Putting together a cheap AR-15 thread

[Flopsweat]

When its all said and done I will have about 600 into my pistol build. Lower is ready to go. I'm shopping uppers now. Leaning towards 7". I want it as compact as possible.

I can tell you that a 12" AR is very loud compared to a 16" or 18" and that a 7" is louder still - a lot louder. It can have a spectacular flash with the right ammo too. I get a basketball sized flash out of mine with the cheap TulAmmo 55gr steel cased stuff. If it doesn't make it too long for what you're looking for you may want to add a "low concussion" compensator - a good one can make a big difference. I use a Vang.

It will probably be as accurate as any typical AR out to 50 yards but look for shot groups to open up noticeably somewhere around 100 yards depending on the gun and the ammo. You're not pushing the round as fast, so it's not spinning as fast either, and therefore won't be as stable as it could be. If it's going to be for defense you'll want to choose ammunition carefully. I'm not familiar with terminal ballistics from such a short barrel but I would assume that any round that relies on fragmentation or tumbling would be severely compromised by the loss in velocity - figure about 100 FPS per inch from 18" in.

While it might not be my first choice for personal or home defense (especially at night), it makes for a very handy and very sexy looking gun, and will be a lot of fun on the range.

 

[Pandaz3]

Yes I made a 8.5 with a Aero Precision upper and it had a Kaw Valley Linear Compensator which lessens the noise to the shooter. Spent way too much, but I don't care it is a home defense gun for the Warden and she likes it.

 

[Kruel J]

I'm building mine, well, just because. I picked up an Anderson stripped lower and have been building it as money allows. Since I already have a couple of carbine length AR's I figured why not make this a pistol. I'm sure it will be loud and I'm not expecting high accuracy. I figure a 50 yard and under gun. I'm excited to get my upper. But its gonna have to wait until my next paycheck darn it!!

 

[Pandaz3]

It will still be more accurate than a ordinary handgun, more ammunition capacity, and more punch.

Oh and nothing wrong with the Anderson lowers, they have a "Horsepower" logo kind of like Colt does.

 

[Flopsweat]

It will still be more accurate than a ordinary handgun, more ammunition capacity, and more punch.

Oh and nothing wrong with the Anderson lowers, they have a "Horsepower" logo kind of like Colt does.

I know a lot of folks who have built perfectly decent guns from Anderson lowers. The price may be great and the logo may be ugly, but the receiver works just fine. A buddy of mine and I each built an AR from one of them and we're both very happy.

 

[Kruel J]

I'm perfectly fine with mine. I guess I don't really care what the logo looks like.

 

[nehalemguy]

You can't see the logo when firing.

E

 

[Kruel J]

You can't see the logo when firing.

E

Nailed it!

 

[edslhead]

I used an Anderson on this one and I hit the target 4 outa 5 times

 

[B5Ben]

I love Anderson lowers. At $37 each plus shipping, there is no room to complain. You can't even get an 80% for that plus time to mill and cerakote/anodize.

 

[Pandaz3]

I used an Anderson on this one and I hit the target 4 outa 5 times

That is because you are supposed to Zero the sights first! Hee He Hee Haw.

You have a Nice looking gun,
I am gathering AR-308 parts, using Aero Precision upper and lower, but then it is what I can get along with what I already had. Like I had a Ergo F93 stock that I had bought for my Armalite AR-10 (It has a A2 style rifle stock, but now I want to keep it that way.) It is a nice and expensive stock, now I will put it to use. When I bought my Armalite I also mistakenly bought 10 PMags, which were useless in that model AR-10. (I since bought metal mags for it) so I had plenty of suitable mags for a DPMS style AR-308. Right now I am shy of a barrel, and lower parts kit. I have rear sights and gas block height front sights so I'll have to see how the front will work out to know if I need something different for that.

 

[slimmer13]

Nothing against Anderson but there is no real cost saving after shipping and transfer fee when you can go to the LGS and buy an Aero for $70 out the door.

 

[edslhead]

My local LGS has Andersons for $59 out the door.

 

[nehalemguy]

I bought four Anderson lowers online at $29 each and ended up at $37.75 each out the door. At that price they could have Hillary Clinton for a logo and I wouldn't care.

Well.....maybe I would.

E

 

[Flopsweat]

I bought four Anderson lowers online at $29 each and ended up at $37.75 each out the door. At that price they could have Hillary Clinton for a logo and I wouldn't care.

Well.....maybe I would.

E

You could always engrave horns on the top of her head. Would that help?

 

[B5Ben]

Wideners has them for $37 each plus shipping and transfer. Not bad if you ask me.

 

[notazombie]

Pretty decent deal on 80%ers for those who don't like lists.

 

[Pandaz3]

Pretty decent deal on 80%ers for those who don't like lists.

And for a router based Jig, Blitzkrieg Tactical has one ..., kind of pricey though

 

[Pandaz3]

I bought a Delton lower for $49 in 2012 and I have not paid more than $70 except for a billet receiver. (I like that billet receiver, but I see no real advantage to it except I can stick my nose up a little higher in the air, makes me feel very elite)

That Delton has a $160 CMC trigger and a cheap ($99 including stock and buffer) Palmetto Parts kit. the Upper was $500 from Armalite, including BCG and standard CH. So about $810 before sights or Optics.

 

[rdb241]

I built this AR-22lr for pretty cheap. I found the entire 22lr dedicated upper on line for $225.00 with two 30 round mags. Because it is only 22lr, the upper is made of polymere composit. So I found on line a 80% Polymere lower for $100.00 and machined my own receiver. I have $45.00 in the the Magpul stock, on line. Another $60.00 dollars for the buffer tube parts and I already had a LPK in my parts stash. Oh and $20.00 bucks for the Tapco hand grip. So I am into this for a total of $450.00 or so. Not bad.