ar build questions

**jd21** · November 24th, 2009, 10:43 PM

im looking to build an ar, ive never built one but i want to learn, ive been looking on gun broker at parts what i want to know is what are my limitations as far as different brands, i wanna buy a stripped lower, lower parts kit, upper without barrel, and a barrel. Does it matter what parts i get, ex: cmmg, stag, dmps ect. can i mix and match? thanks

**mrnyman** · November 25th, 2009, 12:57 AM

Building a complete kit is very educational and fun, but i wouldnt recommend it for a newbie, i would suggest you start out with a kit that has the upper already assembled, it will requre too much specialized tools that you probably dont have and will require to make a safe build, such as a go-no go gauges, torque wrenches, barrel vice , barrel clamp , headspacing gauges etc. buying all these will just blow any saving you will have realized.

Go for a kit, after you gain some experience then you can try a complete build.

Before you buy a kit go to www.ar15.com and educate yourself about the ar, i'm a member there too.

Nyman

**Legion_Prime** · November 25th, 2009, 05:50 AM

An assembled upper is definitly the way to go for a first build. A GO/NOGO guage you can get by without if you buy a barrel from a reputable manufacturer as the headspace is set when the barrel extension is installed. The lower can be built with a minimum of tools. While you can get it together with a pair of pliers, a set of pin punches is not that expensive and you will be far less likely to booger up your new lower. Parts can be mixed and matched but be sure to buy from good sources. G&R sells an excellent LPK and ones from stag are good also (I'm not up on whose one can find as I haven't been looking lately). There are plenty of resources out there with directions on how to assemble a lower, Midway has an excellent one I used with my first build. Just get a good forged lower, LPK and Receiver Extension and then just pick out an upper and furniture and you're basically done.
Some good sites to look through are
www.BravoCompanyUSA.com
www.MidwayUSA.com
www.Brownells.com
www.GandRTactical.com

Also I'd recommend www.M4Carbine.net as a dedicated AR information forum, ARFcom has too many idiots and too much BS to sort through for it to be really useful. That being said the ARFcom build forums do still have a great deal of good information, usually in the stickies, keep an eye out for anything posted by QUIB.

**mojo** · November 25th, 2009, 08:49 AM

Originally Posted by mrnyman

Building a complete kit is very educational and fun, but i wouldnt recommend it for a newbie, i would suggest you start out with a kit that has the upper already assembled, it will requre too much specialized tools that you probably dont have and will require to make a safe build, such as a go-no go gauges, torque wrenches, barrel vice , barrel clamp , headspacing gauges etc. buying all these will just blow any saving you will have realized.

Go for a kit, after you gain some experience then you can try a complete build.

Before you buy a kit go to www.ar15.com and educate yourself about the ar, i'm a member there too.

Nyman

Originally Posted by Legion_Prime

An assembled upper is definitly the way to go for a first build. A GO/NOGO guage you can get by without if you buy a barrel from a reputable manufacturer as the headspace is set when the barrel extension is installed. The lower can be built with a minimum of tools. While you can get it together with a pair of pliers, a set of pin punches is not that expensive and you will be far less likely to booger up your new lower. Parts can be mixed and matched but be sure to buy from good sources. G&R sells an excellent LPK and ones from stag are good also (I'm not up on whose one can find as I haven't been looking lately). There are plenty of resources out there with directions on how to assemble a lower, Midway has an excellent one I used with my first build. Just get a good forged lower, LPK and Receiver Extension and then just pick out an upper and furniture and you're basically done.
Some good sites to look through are
www.BravoCompanyUSA.com
www.MidwayUSA.com
www.Brownells.com
www.GandRTactical.com

Also I'd recommend www.M4Carbine.net as a dedicated AR information forum, ARFcom has too many idiots and too much BS to sort through for it to be really useful. That being said the ARFcom build forums do still have a great deal of good information, usually in the stickies, keep an eye out for anything posted by QUIB.

Can't say it better then what these two have said!