[Dillinger]

You are always welcome to brother. One thing I will say, there is a member here ( I hope he stops by ) slowrdy45 who has built about 1,000 of these things. He is an encyclopedia of knowledge and advice.

One of the things I hope you get out of this thread is that the AR platform is NOT hard to understand, is NOT hard to build and is NOT hard to maintain.

With one build, you will have 100%-150% more information than the average AR owner and that knowledge will give you the ability to modify, alter and adjust just about everything on the weapon.

There are several threads that were about first time builders here on the forum. People that came in with very limited, to no, experience and built great, reliable rifles - and then with that experience they later modified their initial builds and told all of us why they did it.

You can do this, and with a little help, you can build a tackdriver.

Good luck.

JD

[Huntbear]

A tack driver is what I want. As for the doing it part, I am a trained gunsmith, just not practicing as of now. So working on guns is second nature, just no experience with ARs. I am looking forward to this, immensely. I am going through all the threads that talk about builds, and am taking notes. Just need to sift through everything and then make some decisions and spend some money.

[Huntbear]

Ok another question.
Does a Chrome bolt and Carrier have any advantages over a standard one? Does one grip make a big difference, over another?
Does an ext. latch charging handle make a difference?
Since this is going to be primarily a hunting weapon, can I forego the open sights for now, and add them later?
Since, I live in the Pacific NorthWet, I think I want a Stainless barrel, any thoughts on accuracy out of them?

Ok, so more than one question, sorry about that.

[Huntbear]

And another question.

Is there better quality lower parts kits vs. others? Not specifically the trigger, just the parts in general. I am really looking at one of the kits at Model one, I think I can get everything, for about 700.00 including ordering a Del Ton lower from another site.

[Dillinger]

Originally Posted by Huntbear

Ok another question.
Does a Chrome bolt and Carrier have any advantages over a standard one? Does one grip make a big difference, over another?
Does an ext. latch charging handle make a difference?
Since this is going to be primarily a hunting weapon, can I forego the open sights for now, and add them later?
Since, I live in the Pacific NorthWet, I think I want a Stainless barrel, any thoughts on accuracy out of them?

Ok, so more than one question, sorry about that.

1) - Not really. Chrome bolt and carrier will make you feel better. It might offer some basic protection factor over the standard, but it's not going to be much.

2) Grips are based on what the owner likes. The Magpul MAID has the benefit of housing things in the handle that others do not.

3) Yes. Badger Ord's Tac Latch is on all of my weapons and I swear by it.

4) Yes. You can add BUIS later after you mount the optics you like. I don't know if you can hunt with the AR platform here in Washington, so I would check local game laws.

5) Stainless or Chrome Moly or Blued Stainless, if you take care of the weapon, it's not really an issue.

Originally Posted by Huntbear

And another question.

Is there better quality lower parts kits vs. others? Not specifically the trigger, just the parts in general. I am really looking at one of the kits at Model one, I think I can get everything, for about 700.00 including ordering a Del Ton lower from another site.

Lower Parts Kits are not 100% the same, but they are not that different. Some have different parts inside, and some of those parts have better overall tolerances, but in the "average" lower you are not going to notice.

Now, if everything is CNC machined out of one billet piece and you get Jimmy Joe Jim Bob's lower parts kit, yeah you might have a problem.

For the average lower, you can buy a lower parts kit from Model One or Del Ton or whoever and you should be okay.

If not, you can custom order singular parts from places like Brownell's and make one small change.

JD

[Huntbear]

Thank you again for the info.

Also, yes, as long as you use a 5 rd. magazine, you can hunt with any semi auto, and especially varmints, like coyotes and such.

[Huntbear]

So do you know anything about these guys?

Tactical Machine.com. Sorry, but the link comes up very crude, (not sure why) and did not want it in my post.

[Dillinger]

Sorry Brother. Don't know a thing about them.

[Huntbear]

Well, I think I am going to try their stripped lower. It comes recommended from a guy that has built 4 of them.

Well, now, to find the money. I can do this build for less than 700 dollars, and get the configuration I want. As soon as it gets going will post pics.

Thank you for all the help.

[NY Marksman]

Although I don't have anything against trying to get most inexpensive rifle, I wanted something a bit better then just the basics. My initial budget was $1000.00 and for that I was able to purchase a complete stag lower with an
A2 stock for $325.00 from a local gun shop. I decide that I wanted a really good upper and I found the one I was looking for at PK firearms. The flat top upper has an 18 inch Stainless fluted 5.56 Sabre Defense barrel with a Vortex Flash Hider (Which sorry to say I had to have replaced with muzzle brake to make it NY compliant) and a YHM 12 inch Diamond pattern hand guard. I got the upper for $685.00 which brought my total to just $10.00 over my budget. I did make one change. I decided to change the pistol grip in favor of a Command Arms UPG 16 which brought the price up by another $24.00.
I've since then added Troy Industries rail covers and for optics I have either a Weaver Classic V24 6-24x42 scope or an aimpoint M2.

I won't try to hide the fact that I feel that with the Sabre barrel it puts my AR up a notch or 2 above some others but I just wanted to get as much quality as possible on what I could afford and I think I accomplished it.