to build or buy whole?
 

im lookin to get an AR-15 in the future. the question is, is it cheaper to buy the parts and build it yourself, or buy a gun that already put together and ready to go?

also, why would you build/why would you buy whole?

RE: to build or buy whole?
 

Cheaper to buy a whole gun.
Buying a barrelled receiver without stock or forearm will cost nearly as much as the entire rifle. If you only want to change out the forearn or buttstock, buying the entire rifle is still a smarter move.

IMO the only time buying any rifle as different parts and putting them together yourself makes any sense is when you have a strong desire for a highly customized rifle.

RE: to build or buy whole?
 

I had the same question, and I studied the facts as well as I could. I found I could buy a parts rifle for about $100 to $150 less than a fully factory assembled gun. The problem is you have a parts gun. I bought the RR complete rifle. My final thought was resale value. I felt it was worth the extra. I also believe there is a different tax on a complete rifle, versus a parts gun. But I am not positive about that. Tom.

RE: to build or buy whole?
 

You need to go sign up for www.ar15.com

They will have the answers for you - bottom line? It depends if you try to get one stripped down or will you get the bug and start adding rails, lights, ACOG sights etc etc... It CAN be cheaper (I think you can save a tax if you buy the upper and lower at different times), but there are some really inexpensive basic ar-15s out there.

The cheapest I've seen (I'm thinking about getting one actually) is the Olympic Arms 'Plinker' http://www.olyarms.com/?rootView=bro...;ids=plinker-s

also, Impactguns has a very wide selection of AR-based guns - I use it to windowshop and get ideas:


http://www.impactguns.com/store/ar15.html



Hope that helps =)

PS - they make ARs in other calibers as well, FYI

RE: to build or buy whole?
 

It is cheaper to build. You don't have to pay taxes on it that way.

You can also set it up however you want.

Check out Rock River Arms. They'll get you a great gun for good money and it is Guaranteed to shoot!

RE: to build or buy whole?
 

Checkout CMMG.They make good guns and you can spec them with different options(sites,trigger,hand gaurds....) and they give you life time warranty.Then the hard part of getting affordable ammo!

RE: to build or buy whole?
 

I built my own out of solid Bushmaster parts and saved about $200 from the website price. Even when I compared it to my local gun dealers, it was still quite a bit cheaper, and I got to choose all the features I wanted.

RE: to build or buy whole?
 

buy complete so you get a warriny