Suggestions for a AR-15 build

[C.I.D]

My 270AR build

Barrel w/bolt 335.00
Upper/lower 80% 130.00
Stock 100.00
LPK with JP springs 115.00
BCG 55.00
Rail with gas system 90.00

Not the cheapest build but dam good AR 15 that has great range and hunting based.

[Ickisrulz]

I recommend a mid-length gas system. I also recommend you check out BCM for a complete upper. Their prices are very reasonable right now and you'll end up with a well respected, high quality product with excellent customer support if you should need it. Just Google Bravo Company vs anything else you might be considering. I have two BCM uppers and they are perfect.

[wlc]

OK, Since you are going the "home made" way I have to suggest putting good money on a good barrel and BCG. Another thing, I just in the last week changed one of my AR's to this trigger for the first time. Go ahead and pay the money and get a geissele trigger. They are about $200 give or take. I changed one out from a typical factory "mil spec" trigger to a Geissele SSA-E trigger. My first group tightened up by almost half over what I could do with the factory trigger with the same load/boolit combo. Scrimp on cosmetic stuff, but get a good barrel, BCG and trigger. Even if it will only ever be a range gun/plinker you will enjoy it much more. Just my two cents.

[pretzelxx]

5.56 and 300 blackout. Get two calibers, because why not?!!

[garym1a2]

A Geissele G2S trigger is a very good trigger for the price. About $130 if you look hard. Look for 4150 barrel steel.

[Rusty W]

Back during the Clinton years I purchased my 1st AR. A Rock River A2 20" Hbar. Took it out a few times, shot it, shrugged and wondered what all the "hype" was about w/the AR's. Put it back in the safe & went back to shooting my bolt guns & single shots. Fast forward a few years and I got the AR itch again. I'm somewhat of a tinker'r and after switching barrels on my Savage's I began to look at the AR again. I built my 1st one about a year ago. Anderson lower, CMMG LPK, Magpul MOE stock, and a Red X SS floated upper 16" bull bbl. It shot/shoots so good my girlfriend took it away from me so I thought I'd build another. I caught some sales on Black Friday from a semi local shop. fatboytactical.net and a few other places, JSE surplus, Aim surplus, Primary Arms and PSA. I ended up with enough "stuff" to put together 7 rifles. I have 1/7, 1/8, & 1/9 carbine & midlength bbls, floated and standard hand guards. I've built 5 of the 7 and shot 3 of them today. The bare bones minimum is $425.00 and the most I have into one is $650.00 w/o optics. All 3 shoot great, all can/will hit a 2 liter pop bottle @ 200yds w/a 55gr sp and 24gr of IMR 8208XBR. The problem now is optics. I can't see open sights so a red dot or scope is my options and they can get expensive.

I say build your own, you'll have a better idea on what does what & why it happens, and get what you/she wants in the process.

[GabbyM]

As far as PSA type discount parts go. I know they are an advertiser here but I'm not bound by that. I have here a PSA upper and complete bolt carrier. Advertised by them as top of the line. Now I'm sure they sell some good stuff. But the parts I paid money for have been taken out of service after a few hundred rounds.

Things I've purchased and very much like.
Bushmaster bolt carrier group from Brownells.
Everything I ever purchased from White Oaks Armament.

Centurion 20" Hybrid contour barrel from Brownells. For a lady's gun a 16" lightweight with .625" gas block would get high marks from me. Centurion barrels have the Wylde chamber which gives you some extra clearance in the case area of chamber but a .225" throat instead of the NATO .227" nominal throat.


White Oaks Armament varmint free float tube. Like this much better than my screw on version on my bull barrel upper. Barrel nut is a huge thing with mandrel it's forearm tube slips over then six big set screws hold it on and are used to align it up centered to the barrel. Very nice and it seams very rugged. Any free float adds quite a bit of weight. About a pound for a rifle length tube. So for a lightweight rifle the standard GI hand guards are Ideal. POI is thrown off if you tight sling it or use a bipod.
I've been shooting my thin barrel 20" SP-1 for forty years and just working around that one. Couple weeks ago over Thanksgiving in AZ. I shot a 16" lightweight with a can as heavy as the barrel hanging off it. Shot just fine at clays rolling rabbit at 25 yards. It's GI hand guard probably helped stiffen barrel against weight of can. Anyway I've only shot and inspected the single example of the Criterion barrel that I purchased. But it's as perfect as I can measure and shots great. No copper fouling in the hand lapped smooth chromed bore even on the first trip out with 150 rounds down the tube with no cleaning. zero green stuff on the patch after Montana Extreme. Not a cheap barrel but at 59 years of age I want nice stuff. It's also an 8" twist so I can shoot 77gr MK's.

