help me make some final AR-15 build choices

[Kevinkris]

well yea, i could very well get a great rifle for less than it will cost to build it but i like to put things together myself. i guess i have to blame my grandparents for buying all those damn legos . i do find a bit of comfort in building straight from quality parts, in that i wont be wasting funds on the lower quality parts.

maybe im opening a can of worms here but is it worth buying a forged barrel?

 

[eldbillbo]

you mean hammer forged correct?

watch spinal tap. "It goes to 11"

in other words it does the same as a normal mil spec barrel but its better

actually they are stronger and higher quality . I would assume they would last longer because of that . i am sure there are other factors but i dropped interest when i read melonite retains accuracy longer than chrome. and most of the CHF barrels are 1/7 where i prefer 1/9
I have a DD CHF barrel for sale in the classifieds because first of all a 1/7 and i prefer 1/9 and second from what i have read melonite last longer than chrome and more accurate and cheaper , however not many of the top name barrel makers are doing melonite yet they are still doing CHF because they spent a lot of money on machinery to do hammer forging.

Btw if you want to shave some cost of your rifle you should keep a eye out in the classifieds .
most parts and rifles never see more than a few hundred rds before they end up for sale because original buyer either over spent or decided on something different or got drunk with obsession to build a certain AR and then sobered up or someone spent so much on their rifle that they could not afford to feed it when they finished.

 

[eldbillbo]

Here is a good thread to watch

http://www.northwestfirearms.com/threads/official-ar15-type-rifle-personal-review-tread.72812/

 

[cookie]

I would buy an off the shelf Bravo Company ,Daniel defense or a Colt model and sleep at night. The building it is no big whop and other than a true milspec type quality rifle no more is needed and if you don't understand exactly what milspec is read Bravo company descriptions. There is a difference in quality. Parts aren't parts,,, and even with the price difference between a Rock Rivers price vs the Giessel the Giessel is by far the better trigger and if you want a great trigger a Rock river is not great.

 

[eldbillbo]

Thats good advice from cookie unless you just want the satisfaction of building it yourself you can always add on and replace as you go on .

 

[Kevinkris]

yea, i could easily get a great rifle for cheap but i would much prefer to build it from the ground up. i have been scouring the classifieds for good deals, i even have an ad looking for a stripped lower in the items wanted section. until i get a few of the base parts i wont be making any purchases for some others. i wouldnt want to get a hand rail thats too long or too short for a barrel i choose for instance. i also dont feel too good about buying a bolt assembly that wont fit my barrel either but i guess thats a little different too.

 

[ConcealedCarrie]

TWIMC: Rainier Arms in Auburn WA has some affordable Noveske stripped lowers and Daniel Defense lower parts kits in stock right now, I think.

The nice thing about a build is you can take your time and add quality as your budget allows. That said, I'd buy a Daniel for that money first...then start chipping away at a build.

My philosophy is always GET BOTH. LOL (Ditto on the Geissele advice. I have the SSA-E.)

 

[Will_Power]

yea, i could easily get a great rifle for cheap but i would much prefer to build it from the ground up. i have been scouring the classifieds for good deals, i even have an ad looking for a stripped lower in the items wanted section. until i get a few of the base parts i wont be making any purchases for some others. i wouldnt want to get a hand rail thats too long or too short for a barrel i choose for instance. i also dont feel too good about buying a bolt assembly that wont fit my barrel either but i guess thats a little different too.

Google search for Anderson Arms stripped lower.

Fairly often you can find them for sale for $50 + s/h.

 

[Mr Smith]

spikes tactical makes a good affordable stripped lower.

 

[rdt]

all AR bolt (and complete BCG) fit all AR barrels. unless you're going for a special caliber, so if you see a good deal on one theres no need to wait, and they hold value pretty good it seems.

FWIW: I get your question, except the $1500 price tag part. if you had a $650 price limit then yeah this would get real interesting. but $1500? Not that im saying youll have trouble spending that but you wont have to be penny pinching by going polymer. Unless youre also buying a NV optic and all the fashionable stuff...... Personally, for $1500, Id build two. . . .

