Good Idea to buy AR parts kits?

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castile

castile

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What are your feelings on buying lower complete parts kits and other parts before there is a run on these? My LGS had several 30 round AR mags and he said they bought over 100 and they are flying out the door at 18 bucks each and they are not any Pmags or other good known mags. Some off brand mag in a plastic sleeve. I see mags have went up about 80 percent. What was 6 and 7.99 is not 15 give or take. So its not crazy time but its went up for sure. I still see AR complete lower Military spec parts kits for 45 bucks from places like Optics Planet. Any thoughts?
 
Buy a lpk if you need one.

There's still 10/$100 magpul deals to be found online.

I still see Anderson lowers going for $50 and Aero for under $80.

I've actually seen more AR parts get in stock over the last 30-60 days and it appears things might be getting better.

If you are planning a build, go ahead and start one. If you just want to hoard, you should have started that 12+ months ago and personally I'd prefer to not contribute to the supply problem right now without an immediate need.
 
People make big $ on stock market futures and have nothing but paper to hold or not even that !. Imagine a $1400 stimulus check being spent on say three lowers and LPKs , three cheap complete upper kits for $300 each and the balance in mags ? With a day or so labor and when new ARs have gone the way of the dodo in the USA they will be worth triple your investment a few days before it goes into effect. Or if freedom and liberty survives you make a little or break even after you keep the best one. In worst cases and it is an blood bath , with ammo you be sitting good with friends. :)
 
Thanks for the heads up I just bought 10 more Pmags for 9.38 each M2. That is a very good price. They will be valuable in the next few years.
 
earlthegoat2 said:
If you plan on building an AR ever again in the future, the time is now to buy the parts.
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This is good advice. I know most people are going nuts on ammo and reloading components, but I'm loading up on rifle parts: upper receivers, barrels, BCGs, LPKs, "barrel shrouds" (lol), muzzle devices, etc. The parts are available now, get them while the gettin' is good.
 
Some extra parts aren't a bad idea but to me an AR is of pretty limited utility so I'm never going to stack them deep. Great for fun and great for home defense, and you can stockpile a decent amount of ammo pretty cheap (normally).

Magazines...get good ones and I don't think it makes a ton of sense to stockpile them excessively - 8 or 10 per rifle is plenty, imo. Even that may be a little heavy. A civilian AR doesn't lose much utility with 10 round mags vs 30.
 
I have over 150 30 round mags and will sell when they go up and I bet tomorrows rent they will go up. Parts the same. Back in the day you could go to a gun show and get M16 parts no questions asked. Not sure if you can any more. I never bought the M16 parts but you would see people paying cash for a bunch of them. And the extender for the colts that had the cut out for the bolt carrier.
 
I for one won’t spend deeply on parts I don’t like, so a basic LPK is 1/2-2/3 of the way toward what I prefer. I don’t throw A2 grips in the trash but I don’t use them either.

To me an LPK is a good spring kit and individual controls bought piecemeal. If however they are available and reasonable, you might hedge your bets.
 
If you want one and it's here, go for it. We've seen banic demand shocks frequently enough to know that waiting a year or two is no sure thing.

I wouldn't consider them an investment though. Sure, you can make money in demand spikes, but look at what $100 put in the S&P 500 20 years ago would be worth today. And it's a safer bet than it may appear... the govt has shown for multiple decades now and through multiple crises that they will protect investors' asset prices at all costs to themselves. I don't think that's wise policy, but might as well take advantage of it.
 
Now might not be a bad time to pick up a spare AR LPK and a spare bolt and/or bolt rebuild kit, extractor, extractor springs, etc... a few spare magazines isn't such a bad idea either. They are stupid cheap right now and I'm a lil surprised there hasn't been a surge in demand sending the price to skyrocket.....
 
I don't really get the whole idea of buying a bunch of parts on speculation. We have no idea what the law would wind up being... something as drastic as simple possession of an AR lower, for example. You bought 10 of them... but if you can't sell them without the risk of winding up in the Federal Pokie, well... what good are they? Same with magazines, and perhaps other specific parts, or even ammunition like M855 (LAP.)

Buy what you need for YOU. I have 1 uncompleted lower left upstairs... I'm just putting the pieces together for the build, that's all. I realized I was a little low on 20rd AR mags, so I bought another 6. I have no need... or use for... something like 100 AR mags, for example.
 
