AR info for the uneducated

[BPE]

I'm looking at picking up my first AR after the first of the year. Call it a late Christmas present to myself. However, I've no training on this weapon system whatsoever. It will be more of a toy and nice addition to my so called collection I'm starting to accumulate. I also take pride in and enjoy learning everything I can before, during and after a new journey.

So where should I start? Basics basically. What are the different types available? What's the difference in M4, M16, AR15, SKS,AK, etc? I understand now the difference in terms like upper and lower but what's the difference when it's stripped?

I've got my eyes on a S&W M&P AR15 right now as I don't believe building my own is the right move for my first and given the purpose maybe overkill. Generally I've seen posts saying the Sport model is perfect for a beginner. My reservation is if I enjoy it too much and want to trick it out with all the goodies would it allow me to do so? To my untrained eye I see the big difference being the lack of a front rail system. Is this a big downer for things like nice optics or scopes?

Admittedly the price point of the Sport model is more appealing. But I've also learned that you get what you pay for and cheap doesn't mean quality for a smaller gun. I would take quality over saving a few bucks as the investment is equal in my eyes given resale after certain amounts of usage should things not work out to satisfaction.

Am I on the right track here? Do you have any articles you can send my way I can sink my teeth into to do some learning? Going to shops and talking it through is nice but I feel odd not knowing how to speak the lingo and feel I'm not asking the right questions.

Thanks to anyone able and willing to supply some information to a person simply looking for general information on the details of this type of weapon.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I'll jump in in the mroning.

Dolomite

[Loon160T]

I'll defer to Dolomite, but I started out with a DPMS Panther Sportical that I've tricked out with some MagPul goodies without any trouble.

I'm on the verge of starting my own build using a stripped lower and upper.

Dolomite, share your wisdom.

[Guest TargetShooter84]

Got a DPMS AR15 also too. Tricked out some but I have stripped lower with kit but no upper yet.

[jtmaze]

I am also looking into adding an ar to my collection. Dolomite has already helped me make some very informed decisions. Looking forward into seeing more wisdom

JTM🔫

Sent from my iPhone

[Rebels010]

While I can't take much credit for my first build as my friend did most of the heavy lifting and funded the project I would advise you to take the same route I did if you are or with someones help, is gong to build it from scratch.

I would make sure I got a really good upper, lower and barrel. Everything else you can skimp on and then upgrade each month or so as you go. As time went on I added a new grip, match trigger, free float rail, adjustable stock and bi-pod. I would also encourage you to check out AR15.com too. The ammount of used parts for sale on there is crazy and a great way to save on your build. Just have to have some patience. If you were like me, AR's can be intimidating at first, but the more you use and learn one, you find out why they are so loved and actually easy to work with. They call it the evil black rifle for several reasons, it's addicting and can spend your money quick!

[Glock30]

Sensei Dolomite, we await your wisdom.

I will say this much: my first couple of ARs hooked me on the platform. Then, I started building lowers. I am far from mechanically inclined and I can do it without instruction after one try. Building is very enjoyable and will teach you a LOT about your weapon. For me, building an upper from scratch is more troublesome and not worth the frustration. To each their own... at some point, I'll probably build an upper from scratch.

Go at your own pace and most importantly, enjoy whatever you choose to do.

Edited December 1, 2011 by Glock30

[sigbrown1297]

it. j/k

oh the possibilities. I've learned that an AR assembly i never "completed"

When i did my first build, i used various resources, youtube, google searches, and ar15.com (tons of info)

Buy some of my nice for your AR:D

Edited December 1, 2011 by sigbrown1297

[Guest dubaholic2]

i wouldnt go with the m&p sport if it were me. they dont have the the dust cover or the forward assist and its just not an ar without them. the dpms is a great starting point. if you buy a comlete rifle the first thing i would recommend changing is the trigger. the trigger makes all the difference in the world as far as accuracy is concerned. a guy i work with has stake in a trigger company (cnc i think). you can get one for around $200 and its worth every penny. just my $.02, take it or leave it.

[rgaper]

BPE,

First off, big kudos to you for asking questions before buying. Many ARs look the aesthetically the same and it's always disappointing watching the guy with the DPMS, Olympic, Rock River (insert any hobby manufacturer's name here) find out that there's a lot more to it... the hard way. Unfortunately, I've got to see a lot of these guys first hand as their gun goes dead, and it's fairly predictable.

