AR: Parts kit, piece by piece, or completed rifle?

[epijunkie67]

Although I've got a 5.56 weapon I don't have an actual AR at this time. I bought a stripped lower a year or two ago that I haven't touched. I'm trying to decide what my best option is going to be.

What I'm wanting;
Decent quality weapon. Not match grade, not junk, just decent shooter.
Thinner barrel. Haven't decided on 16", 18", or 20" yet.
Probably flat top with flip up front and rear sights.
Decent trigger. Doesn't need to be match grade 2lb, just decent and crisp.
Reliability>Compatability>Accuracy>Finish>Name Brand.
I'd like to spend <$1000. $1200 at most.

I've thought about getting a parts kit but it seems like I'll get a more personalized weapon by buying individual parts. But of course it's more expensive that way. Or I could just buy a completed rifle from a decent manufacturer and call it a day.

What is going to be my best option that gets me a decent weapon at a decent price with the features I want?

 

[MMcfpd]

For finishing your lower you can get a White Oak Armory (+++) lower parts kit without a trigger group from ADCO and add a Geissele SSA trigger ($170) or wait a few weeks for Geissele's new $120 trigger that's supposed to be released at the SHOT show.

For a buttstock there are so many options you'll just need to sift through them for what you personally prefer. On the cheaper side I've used the low end CAR stocks with satisfactory results.

Flip up sight pairs are plentiful. I've used Troy, A.R.M.S., MI, YHM, Magpul, etc. My favorites for the sight picture are Yankee Hill's (YHM). The Magpul MBUS are the cheapest and I personally don't like them for a primary sighting system.

Upper options abound as well, but 16" lightweights can be had from Bravo Company. Whether you go with a BCM upper or not, you'll be hard pressed to do better than using one of their bolt carrier groups.

Since I need to go to work I can't put any more time in this now, but one way or another you can easily do what you want within your proposed budget.

 

[Tirod]

It's really about how much shipping and handling you can tolerate eating up the budget. I'm $650 into my build, and need the upper parts to assemble the barrel, handguard, and add a front sight. That will probably add another $100.

I went fixed stock and handguards. That saved me $300 over a free float, quad rail, or other silliness. None of that adds to accuracy, just preserves what the barrel actually does. About the only tradeoff there was a TD Battlegrip. I use the smallest I could find in the color I wanted.

Cut another $150 off for the fancy target trigger. I heard you say no 2# trigger, I've got a nice one just using a trigger travel adjustment screw. All good triggers have them (big honking hint, there,) and when 80% of the travel is eliminated, 80% of the creep and grittiness is too. Fadboys love talking about their HSLD target triggers, but on a range and field gun, there's a reason for a 6 pound pull - safety.

Yes, you can spend too much, get the optimum barrel first, and seriously consider an assembled upper. The volume buying discount for the mass quantity AR builder allows him to pay less than $45 for those $130 uppers and lowers, same kinds of savings on barrels, sights, gas blocks, etc. They are selling assembled uppers for less than the parts retail individually. It's free enterprise doing what it does.

Point being, buy what works, which is usually the military design. The race gun parts are just that, specialty pieces to add an incrementally better ability for a specific task that may actually not be important even in combat. There is actually a business degree in marketing and merchandising, it's to manipulate buyers in spending money on what they think they need.

The power of the internet is that you get a different point of view that isn't bought and paid for.

 

[jad0110]

To decide whether or not you want to assemble your AR from individual parts, Brownell's has a nice video series for AR assembly that I found to be clear and easy to understand. After watching there series, I new I wouldn't have too much trouble assembling my next project (a retro XM16E1 build) with a small investment in tools.

Assembly from individual parts may be the cheapest, but you must also consider the tool investment (bench vice, upper and lower receiver vice blocks, barrel wrench or multi wrench, torque wrench, various punches, etc). The Brownell's series is good for pointing out tools, but some of them probably aren't necessary, and you can often find competing tools for less money.

I currently have one assembled AR that I put together from a Del-Ton 16" mid length rifle kit (HBAR) on a Doublestar lower with a 2 stage Rock River Arms trigger group (a decent trigger for the money). I have since replaced the entire upper and Bolt Carrier Group with a 16" mid length lightweigt barrel from Bravo Co Mfg (BCM). I've got right at $1,000 in this rifle so far (the BCM complete upper was $610 of that).

A complete flat top upper from Spikes Tacticle (with BCG already headspaced) is probably best bet. Very high quality at a good price.

