Hunting Handbook

How can i build my own AR-15 for cheap.?

It would be so awesome if you could have links to all the different parts upper striped lower striped stock barrel gas block upper and lower parts kits. that would make my week thank u so much y'all happy hunting.

Public Comments

1. itd prolly be easier to just buy one instead of making one.
2. As the first poster pointed-out, it is actually cheaper to buy a completed rifle than to try to build one "cheap" by buying the separate parts and building one yourself. Some companies are presently selling really nice AR-style rifles for about $850 NEW. They are out there and can be found if you try.
3. Wait for a gun show to roll thru your area and hope for a bargain otherwise buy one already assembled.
4. They are super easy to assemble the stripped lower Receiver has to be bought through a FFL the rest you can mail order or order on line Shotgun news would be a good source of parts Sarco inc has a whole kit minus the lower Receiver cheap
5. Ok Moose.... now that you found the internet a short lesson on how to use it, See the box at the top of your screen? "AR 15 kit" or "building an AR 15 from parts" or some similar phrase, it typed in that box will take you to a list of places that would get you what you want. Or ... at Wal mart and gun shops you will find a paper publication we call "Shotgun News"... they always have printed ads for AR kit suppliers. If you buy about $60 of special AR armorers tools the work can be easier. Getting a lower and upper... and the lower parts should run about $400+.... a custom gun can be built for a little more than a bare bones factory rife once you learn the drill.
6. Spikes Tactical has stripped lowers for half price at $89.95. You just missed their stripped uppers for $99.95. They are now about $119. I purchased a upper and lower from them for my son. They are decent. They will match up with his Bushmaster. He is planning on building a 6.5 Grendel so that he can deer hunt with an AR-15 after he decides his DPMS LR-243 is too heavy to carry around. Spikes has complete lowers on sale for $249.95. Midway USA has complete uppers starting at $409.95. If this upsets you that it doesn't have links, tell me and I can get rid of the info too.
7. Honestly, it depends on what you're building or looking for in a rifle. If you're looking for a basic M4 style AR15, you can pick one up new starting at 699.99 which is cheaper than building one. http://www.semiautorifles.com/forums/f11/del-ton-ar15-669-99-each-1646.html
8. The cheapest way is to buy a kit. And then go buy a stripped lower at a store. That would be the cheapest method. You can get a decent kit at ar15-kits.com for $650-$700. As for individual parts they have that too.
9. model 1 sales has complete kits starting at $485 with plenty of options to drive the price from affordable to ridiculous. http://www.model1sales.com/ All you would need is a stripped lower which will have to go through a FFL dealer. I have never bought a kit from them but they look to be of good quality and use E.R Shaw barrels. They also have many caliber options, 5.56, 223, 6.8, 22rl, 7.62x39,5.45x39, 204 and a few others. If you already have the tools to do it with you can put one together for a little cheaper than you can buy one, but not by much. Even if it costs you the same to build as to buy you get to have a rifle that you built with your own hands and that is pretty cool. The uppers that come with the model 1 kits are already assembled and head-spaced so you don't need to worry about the go/ no-go gages. Also there are many good drop in triggers on the market, timney and chip McCormick even make self-contained units that make a good trigger a snap, push out pins, remove old parts, drop trigger in, push pins back in, trigger job done. AR's are not hard to build they are the Lego's of the firearm world, your only limited by imagination and budget.
10. I build match AR's. Unless you have the $400+ in special tools and three years experience working as a military or police armorer - all you are going to do is make totally useless, bad shooting gun. A normal AR is built at Olympic Arms, Bushmaster, DPMS, Colt, etc etc by an apprentice with 3-7 years experience and the final assembly is checked by a QA gunsmith and then it is double checked by a master gunsmith. The 'guy' who mates the sears and triggers has been doing nothing but sears and triggers for the past 15 years. That said, you need the $89 trigger jig from Brownell's to properly mate the sear and trigger for just a normal AR. Are you going to pay this to install two $6 parts? Probably not. Is your finished gun's trigger going to suck out loud? Very probably yes. You need the fairly expensive No Go, Go, and Field gauges to test your barrel. Are you gonna buy a full set for just one barrel? Probably not. Is your barrel going to blow up in your face? Odds are 1:200 it wont with a brand new name brand barrel...... but what if your number comes up and you have a bad one? Do you have a spare face and fingers handy? That - and anyone who builds an AR needs to own a 'standard'. Something to compair your parts to. Got one? Here's the right way to do this. Go buy a copy of "The AR-15 Complete Assembly Guide" by Walt Kuleck and Clint McKee. Read it, learn it, love it. Get a really nice lower - not some cheapo CNC from Superior or Stag with poor stampings - pay the extra $10 for a really nice one from Smith and Wesson with a nice design on both sides. Then track down a Rock River lower parts kit - these are the most expensive - $15-$25 more than DPMS and other kits.... but the parts fit nicer, install easier, and the trigger and sear are closest to useful out of the bag. This is important to make a good first gun. You can clean up the sear with toothpaste and a dremel tool - just don't use the red or green rouge. Stick with toothpaste and you will never get into trouble. If you want a tricked out extended trigger guard, mag release and slide release - buy them up front and put them in along with the bag parts. You will mess up the receiver finish removing the old parts and re-installing these nice ones. Next - pick out the barrel with the twist rate you need, and the rest of the furniture. While you are doing this, find a local gunsmith that does AR's, or, hang out at the local range and find someone with an AR that has tools. Most guys will loan you everything except for the punch set - get your own at midwayusa.com - you need these anyway. For cheap parts - keep your eye out at ar15.com and other gun sites for 'take offs'. You can get a A1 or A2 upper for $35 with sights, used barrels, handguards for 10 cents on the dollar. It's the BCG that you will have to pay top dollar for, if you can find them. You can email me if you run into trouble. Kevin
11. Beside needing technical knowledge on fitting the parts, the cost of the individual parts will cost more than the complete rifle. If you are not knowlegeableon fiitting parts, you will probably wind up with something unsafe to shoot, or simply will not work.
12. Unless you are going to be building a lot of rifles, you would really be better off buying a new one. Special tools are required for assembly and you might spend weeks if not months finding the exact parts you want (if you are picky). If you don't have a lot of experience with ARs, a small mistake can be very costly. Personally, if I were building one it I would have something very specific in mind, not just a run of the mill rifle that can be found in any good gun shop. And lately, there are a lot of excellent factory rifles out there. You buy it and shoot it that day with no worries. While many parts are getting easier to find than a few months ago, some are still very difficult to come by. But it's up to you. If you don't mind the challenge of scouring for the parts, buying the tools and spending the time researching the process (many excellent videos on Youtube), then go for it. You just won't be saving any real money over buying a factory rifle. Some guys just get a lot of satisfaction from saying "I built this myself".
13. I don't think it's really worth it. Maybe if you bought a stripped lower receiver and a complete parts kit. It was kinda fun for me. But waiting around for the right parts can be a pain in the ass. Midwayusa.com has a lot of indiviual parts.