Whats the difference when they are all the same!?!?

[Son]

Hello PAFOA, Son here with a new question. Me and my father have decided to build our very own rifles, in particular AR-15s. I have been scouring the interweb for know how on the weapon, and we have decided to build ours from scratch, searching the web for good quality parts at good prices instead of buying a whole rifle at once, then building them together, a bit of father son bonding as it were...touching I know. But, I HAVE QUESTIONS! and hopefully you have answers! First, is this a good idea? would it be cheaper to look for a cheap rifle altogether or to shop for deals on parts then build? Second, are lower receivers made by different companies really different at all!? Is a receiver made by Magpul different as opposed to one made by ATI or Bushmaster? If so What is a good solid brand of AR-15 parts that i can get for a good price?

-Your Son

[Steve_NEPhila]

Your first question is if this project is a good idea, my opinion is that you would be better served buying a used Bushmaster then building something similar. The market is down for black rifles, and there are plenty out there to be had lightly used for a great price. You two can still do some bonding at the rifle range.

Cheaper is not always better, as the saying goes "you get what you pay for." I would rather have one really good AR (my bushmaster is pretty awesome) they one or two that I built from the cheapest components available. I think many people go into a project like building an AR15 thinking they will save money. If saving a few hundred dollars is your only goal just buy cheap ammo and shoot a good rifle.

Yes, lower receivers are different. There are good ones and there are shitty ones and everything in between.

I will digress, yet used complete rifles like Bushmasters are all over the used market for great prices. Long gone is the 2008 Obama scare when stores were cleaned out of semi auto rifles.

[SGTUSArmy]

I am going to disagree with the previous respondent..

Yes it is cheaper.
Yes it is better.
Yes it is a good idea.
No they are not all the same. That would be saying that a Ford Ranger (4 cylinder) was the same as a Dodge Ram 3500 Diesel.

While yes the market is down and prices of a pre-built rifle is down, that is if you can find the one you want. It is a good idea because I know that before my dad passed away, we had plans to do the exact same thing upon my redeployment stateside.

I'm not going to go point by point, but if you ask 10 people, you will get 10 different answers for different reasons. What it boils down to is this: Is that what you and your dad want to do?

[IronButt]

I'll agree, in part, with both previous posts.

Sometimes you can get a good used AR for a nice price, but not always. There are even good new ones, like Spikes that are inexpensive.

Can you save money by building your own? Yes, but not always.
Will a build be better? Depends on the quality of parts you buy.
Is it worth it? I can think of many less productive & rewarding ways to spend my time & money.

[JesterPgh]

I just finished building a Bushmaster XM15E2S. I'm into it for a total of about $780.00, including the FFL fees when I bought the lower. I used all new parts, but it had to be a Bushmaster, or I could have done it cheaper. I don't feel overly impressed with the Bushmaster, not that it's a bad rifle, but my other AR (Stag Model 1) has better fit, finish, and accuracy, and I bought it complete, BNIB for less than it cost to build the Bushy.

[YBNORMAL]

IMO, you might (some things you may have to be used or like new)) be able to build a rifle from parts that you want, for less than you would pay for a base rifle that bushmaster built and then add the stuff you wanted(lets say you wanted a Bushy).

The great thing about building one is that you can put all the stuff you want on it and nothing you don't, so you won't have any "take offs", or parts that you took off the factory rifle so you could put on what you want, this is where you will "save" money.

It's like what happens to people that start reloading, you start to reload so ammo is cheaper, but you end up shooting more. This is not a bad thing, it's a great thing in fact. But in the end you didn't really save yourself any money since your shooting more but paying less.

So with your built rifle that has all the goodies that you want on it, you will pay less than the guy that started with a factory rifle and then had to add things as he went. But you wont pay less than the guy that just got a factory/basic rifle and left it alone versus you who built a basic rifle and left it alone.

I guess the real question you/we need to ask is, do you want to build a basic AR, or do you want some goodies?

Iirc, all AR lowers are made by only a handfull of companies and then are sent away to become whatever brand is making the AR. I think Lewis machine and tool is one of them. (been a whille since I researched any of this) Google "the chart"

Depending on what type of quality you want, you should get a lower made by "that" company.

IMO, the higher end of the Quality spectrum are things like LWRC, LMT, etc. Middle-Upper would be RRA, S&W. Middle-lower would be Stag, etc. And Lower would be Oly arms, etc. YMMV JMHO Many have strong opinions about this and we all know a guy who never had problems with this or that and hated this or that blah blah blah, take it for what it's worth and make sure you handle in person at a shop whatever it is you are thinking about ordering over the interwebs

YB

[JoshIronshaft]

^too much....check this out...

http://www.jsesurplus.com/custom16hb...ndard-2-1.aspx

Awesome deals on that site and I'm very happy with my purchase from them. I got my complete upper for like $300 (RRA bolt carrier, bulldog barrel, DSA upper, YHM brake, BCM charging handle), and then like $80 for a blemished DSA lower, $50 for timberwolf tactical LPK on sale somewhere, and $50 for a tapco collapsable stock. I ended up having $605 in a complete M4 profile AR before optics and accessories, and she runs like a sewing machine. No issues with steel case ammo or anything. And I put it together in my bedroom with a hammer and a punch. So easy to do with online tutorials.

[orionz06]

http://www.smartgunner.com/DanielDefenseURG.aspx

Anything less is robbing yourself.

[Suburban]

I doubt it will be cheaper to build a rifle from parts than to buy one. I built a 1911 from parts, because I wanted to, and it cost me a lot more than buying a higher end Springfield or whatever and modifying to suit myself.

If you know what you want, you may be able to save some money buying an upper, lower, LPK, and stock and piecing them together, but I'm not sure that really counts as building. You could easily knock out a couple rifles this way over a weekend, with time to test-fire.

Building from stripped upper and lower forgings will take quite a bit longer, require specialized tools, and will probably cost more than is really practical, or sane. However, there is a certain amount of "fun" in it, if you liked playing with Lego or Erector sets.


Re: Lowers
All the forged lowers are pretty much the same. There's like 4 forges that make lowers for 3 dozen odd brands. There were some bad runs, that got sold off without full disclosure from a few less reputable mail-order houses though.

[IronButt]

I doubt it will be cheaper to build a rifle from parts than to buy one.

I've found this to be true in my case. Whenever I go fantasy internet shopping with the intention of building an AR, I end up with prices higher than any of the top tier rifles. Granted, I'm looking at the best parts du jouir for the fantasy build, but I wouldn't be satisfied with a build if I didn't use the best.

So, for me, I'd be better off just buying a DD or BCM & be done with it.