The important question you need to answer before anyone can provide valid advice is what do you intend to use the rifle for? If you intend it for purely casual/recreational use to familiarize yourself with the platform, and have a fairly low round count per use, that's one thing, and you can get away with a lot. If you intend to eventually take carbine courses and put it to more serious use, I would encourage (from a brand perspective) buying Bravo Company, Colt, or Daniel Defense. Bravo Company is very tough to beat on price, quality, and options.

There is a lot of information out there, and most of it is really bad, misinformed stuff, so tread carefully and take things with a grain of salt. That said, you do have some very good resources you can rely on, but the first bit of feedback really needs to come from you. Good luck!

Gaper

[MiddTennTaco]

BPE,

First off, big kudos to you for asking questions before buying. Many ARs look the aesthetically the same and it's always disappointing watching the guy with the DPMS, Olympic, Rock River (insert any hobby manufacturer's name here) find out that there's a lot more to it... the hard way. Unfortunately, I've got to see a lot of these guys first hand as their gun goes dead, and it's fairly predictable.

The important question you need to answer before anyone can provide valid advice is what do you intend to use the rifle for? If you intend it for purely casual/recreational use to familiarize yourself with the platform, and have a fairly low round count per use, that's one thing, and you can get away with a lot. If you intend to eventually take carbine courses and put it to more serious use, I would encourage (from a brand perspective) buying Bravo Company, Colt, or Daniel Defense. Bravo Company is very tough to beat on price, quality, and options.

There is a lot of information out there, and most of it is really bad, misinformed stuff, so tread carefully and take things with a grain of salt. That said, you do have some very good resources you can rely on, but the first bit of feedback really needs to come from you. Good luck!

Gaper

+1

Ive been through some 3000 + rnds in my Colt 6940. No malfunctions. Spend the money once and you save in my opinion. Less headaches, too!

Im pretty sure Colt has more field testing than all other brands combined as it is used in the armed forces throughout the world. If you get a railed foregrip, be very careful of the weight your adding on with accesories!

Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

[peejman]

A good read... So you want to buy an AR-15, huh?

[Dolomite_supafly]

I'm looking at picking up my first AR after the first of the year. Call it a late Christmas present to myself. However, I've no training on this weapon system whatsoever. It will be more of a toy and nice addition to my so called collection I'm starting to accumulate. I also take pride in and enjoy learning everything I can before, during and after a new journey.

So where should I start? Basics basically. What are the different types available? What's the difference in M4, M16, AR15, SKS,AK, etc? I understand now the difference in terms like upper and lower but what's the difference when it's stripped?

A stripped lower is just the serialized part. Buying this requires a complete build of the lower, not that hard but not for a beginner either. A complete lower has everythign already in place and ready for the complete upper to be put on. A complete upper is as it says complete and ready to fire. A stripped upper requires all the parts to assemble it, definitely not for the beginner as it requires specialized tools and knowledge. A beginner can get a rifle together without issue but as times goes on things will loosen because they weren't torque and staked properly. And never use Loctite on anything aluminum as it can cause problems down the road.

As far as models:

M4-This is the current issue configuration our soldiers are using. There version has a 14.5" barrel. We can't so we get a gun that is identical excet the barrel is 1.5" longer to meet legal requirements. The M4 is also select fire meaning it is a machine gun. Again we can't own without special hoops to jump through so the ones we get are semi auto only.

M16-Pretty much the sme as the M4 except it doesn't have the barrel cutout for the grenade launcher. And M16's tend to have 20" barrels. M16's are also selectfire as well.

AR15-This is the designation for the semi auto civillian version of the the M4/M16. It is a catch all nomenclature for any semi auto AR.

The deal with all of the above is this. Most all parts interchange between them with the exception of the full auto trigger parts. The barrels, hammers, uppers, lowers, buttstocks and anything else that bolts on will interchange without issue.

SKS-These are totally different fron any AR. Nothing will interchange between the two. The SKS is a old Soviet workhorse and tends to be reliable and accurate. It is also relatively cheap to buy. Problem is other than a different stock you can swap anything out.

AK-This is the Soviet equal to the AR. It is realiable and dare I say accurate. Like the AR these can be configured into what you like with a few exceptions. The barrel you buy it with you are pretty much stuck with. You can't swap out the upper reciver like on an AR. A good thing about AK's is they can be had with a true folding stock unlike the AR. There are so many variants of the AK I am not going to get into them all but who the importer/builder has more to do with quality than the variant or where they were originally built. I admittely am not an AK guy but they are pretty simple to work on.

