Finally time to get an AR15

[Saint]

I am starting to formulate my plan and I am looking for some information. First thing is I dont have a lot of income so it needs to be cheap. I am concerned about building it myself because I would hate to get halfway through the build and have the laws change leaving me with half a rifle. As bad as I hate making price a priority it is my only option. What is the best price I can get on a rifle that will give me some future upgrade options and what are some recommended brands/dealers. Also I would not be opposed to building it myself if I can get all the parts at the same time.

[xfoxofshogo]

go to your locl gun shop buy a lower with papers even if the laws do change you have the lower and papers for it all the outer parts you can get in what thay call a parts kit i spent 600 on my frist ar15 the lower will run you 150 the kit 420 depding on what you what in it

o and do not mess with 80% lowers you can not build them for what one with papers will run
you cheper buying one with papers form a gun shop or off gun brokers and haveing it ship to you gun shop
sites that sell good parts kits http://www.ar15-kits.com/index1.html

this is where i got 2 kits and thay are super looking parts and realy fast to get it to you http://www.akpartskits.com/cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6_16
and ther one of the cheper places but thay do not give you a mag

some will send you a free mag with the kit but ther kits seem to be hi

and AR15 are get cheper you can now buy a new one in some gun shops for 700

[Saint]

Yeah I noticed cabelas has a bushmaster for 700 but I would really like something that can shoot 5.56 nato and I don't think its safe in the bushmaster.

[Matthew 25]

Between Gunbroker and Midwayusa.com you can put one together for $620ish.

those are nice links listed above, too.

[thehouseproduct]

Del-ton.com has good kits with lots of options. They build the upper with whatever you spec. Kits are $460. I recently bought a lower for $70. Puts a complete rifle at $530. All you need is a mag.

[MtGun44]

Used Delton parts, never had any problems.

Bill

[Saint]

So here is another question then. With AR parts being so interchangeable would I be able to buy a 600 dollar bushmaster and upgrade it in the future to handle 5.56 nato rounds.

[Dan Cash]

Yeah I noticed cabelas has a bushmaster for 700 but I would really like something that can shoot 5.56 nato and I don't think its safe in the bushmaster.

My wife's Bushmaster has seen a couple thousand South African mfg. 5.56 with no problem or indication of potential problem.

[bruce drake]

the only difference between a 5.56 NATO and a 223 Remington chamber is the amount of throat cut into the chamber. A 223 Rem is a tighter throat than the military chambering which is designed with a little more space in the chamber to account for mud and dirt better.

The pressure differences between the two cartridges is that the 5.56 is loaded a bit hotter to provide a bit more zip than commercial 223 Remington cases.

So you add up a hotter load (5.56) and put it in a tighter chamber (223 Rem), your pressure indicators will show sooner.

start googling and you'll get some more information.

me, I have ARs chambered in both but I keep my reloads to 223 Rem pressure levels so I can use them in both rifles. But I also know that rechambering a 223 Remington AR to 5.56 NATO is a very simple, very fast job for a gunsmith.

Bruce

[Frank46]

Check out Palmetto State Armory, they were getting some good ratings on the ar15 site. Think their M4 style was running about $600. Frank

[looseprojectile]

XM15 E2S eats anything that even looks like a .223/5.56X45. 20" flattop.
Wilde chamber. Doesn't have a float handgard. Real heavy barrel. A2 butt.
This is the gun that the DC snipers used. Coincidence. Had mine first. When I do my part it shoots such small groups they get called BS. Gotta have quality bullets though.
For a cheap lower, RGuns has a finished one for sixtyfive in their newest flyer.
Lower doesn't matter much, though that is where the name is. The barrel and bolt are the important parts. Hard to know what is good when you are just starting out.
Shop around and look at lowers , uppers, barrels, lower part kits and butstocks and add em up. You can go cheap or save and buy quality a piece at a time.
They all shoot good. I think after you pay for all the individual parts a lot of vendors are selling their uppers complete really cheap. Same with complete lowers.
And a complete low end rifle from say Olympic Arms is hard to beat, price wise.
Any AR you buy is infinitely upgradeable. If you buy a not abused used one the value won't go down much at all. Like money in the bank. Might pay more interest.

Life is good

[perotter]

o and do not mess with 80% lowers you can not build them for what one with papers will run
you cheper buying one with papers form a gun shop or off gun brokers and haveing it ship to you gun shop


this is where i got 2 kits and thay are super looking parts and realy fast to get it to you http://www.akpartskits.com/cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6_16
and ther one of the cheper places but thay do not give you a mag



I bought 2 Blackthrone kits last summer. One shoots great group size.

The other is a little disappointing. OK, kind of like an old 30/30 94. Good enough, but...

I do my own lowers & 80 per-centers. These last 2 with TM 80% ones. With Blackthrones if I order on Wed nite, I get it @ about 9:30 Friday morning. Go out to the shop & do the machining(CNC). Been 1:00 & 2:00 I'm sighting it in.

[garym1a2]

I like my M&P sport. Its only a little over $600.

