Why you should build your own AR

**Planktime** · Posted On: 5/03/2006 11:36pm

Gun nut friends,
Recently I decided I would build a tactical AR 15 from scratch to see if it was cheaper then say buying one from my local gun store. I think you will find this interesting.

First I started by going to my local gun store, a lovely place in Loveland Colorado called Jensen’s. They have almost everything for the military/law gun nut. Their Prices are fantastic and selection is great. So I purchased the only part you have to fill out the federal paperwork from these lovely folks. Then for my birthday (back in November) my father got me a lower parts kit pictured here. Included here is a trigger kit along with the standard lower parts. Trigger kit is a must unless you like having an 8lb trigger pull.

With these parts and some help from my old man it took about 20 minutes of work before I had this. Total cost.
$109.00 lower receiver
$49.00 Lower parts kit.
$12 Brownell trigger kit.
Tax included it turns out to be $188.00 Rounded up.

It is a standard Rock River Arms lower with a DPMS part kit. Pretty basic as AR's go but I was attempting to build a simple tactical rifle for the lowest price possible.
Next I went to my local gun show and since I dislike the collapsible M4 stock I put on a standard A2
$60 A2 stock
$248 Total

Since the above is only half a gun I needed an upper. Well I forgot to take pictures of the DPMS upper, Bolt, Part kit, Barrel, Barrel extension, Flash suppressor, or Cheap ass Point sight. I can however tell you it took about an hour to put it all together into this.

Upper $89.00
Upper Parts kit. $68.00
Bolt Carrier Assembly $134.00
Barrel+extension $175.00
Cheap Ass point sight $30.00
2 Magazines $40

Grand Total $784.

After all that work you put 2 and 2 together and you get a full AR. Here is my lanky ass holding it. (Notice the good finger discipline.)

As you can see it is a decent shooter even at 100 yds with $30 point sight from K-mart.

Compare that to the recomened price of say one of these

Bushmaster

Rockriver

Tell me what you think.

PT

**SFGOON** · Posted On: 5/04/2006 12:41am

You can get an AR for about that price by shopping smart. I got my olyarms AR for about 1100$ which isn't bad.

**jubei33** · Posted On: 5/04/2006 6:56am

Yeah thats true, but I think for the DIY crowd its an interesting read. Cheers

**Carpe Noctem** · Posted On: 5/04/2006 7:23am

AR's are like Legos. Especially with a good rail system. You can just keep adding on...of course making sure you don't overdo it and having your M4gery end up weighing more than a SAW...

**SFGOON** · Posted On: 5/04/2006 9:04am

Another thing I could throw in is the fact that you don't really need to invest a lot in a lower, if it works it works so if you're going to save money do it there. DO NOT skimp on the barell - buy it new and get a new bolt to go with it. Unless you plan on using it for a high level competition DO NOT get a ultra-accurate barell, the chamber is cut ultra tight in those and it is prone to jam. The reciever and the bolt carrier don't have to be perfect, but I highly reccomend you get a "bead blasted" bolt carrrier that can accomodate some dirt.

**Planktime** · Posted On: 5/04/2006 9:52am

Good comments here are a few counter points, and comments of my own.
I spent the most money on my barrel and bolt carrier. Third in that list was the lower. I spent 109.00 on the lower which was a decent price when I shopped around. The total price of the Gun was 748.00 which is between 100 and 400 dollars cheaper then you can buy a complete gun in Colorado. Average is about 900. However for a flat top with fluted barrel, the cost sits right around $1100 here. So you look at what I paid comparatively you are still better to build your own.

As for jamming and tightness, I fired about 100 rounds yesterday to test the weapon out. No mis-fires, no Jamming, no multi fires. 100 rounds isn’t a lot but for a gun I built in my basement that I did all the work on putting it together. I also have the added advantage of knowing what parts it came with, Choosing where to be cheap and where to put in good ****, and knowing exactly how it works and how to fix it if it breaks.

**Archr5** · Posted On: 5/04/2006 12:52pm

Originally Posted by SFGOON

You can get an AR for about that price by shopping smart. I got my olyarms AR for about 1100$ which isn't bad.

i've heard very little good about Olympic. In fact i don't think i've heard Anything good about olympic when compared to other manufacturers.

how is yours treating you?