Poll: My first AR

[etrain16]

So, I just got an email ad from PSA:

Complete Rifle kit (minus lower receiver) - $499.99 plus free shipping: <broken link removed>

All you need to add is a stripped lower for $69.99: <broken link removed>

And there you have a rifle (with a little work by you) for under $600 (save for the shipping/transfer on the lower).

Some may disagree with me, but the 'blemished' PSA stuff, as are the links above, are hardly 'blemished' at all. I've had a number of PSA blemished stuff and it's often hard to find anything wrong with them.

 

[etrain16]

Ok im digging it now. So if i went with the first Barrel upper, and an Aero complete lower, I would just need the charging handle and Bolt carrier group in addition to that right?

Yep, you got it. Keep an eye on the barreled uppers, sometimes the do come with a bolt carrier group and charging handle. You might want to check out Alpha Shooting Sports for complete uppers too - since you like the free-float quad-rail look. They sometimes have some really great prices on uppers.

 

[Boboclown]

Some may disagree with me, but the 'blemished' PSA stuff, as are the links above, are hardly 'blemished' at all. I've had a number of PSA blemished stuff and it's often hard to find anything wrong with them.

This. Your AR is gonna have blemishes anyways.

 

[Joe13]

This. Your AR is gonna have blemishes anyways.

Yup, I like it when someone else gets the New off of it for me

Then I'm not the one that dinged it first and all the rest don't matter for a user/plinker.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

i build a bada$$ Aero precision rifle for my brother. it cost him $975 and it was what HE wanted. Big brother(me) did however hook him up with a few goodies for his b day.

-Gen 2 aero lower
-aero upper
-aero LPK
-aero UPK
-aero gas block and tube
-ares armor black nitride BCG
-anderson 16" carbine 1/8twist barrel
-15" utg super slim handguard
-daniel defense stock
-surefire procomp 5.56 mizzle brake
-spikes buffer tube with st-t2 buffer and spring
-JP yellows with a trigger polish job and hammer chop by me. its a 4lb 8oz-10oz trigger now.
-vortex strikefire 1 (b-day present from me. i traded another member here some 22lr and cash for)
-standard milspec charging handle (b-day present from me)
-MOE grip (b-day present)
-off brand polymer flip up sights that co witness his red dot.

overall a very quality rifle with VERY LITTLE felt recoil due to the brake and buffer choice in my opinion. we built it in my garage together.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

also, the problem that I, personally have is that i set out to spend $700 on a build and end up spending well north of 2k. for example:

 

[2A2Dend]

HA!! Welcome to the club!! That's not a "bad" thing. But getting the "goodies" can sure slow you down!!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I have put aside a couple hundred for flip ups/red dot thanks @etrain16 if i do end up with this one ill go through buds. I saw that deal posted earlier today for the M&P Sport, my thoughts were this would be a much better quality gun than the sport... at that price point i could get two and have one as a safe queen/back up! Thanks @Larrytpdx

Well, Logan, I have a S&W Sport 15 and it's very well made. Fit and finish are excellent, I was surprised, given its price. Haven't had any failures and it shoots great! I'm happy with it.
Obviously, I don't know your circumstance but I'd be more likely to spend less than $1,200 before I was more familiar with the AR platform!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I have put aside a couple hundred for flip ups/red dot thanks @etrain16 if i do end up with this one ill go through buds. I saw that deal posted earlier today for the M&P Sport, my thoughts were this would be a much better quality gun than the sport... at that price point i could get two and have one as a safe queen/back up! Thanks @Larrytpdx

BTW Logan, the S&W comes with an excellent MagPul flip up rear sight!

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

BTW Logan, the S&W comes with an excellent MagPul flip up rear sight!

i like the sport! the sport 2 comes with dust cover and forward assist as well!