Giselle trigger. Not cheap at $235. Got the SD-E straight bow with 1.2 pound final. It's almost to light for a hunting rig. Sure no combat trigger. -E stands for enhanced with is light weight pull. You'd have t shoot one to appreciate how it turns an AR into a totally different firearm. I'm sure the standard battle trigger would be as light as most want. This same lower runs my bull barrel upper with a 6.5 x 24X scope for bench shooting varmints. Trigger is better than any of my stock Rem, Ruger or Weatherby stock triggers. My son in law takes and hones the stock triggers to a light pull. WE all know that's not safe and so does he. I tested the Giessele by loading a live primed empty case. On about the third strike of but stock on carpet it was hard enough to eject the empty case. Safety off and no hammer drop. Great trigger that I could not love more. But again I'd not place a dash E light pull on a carbine weight rifle.

Optics:
I have a six year old Weaver 1X3x I bought on sale for $80 that is great on an AR out to a quarter mile on eight inch targets. Right up to running rabbit on 1x at fifteen feet. With the nice mounted light I bought from Wilgen here I don't even need starlight to shoot. But it's good to shoot set on 1x at half moon light. I'm blue eyed and still at my age get decent night vision after a while to adjust.

Optics II:
Trijicon ACOG 1.5X16 Short M16 Hsng w/Amber ring 2 MOA Dot. Bought it on sale a few months back for around $700. That's $200 off full price. Most money I ever spent on a scope. It's only a 1.5x power. However you get a rifle that's a true shoot running stuff with both eyes open and any light. S in model number stands for short eye relief. Eye right up to 1.5 inches to all the way back on the stock until it comes off your shoulder. Just shoulder the rifle leave both eyes open and the reticle is out front. Many red dots will do the same thing for half the money. But they are not quite as sweet. I can shoot better with this ACOG than I could with irons in my youth, and I had a one in a thousand pair of eyes when young. Wear bifocals now. Only weighs a few ounces and I've mounted it in the carry handle of my SP-1 lightweight rig. Leopold has some real nice 1 x 5X or so scopes with an illuminated dot for less money if more magnification or less money figures in. I got just what I was looking for.

Then a good flash hider. For follow up shots in pitch black. I went with a 3 prong because I grew up in the sixties and that's what the soldiers of my youth carried. I think it's bad *** in a big way. But that's just a preference and the A2 hider works better. You do not want a comp because it will make you deaf. I'm already deaf with 73 decibel tinnitus from shooting without enough protection and I'll grantee you one thing. It SUCKS.

Sling:
Three dollar nylon 2 point GI sling. Works great.

Bipod:
Harris tall bipod I bought in the seventies for use on a bolt gun. Shoots from sitting position. Needs to around hear to get over field stubble at the least to make a shot on coyote. It'll keep you into a yote at 200 yards if you are very precise and steady. Any closer to the ground and you'll hit field stubble or the contour of land. That's a local thing and the way I set up to hunt. Note the bipod legs folded extend a little past the flash hider on my 20" rifle.

Magazines:
Lots of total junk out there. I like Magpull. but actually prefer the aluminum D&H as sold by https://www.wideners.com/itemview.cfm?dir=625|1056|1058. Got me six of the 30 rounder's to store carry ammo in. For $6.50 each. They are great. Bodies are welded together straight and true. Better mags the the old 1980's GI mags I have. For shooting I generally always use a 20 round mag. Have several of the old GI mags from the $2 days in the 70's. They are junk but are collectable at $25 each. Half dozen 20 round Magpulls that are OK but just waiting for D&H 20's to go on sale or something. I like being able to go shooting and never load a magazine on the range.

Dies:
An RCBS X die. To keep from having to trim brass every sizing. Used with a proper size chamberd barrel it's nice.

Then I've learned to anneal all military surplus brass for uniformity. I size it with no expander plug. Then anneal and use a neck expander in 1st position of the Dillon 550 to final set the neck diameter. On mil surp brass I use a flash hole deburr tool first before decap. Which is a #1 C-Drill in a holder. That eliminates broken de cap pins. Then a primer pocket uniformer as the 5.56mm stuff is smashed to the point of having a short pocket. Plus the pocket isn't flat anyway and we need a consistent pocket for consistent ignition. No high primers allowed.

Lastly. Last month my 14 year old Grandson had the first slam fire I ever saw in an AR-15 or M-16. It was with a soft Federal primer that had ben chambered and pre dented. But remember it can happen so keep that muzzle under control when dropping the bolt. His loose round hit about ten feet out in front of us. I like Rem 7 1/2 and CCI magnum primers in an AR. Half way though a box of 5,000 Wolf primers with no issue also. But am not happy with the Russians right now. Wolf primers don't seam to light off the hard to light ball powders in my very limited experience. Similar to what I get from the Federals. Great with the stick powders though.

[pacomdiver]

get a white oak armament 16" mid length gas system, 1/7 twist wylde chamber barrel with a full floating handguard and a geissele trigger, that would be a good foundation to build off, last one I built off that ran sub nickel (lots of dime size) 5 round groups with just about every 55-75g combo I fed it. if you wanna splurge, get a nickel boron bcg, they are super slippery

[Fishman]

Great thread! My son and I are also wanting to build a 300 blk. At the risk of a slight hijack, what tools are needed for a build and what tools are "nice to have" for a build?

