RepackboxReloading EverythingTitan ReloadingInline Fabrication
Load DataWidenersMidSouth Shooters SupplyLee Precision
RotoMetals2
Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 41 to 60 of 65

Thread: Is It "Build" Or "Assemble" An AR15?

  1. #41
    Boolit Master

    lefty o's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    2,187
    Quote Originally Posted by dragon813gt View Post
    I get tired of "built not bought". I'm smart enough to know when to pay a professional. I have all the respect in the world for the guys that can do everything themselves. But I'm not one of them. My cars have always had most of the aspects being bought.

    ARs are a grownup form of Lagos. So use whatever term you would use for Legos. I can tell you I'm not about to tell my 3yo son that he didn't build a Lego structure of some sort. In his mind he built it and that's all that matters.
    the bought not built is a newer thing, and i like to do much of my own stuff, however when im working on a $20,000 engine, ill pay a man to do the important stuff. most guys that cry about built vs bought dont have anything worth talking about on either side of the argument.

  2. #42
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    East Tn
    Posts
    3,785
    I would think this is more "assembled" vs "built" as the OP originally asked as "bought" just seems to automatically mean an item is obtained from someone else in exchange for payment, even though a lot of things that are "bought" require some assembly it in no way seems to infer the person is "building" the item.

    My son is now working on his second AR project and in fact we spoke on the phone about it just this evening when he called to borrow a Crowfoot wrench for the barrel nut and the term he always uses is "putting together" my new rifle.
    Statistics show that criminals commit fewer crimes after they have been shot

  3. #43
    Boolit Master Handloader109's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    NW Arkansas
    Posts
    2,505
    I've 'built' two lowers from 80%, really sloppy machined out the guts..... but I assembled the rest of the gun......

  4. #44
    Boolit Grand Master

    dragon813gt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Somewhere in SE PA
    Posts
    9,989
    Quote Originally Posted by Handloader109 View Post
    I've 'built' two lowers from 80%, really sloppy machined out the guts..... but I assembled the rest of the gun......
    Technically you finished the lowers. A finish carpenter did not build the house. This discussion can go on and on forever.

  5. #45
    Boolit Buddy TenTea's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    406
    I build shelves, workbenches, tool boxes, gun racks, powder magazines, target frames and the like.
    I assemble and customize firearms of many types.
    I fit and modify, file and grind, Dremel and sand, drill and cut, blue and paint, tap and cut threads...I'm not a gunsmith but maybe an armorer...?
    Whatever I am, I enjoy the *work*
    A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.

  6. #46
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    East Tn
    Posts
    3,785
    Quote Originally Posted by TenTea View Post
    Whatever I am, I enjoy the *work*

    In the end that's what really matters!
    Statistics show that criminals commit fewer crimes after they have been shot

  7. #47
    Moderator
    Texas by God's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    14,335
    Quote Originally Posted by oldred View Post
    In the end that's what really matters!
    And that's a wrap.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

  8. #48
    Boolit Bub nitroviking's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Posts
    49

    I dunno....

    I have "assembled" a few AR's, some were merely installing a lower parts kit into a lower, adding the buffer tube and stock and attaching that to a complete barreled upper, I'd say that's merely assembling for sure.

    Other ones I have bought all the components in stripped form, installed and torqued the barrel and nut, even multiple times while adding correct shims in order to time the nut correctly for a free float fore end to line up the top rail perfectly.

    I've had fire control groups that absolutely wouldn't function until they went on the drill press and were filed and polished to fit... I've had to file fit gas blocks for proper alignment, dimple the barrel for grub screws to center correctly, build custom weight buffers in order to time the gas system for reliable operation....

    Does anyone one thing make the difference...? I dunno....
    I used to operate CNC lathes, ACME Gridley Screw Machines, Centerless bore grinders, etc... Did that make me a machinist or simply a machine operator ?.... I dunno.....

    I was an Auto mechanic also, I've "built" my own race car engines from ordered parts out of a Summit or Jegs catalog, and I've had to "rebuild" many engines in my day... new pistons, cranks, cams, bearings etc... Did I build those engines or just assemble them...? I dunno......

    I never mined Iron and aluminium ore and smelted it before pouring it into castings or forgings before finish machining and then assembling... I never planted an acorn, waited for the tree to grow, cut it down then carved it into a gunstock.... But I'm confident that with some parts and some tools I can "assemble" just about anything mechanical... and If it doesn't work, I can probably diagnose the problem and make it work....

    I dont know if I'm a builder, an assembler, or just a ******* with a little mechanical aptitude.. where is the line...?

    I think the big thing here is (and I get it)... any asswipe with a credit card can assemble an AR, and they think they're a Gunsmith or Custom gun builder (which they are not)
    and alot of us with much more ability and whom also give respect to the true skilled tradesman get a little pissy about it...

    I just sit back, and "assemble", "build", "tinker" with my hobbies, whatever you want to call it... and I'm happy knowing I dont take anything to anyone else for work unless it requires skills or tools I dont have.... I dont have the resources to forge and rifle a barrel, or pour a casting and machine it into a lower or upper reciever. But I can freefloat a barrel, glass bed a stock, pillar mount an action, strip and refinish a stock.... Re Crown a barrel... What am I ... I dunno?

  9. #49
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    East Tn
    Posts
    3,785
    Quote Originally Posted by nitroviking View Post
    I never planted an acorn, waited for the tree to grow, cut it down then carved it into a gunstock....

    An Acorn? When you get around to planting that tree seed plant a Walnut and it will make a much prettier stock!
    Statistics show that criminals commit fewer crimes after they have been shot

  10. #50
    Boolit Bub nitroviking's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Posts
    49
    Quote Originally Posted by oldred View Post
    An Acorn? When you get around to planting that tree seed plant a Walnut and it will make a much prettier stock!
    See, I told you I didnt know what I was doin !!!

