AR-15 build suggestions?

[tblake05]

Yes, You read that right.  I believe in the Second Ammendment, everyone should be able to hunt for food *and* defend themselves.  So sorry if I offend any snowflakes (actually not sorry).

If anyone has ever built their own AR15, what would you recommended.  There are parts literally EVERYWHERE, many different brands!  (and everyone says their stuff is the best)

I have the lower already. I am more interested in long range accuracy rather than any sort of illegal building of anything more than semi-automatic.  Must be mil-spec.

Thanks!

[Southeast Treats]

Good luck!  Mine is a stone cold stock factory Colt, so no custom help here, but looking forward to seeing what you come up with...

[lacanteen]

I'm not understanding the concept of building one from parts. To me, if I'm going to discharge a controlled explosion inches from my head, I want the safest build possible, which to me is OEM. Just my .02

[tblake05]

5 hours ago, lacanteen said:

I'm not understanding the concept of building one from parts. To me, if I'm going to discharge a controlled explosion inches from my head, I want the safest build possible, which to me is OEM. Just my .02

I understand what your saying, though Anything mill spec should be as ‘safe’ as anything store bought and made to military standards. By “building”. I mean nothing more than taking pre-manufactured parts and putting them together myself. No actual fabrication involved per say.

Plus there are many good reasons to build your own. Which I won’t get into here.

Anyhow, I’ll make sure to post pictures of parts and building process as I go along.

[AZVendor]

blake, I certainly am glad you aren't in my neighborhood with your right wing ideals, Trump support and your idea of what the constitution owes you.  I am a simple, law abiding citizen (what you would certainly call a snowflake) where my family and my job are the most important things to me because I believe my country will protect me from anything that you think will encroach on your "rights."  I do not subscribe to most right wing ideals that the world is coming to an end and the sky will fall on the US.  While I do worry about where our morals and environment are headed and how Trump trashed our world alliances, I don't feel I need to arm myself against Russians, Chinese, Iranians or Democrats.  That is what law enforcement and the military are for.  I make sure that I live in a safer part of the city, I don't take foolish risks with other people, I follow the laws (5-10 over the limit) and I am cordial with my neighbors.  You should see all of the Christmas lights we all put up this year.  We have good schools around us and we take care of our homes.  For all of this, I do not feel a need to arm myself.  While I am firearms-trained, I do not have a need for firearms because my family is safe.

[orsd]

6 hours ago, AZVendor said:

blake, I certainly am glad you aren't in my neighborhood with your right wing ideals, Trump support and your idea of what the constitution owes you.  I am a simple, law abiding citizen (what you would certainly call a snowflake) where my family and my job are the most important things to me because I believe my country will protect me from anything that you think will encroach on your "rights."  I do not subscribe to most right wing ideals that the world is coming to an end and the sky will fall on the US.  While I do worry about where our morals and environment are headed and how Trump trashed our world alliances, I don't feel I need to arm myself against Russians, Chinese, Iranians or Democrats.  That is what law enforcement and the military are for.  I make sure that I live in a safer part of the city, I don't take foolish risks with other people, I follow the laws (5-10 over the limit) and I am cordial with my neighbors.  You should see all of the Christmas lights we all put up this year.  We have good schools around us and we take care of our homes.  For all of this, I do not feel a need to arm myself.  While I am firearms-trained, I do not have a need for firearms because my family is safe.

Nowhere in the OP did he even mention anything about defending himself from Russians, Iranians or Chinese. I have no idea where or how you got that from.

In any case, not everyone is fortunate enough to live in a wealthy suburb with low crime like you do. High crime areas do in fact exist and good people do in fact live there. 

Besides that, this year should have shown you the limitations of law enforcement. They are not obligated to help you, and can be told to stand down and retreat in the face of violent actions at a moment’s notice. Plus, with the calls for defunding the police as well as the all time low morale among officers the already dismal response times will likely get worse.

[tblake05]

10 hours ago, AZVendor said:

.......I believe my country will protect me from anything that you think will encroach on your "rights."

Sorry AZ to have to disagree, but our constitutional "rights" as we know them.....Are gone.  The plandemic covid-19 smashed them to pieces.  (masks, social distancing, contact tracing, forced government shut downs, fees, regulations, forced immunization and needing papers to prove it [Nazi Germany]). 

Maybe its more prevalent in MN vs AZ, but I haven't been able to go out to eat in a restaurant since February last year (think of family owned restaurants).  Kids are a year behind in school cause of some over-politicized "virus" in which every hospital who intakes someone who tests positive for covid receives 77,000.00  Obviously every sissy who goes in for testing is going to test false positive.  Then thanks to "contact tracing" (spying), the government knows every person they've been in contact with, shutting entire schools down and businesses.  We're giving up our rights right before our very eyes and we don't even realize it.  Government over reach?