Back to the accuracy thing. Most people say the AK isn;t accurate but I have seen old Soviet warhorses with thousands of rounds throguh them capable of accuracy as good as a AR. It has to do with ammo. The most accurate AR will shoot like crap when firing crap ammo, same goes for the AK. We were using quality American made ammo with out Afghan counter parts and they were hitting man sized targets at 350 yards 7 out of 10 times with irons. Most of the acuracy problems with the AK can be atributed to feedign it the cheapest ammo most AK owners can find.

I've got my eyes on a S&W M&P AR15 right now as I don't believe building my own is the right move for my first and given the purpose maybe overkill. Generally I've seen posts saying the Sport model is perfect for a beginner. My reservation is if I enjoy it too much and want to trick it out with all the goodies would it allow me to do so? To my untrained eye I see the big difference being the lack of a front rail system. Is this a big downer for things like nice optics or scopes?

Swapping out for a rail system is easy. They have clamp on types that work perfectly and are rock solid, these take about 10 minutes to install. Not having a front tail isn't going to affect your optic choices. Your optics are going to mount to the railed part of the upper receiver. The rail system is for things like vertical foregrip and lights or lasers. The quad rails are not required to add these things but the rail makes it more durable as well as easier to add or remove things.

Admittedly the price point of the Sport model is more appealing. But I've also learned that you get what you pay for and cheap doesn't mean quality for a smaller gun. I would take quality over saving a few bucks as the investment is equal in my eyes given resale after certain amounts of usage should things not work out to satisfaction.

The quality of the Sport is good. I would have no worries using it as the base for a much nicer gun. And honestly I am here scratching my head tryign to figure out how they are coming in at such a low price point with the quality it has. Probably has more to do with getting people into the S&W brand.

Not in all cases, the Sport seems to be the exception.

Am I on the right track here? Do you have any articles you can send my way I can sink my teeth into to do some learning? Going to shops and talking it through is nice but I feel odd not knowing how to speak the lingo and feel I'm not asking the right questions.

Tell you what, PM me you number and I will give you a call sometime this weekend and we can discuss what you are needing. I do not sell AR's or are affiliated with a shop so I have nothing to peddle. I would like to see people avoid spending the money I have figuring out what I wanted.

Thanks to anyone able and willing to supply some information to a person simply looking for general information on the details of this type of weapon.

The first thing we need to know is a budget. I am going to assume a budget of under $900 to get started because you have mentioned the M&P 15.

We need to know its purpose. That is sitting at a bench shooting groups, running and gunning, hunting. It all makes a difference because a bench gun likes short heavy barrel. A hunting gun should be as light as you can but also thinner barrel that has some length for velocity.

Next we need to know a realistic round count you are going to be firing a year. Realistically most people who own AR's never shoot 1,000 rounds through the guns in a lifetime. Three or four mags each trip to the range an they are done. The exception are those who train constantly either at home or in schools. Those people will put 2,000 rounds down the tube in a week. And it is the quality guns that tend to survive that kind of abuse while other lesser quality guns wimper in the corner at the thought of it. The quality guns aren't the Ferrari of the gun world, they are the reliable car that just works all the time. And as with most high end sports cars high end guns can be tempermental.

I am not saying you can't have a quality gun without breaking the bank because you can. My personal AR has more trouble free rounds through it than I could ever count. And when I built it back in probably 2005-2006 I spent around $800. In today's prices that same gun would cost about $900-$1,000 to build. And honestly most of the sub $900 AR's you can buy are just as good.

If you plan on buying then upgrading the M&P is a perfect gun to learn on as well as progress into the shooting sports with. Its quality is such that you would not have to worry about a lot of intermittent use. The best part about it is if you do have a problem you have the backing of a major manufacturer, something you don't get with a home build. Building a gun for the first time can be daunting but not impossible but you are left out to dry if something goes wrong. The advantage to building a gun to suite your needs is you get what you want or need and nothing else. But like most AR owners your rifle never stays the same so you will be buying items whether you buy or build.