  11. #51
    Boolit Master


    David2011's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Baytown Texas
    Posts
    4,106
    Quote Originally Posted by nun2kute View Post
    I have talked to a lot of People who think a "Cartridge" is a "Bullet" because they don't have the knowledge to understand what they are talking about.(and some want to tell me I shouldn't own a gun)
    A long time ago SWMBO and I took her friend to the range to shoot her newly acquired revolver. The friend didn't understand what came out of the barrel. When I showed her loaded and spent cartridges with the bullet obviously missing in the spent cartridge I was met with a blank stare. She could not comprehend that the missing bullet was what had gone out the barrel. I was at a loss to explain further. Yes, she was blonde and no, this is not a joke. Sorry for drifting off topic but I had to share.
    Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris

  12. #52
    Boolit Master


    David2011's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Baytown Texas
    Posts
    4,106
    According to the not yet dismissed Obama regulations if you take a file, stone, lathe, mill, drill or tap to it you are a manufacturer.

    Please communicate with your congress members to get rid of that stupid BATFE regulation.
    Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris

  13. #53
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    East Tn
    Posts
    3,785
    Quote Originally Posted by David2011 View Post
    A long time ago SWMBO and I took her friend to the range to shoot her newly acquired revolver. The friend didn't understand what came out of the barrel. When I showed her loaded and spent cartridges with the bullet obviously missing in the spent cartridge I was met with a blank stare. She could not comprehend that the missing bullet was what had gone out the barrel. I was at a loss to explain further. Yes, she was blonde and no, this is not a joke. Sorry for drifting off topic but I had to share.
    She's not alone! I have mentioned this one a couple of times before, a TV cop show (don't remember which one) from the 70's had a scene I laughed at back then but see the significance of it now because the same people are pushing so hard for gun "control".

    A guy had been shot and was being looked after while in a hospital bed, a cop was asking the doctor how bad was it and when would he be conscious and able to talk, the doctor said that they had removed the bullet then proceeded to pick it up from a tray with a pair of tweezers, he then showed the cop the bullet he had removed but he held up the COMPLETE cartridge case and all that he had supposedly removed!!!!
    Statistics show that criminals commit fewer crimes after they have been shot

  14. #54
    Boolit Master wills's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    La Grange,Texas
    Posts
    2,127
    Quote Originally Posted by Atakawow View Post
    I'm referring to the process of putting together all the pre-made parts to make a functional AR platform. Most people refer to this process as "building." I think the term "assembling" is more suitable in this application.

    Taken from an online dictionary:

    Build - "to form by ordering and uniting materials by gradual means into a composite whole."

    Assemble - "to fit together the parts of."

    Are these terms interchangeable? What do you think?

    H
    Why does it matter?
    Have mercy.
    A haw, haw, haw, haw, a haw.
    A haw, haw, haw

  15. #55
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    97
    Quote Originally Posted by wills View Post
    Why does it matter?
    I was simply asking for people's input. Don't matter to you? Move along...

    Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

  16. #56
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    East Tn
    Posts
    3,785
    Personally I can see why it matters to some folks, to those that actually do really put in the time and effort to actually build a rifle as opposed to just assembling factory made parts it just might mean a lot. Doesn't bother me one way or the other, that's just me however, but I have done enough of both to understand the difference and this is my take on it (Opinion ONLY, nothing more). I would think it would be assembled, as in assembled from parts or a kit, if someone just buys parts and puts them together to make a rifle but when someone else actually MAKES the parts then that person can rightly say they actually built the rifle. It takes a lot of time and effort to actually build a rifle by first making the parts, the "assembly" of those owner made parts is the easy part but that's all that's required when a person buys their parts already made.
    Statistics show that criminals commit fewer crimes after they have been shot

  17. #57
    Boolit Grand Master



    M-Tecs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Minnesota
    Posts
    9,452
    oldred - argee 100%. When I take 100% complete parts and put it together it's an assembly. When I take a barrel blank and turn the contour, drill the gas hole and thread and chamber it I consider it a build.

  18. #58
    Boolit Master OldBearHair's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Conroe TEXAS
    Posts
    671
    Very interesting opinions all. Reminds me of someone saying, "I made eggs for breakfast" and I lean more toward the word assemble. Another subject that is as varied as this one is someone making a hand made knife from "Scratch" by buying a kit with a blade blank almost finished, heat treated, handle material shaped, hilt fitted to the blade.

  19. #59
    Boolit Master Hannibal's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    East of KCMO
    Posts
    2,188
    Quote Originally Posted by OldBearHair View Post
    Very interesting opinions all. Reminds me of someone saying, "I made eggs for breakfast" and I lean more toward the word assemble. Another subject that is as varied as this one is someone making a hand made knife from "Scratch" by buying a kit with a blade blank almost finished, heat treated, handle material shaped, hilt fitted to the blade.
    I've been thinking about this quite a lot myself. Just how far back in the process does one have to go to qualify for 'making'? Forging your own barrel? Smelting your own steel? Mining your own minerals? Establishing an intelligent species?
    Designing an environment to support life? Inventing organisms?

    Creating a planet?



    Creating your own universe . . . .


    And where will YOU start out tomorrow?
    Last edited by Hannibal; 03-10-2018 at 12:45 AM.

  20. #60
    Boolit Master Hannibal's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    East of KCMO
    Posts
    2,188
    I think there is but one 'maker'.

    And most who know of whom I speak refer to him as 'Creator'.

    All the rest of us are just trying to figure out where we fit in.

Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check