 

[oli700]

I am finally in the process of getting my first AR. I have been searching daily for the past few months and believe i have found one in my price range that i like (ill leave the link below). I would like my first AR to be a 5.56 as price per round is within my plinking budget. I dont have or know anyone in my area with experience building one or i would be going that route. Budget is in the $900-1200 range. Any thoughts or comments immensely appreciated!

http://grabagun.com/cmmg-mk4-rce-5-56mm-rifle.html

That rifle has some decent parts and would probably be a good rifle
You should spend a touch of time scouring online shops for parts that really appeal to you and add up the cost you might be surprised and end up with something you like better for equal or less cash

Don't think anything about building, if you can take your time, have common sense and can follow a set of simple directions you too can build your own with all the online resources these days......just Brownells videos from their store front can walk you through.

good luck, the hardest thing about it all is the shear number of choices

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

So what would your $680 Franken AR build be? If i could make a beast with less money i would be up for that.

I have a CMMG lower, a cmmg LPK, magpul enhanced trigger guard, Magpul Grip, CTR stock, UTG buffer tube, milspec buffertube spring/buffer, PSA midlength upper, moe handguard, UTG Pro A2 style rear sight (post not handle)

I shopped around, none of those things were "on sale" either. Pretty much just purchased things online, the knly thing I got from a private party was the moe forearm, and even then it was only $8 cheaper than the "new" price.

So, the AR in question ($1100+) has a stainless barrel and a fancy forearm?
They sell complete stainless uppers all the time and for a decent sub 550 price sometimes cheaper than that when their are sales. And shoot forearms are a common used accessory in the private sale section and nearly always for sale online.
Perhaps a fancy muzzle device? Again, tons of them online even the expensive top of the line brand name expensive ones are getting sold or tradded for which can lower the cost.

If I had the funds I'd do a quick shop around right now and have everything in less than a couple weeks, which can be the shiplig time of most whole firearms sometimes (with crappy mail carriers) or forgetful FFLs.

The reason Im so opposed to buying certain ARs that are really run of the mill but being sold for $1000+ prices is because I fell for that when I first cheated on my russian girls (AKs).. Top of the line, all the bells and
whistles and had a super bottom barrel GI parts AR I built using groove joint pliers, WD40 a flat head screw driver and some tape so I wouldnt mar the lower.
Both shot side by side, priemium ammo and the same optic.. Both had near equal accuracy.. Then I did mag dumps with my crappy AR for fun and when I took friends or family out with the fancy one, because it was "cooler and more reliablerer so I wanted my friends and family to shoot "the best" so they'd have a good time.. Equal round count, equal accuracy.
Picked up another AR, then annother complete upper and later another lower.. All of them had equal accuracy (for barrel length types), reliability and shared optics.. All were near equal.. I mean so close I started to like ALL ARs.. Two I built two I bought with brand name price tags.

Down to two I built and pieced together. Sold the fancy pants ones to buy more AKs.

Long winded answer

 

[Brutus57]

So, I just got an email ad from PSA:

Complete Rifle kit (minus lower receiver) - $499.99 plus free shipping: <broken link removed>

All you need to add is a stripped lower for $69.99: <broken link removed>

And there you have a rifle (with a little work by you) for under $600 (save for the shipping/transfer on the lower).

Some may disagree with me, but the 'blemished' PSA stuff, as are the links above, are hardly 'blemished' at all. I've had a number of PSA blemished stuff and it's often hard to find anything wrong with them.

I agree, they (PSA) don't seem to be blemished much if at all. Me I am sold on my Aero lower, Not sure what LPK I used at this point (I ended up ordering 3 during the panic so I used whatever showed up first. One turned up like 4 months later). I did grab an ALG ACT which is nice for a SHTF carbine, smooth, nice break. Big difference in the trigger on the PSA complete pistola lower I just completed. It is notchy, but hey, for a complete lower that I paid $109 plus tax and transfer for. I am not complaining. It will get replaced at some point. Also the safety on PSA seems a bit soft, not as distinct as the Aero rifle lower I built. I got a good deal on a Radical firearms complete upper for the pistol, 199.00 10.5" melonited barrel.

I'd recommend Radical FA for an upper with a melonite barrel. If you want to spend a little extra you can't go wrong with a BCM upper.

Don't skimp on your barrel would be my advice. But I am not an experienced AR guy, it's all been research and OJT for me.