The Sport model is a phenominal deal for what you get. I advocate a 9 twist barrel for 90% of the users out there but is has a 8 twist, the perfect compromise between a 9 and a 7 twist. It is also a 5R rifled barrel which is known for increased accuracy. And it will be able to do most things I mentioned above pretty well. It has a MPI tested bolt which is a must on any gun that might see a lot of use. The only thing it is missing is a forward assist and a dust cover. The dust cover isn't that big of a dael but the forward assit can be if you are getting into hard training and the chamber gets dirty. But for most users neither are really needed. And if you decide you do want these features the upper receiver can be swapped easily by most smiths for a relatively small amount of money.

Something else with the M&P is because it is built to the milspec standard any milspec part will fit. You can upgrade the internals with better components and they will drop in. If you decide later on you want to really get into some training you can buy a spare parts to keep on hand in case something does break.

If I were in your shoes the M&P15 Sport would be my purchase based on budget. And with the relatively low cost that leaves a lot of money left over for you to finish it how you like it.

I will make a few recommendations. First find some friends who have AR's or just go to a local range. Ask them to let you hold their guns to see what works and what you like. This is going to save you a lot of money because you will know what you like and don't befor elaying down the hard earned cash. About AR15.com, they tend to have an elitest mentality. There is a lot of good information on there but be prepared to be belittled a bit. They tend to be a rougher crowd than over here.

Dolomite

Here is the M&P Sport for $620 shipped:

SWL MP15SPORT 811036 5.56 16 AS BLK 30 $620.00 SHIPS FREE

There is a 3% credit card fee bringing it to $639. Then whatever your FFL charges for a transfer. Should be able to get it for under $700 out the door.

[Dolomite_supafly]

A good read... So you want to buy an AR-15, huh?

A lot of good information. Maybe a bit much for a new AR owner/purchaser.

Dolomite

Edited December 1, 2011 by Dolomite_supafly

[BPE]

I would encourage (from a brand perspective) buying Bravo Company, Colt, or Daniel Defense. Bravo Company is very tough to beat on price, quality, and options.

Thanks for that tad bit... looks like I have some more research to do as I've not yet looked into Bravo Company or Daniel Defense. However, what I've seen from Colt, which isn't much mind you, I'm not fond of right off hand. Too many caveats of you can't change this, this is one piece instead of two like most guns, etc. Again - I've not had a ton of experience with Colt hence the purpose of asking so many questions.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Thanks for that tad bit... looks like I have some more research to do as I've not yet looked into Bravo Company or Daniel Defense. However, what I've seen from Colt, which isn't much mind you, I'm not fond of right off hand. Too many caveats of you can't change this, this is one piece instead of two like most guns, etc. Again - I've not had a ton of experience with Colt hence the purpose of asking so many questions.

Bravo company is a much better gun than Colt for the money. Colt used to be the gold standard but not anymore. Bravo is also some of the best when it comes to taking care of their customers. They will build you what you want then back it up with great customer service. And no I do not own anything Bravo but I have seen their products and how they take care of the customers first hand.

Dolomite

[NadieLite]

You will have way more fun building the gun rather than buying. There are a lot of good compaines out there so just find one you like. I choose to use Bravo company and Spikes because they are high quality but still affordable.

My setup is:

16" BCM upper Mid-length 1/7 twist barrel with M16 bolt carrier and M4 feed ramps

Mid-length Midwest Industries Free Float quad rail

Spike's lower with RRA mil-spec trigger

Magpul MOE furniture

[BPE]

The first thing we need to know is a budget. I am going to assume a budget of under $900 to get started because you have mentioned the M&P 15.

We need to know its purpose. That is sitting at a bench shooting groups, running and gunning, hunting. It all makes a difference because a bench gun likes short heavy barrel. A hunting gun should be as light as you can but also thinner barrel that has some length for velocity.

Dolomite - thanks a ton for taking time from your day to go through such a long and thorough explanation and suggestion. So here are some general responses after I've thought it over some more after your post:

1. Price range equals what it takes to get something nice and reasonable. If that needs to be $1,500 or so then so be it. The top of the price point would not go much beyond that, especially if the wife finds out. But if I can pickup the M&P Sport for $660 out the door, as I know is something possible to do at the Goodlettsville Gun Store from their Facebook updates, and it suits my needs then I'll save my money for another adventure, for another day. I've made purchases of guns in the past, my Keltec P3AT comes to mind, that seemed reasonable but were purchased for price and then function not the other way around and it has bitten me in my butt. Now I'm left with a gun that I don't much enjoy or like, needs to go back to the factory (again) and isn't worth selling monetarily speaking. Plus I don't want to sale it to anyone because I know it's not reliable. This is not a Keltec post nor forum so that's as far as I'll go. But given the point I'm trying to make, I'm done saving a bill or two just because I want it now or feel there's some pressing need. The truth is there's not and I can take my time, do my research and come out better on the other side for it if I just allow myself patience.