[Rusty W]

Magpul furniture, Bushmaster stripped upper on closeout at JSE surplus, DTI 1/9bbl midlength, Vortex Crossfire II 2-7x32, Anderson Lower & LPK.


One finished, midlength and one started, carbine.

Naturally....she had to have pink....


I ain't scared of no pink gun..lol


But I like my bolt actions better...One of my switches...started a .308..in this pic it's a 7-08


That white box is a small refrigerator...150yds and the rusted spot a little beyond that is a 55gall drum at 200yds. We set bottles on top of it to shoot at.


The 44spl and upcoming victims...

Tools are/were for me, pretty simple. A bbl/combo wrench, small hammer, tape..lots'o tape, a few small punches, needle nose pliers to hold the dinky roll pins, allen wrench or screw driver for the grip screw, a bench to work on is nice but I have used a chair in a pinch. Someday I'll get around to cleaning the bench off.

[6bg6ga]

I have the feeling this is going to be a great thread.

I'm open to ALL IDEAS HERE!! Don't be afraid to mention whatever is on your mind. ALL the information has been great! I've received a number of PM's and I just can't get over how helpful you guys are here. Just to mention a point I am very capable of putting something together from scratch because I used to be a machinist so I probably possess the capabilities. This build however because of the necessity to build it fairly quick will result in me purchasing a complete upper. The gauges and wrenches to put one together from scratch are a phone call and favor away.

Please do keep the info coming along with trusted vendors that you feel can provide good parts at a reasonable rate. I'm going to confess something now so please try to understand. Years ago the wife and I owned a Colt AR-15 and to be perfectly honest it wasn't accurate and wasn't an interest getter for me. Recently we have been able to shoot an AR-15 that was both extremely accurate and brought back the fun so thus the quest to build one.

[762 shooter]

I read manuals and watched a bunch of you tube. Some knew their stuff, some did not. You can learn from both. Midway has a lot of good videos.

762

[dragon813gt]

I bought an Adams Arms mid length upper. There are pros and cons to their piston system. I liked the adjustable gas block, which you can't use plastic sights on, because it will eventually be suppressed. It wasn't cheap but it's what I was looking for. Next on my list is a trigger. There are cheaper options to the complete drop ins. They aren't as nice but are a big improvement over the basic one.

I bought the Wheeler tool kit because it was deeply discounted. I didn't use all of the tools but it's nice to have them. The pivot pin tool is one you really want to have. If you're building an upper you're going to want to have an action block. For the most part you need a hammer and punches to assemble the lower.

Mine is nothing special. Has a Nikon P223 scope which is their cheapest one. It's a nice scope for the money and is fixed power.

[376Steyr]

Great thread! My son and I are also wanting to build a 300 blk. At the risk of a slight hijack, what tools are needed for a build and what tools are "nice to have" for a build?

I just built a Palmetto State Armory "Freedom" mid-length kit, which came with a assembled upper. First time for me, and I did it in one evening, including frequent trips to the internet to read and re-read instructions. The only AR-specific tool I needed was a castle-nut wrench to tighten the nut that holds the telescoping stock. Other tools I used were a small ball-peen hammer, a set of roll-pin punches, some needle-nosed pliers, a block of firewood as a bench for driving pins, and a large plastic bag to catch the flying front pivot detent that took a dozen tries before I got it installed. Spend $20 for a pivot pin detent installation tool, you'll be glad you did.

I only have 50 rounds through the completed gun, so I can't speak to durability, but mine is shooting some excellent groups at 100 yards (despite a gritty GI trigger) and hasn't malfunctioned in any way.

[GabbyM]

LOL 376steyr. Still have one of those pins in my carpet someplace. Read about the bag trick after it flew out.
I've a small red steel tool box with all my AR tools and spare parts in it. I should put a nice see through bag in there.

[Blammer]

look around you can find them already put together for about $500

[kbstenberg]

On BCG's are they like the lower's. They are all basically the same. Just how much you want to spend? The low priced one's will get the job done as well as the higher priced one's.
When getting the but stock. Would you get a kit. containing all of the comp. and stock from one manufacturer.. Or can most any stock go with anyone's kit componants?

[dragon813gt]

Butt stocks are based in MilSpec or NonMilSpec buffer tubes.

[triggerhappy243]

dragon nailed it. the butt stock/buffer tube must all match. either all Mil. Spec. or all commercial.

a commercial butt stock will not fit over a mil spec buffer tube.

[triggerhappy243]

And as far as your bolt carrier group goes.......... it has been said here more than once.

HEAD SPACE! if you buy a complete upper, it comes with a properly head spaced bolt carrier group. there are many many AR makers that sell a good quality complete upper. look into them. Rock River Arms is the one I have. others are Daniel defense, Primary weapons systems, Adams, Spikes, DPMS.

and I have to mention the bottom of the barrel ones... like Bushmaster. Windham weaponry. Do a google search on what happened with bushmaster, you will understand.