Who has built their own AR?

[Guest db99wj]

Disclossure:Not a discussion of "should you our should you not build your first one", but if you have, what distributors did you use, how much did you spend, any problems during assembly, things to watch out for, any problems after assembly initially and down the road.

[Guest someguy12341]

Used a stripped Rock River lower, ordered a lower parts kit from Rock River, a Vltor stock off ebay, and built it up from there. Used a complete upper pre-assembled from LWRC. No issues at all, but then again in my opinion assembling an upper requires more care and precision than just a lower. With the lower it's mostly making sure that you put things together in the right order... I'm sure there are others on here who have done more than one and can offer more advice. Hope this helps.

[rstandley]

I built a 16 inch for 3-gun matches using DPMS parts mostly, Bought a DPMS clean flattop upper that has no trap door or bolt assist, mated it to a 16 inch barrell assy. with a 20 inch gas port length, covered it with a Houge barrell tube, comp, ace stock, DPMS lower with JP hammer and stock trigger,added a magwell and eotek red dot. Shoots flat and soft. Thinking about building a 20 inch for those matches with 400 yard shots.

[Guest bkelm18]

I think an AR build is going to be next gun buy.

[Branket]

I built one. I used a spikes tactical lower, with a DPMS LPK, and a stag arms upper.

It was so stupid easy that after completion I was actually disappointed at the ease of the process. Hardest part is not scratching the lower when you put the pins in.

If you assemble the upper yourself that is a whole other issue but from what I can tell it really wouldn't be that hard either. Check out the Build it Yourself section on AR15.com

[musicman]

I built mine from a Stag stripped lower and a Doublestar complete 20" chrome-lined HB kit. It would have been a lot easier if I had just got my directions from AR15.com to start with, instead of buying that stupid ar/m16 manual everybody tries to sell for $3 at the gunshows. After trying to figure out what the heck that book was saying and putting thing together in the wrong order and have to backtrack, I ran upstairs, found the ar15 instruction guide, and 30 mins later I had a rifle, not just parts!

My only after-build issue was the fact that Doublestar neglected to put the ejector pin in my bolt. My first round fired was so cool! It was the first time I ever shot an AR, and it was MINE! The second trigger pull resulted in a pathetic "click".... I was sure I broke something. The helpful (usually) guys at On Target helpd take it down and inspect it, and Shaun (sp?) saw the missing ejector pin. "Well there's your problem!" A call to DS got that fixed, as they sent me a new bolt fully intact.

Wolf does not like my gun and vice versa. I know most people say it's all hogwash, but I swear to you that stuff locks my gun up faster than anything. I had to use a wood block and hammer to get a round out once! I think it's the lacquer not liking my chamber. If it works for you, great.

Don't shoot Ultramax remanufactured ammo, either! Here's my gun before Ultramax...

Here it is after Ultramax....

UM DID replace the upper with all Bushmaster stuff, so that was cool. However, I was without a gun for 7 weeks. Thankfully I nor anyone else was not hurt, as that was a nasty KB and could have been much worse.

[Rightwinger]

Assembled 3 so far, as stated above its very easy and the step by step is on ARFCOM. I have RRA (Rock River Arms) triggers in all 4 ARs I have and highly recommend their triggers, both the single and two-stage. Single is cost effective for a first build. All you need is a brass punch set, electrical tape to cover the upper receiver body when your pushing in pins and some patience when your trying to put the take down and pivot pin springs in!

I have a Rock River entire rifle, their lower receiver is fantastic, 2 Olympic Arms lowers, quality is so so, and a Sabre Defense lower bought in a group buy from Frank at ETS on this forum...superb quality and price. I would speak with ETS about your first stripped lower and go from there.

All my uppers were custom made so I have never had to deal with the gas tube, gas blocks, delta rings and such but know from the details on ARFCOM you need a vise and a AR block to work on them. That would just add to the challenge and overall joy of the build though.

Go ahead and jump in.

[Guest ETS_Inc]

Building an AR lower is pretty easy. The most difficult parts are getting the pivot pin and the bolt release pins in their respective holes. The bolt release pin is best done with a set of pliers, with the ends wrapped in scotch tape. The pivot pin is not so easy, but Brownell's does sell a tool if you're going to build several.

Good luck, have fun.

[Rightwinger]

To add to Franks equipment needs, and this sounds funny until you launch your pins......put the pivot pin in the lower under a sheet ! If not have about 3 or 4 extra springs and then go find the sheet! It will help you find the little bugger after its exited the hole at light speed. I use a thin exacto knife to hold the spring and detent in until I can get the pin into the hole. You might also want to use the other pin to hold all in place and push that pin back through the receiver holes as you push your pin into place.

[LA_357SIG]

I "built" a 7.5" AR pistol from a model1sales kit. Started with a DPMS lower sans buttstock for $199. Made sure they described it as "pistol lower" when they called it in and on paperwork. The m1s kit came with the complete upper and carbine buffer tube. Added a top rail gas block and 4 rail YHM handgaurd for $580. All I had to do was install the recoil pin, buffer tube and takedown pins and I was set. The only problems I had at the range was a couple of double feeds and the D-fender I installed should fix that.

I don't see where some people say that the AR pistols are loud. It wasn't much more noticeable than my 6.8 Bushy. My wife even liked shooting it and she normally doesn't like anything over a 9mm.