2. The purpose of the gun would be one of mainly recreational shooting for the most part. I may hunt from time to time with it but it would generally stay behind in favor of a Marlin 30-30 my father-in-law gave me recently. Not much running and gunning going on in my neck of the woods either. So - as sad as it is to say, a range gun it will more than likely be. That's the purpose I have for it today. I want the weapon of choice for this purpose to also be able to fulfill, if so selected in the future, a run and gun type of setup. I'm still young relatively speaking and I have no idea what I'll be doing or interested in 2-3-5 years from now. But I would like to think that this particular purchase would allow me the flexibility to do what I want to now and any unforeseen things I may want to do in the future. If this is unrealistic, slap me back to the real world, please.

3. You mentioned a few things, in the lingo, that I didn't quite catch or understand which was my main reason for the post to the forum in the first place. In a most humble and respectful way I ask, how do you know what you know? Has it been from life experiences that you've ran into along the way? Books? Cassettes? CDs? Laserdiscs? 8-tracks? You are a SME in your field and sharing your knowledge is greatly appreciated. I just want to know if there is a resource that I can plug into to learn about this particular subject. It's not that I don't respect highly your opinion, I just like determining that I agree with the facts presented. I'm allowing myself the time to learn about this in advance so I can feel good about my purchase before and after the sale is made and feel like I know I can address any concerns that may arise while I am in possession of the gun. That's why I'm not asking which gun to buy, but instead asking what is different? What makes one better than the other? Why should I care that a dust cover isn't included? Again, I hope I've spelled this portion out in a way that conveys my curiosity but also my respect for anyone who knows what they're talking about. I'm hear asking to learn - not so I can take the place as a SME, but so I'm educated myself to make my own decisions. And yes, I've always been this hard headed.

-BPE

[gunrunner32]

My first AR was a S&W M&P15 OR, this was a nice start and with my background in firearms I immediately logged onto Brownells, MidwayUSA, BCM and a few others and started looking for items to "trick" it out. My second was a "custom" piston assembly of all the parts that I wanted to see, but couldn't find at the time. My third was another assembly of the parts that I was torn between on the first "custom" assembly and didn't already have on the S&W. The S&W cost me $1200 at the time thanks to the Obama scare during his election, my second was only a few months after that and it totaled up to be around $3k without all the extras I though I needed at the time and my third was just shy of $1k. I've since assembled and assisted in the assembly of about a dozen or so other AR's and worked on countless other AR styled rifles.

I would say to do your homework on the parts and if you are looking for something particular or something tacticool then assemble it yourself with the parts that you want...if a similar product isn't already being producted at a cheaper price than you can assemble it for. I always start out with an excel document listing all the parts I want and how much they cost from various vendors...I know I've had a lot of time on my hands. From there I see if anything is being made that fills that shoe. If you are thinking about how you can "trick" out the rifle that you are only looking at then I say save up more and either assemble it or buy a model that may cost more but has what you want on it. Like many others here who have assembled their own, I've got bins of parts laying around. The last one that I assembled for a friend of mine all he had to provide was a barrel, upper and stripped lower, I had all the other parts laying around. I had those parts because there was always some other "shiny spoon" that caught my eye during the builds. Good luck with your choices and good luck with staying "done" once you get it.

And for GunTroll since he has started to convert me, it's an assembly and not a build because it's like putting together Lego's, just gotta make sure you're putting the right pins in the right spot.

[Guest nysos]

My first and currently only AR at the moment is one that I assembled. Having put it together, there are many things I would do different the next time around, but I assure you I am much more satisfied than if I were to buy a normal off the shelf AR. As others have said, get everything you want (or think you want at the time) and nothing you don't. Without a doubt I would do it again, just slightly different on a few things. I spent 3-4 months doing intensive research, and most people that put together their AR's buy an assembled, or mostly assembled upper receiver. I did everything, including mounting my own barrel which some may advice against due to headspacing concerns. With an AR though, if the barrel, upper receiver, and BCG are built to spec, and you torque your barrel nut to the recommended amount it should work. The headspacing tools are mostly a "go" or "no go" check. It will work or it won't. I bought quality parts, torqued to the recommended amount and my AR has been flawless from round 1.