The one thing you don't want to scrimp on is the Bolt Carrier Group. Stick with a top quality BCG from Spikes, BCM, LMT, Colt, Daniel Defense or Sabre Defence (there may be others I left out). As I said though, it is easiest to buy a complete upper assembly with the BCG already checked for proper head space by the manufacturer.

Here's my setup up; again, I've got about $1,000 in it, excluding the mags:





Upper: BCM 5.56 1x7 lightweight cold hammer forged mil-spec 11595E barrel, chromed bore and chamber, M4 feedramps, flat top T-marked upper, M16 Bolt Carrier (Carpenter No. 158® steel, shot peened bolt, hardened gas key with grade 8 fasteners, properly staked, crane-o ring, BCM extractor spring with black extractor insert). Lower: Doublestar with Rock River ARMS 2-stage trigger.

 

[Dionysusigma]

For what it's worth, I've never once bought a complete AR rifle, and I'm on my 4th-5th build now.

In chronological order:

1.) 16" midlength Del-Ton build on a Superior Arms lower with basic USGI sling, M4 6-position stock, and LMT-style fixed rear sight. As bare-bones as it gets, and was a fine intro to owning and using an AR.

2.) 16" midlength Del-Ton build identical to #1 but with Magpul BAD lever, MagPul MOE grip, Primary Arms M3 clone, and on a Stag Arms lower. Bought and built because I didn't have a single other rifle at the time.

3.) M16A4gery in constant evolution. BCM 20" Gov't upper, Knights Armament M5 RAS, Trijicon TA31RCO-A4 ACOG, Yankee Hill lower, Geissele SSA trigger, Ergo grip, and a pieced-together Surefire LED mounted on the rail.

4 (under development).) Mega Machine lower with Spike's Tactical Battle Trigger, BCM 14.5" midlength with perm. BattleComp 1.5, Daniel Defense fixed rear sight, MagPul UBR, MagPul BAD, Ergo grip, MagPul Enhanced trigger guard, and AimPoint M4S.

5 (still in design phase).) Basically an M4 SOCOM Block 2, but with a couple of small changes.

There are a lot of ARs out there that come quite close to what I've made, sure. Thing is, I get as much satisfaction out of building them as I do shooting them.

Edited to add: The only AR-type rifle I plan on buying in a completed form is a S&W M&P15-22 for practice.

 

[Dropyourweapon]

I just put one together. It was over $1000 but I could have trimmed if I was on a strict budget. I got a BCM complete upper, minus the bcg because I got the Spikes nickel boron coated bcg, and built my lower with the Spikes enhanced lpk. The fancy bcg and lpk will set you back a couple hundred extra but I like it. Right now most agree BCM and Spikes have the best bang for the buck high quality stuff out right now. Aim has the complete Spikes uppers for $499 and BCM although a little more should not be ruled out. I have seen a lot of great deals on parts lately so look around and I think you can build a sweet customized rifle in that range. You can pm me if you have any questions.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Check out Palmetto State Armory, kits or separate parts, good prices and very nice parts.

http://www.palmettostatearmory.com/ar-lowers-and-parts.php

 

[d2wing]

For reliability rifle length is best followed by mid-length. Carbines require a better extractor and possibly a heavier buffer. decide what length action you want and go from there.

 

[451 Detonics]

Question is do you want the cheapest (this means quality quite often) you can get or would you be happier with a good gun that carries a warranty? In today's market it is tough to save much money unless you are getting dealer pricing and get everything from just one or two suppliers to cut back on shipping. When you can buy a S&W M4 for $849 and get good quality it makes it tough to build on much cheaper with sacrificing quality.

 

[Jon_Snow]

I don’t have a ton of experience with ARs, but here’s what I’ve seen. Whether assembling parts will be cheaper or not depends entirely on what your goals are.

Upper:
I built my AR to be a heavy barreled bench/varmint gun in 204. Buying a complete upper from DPMS would have cost ~$1000. For the same amount of money, I was able to build one with a Shilen barrel, billet upper and Wilson BCG, all much better quality than the DPMS would have gotten me. I’m now looking at building a carbine to use in informal action shoots. Here I’m comparing buying an upper for ~$400 or building one for $600+. Complete upper wins. I know a guy with an action vice and all the right torque wrenches, so I’m not including that in my price.

