Help putting building a Ar 15 in 5.56

[brstevns]

Cousin has 800.00 to build a 5.56 on a Ar15 frame. He needs advice on his best chooses for upper lower and other parts etc. He has never built one before.

[ShooterAZ]

What is he intending to use it for? Varmint, Competition, Plinking etc? AR's can be as specialized as you want them to be. It really boils down to what he wants to use it for.

[rancher1913]

why build one for 800 bucks when you can buy one already to go for 400. psa has complete uppers for 200 bucks if he is set on building his own. franklin armory has blemished lowers with the binnary trigger for 500.

[sukivel]

why build one for 800 bucks when you can buy one already to go for 400. psa has complete uppers for 200 bucks if he is set on building his own. franklin armory has blemished lowers with the binnary trigger for 500.

Ja...
I wouldn’t build an ar for my first one, and for the budget put together, or build, i couldn’t recommend psa enough. I built from scratch or pieced together a few ar‘s from ‘other’ budget resellers and had nothing but problems. They looked great, but had several functioning problems and didn’t shoot well.

My first kit build was from psa and I’ll always go back, and they have cheap kits all the way up to very nice kits.


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[nagantguy]

He can buy almost 2 complet rifles from PSA for that money! And it would be well spent

[jmort]

I have a couple of $450 PSA Freedom ARs and an PSA AR10
They go bang just like my more expensive ARs
Barrel are not chromed lined
Bolt is not particle inspected
They are properly staked and functional
Was thinking about upgraded BCGs
Got a $20 Ozark rear sights as they do not come rear sights
For around that amount of money I would just buy a Colt LE6920

[gnostic]

I'm with you about building an AR15 from scratch. I have just one AR, it sports a nitride BCG, free float nitride barrel and JP trigger group. I'd put it up against any AR out there...

[lefty o]

building an ar is like building a car, he's gonna have to ask himself if he wants to drag race or commute with it before he buys the first part. recommendations are useless without an end goal first.

[dragon813gt]

Buy a $400 off the shelf AR and spend the other $400 on ammo. After the ammo is used up he will have a better idea of what he wants to change. People like to throw all types of money at ARs. They buy what they think they want and then end up changing it after range time.

Asking what to buy is like asking Ford or Chevy. It’s all going to be personal opinion. People will debate the merits of why everything must be milspec. And people will tell you why you need a $300 trigger if you want to shoot tiny groups. And it’s all opinion. In general spend money on a good barrel, trigger and optics if you want to shoot tiny groups.

[alamogunr]

I've got 2 AR's that I assembled on stripped lowers from the problem plagued GB on this site a few years ago. I don't claim to have "built" them because I bought assembled uppers & stocks from Palmetto, LPK's & back up sights from Brownell's. The different suppliers was due to shortages around the Obama election. I've still got just a little over $500 in each one. Palmetto is great to deal with although slow to ship.

I won't be building any more. These are going one to each son(if they want them).

[brstevns]

He just wants a paper puncher maybe with a suppressor on it at a later date. He said he just wants the experience of putting one together, but does not want to waste money on parts or brands people are having problems with.

[Gtek]

Buy a new one and a hundred dollars worth of tools, tear it apart. Put it back together and go shoot the couple hundred left in ammo. Then there will be the tools to build the one he will know he wants. Better hurry, I fear the winds may be a changing!

[sukivel]

Buy a new one and a hundred dollars worth of tools, tear it apart. Put it back together and go shoot the couple hundred left in ammo. Then there will be the tools to build the one he will know he wants. Better hurry, I fear the winds may be a changing!

Hurry!!!?!?? You know something I don’t, other than the norm?


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[55fairlane]

$800 to spend? Paper punching or varmint rifle? Either way, buy a rock river arms.....or at minimum look real hard at there components.....if you wanna go cheap.....PSA uppers,Anderson lowers, RRA lower parts kits.....could probably built 2 if you wait for deals and buy on sale....

[Texas by God]

Anderson, PSA, and AIM surplus are where I shop and I've been nothing but happy. I bought my first one(FN), assembled just the lower on my second one, then assembled from parts the next 5.
If he's looking to use suppression later, I'd recommend the .300 Blackout- especially if he reloads 'cause it's funner. IMHO.

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[Mr_Sheesh]

I'm considering one for Varminting, but this isn't my topic :) So I'll watch and enjoy.

[jhaston]

An upgraded trigger is well worth the money, my AR had trouble with the mil spec trigger not resetting, I bought an $85 Rise Armament trigger when Brownells had them on sale and it has been the best upgrade so far. My last trip to the range I put 200 rounds through it with no malfunctions, before the trigger was replaced you couldn't get through a 30 round magazine without several failures to reset.

[Moleman-]

Bolt carrier group, barrel and fire control group will make or break an AR build. If you're going to keep it within a certain budget get the best quality of those three things that your budget will allow.

[Texas by God]

Bolt carrier group, barrel and fire control group will make or break an AR build. If you're going to keep it within a certain budget get the best quality of those three things that your budget will allow.Excellent advice. Lastly I'd recommend a free float handguard. I finally used one and it's so much better than the delta ring arrangement IMO.