Building isn't necessarily for everyone, an AR is still a lot of fun if you don't assemble it as they are like legos. You can just pull of pieces and swap them out so quickly and easily, even a prebuilt one will be fun for you. My reason for building has to do with the type of person I am. I like to know how things work, and I want to know each pieces role. Building it up from the ground gave me a great understanding of how the gun works and how surprisingly simple and ingenius the design is on a basic level. Knowing how each piece works with each other will also help me troubleshoot any future problems I may encounter, and gives me the ability to perform all of my own repairs on said gun.

Hope you find what you want, and be prepared to spend lots and lots of money as there is no owning just 1, or keeping it just how it is. There are few with the willpower strong enough to resist the call of the evil black rifle.

Oh, and magpul is your friend.

[BPE]

I spent 3-4 months doing intensive research...

Where? Reading what? What did your research consist of? Your story of building is intriguing, and possibly a bit more than I want to do the first time out regardless of skill level as I'm confident I could do it, but I'd rather do the learning you said to have done. So where did you start when you were thinking of building? Just hitting stores and sites for specs? But if you're looking at just specs how do you know what each part does?

[MiddTennTaco]

So where did you start when you were thinking of building? Just hitting stores and sites for specs? But if you're looking at just specs how do you know what each part does?

You can probably find a lot of guides online if you look. You can get 90% of the information just from gleaning gun forums. Whatcha cant find, you ask. As you can see there a lot of knowledgable, helpful people who are more than willing to help. Besides taking a gunsmithing class, I really dont know what other suggestions we can give you in order to learn the ins and outs of an AR 15.

Its really not that complicated as you seem to think it is. Its not magic or mystical, lol. Like I said before: search for various AR15 guides online, glean what you can from forums, ask what you must, or just take a gunsmithing class (sounds like the best solution from what I gather about you, lol). There are traditional FTF classes, dvd classes, and I'll bet you can do it online nowadays, too.

Good luck!

Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

Edited December 1, 2011 by w0lfattack

[Guest nysos]

Where? Reading what? What did your research consist of? Your story of building is intriguing, and possibly a bit more than I want to do the first time out regardless of skill level as I'm confident I could do it, but I'd rather do the learning you said to have done. So where did you start when you were thinking of building? Just hitting stores and sites for specs? But if you're looking at just specs how do you know what each part does?

There was a video series on youtube by a website called ultimate reloader (http://ultimatereloader.com/2010/11/30/ar-mpr-upper-receiver-parts-list/ - there is the link to part of their parts). They desribed each part they used, what it did, and gave me a good idea of what was involved in a build. I watched some other videos as well, and what I didn't understand from the video I researched that part/process specifically just doing google searches as well as asking questions on here as it related to my own personal build. I finally got enough of a grasp of the platform to start figuring some things out on my own and went from there. It is still a learning process and I am still learning the finer details, but I feel that I have the basics out of the way now. There are just SOOO many parts, certain ones attach in different ways so no 1 build is the same. You might have to research the installation of specific parts, like stocks and rails as different brands can have varying systems of attaching/mounting.

[Murgatroy]

I am currently doing the research and parts ordering to build my own.

I am awaiting two lowers to be transferred, then I will begin.

There are tutorials on Youtube, Brownells and Midway both have walk-through instructions. Pick your poison, video, pictures, books etc...

I am only doing it halfway though, I will by assembling my lower and attaching a complete upper. I am gleaning all the knowledge I can from the minds here, and threads like this.

Dolomite knows his stuff. I hung out with him one day and shot a few of his guns. If he gives advice, I suggest soaking it up. His experience is hands on, not read or watched.

There are makers out there that will sell and entire kit, right now I am going with all Palmetto State Armory stuff. Their specs are the same as all the big names, and their reputation is getting out there as well, just like the big names. Right now the talk is all about Bravo Company, Spikes, Palmetto State Armory, and then Colt. For the price, I don't think PSA can be beat.

It is feasible to assemble a high quality rifle for under $1000. The benefit of assembling your own is the ability to pick what suits you. Even if you buy an assembled lower (BCM has some blem lowers that are very reasonable) you are still saving after purchasing an upper to pin on.

[BPE]

Thanks nysos and Murgatroy.