Lower:
I started with a Daniels Defense LPK on my bench gun. My club had a build party so a bunch of us were putting lowers together at the same time. The trigger on the DD LPK was the second best in the group and the best was a Timney. I’ve since replaced it for a Geissele which is much better, but I kept the DD parts and they are going into my carbine build. Long story short: don’t discount the LPK triggers. I’m not the only one who’se had good experience with the DD LPK.

 

[nyn]

I bought all my lower parts from Palmeto Armory, I could find no better deals than them. I bought my lower local so I did not have to deal with the shipping issues and paperwork hassle. I bought my upper from Rainierarms.com Great site with very reasonable prices. I bought their combat arms upper. Included bolt carrier group too. I could not find a better deal for the quality level either. http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/browse&category=rainiercustomshop

I am into mine for less than 1000

 

[epijunkie67]

When you can buy a S&W M4 for $849 and get good quality it makes it tough to build on much cheaper with sacrificing quality

And here is the gist of the problem. I know I can build a system that is exactly what I want, or I can just buy a completed rifle from a company for a couple hundered less. I guess I'm trying to figure out if the "couple of hundred" increase in price is worth it. I would expect a completed rifle from Colt to be a decent quality gun. Of course I might get a better trigger group if I part it out, but I don't know if the few upgraded pieces are worth all the extra money.

 

[nyn]

Well that still depends because if the M&P came with Magpul items for that price, I would say go for it. But really between Palmeto, Bravo Company and Rainier, you can do it for the same price or cheaper and have better parts.

 

[Birddog1911]

These are great days in the AR world. Getting high quality, tested parts in an assembled upper and/or lower only costs you a very small amount more than a "recreational" AR, if at all.

For instance. Last year I was planning a high quality, hard shooting build. Parts had to be upper level, MP and HP tested and in spec. After pricing everything out, and making my mind up on what I wanted, it was cheaper to buy a BCM (Bravo Company) complete upper, combined with a BCM blemished lower fully assembled, than to buy everything including tools, and put it together myself. Not only that, but I've got a warranty should anything happen, which is highly improbable.

Ask yourself how much quality you want to buy. Many will say that you shouldn't trust your life to a "recreational" grade rifle, to which I would say, hog wash. I dare say that there are more folks out there using Del-Ton, RRA, DPMS, DoubleStar, etc., than those of us who are using Colt, BCM, DD, LMT, Noveske, LaRue, or KAC.

You have to decide how much some things matter to you. Me, I wanted the best quality I could get for the money that I was spending. I trust not only my life, but my family's lives, to that rifle. I wanted to buy only one carbine, because personally, I don't have a need for multiple carbines that are very close to eachother. Think carefully, and whatever you decide, be happy with it and shoot the snot out of it. You're the only one who's opinion matters.

 

[nyn]

Here example.... Local lower .... 120 (what ever you chose)
Magpul CTR stock and buffer tube springs and H buffer - 100 (Palmeto)
http://palmettostatearmory.com/stock-kits.php
Lower parts kit including magpul grip and lower trigger guard - 60 (Palmeto)
http://palmettostatearmory.com/lower-parts-kits.php
Upper Rainier Arms with Magpul hand guard and Bolt carrier group - 699
http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/detail&product_id=2011
http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/browse&category=rainiercustomshop_rainierarmscombatseries
Or get a different one from Rainier with a free float upper for a little more. But then you need a BUIS. Which you can pick up the military issue 100-600 ones for like 30 dollars too. Front Magpul item for 40.
Really its not hard to build a cheap one if you know the right places to go to.


So less than 1000 there and you get way better after market parts.

 

[walter34payton2002]

Well may I suggest having one of the best rifles money can buy at lower than avg. AR price. If you are ok with it not being a gun safe queen, here is what I can't imagine not doing:

Complete BCM upper assembly 16" m4, 1:7 twist chrome lined true 5.56 chamber- $385
Complete BCM bolt carrier group- $149
Complete BCM lower assembly from G&R Tactical which picks the BEST LOWER PARTS from different manufacturers- $340 BUT.....If you are ok with the cosmetic blemished one then same lower is $250. Can't beat that quality

That puts you at $785

All you need is handguard of choice (I recommend TROY drop in $135), stock, BUIS (I recommend Magpul awesome and cheap about $95 for both).

This puts you at $1015, but you will buy once and will not feel later on you need to get a better quality rifle because this is top of the line stuff made for duty or battle. That's what I would do. Lots of other great suggestions, as well. GOOD LUCK. Let us know how it goes.