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[Iron369]

Building an ar15 is as personal a thing as naming your kid. They may have similar parts to other ones, but it’s still unique to you.
The following is simply from MY experience with the ar15.
I have more than my fair share of rifles in the ar15 platform. I will suggest staying away from Anderson lower receivers even though the price is quite enticing. I’m not bashing them. I have more than one. I even sbr’ed an Anderson lower. But as an inexperienced builder, not knowing what is a spec or tolerance issue and how to resolve it could lead to a negative experience.
I recommend Aero for a budget upper/lower set, Palmetto State Moe lower build kit, pick up the Palmetto enhanced trigger group, 16” faxon Barrel with midlength gas system, STEEL gas block, a Palmetto full auto bcg, birdcage flash hider, 15” free float m-lok handguard, and Vortex strikefire red dot or set of magpul iron sites. It would be a solid build that could be added on as needs change. A couple “oops” kits for detent springs that WILL go flying.

Definitely a GOOD armorers wrench and upper/lower blocks. Small punch set and a hard plastic mallet.
All of this should eat up most of the $800 budget. My two favorite parts sites are Palmetto State Armory and Joe Bob Outfitters. And YouTube. Lots of YouTube videos that show every single step.

[brstevns]

One more question from him is, once he builds the 223 how hard or even possible is it to convert over to 9 mm occasionally ?

[Iron369]

One more question from him is, once he builds the 223 how hard or even possible is it to convert over to 9 mm occasionally ?

It is possible. It’s not practical. It’s not a simple thing. Change bcg, buffer, buffer spring, barrel, add mag well block. Change mags.
My funnest ar is my suppressed ar9 sbr.

[Moleman-]

Swap uppers, add a heavier buffer and a magwell insert. They can be finicky to get to run correctly with the magwell insert. The dedicated 9MM lowers work easier, but I have magwell inserts for sten and colt pattern mags. Don't have a glock pattern and haven't messed with them. I've got two of the CMMG colt pattern 9mm lowers and mostly use those now.

[dragon813gt]

It is possible. It’s not practical. It’s not a simple thing. Change bcg, buffer, buffer spring, barrel, add mag well block. Change mags.
My funnest ar is my suppressed ar9 sbr.

It’s practical w/ a dedicated upper. A Stern Defense upper and magwell adapter is all that’s needed. It works w/ standard lower parts. There are a few that it doesn’t work w/ so I won’t say it works w/ all parts. I know it doesn’t work w/ the JP silent capture buffer and at least one trigger who’s name I can’t remember right now. But there is no voodoo in getting that brand to run.

[brstevns]

Would it be best for him to get a multi cal lower since he plans on different cal, coming along at a later date.

[lefty o]

"multi cal" doesnt mean anytihing, its just a marking to satisfy the gvmnt.

[Houndog]

The only thing I can add is to use a 5.56 chambered barrel in a 1-9 twist for the widest selection of ammo the rifle will shoot well. If you are just plinking the surplus 55gr FMJ gets you the most bang for your buck and it will still be accurate with most anything reasonable up to 68gr. I currently own 3 in different configurations in that chambering and twist rate and all are good shooters.

[brstevns]

He was hoping to use the heavy weight bullets? 70 to 80 gr if possible.

[brstevns]

I'm considering one for Varminting, but this isn't my topic :) So I'll watch and enjoy.

Your statement caught my interest. For myself not my cousin a AR 15 for varmints ? What would it take to build one and what would a person look for in parts or barrel?

[dragon813gt]

He was hoping to use the heavy weight bullets? 70 to 80 gr if possible.

Then he wants a 1:7 or 1:8 barrel. I have no problem shooting 55 grain bullets out of a 1:7 barrel. But to be fair I don’t own any 1:9 barrels to see if there’s any difference in accuracy. If you plan to shoot the heavyweight bullets you need a faster twist.

[Iron369]

......

[Iron369]

He was hoping to use the heavy weight bullets? 70 to 80 gr if possible.

Is there a reason? I only ask because a cheap 70gr 556 is about 85 cents a round and a cheap 55gr is about 22 cents a round.

[popper]

AR 15 for varmints 300BO or 40WT. 360$/1K if you buy best bullets, 160$/1K for cast. Works for bigger varmints. Yea, not pushing 3k fps but do you really need the fps? I know, pdogs, but yotes/fox/skunks/pigs, etc.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I'm thinking .223 mostly, I want to try a longer distance AR for Rockchucks and the occasional Coyote. Lots of other different uppers possible and I do like the idea of a 300BO, 40WT looks interesting too. No wild hogs up this way, a good thing mostly.

[Texas by God]

I'm thinking a .204 Ruger in an AR would serve the long range varmint hunter fairly well. With a brass catcher....If you go with 5.56, get the 1-7" twist- it will shoot all weights well IMO.

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[brstevns]

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Typed in together after (putting) but for some reason it did not show up in the title.

[brstevns]

Do you guys shoot both military and sporting 223 ammo? Should he look into the 223 wyde chambering ?

[dragon813gt]

You’re asking some very basic questions. Your friend should spend some time and do the research on this own. I know you’re just trying to help. But these questions have been answered many times over. If he spent an hour doing the research he would have 99% of his questions answered.

[lefty o]

i agree, need to do a lot of research. head over to ar15.com and spend a week reading.

[brstevns]

Just trying to be a good cousin and shooting buddy. Like the old saying there is no dumb questions. I really do appropriate all the help