Charles you miss the point. If anyone knows what they are doing there is a lag time between legislation being passed and it taking affect. Just like with Bump stocks. There was a lag time to sell them before they were illegal. Same with mags, ARs or parts. I doubt they will ban parts but who knows. Now with the new shooting in Boulder I would not bet they will get some bans passed. In-between the time a bill passes and its taking affect there will be a rush to buy. Around here mags are double priced from a year ago and there is no ban and people are snapping them up. So if one has a few hundred 10 dollar mags and prices go to 50 or up you can dump 75 or so and make a profit. Its capitalism at its best. I just bought and to think I saw it on Mulburry street for 1.50 at a local antique store and resold it for 300. Now Monopoly games are being PC and changed so they are starting to go up, same with old videos of loony toons and others. I am all up on making a profit. To me its dangerous to buy hand sanitizer that goes bad over time, and will come down in price, but a 30 round mag at prices that are as cheap as they ever will be you can wait 15 years and still be OK.
What else are you going to do with your money put into a CD for .052 percent?
 
My 457b jumped a healthy $13k in two weeks, more than I could make selling magazines on a street corner. Again the object for most individuals is to have what they feel is necessary, parts to maintain, and perhaps a wee bit more JIC.

Got an extra $50? Buy a spare magazine then fill every empty gas can you own before Memorial Day. What you save on gas will likely outweigh any profit you can make on a 30-rounder. Everyday investments are easy to overlook. If you need magazines, take that $50 and buy 4.
 
I also have 400k in my wife and my IRA invested into good solid stocks like ko, PSX, CVX,T, DUK,ED and others . Its gained a lot but in the last three days its also given back. Its the way of the market. But I am referring to pocket cash laying around. I gained 30k in the last two months and have given back about 9 grand in the last couple days. I don't count investment money as money to play with on buying things to sell. I make a clear profit of 15 to 20 grand a year buying things repairing and selling them. Vintage fans, things that are rare but you have to know your market such as books and other vintage items.
 
My LGS was selling aluminum stripped lowers for $300 and polymer ones for $50. I had planned on picking up at least 2 receivers for future Biden builds but not at those prices for aluminum.
 
I would not buy poly. I sold one and it busted first time out on the guy. Buy 80 percent for 40 bucks and a jig. Put them away for future builds.
 
I bought 3 Anderson stainless trigger LPKs for 100$ from a LGS, he said no one was interested in them, he had Anderson lowers for 50$ and Aero for $80, I thought both were a little high so I passed, I want to build another AR but prices are on average about double what they were, mags are running a little higher but not ridiculous.
 
castile said:
Charles you miss the point. If anyone knows what they are doing there is a lag time between legislation being passed and it taking affect.
Click to expand...

Actually, no, I don't miss the point. Buying a bunch of stuff I don't need or want, rather, buying stuff I need just for myself is the point. 'If anyone knows what they are doing...' is not something I would say about the current Administration... it would not surprise me if they passed any sort of Bill or law that went into effect immediately, or so quickly there was very little lag time, as you say. I could even see it going retroactive, like Bill Clinton's tax hike some years ago.

I'll even go further... You mentioned...

castile said:
Its capitalism at its best.
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I dare say what you propose is part of the overall problem with supply right now. Those of us who are trying to buy firearms, ammo, and parts and components as a matter of course, not for some speculative investment, are thwarted by those who have selfishly bought up a bunch of product they don't really need, simply for speculation, and the opportunity to turn a dime. Yes, you could say it's 'capitalism,' and I would agree, but I wouldn't say it's '...at it's best.' YMMV.
 
People who do not stock em cheap and deep are the ones who always whine when we have dry times like these. Charlie a word of advice next time guns and ammo are deep in the toilet like a year ago, buy it and stock it up. I know of several people who put away over 200k rounds of ammo and mags and guns and put them away. They still reload and still have thousands of bullets and primers and pounds of powder. They are the only ones at the range these days.
 
herrwalther said:
My LGS was selling aluminum stripped lowers for $300 and polymer ones for $50. I had planned on picking up at least 2 receivers for future Biden builds but not at those prices for aluminum.
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$300 for stripped lowers is nuts! Good grief they're not banned yet. I picked up a couple stripped Spikes lowers from one of my LGS a week ago for $100 each. Anything more than that is highway robbery.
 
brands like NHMTG/Okay industries and D&H are the most common "Off brand" mags, and they are very good. NHMTG is not even an off brand, its THE brand, but they don't have the marketing, so their names not out there. Few people have problems with PMags, NO ONE has problems with the NHMTG, at least that I have met. Lancer, Hexmag and many more have excellent reputations. Now is not the time to invest. The DNC has made it clear they don't believe in the bill of rights. They have made it clear that ex-post-facto doesn't mean anything to them. Prices will come down, or your investment will be banned without grandfathering. Buy what you want, leave speculation for the mouth-breathing Aqualung types.
 
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