[Broke124]

Guys I'm very new to AR and am wondering why I would build one instead of just buying a complete set up....

"...rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." /G\

[Snakedriver]

Depending on what you are buying, there is about $100-200 to be saved by assembling your own rifle, plus you get to pick the individual components that go into your rifle. Unless you are a very experienced AR person or are willing to do a very large amount of research, picking your own components can be problematic though. While the AR-15 is a modular weapon system, not all components will work well with each other.

[Car54]

A good way to start and what quite a few AR owners have done is order a complete upper from one place and then order a stripped lower, a lower parts kit (lpk), and a stock assembly from other places. You assemble the lower, (not difficult), then attach it to the upper. You gain the knowledge of how the lower goes together and how it works, and you save the 11% federal excise tax imposed on a complete weapon.

[mjkeat]

I've found building your my own doesn't save much money and often costs me more. My preference is to order the upper and assemble the lower myself w/ the trigger I want. Like Car54 said it saves the 11% tax.

The only set back to assembling my own lower is my staking isn't as good as the factory can do it and I don't have a torque wrench to make sure the rear castle nut is correctly tightened.

[Broke124]

What is "staking" ?

"...rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." /G\

[mjkeat]

It's basicly forcing metal into/over metal on two seperate parts to keep them from loosening and backing out.

[hardluk1]

You can buy a PSA or a SW m&p15 sport for under 600 dollars . Both have great warrenty service if needed. Some mix and match parts gun may not. Both of these will serve the needs of 99% of owners of AR's. Don't the road you can then upgrade . Think of them as a centerfire ruger 10/22.