If youre not taking this rifle out to varmint, dont worry about 1:9 cause its for bullets weighing less than 55gr. The military still uses 1:7 which favors the 62gr+ bullets IIRC. 1:8 is the hybrid. IMO just build a varmint rifle in 1:9 and a duty rifle in 1:7. Melonite sounds awesome but really, how long does it take you to shoot 7k rounds? it would take me years. thats 230 fully loaded 30rd mags BTW. Furthermore, if HD is the primary purpose, and rangetime with a nod to proselytizing is the secondary purpose, then CQB should be the primary design, with some attention to medium range accuracy. You dont own a grenade launcher so you dont need a M4 profile. If youre going to spend extra on the barrel get fluting and/or polygonal rifling.

Seems to me theres a way to mount stuff on most handguards nowadays, so the revolutionary utility of the quadrail doesnt exist anymore. plus it IS NOT COMFORTABLE. also, where will you put your hand if you fill the rails? BTW, what did you mean by a "not too long" handguard?

Get a decent bolt for 110, milspec. Spend 80-100 on a lower. get a plain jane LPK for 50-70, one with magpul MOE PG and TG if you can find it. you can upgrade the trigger later if you just cant stand the milspec. buffer tube assemblies can be found for 35. get a 14.5" 1:7 chrome barrel for 130 and have a $50 flash hider (with good night vision reviews) pinned on. lo pro gas block 20-50. gas tube 10. Spend $80 on a sopmod style buttstock, the bravo b5 or acs make sure your stock matches your buffertube (com. vs mil.) get a diamonhead VRS-T handguard for 160. expect to put 50-150 into BUIS, and look in to the tritium inserts for nocturnal HD. put a bushnell trs-25 red dot on top for 100.

about $1000 for a DIY HD carbine. going with the classic M4 look can knock that down to $700.

Then spend the rest of your $1500 on ammo and/or a practical carbine class (or the prerequisite classes.) or a second rifle, for your GF. . . .

The only tools needed really are a hammer, a couple punches, and a screwdriver. the buffer tube nut needs a spanner to torque, but you wont need a barrel nut wrench if you go the diamond head route. have lube and masking tape handy.

personally i use a shotgun for HD. For reasons stated by many others elsewhere.

 

[Kevinkris]

rdt, i have to say the is an info rich post. not to bash the others but per letter, you definitely added a lot to the things i should look into. when i said "not too long" i was referencing an occasion where i may buy a gas block that could impede a hand guard that needs to extend a bit further. at this point though, i think a low profile gas block may be what i choose though. this is because i want to free float the hand guard and it seems to be the light weight choice.

i do have an update too:

so ive been having a conversation with another member here and its likely i will be trading my 9mm witness p for a mega gator arms lower w/ stag arms ambi selector kit (has buffer tube but no stock), BCM 16" M4 barrel (BCM-BRL-S-MID-16 STD) and PWS compensater. we still need to meet and further agree but we have hashed out a pretty good understanding of terms though.

from that point, it leaves me to pick a upper, hand guard, gas block and tube, BCG and stock. i wont be making any purchases until next month but it will certainly bring down the amount of waiting time i had planned for and may get me out to the range for some trigger time this summer.

ive been eyeballing the magpul UBR stocks but i really dont think it would be worth my cash to get one at that price when the have some just as functional for less though.

i also cant help but think i should get a BCG from BCM though. how reliable is it to get a BCG and barrel to match up from different producers? from what i understand i can get just about any mil spec BCG and still have great function, reliability and accuracy as any premium parts. i would hate to buy an expensive part that really doesnt have any effect on the way the rifle function. i am meticulous with cleaning my firearms so i dont think i will need top names for it. gas block and tube the same thing too.

as far as free floating the barrel, will i need to hold off on putting my barrel on until i get the hand guard due to a possible need for a different castle nut? ive seen many hand guards that go right on to the standard nut but it seems to me, i should get a good one for the best function. as i understand it, for best results for accuracy. as i understand it, i should pay more attention to the BGC, barrel, hand guard and trigger. is that correct?

