy home built rifle with a super ####ty trigger. Is this true?

Im getting ready to start on the lower receiver next week. then i ran into this question posted on yahoo answers today. is this guy full of it or what?

http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100727161705AAQzTwQ

renew my confidence, or tell me to forget it. I have the money and time to build one but i dont want to waste my time making a piece of crap rifle.
 
heres a quote from the link above. help me out here guys

"Most anyone can assemble a lower at home with standard tools - but - you can expect the trigger to be poor to almost good. That is because when you buy an assembled gun that is factory made they put the hammer, sear, and disconnector on a special jig that is used to properly mate them. Takes from 5 mintues to 2 hours. This tool is $125 at Brownells.com"
 
You may be able to build one cheaper than local purchase. It usually works out about the same as market price. Most variants are ready to go so you may just be doing it for your own satisfaction. That's OK too because then you understand every pin and screw and any malfunction is no mystery. The trigger will be stock and you can remove the littlest bit of parkerizing from the bearing surface to smooth things out. I doubt you NEED a match rifle anyway. You won't build a piece of crap unless you use cheap parts. work with good dealer parts and it will be fine. You don't have to get ultra expensive special matched uppers and lowers to do it but don't buy unknown or second hand. There are NO special tools needed.

I have to correct that, barrel wrench, strong arm, torque wrench and an assortment of screw drivers punches and the sort of things I would expect to find in my workshop. You don't need this special jig...
 
Personally speaking, and I am not giving advice here, just telling you what I would personally do...I wouldn't bother building one.

But then I don't think there's any point to most of the "custom" parts...for example I would never put a match trigger in an AR.

I would wait for a month and buy one of the NEA guns when they hit...I think you will get a better overall rifle than you are likely to build, and spend a lot less.

But that's just me. Building guns is also fun. I just wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars for the privilege.
 
Putting together your own AR can be a fun and worthwhile experience, but it rarely cheaper than buying a quality AR from a dealer. My own AR cost me about 25% more in direct parts, plus shipping and the time it took for the different parts to arrive. If I were to do it over again, I would have probably bought a Stag first, so I had something to shoot while waiting the 9+ months for the different parts I wanted to be available here in Canada.

-- L
 
thanks guys

Misanthropist! havent seen you in a while... i remember you from BF. nice to hear from you again... hope life is still good for you.
 
I am just finishing building my own, and its kind of like a car. You can buy a car for 20 grand or you can build the same car from parts for 45 grand. You can make them for the same price if you are willing to scour the EE for a couple of months which could be spent shooting. On the plus side, you get exactly what you want. I am building one with a 24" krieger varmatch barrel which you don't exactly find everywhere. I've also built a lower from scratch for the hell of it. And although my time was my own I would have to sell it for about 3 times what you could buy it for if I was working by the hour. Personally unless you are building something a little unique I would buy and spend the time shooting.
 
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