[zardoz]

Built an M4 profile AR last March. Tactical Innovations stripped lower purchased locally, Bushmaster internal parts kit, 16" DSA upper with bolt assembly off of Gunbroker, and a 6 position stock I got from TAPCO I think. Found some 20 round Charles Daly magazines at a local shop on sale. Anyway, had about $600 in it at that point.

The upper and bolt are the nitrided and not the chromed.

The Tactical Innovations lower is unique. It has a set screw to keep the back detent spring from popping out when you remove the stock. It also has a tensioning set screw that performs like an accuwedge. Also, the receiver is marked "Multi-Caliber". I could have bought a less expensive stripped lower, but this had features that appealed to me.

Then I found this inexpensive FireField short scope for it.

It is a tack driver, that continually amazes me. Got very lucky on my first build I would say.

I also have a Bushmaster XM-15 20" HBAR in A2 configuration, and it does not shoot as good as my home-built AR for some reason.

[Wheeler]

My Bushmaster XM-15 is stamped 5.56 NATO on the side. With the exception of a few external cosmetics, it's an all factory gun.

[xfoxofshogo]

buy a multy cal lower so you can have a 9mm up and 223 or 7.62x39

as far as 223 just win you look at them aks if you can get it in 5.56 and not the 223 a lot of time thay will be happy to get it in 5.56 for you

what ever you do do not shoot steel in a 223 chamber thats where you start haveing bad things happen

i will not shoot steel at all but thats just me i reload brass so its worth buying the brass

[xfoxofshogo]

I bought 2 Blackthrone kits last summer. One shoots great group size.

The other is a little disappointing. OK, kind of like an old 30/30 94. Good enough, but...

I do my own lowers & 80 per-centers. These last 2 with TM 80% ones. With Blackthrones if I order on Wed nite, I get it @ about 9:30 Friday morning. Go out to the shop & do the machining(CNC). Been 1:00 & 2:00 I'm sighting it in.

blackhorn is good to deal with if its not right thay will fix it never had them say no just make sher you look it over be for you shoot it and do the brake in a lot of times no one dose this the right way

how much you pay for one blank and how much time you put in to it and the jig to work on it then you do not have papers how much you spend geting numbers on it to make it legal in less your in a state where you can build for your use olny aka you can never sell it or or give it to some one or you get put in jail

win i look at doing it how much i would of spent on it was way more then going to my gun shop and buying it

lower with papers 100 to 150
a blank 80% 85 to 100 but you have to have a jig wich is a nuther 100 to 200 bucks and taps dirls and time and not ever one haves a cnc in ther shop or can get ther hands on one

[xfoxofshogo]

So here is another question then. With AR parts being so interchangeable would I be able to buy a 600 dollar bushmaster and upgrade it in the future to handle 5.56 nato rounds.

thats the nice thing about the AR15 you can do a lot with it i have a 9mm wild cat uper im building for my ar and im going to buy a 50 cal uper for it and thinking about a 45 uper

you can have one lower and lots of upers in outher cal ^^

[thehouseproduct]

thats the nice thing about the AR15 you can do a lot with it i have a 9mm wild cat uper im building for my ar and im going to buy a 50 cal uper for it and thinking about a 45 uper

you can have one lower and lots of upers in outher cal ^^
That's a nice thought but I've found the extra top or bottom half seems to grow the other half somehow. Sort of like a starfish. I've even had a stock grow into a complete rifle before.

[perotter]

how much you pay for one blank and how much time you put in to it and the jig to work on it then you do not have papers how much you spend geting numbers on it to make it legal in less your in a state where you can build for your use olny aka you can never sell it or or give it to some one or you get put in jail

win i look at doing it how much i would of spent on it was way more then going to my gun shop and buying it

lower with papers 100 to 150
a blank 80% 85 to 100 but you have to have a jig wich is a nuther 100 to 200 bucks and taps dirls and time and not ever one haves a cnc in ther shop or can get ther hands on one

One can put their own numbers on it. I think Federal law is they can be sold or given away, if it wasn't the original intent to do so. FWIW, I have only ever gotten rid of a couple of guns ever. And never one that I've put together.

TM 80% are sale @ times for $65. Made my own jig 10-12 years ago from scrap metal - with the exception of bolts & pins. Also, I have more than a couple. For me when I look @ it, it is cheaper to do the 80%. For $ out the door, the cheapest for me would be doing a bolt together. FWIW, the 1st one I did year ago was from a raw forging. I hope I never try that again.

[tomme boy]

Blackthornse are the cheapest of the cheap. Do not go there unless you have to. Hesse is another name they went by. There are about 3-4 other names as well. Once everyone finds out who the are and the junk they sell, they change their name. No offence if anyone has one, but I would never buy one.

The Deltons have been good. They will build you what you want. RGuns are just Model 1 Sales. Model1 are OK just don't give them a CC#. A lot of people had their info stolen. I have had really good luck with J & T Distributing.

[xfoxofshogo]

I just found this place y i was diging looking for parts http://www.dsarms.com/Lowers--Uppers/products/59/