AR building vs. buying
Can you buy upper, lower, and parts and build your own AR better and cheaper than buying one?
Any advantages or disadvantages?
Any advantages or disadvantages?
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It all depends upon what your definition of "build" is.
If you are planning to buy a complete upper, it will be an easy job. But, if you plan to install the gas block, barrel & bolt, you will need some tools that will more than offset any savings, unless you are going to amortize the cost by assembling a number of rifles.
Yes, you can save some money, mainly the 10% excise tax on all guns.
But, with a mixed parts mongrel, you have no warranty; if there are problems, you will have to pay someone if you can't fix it. And, you will take a beating on resale when you sell it.
I don't see how you can assemble any AR "better" than the folks who do it for a living.
Neal0 -
Thanks. I sure didn't mean build from parts. I don't have that expertise. I was more less talking about complete upper, lower, stocks, etc. 0 -
Agree 100% with nmeyers, the resale will kill you and if SHTF everyone will blame everyone else for the failure.
Todd0 -
While I am not an AR-15 guy, I have looked at pricing. If you look at GB you will find that purchase of a Rock River lower complete and then an upper complete will be less then buying the complete gun, and takes about two minutes to assemble. That's the way I did mine, but only saved about $80, so it isn't huge.
Local gun shows it seems quite common to buy a lower and upper for less as long as you are talking apples to apples. There are some "very" inexpensive brands that can be had which would be hard to beat by buying the two assemblies.
Guess it comes down to how much your time is worth (me, I work cheap).
Best of luck0 -
A lot depends on what you want. If you want a configuration that isn't a normally factory built, or stocked rifle, then building it yourself is the way to go. If all you want is a regularly built or stocked ar15, then I would probably recommend buying one complete. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by BowGunHunter
Can you buy upper, lower, and parts and build your own AR better and cheaper than buying one?
Any advantages or disadvantages?
Building an AR is typically defined as one of two things - all from scratch to include the upper or building a stripped lower and attaching a nearly complete upper. Buying a built lower and attaching a built upper then switching out a part of two (gas block for example) isn't, I think, building.
Most common is building the stripped lower and attaching a complete upper - then making a change or two to the upper such as the gas block or a muzzle device, maybe a forend too.
You can build an economy model AR by purchasing a kit that contains a complete upper and lower parts but no receiver - the cheapest receiver I've seen is about $80.00 so you can build a "serviceable" AR for at or just under $500.00.
I've built about a dozen of various configurations, it's not brain surgery and for the "build lower, attach upper" no specialized tools are required, but they can be helpful. You may want to check out the Midway or Brownells website for "how to" vids.
You can build cheaper and most can build better if better means getting exactly what you want - better and cheaper would be a challenge but I suppose can be done, especially if you have a bag of spare parts laying about. I got a deal on a Stag lower ($99.00)and using spare or swapped parts built it up to a complete lower, probably cost me $125.00 total. It's not that tough.0 -
A couple of decades ago when AR kits and lowers were cheap I got into them. I have never regretted it. The amount of new cartridges and addons available for the platform just keeps growing. Because the triggers and gas systems are not a problem for me I can play with any of the new stuff to my hearts content. The real advantage of the AR platform is its flexability and if you don't have to get a smith involved then you too can enjoy it for all it is worth..... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by BowGunHunter
Can you buy upper, lower, and parts and build your own AR better and cheaper than buying one?
Any advantages or disadvantages?
As mentioned, the only way you're going to assemble an AR cheaper from parts than buying one is:
a. If you can acquire the parts for less than their normal retail prices, and/or
b. If you already have access to all the specialized tools needed to properly build them. (IE you already own them and therefore aren't counting their costs, or you can borrow them).
Don't forget that your time is worth something, and that there is going to be a learning curve in assembling a gun.
Note that I don't consider slapping together a pre-built upper and lower to be "building" an AR. That certainly is a valid approach to getting/making one (especially with a quality branded upper), but you're probably not going to save all that much by doing it that way.
Unless you're a master builder and/or are using premium parts, you're also probably not going to build an AR significantly better than an off-the-shelf one built by companies that assemble hundreds of them per week.
The main advantage to building one yourself is that you can build it EXACTLY the way you want. Other advantages might include the satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself, and just familiarizing yourself totally with the gun. There is probably no better way to learn the ins and outs of your gun than by building one entirely from scratch!
Even so, generic ARs are so cheap now, if you just want a "beater" I don't think it pays to even try building one yourself. If you like certain custom features, its probably easier to get something close to what you like off the shelf and modify it, than to try and build one entirely from scratch.0 -
This seems to be a good place to start!
https://www.apexgunparts.com/product_info.php/products_id/17490 -
quote:Originally posted by geeguy
While I am not an AR-15 guy, I have looked at pricing. If you look at GB you will find that purchase of a Rock River lower complete and then an upper complete will be less then buying the complete gun, and takes about two minutes to assemble. That's the way I did mine, but only saved about $80, so it isn't huge.
The money you are saving is the excise tax that is placed on completed firearms.0
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