Another person was killed by police last night in Minneapolis.... Not a half hour later there's a big group of "protesters" (rioters) gathering and demanding to know the "color" of the person killed.  Yes, they don't care if it was a teen, kid, male, female, armed, unarmed, all they want to know is the color.  Well, the facts are, the person had a gun, refused to stop (from whatever crime he/she committed), and fired shots at police first.  If you ask me, that person got exactly what they deserved....  Without knowing the facts, we jump right into the "color" of the person.  Sad world we live in.  In my younger days, I worked in private security and was following a career path to become a police officer.  Thank God I didn't because I am not sure how those poor men and women can even go to work anymore, knowing one day you may need to defend yourself and end up in prison for the rest of your life, and if you don't defend yourself, you may die.  Everything is so backwards, criminals have all the rights regardless of color.  Can't wait until those poor officers from the Floyd killing get off.

Here's one to think about..... You all read it, see it on TV.... "(insert name here) has just passed away from "complications due to covid after battling cancer for the past 2 years".  The certificate of death states covid as the cause for death....  Two years ago if someone who had cancer passed away because they caught pneumonia, do you think the reason for death would be "Complications due to pneumonia after battling cancer" and the death certificate stating cause of death pneumonia?  I bet not.

I'm sorry, but I hope I am wrong with everything I've said, but I know I'm not.  And if you believe the government (democrat or republican) knows whats best for you, and has your best interests at heart.... Well then, I own some ocean front property in Arizona (no-pun intended).

[venddoctor]

5 hours ago, tblake05 said:

Sorry AZ to have to disagree, but our constitutional "rights" as we know them.....Are gone.  The plandemic covid-19 smashed them to pieces.  (masks, social distancing, contact tracing, forced government shut downs, fees, regulations, forced immunization and needing papers to prove it [Nazi Germany]). 

Maybe its more prevalent in MN vs AZ, but I haven't been able to go out to eat in a restaurant since February last year (think of family owned restaurants).  Kids are a year behind in school cause of some over-politicized "virus" in which every hospital who intakes someone who tests positive for covid receives 77,000.00  Obviously every sissy who goes in for testing is going to test false positive.  Then thanks to "contact tracing" (spying), the government knows every person they've been in contact with, shutting entire schools down and businesses.  We're giving up our rights right before our very eyes and we don't even realize it.  Government over reach?

Another person was killed by police last night in Minneapolis.... Not a half hour later there's a big group of "protesters" (rioters) gathering and demanding to know the "color" of the person killed.  Yes, they don't care if it was a teen, kid, male, female, armed, unarmed, all they want to know is the color.  Well, the facts are, the person had a gun, refused to stop (from whatever crime he/she committed), and fired shots at police first.  If you ask me, that person got exactly what they deserved....  Without knowing the facts, we jump right into the "color" of the person.  Sad world we live in.  In my younger days, I worked in private security and was following a career path to become a police officer.  Thank God I didn't because I am not sure how those poor men and women can even go to work anymore, knowing one day you may need to defend yourself and end up in prison for the rest of your life, and if you don't defend yourself, you may die.  Everything is so backwards, criminals have all the rights regardless of color.  Can't wait until those poor officers from the Floyd killing get off.

Here's one to think about..... You all read it, see it on TV.... "(insert name here) has just passed away from "complications due to covid after battling cancer for the past 2 years".  The certificate of death states covid as the cause for death....  Two years ago if someone who had cancer passed away because they caught pneumonia, do you think the reason for death would be "Complications due to pneumonia after battling cancer" and the death certificate stating cause of death pneumonia?  I bet not.

I'm sorry, but I hope I am wrong with everything I've said, but I know I'm not.  And if you believe the government (democrat or republican) knows whats best for you, and has your best interests at heart.... Well then, I own some ocean front property in Arizona (no-pun intended).

Wow I have been called a lot of different things in my life but never before have I been called a Sissy! And from somebody from my beloved state of Minnesota to boot. Sorry that this sissy went in and guess what I tested positive and I am pretty sure that the drive up testing location didn't receive 77,000.00 for the test,  An no it wasn't a false positive, I spent 4 weeks pretty much confined to a chair or bed as I would get winded just walking and the coughing was horrible.