 

[rdt]

the bolts are standardized. much below $110 they are either on sale or using less than mil spec metals but they will will be machined correctly or else be replaced under warranty. as price climbs above 110 you're getting better than phosphate finishes like the one eldbillbo mentioned.

look up the bravo b5 stock. wish I'd tried it out before I went magpul, the $40 I'd have saved could have gone to a better finish on the bcg etc. I notice no one is reselling b5 stocks relative to magpul

word on the street about gas blocks is that taper pinned > clamp on > set screw. I would go with a budget clamp on, it has good mechanical lock no permanent barrel modification and no gun smithing.

about the barrel nut: yes you'll have to wait. the "drop-in" type handguards use the original barrel nut, delta ring, and handguard cap to trap the HG between the gas block and the upper. they are not are not free floating. i believe DD makes free float rails with a hole for for the fsb to jut up through but they still need a propriety barrel nut to give them a place to artach to. each manufacturer seems to have their own barrel nut and associated wrench. I like the diamondhead stuff cause the wench is a regular hex head combo wrench and there's no clocking to accommodate the gas tube. also there are monolithic uppers where the handguard and upper are one solid piece of aluminum. vltor i think? and others. not sure what barrel nut they use.

 

[Kevinkris]

i like the idea of the monolithic upper. it took me a while to find a few examples and the cheapest one i found was the mega arms version http://megaarms.com/ar-15/upper-receivers/mkm-ar-15-keymod/. convenient because the before mentioned trade that should be happening for me includes a mega arms lower, so my finish will match up and the exterior edges will too. as far as i can tell this is still cheaper than buying an upper and rail separate too. it may have a negative effect on resale value to some but i really cant see premium hand rails on a standard upper being better for accuracy than this type of upper either. the stock you recommend seems like a great value too.

 

[Doc In UPlace]

Bill Geissele provides excellent customer service, too. I wrote an email to them about slave pin for large diameter Colt lowers and he responded personally that same day. That's a quality that is really appreciated and not really apparent in print ads.
They claim, and I have no reason to doubt it, that the SS-A trigger was created to combine the most-requested characteristics submitted by SEAL team members for a combat trigger. I sure like mine, and installation was a breeze- they have a video of Geissele doing an install step-by-step.

 

[Kevinkris]

yea, i found that video too. it looks like its pretty simple and most reviews back up their clain to quality.

 

[Kevinkris]

okay, so im having a crisis on conscious. is it wrong to fall in love with a russian lady considering all the recent problems? i got to fire an AK-47 just recently and i cant help but like it more than the AR-15. now so far i dont have anything other than research time put into my AR project but the other problem is there are only so many ways i can make the AK fit my personal preference on shooting. i think the thing i liked the most was the angle of the stock. i have trouble finding a comfortable firing position with the AR but the AK seemed to almost fit like a glove.

of course the AK is a bit less accurate than an AR in repeat firing it does have more knockdown force for HD, which is why i wanted a semi-auto rifle in the first place. im just torn at this point lol.

 

[GunRightsCoalition]

I have an easy solution for that. Get one of each.

 

[Kevinkris]

if only my girlfriend would approve

 

[tacticalgunner]

if only my girlfriend would approve

Sounds like an easy choice, you said "girlfriend". Difference in being married and having a girlfriend is the girlfriend has a return policy, and a wife doesn't. We'll technically they do to, just you have to keep paying on it.

"Men, if you have a girlfriend that tries to curb your spending habits, men, you have an ex-girlfriend!

Just flipping you crap. My wife still thinks my SCAR was only 750.00

 

[Kevinkris]

lol

its fair for my girlfriend to have some budget concerns when we are both paying the same bills. really though, she just doesnt want me to have a stack of firearms though. she's okay with me buying them so long as i carefully budget them and i dont buy more than a handful.