Brutus Out

 

[Ironbar]

I am finally in the process of getting my first AR. I have been searching daily for the past few months and believe i have found one in my price range that i like (ill leave the link below). I would like my first AR to be a 5.56 as price per round is within my plinking budget. I dont have or know anyone in my area with experience building one or i would be going that route. Budget is in the $900-1200 range. Any thoughts or comments immensely appreciated!

http://grabagun.com/cmmg-mk4-rce-5-56mm-rifle.html

I will tell you right now that I felt EXACTLY as you did about building my own AR, and then I found this video on youtube:

It was so simple watching this guy do it, that I went ahead and pulled the trigger so to speak. Glad I did. It was not only fun but educational, and I know more about my AR rifle by building it from scratch than I ever would have buying one pre-made. I had my doubts that I could do it, but with the assistance of those here on this forum, I made it through OK. I learned several lessons about what to do and what not to do when buying and building, that my next build will go MUCH more smoothly!

 

[etrain16]

I will tell you right now that I felt EXACTLY as you did about building my own AR, and then I found this video on youtube:

It was so simple watching this guy do it, that I went ahead and pulled the trigger so to speak. Glad I did. It was not only fun but educational, and I know more about my AR rifle by building it from scratch than I ever would have buying one pre-made. I had my doubts that I could do it, but with the assistance of those here on this forum, I made it through OK. I learned several lessons about what to do and what not to do when buying and building, that my next build will go MUCH more smoothly!

I've already watched that same video myself, twice, just in preparation for building my first AR. He did a great job on that video.

 

[oli700]

the video is an hour, takes like 20 minutes to do

 

[Boboclown]

You just need the tools, parts, and beer.

 

[CaseyAlbert]

While researching for my first AR a couple years ago, I was overwhelmed with all the brands and nomenclature. Besides that, everyone has an opinion, including me. I am in the process of building a couple of what I hope will be "ultra" accurate ARs for a friend and myself. I started with billet uppers and lowers(I chose billet after I had a bad experience with a "cheap" hammer forged upper receiver not fitting my other AR lowers due to poor quality control in drilling mounting holes(this is not to say billet is better, I just like the ones I purchased). I purchased Geissele SSA-E triggers when I found them for a good price. I learned the importance of good triggers several years ago, and can't praise these Geissele triggers enough. I replaced my "stock" XXX trigger that felt like a rusty rat trap in comparison. We installed the Osprey Defense Nickel Boron piston system on my son's first AR build, and despite the price and some initial minor teething problems, it is amazing how clean the gun runs! I also added a nickel boron bolt on his and the new ones under construction. I am going to purchase what are supposed to be "high end" barrels based on comments on forums that I have read.
For this new build, I have about $500 in receivers, $200 for the trigger, $420 for the piston system and bolt, and plan to spend about $300 for the barrel I have chosen. So I will have about $1420 in the base system, and will still have the furniture, handguard, optics, and basic hardware to boot. The cool part is that I will have a "build" that I researched and chose components for, and I will still have to tell my wife that it cost $499, no tax!

 

[pdxRealtor]

We just picked up Anderson Lowers for 50/each direct from Anderson. My buddy wanted the built in trigger guard and he's the one with AR knowledge so I've just been following his lead.

He's pretty fond of the PSA stuff. I picked up a 8.5" 1/7 twist complete upper for my 300 blk build (my first rifle) and a PSA premium BCG at his suggestion. That combined was 350.00. I'm also going to go with their polished / nickel plated single stage trigger/LPK.

A side from that I got the KAK arm brace/buffer tube kit. Can't remember the cost on it. I figure I'll end up between 6-700.00.

Hell, I may end up with an entire PSA rifle. Best suggestion I saw in this thread is pick up a few receivers. Put em' away.... they won't go bad, and you will build another.

So I guess the point is ... ya .... PSA for the win. ?

 

[Ironbar]

the video is an hour, takes like 20 minutes to do

Yeah, it takes 20 minutes for someone who knows what they're doing. For a novice it takes an hour or more on the first go-round.