Tobe_B

For the last few months I have been pricing ARs of various calibers and brands and now I am thinking that it might be better to build one. The only problem with that is that I have never built a gun before, I have taken my rifle and shotgun apart to clean them, but other than that I have no experience with the assembly of firearms. Would it be possible for a beginner to assemble an AR and it be capable of shooting my target and not blowing up on me? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Tobe

Tobe_B

Thanks, I knew that all I need was the lower, but I didn't know if I was going to have to put together the barrel and the stock and the stuff in between. As long its a pretty simple project I should be able to get it done right the first time. My main goal however is to get something functional that is reliable. Any clue on the durability of the kits, or is it just like buying a rifle from the store?

stalkingbear

Tobe,what I would reccomend is for you to get a complete lower reciever,then choose between an complete upper reciever or assembling the upper/barrel/etc. Complete lower recievers are still reasonable in price and when matching upper to lower,all you have is 2 crosspins. If you're determined to build 1,be SURE to get dvd or manual with LOTS of pics in order to guide you thru it .

Tobe_B

Thanks for the advice, and yeah I am pretty determined to do this myself. Now I have another question, the caliber that I would really like is a .308, and I think that it is important to know that the whole reason that I am building this gun is for hog hunting, and not so much hunting as an attempt to take down some of the population on one of the ranches that I work on. I know that the .308 isn't the only caliber capable of killing a pig, but what I would really like to know is, if I can't build it in a .308, then what other caliber should I take a look at?

Tobe_B

The distant is anywhere from a few feet to about 300 yards, I really like the idea of getting a .243 though as well. And I don't at this point in time have the option of handloading. And as for the kit, I really need to know where to start, I don't want to order a bunch of stuff, then wait for weeks only to get the wrong stuff. I don't mind waiting, but at the same time I don't want to go bankrupt trying to build this either. Do you have any suggestions on any of that? And also, weight isn't a big factor, for the most part the only thing I will be carrying is the rifle and ammo, I don't believe in lugging around a lot of gear.

stalkingbear

Sounds like the ar 15 platform is all you need,out of all those choices rr mentioned,the .243 wssm,6.5 grendel,6.8 spc,and with proper bullets the .223,would be all you ever need for a 300 yard max hog gun.If you do opt for the AR-10 platform,you have choice of .243,.260,7mm08,308,.338 federal,and others I must have missed in my life sustaining coffee depraved state. The only bad thing about buying an complete lower reciever is you'll likely want to change out the trigger and possibly the buffer. When I bought a couple dpms bull barreled ARs,I installed jard single stage adjustable triggers in them resulting in additional 105$ each. In my opinion,the m-4 type collapsable buttstock isn't needed for most hunting/varmit shooting-coolness look aside,so I kept the rigid buttstocks. The only other change I made wasopting for free float tubes (30$). Except for caliber (and selective fire of course),these rifles are sure different than the M-16 that spawned them that (we used) years ago. I would highly reccomend you stay with "flattop" and bull barrel.
One note of caution-a lot of AR barrels/uppers,such as dpms,are designed for civilian round .223 instead of the gvmt 5.56x45 nato and I would adhere to that. Also stay away from the cheap steel cased imported 5.56 ammo as the lacquer coating on the cases WILL melt and gum up your chamber IF you shoot at high rate of speed enough to where your chamber gets hot enough,and if you wait until later to clean it after it cools back down,that gummy buildup will solidify again,creating a monster to clean. Stick to brass cased ammo and you'll be ok. Since it's 5.56 you shouldn't use it anyway tho. Guess I'll shut up now and let the real AR gurus help you as my specialty is in bolt actions-just wanted to share that with you and not trying to confuse you further. I KNOW I'm missing some pointers/parts reccomendations.The only reasons I have these is for yotes and fun. Does this mean you're going to invite those of us out to assist in hog depletion that was of help to you? hint hint

Briman

Easy as pie.
The only part of assembling a lower that can be screwed up is putting together the trigger guard- the receiver can be ruined if you go about it hamfisted.

Here's a very good guide to putting together a lower along with rebarreling an AR-15, I like their method of using vise grips for pushing some of the pins home- sometimes the pins fit very tight and are difficult to drive in with a hammer and pin punch:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=4&t=226782

Putting an upper together is very easy as well, but you need a few special tools (upper receiver vise block and barrel nut wrench). The most difficult things to do that require a machine shop (indexing, drilling and pinning a front sight tower, and headspacing) are almost always done already when you purchase a barrel. You can have a chamber custom cut and headspaced to a bolt, but it isn't necessary as AR-15 bolts and factory headspaced barrels are interchangeale.

Rootsy

What Briman said... I built my first AR earlier this fall from a very early DPMS stripped lower... With a DPMS LPK and TAPCO collapsable stock I had a complete lower done in about 25 minutes... With printed instructions as a guide from AR15.com.

I priced parts seperately vs a completely assembled upper and the price wasn't much different by the time I bought tools so I went an assembled DPMS upper route. 20" bull, free floated barrel, forward assist, flat top... 2 pins and she went together. Runs 100% with both factory 55gr Rem green / white box, IVI (Canadian) 5.56 NATO as well as my own 55 gr Nosler BT handloads... I have achieved 1/2 MOA with my handloads thus far...

My barrel is chambered for 223... 5.56 NATO causes an over pressure condition in it but I just had to try some to be sure... Be aware of this... There are some good articles on who what and why of this issue... I have no ruptured primers but they are flat as a pancake and the ejector button peels brass on the headstamp due to tightness of the case in the chamber after firing... Therefore I feed it properly...

I have right at about $700 into this gun (parts + shipping costs) less the bipod, millet rings and the Leupold that I had on another rifle... My 03 FFL gets me dealer pricing at places such as Midway USA & Brownells and saved me a couple of dollars on the LPK and stock, somewhere in the neighborhood of $15... Saved nothing on the upper as it was on sale (at dealer pricing).

Hopefully that gets you an idea... It's easy to do...

Griff in VA

What they said. I'm not a ARF guy as I don't care for the caliber, but even I am about to build one "for fun". I've purchased a striped lower and will begin assembling parts as I find good parts and great prices.

If you want to go easy, and inexpensively, try these guys: http://www.del-ton.com/ I understand that they make the best, quality but inexpensive stuff out there. You can put together one of their kits, plus a stripped lower, for around $750. Again, I am far from an ARF knowledge-source, but I try to learn a lot from those around me.

As for AR15.com, they may just be the largest and most knowledge-intensive firearm site I have ever seen. There is knowledge about every kind of firearm platform.


Edit: The link now works.

Tobe_B

Your link didn't work, do you have another one, and also, what caliber are you building?