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by venddoctor

[tblake05]

2 hours ago, venddoctor said:

Wow I have been called a lot of different things in my life but never before have I been called a Sissy! And from somebody from my beloved state of Minnesota to boot. Sorry that this sissy went in and guess what I tested positive and I am pretty sure that the drive up testing location didn't receive 77,000.00 for the test,  An no it wasn't a false positive, I spent 4 weeks pretty much confined to a chair or bed as I would get winded just walking and the coughing was horrible.

 

I apologize. You see I’m surrounded by so many people who get tested for a little cough. They test positive, and the spiral begins. Positive or not is anyone’s guess. You sure it wasn’t pneumonia? You see, the rules change so much from covid that I don’t believe anything anymore. Hell I trust Dr Pepper more than I trust dr faucci. 

And you love Minnesota? Wow. I used to. Dayton started my dislike, walz and ellison just continent my resentment. Believe me, if I didn’t have family roots, I’d be out of this state.

[venddoctor]

Yes I am sure it wasn't pneumonia as I lost my sense of smell and lost my ability to taste. I can now taste again (but things don't taste like they used to) but the sense of smell is still gone.  I have actually been gone from MN for several years but always hoped to end up back there. Can't disagree with your view of the politics their my dislike began with the election of Al Franken even though he lost the election. 

[Guest Gumball prince]

So, back on topic, what did you end up doing?

[RoadDogAmusements]

A couple points about safety...

1. there are plenty of cases of people being hurt by factory constructed firearms... it happens
2. mil spec does not mean best. it means made to a dollar and a minimum req. you can get parts that are much higher quality than "mil-spec"
3. the people at the factories, or machines, aren't doing anything special that you as an individual with a wrench can't do. If you understand what you're doing, you can do it more safely than a mass production factory.
4. most important part about building your own firearm... is you have complete control over everything. With great power comes great responsibility. It's not inherently dangerous to do it, but it is dangerous to do it without any knowledge or planning.
5. Gov cannot and will not be held responsible for individual's safety.

So back on topic... I've built several of my own. I think the AR platform is the best for builders because of the massive amount of parts available. This is a good and bad thing, because it takes a lot of effort by the builder. I think for this reason it's a good idea to focus on a few brands who make quality components that you trust. The parts you pick are going to have to be dependent on your budget. The bigger budget you have, the more you can allocate to getting matching parts. Sometimes there's functionality to matching, and sometimes it's just to look cool at the range. And of course, local laws... Depending on your level of freedom, you may not be able to purchase the parts that you want.

Since you mentioned a few things. Long-range accuracy and already have the lower.

The thing that will effect accuracy more than anything else is the trigger group. Sorry, but that's the truth. Barrel is very very important, but a guy with good trigger control will out shoot a beginner with infinite budget. I think a mil-spec trigger group for AR-15 is fine. It will certainly do the job. I would recommend something from Geissele, if you have the budget. The rest of the lower parts are less important but get what you can afford. In the upper you will want to make sure your bolt and barrel match well. This will definitely affect your accuracy. The lockup needs to be perfect and consistent. Look into go and no-go gauges. Or you can buy a pre-matched set of bolt and barrel... Look into the different barrel options... cold hammer forged, chrome lined, etc.

How close do you want to match military issue weapons? Is that your goal for having mil-spec parts? One huge decision when building your own AR is 16, 18, or 20 inch barrel. Different gas systems... The weight of the gun changes... its usability changes... Part availability and interchangeability is affected. Or if you go AR Pistol... that's its own thing.

In conclusion... start with what you want out of the gun. If you want a Military M16 replica that is civilian legal... cool go for it. If you want a tactical quad rail nightvision red dot zombie killer... why not. Just have a vision and know what you want to end up with. Then figure out budget and how much you want to allocate to each component. Since you want accuracy I would prioritize trigger, bolt, and barrel.

[Don Coyote]

I love my SKS. A few years ago, my oldest Son was cursing the existence of "Assault Rifles"... and he looks at me and says ... "And I KNOW you have one in your safe,..... don't you!!!). 

I got it out and showed it to him, (he was standing at the top of the stairs, just out of his bedroom where he could see me) and I asked him... "THIS one"? (Composite folding stock, 40 round mag, bayonet... very scary). 

He says... "YES!!! ..... THAT stupid thing". 

I left it on the couch and went to the basement and got the original wood stock. I came back upstairs and reassembled the upper with the original wood and asked him..... "Is THIS what you call an "Assault Rifle?"

He was stunned. He shot that gun, before. He didn't recognize it with the folding stock and the bayonet. The old wood stock makes it look like any of my other hunting rifles. 

I'll never be able to convince him that there is NO SUCH THING as an "Assault Rifle"......... but the look on his face still amuses me to this day, when I turned this evil scary death machine into an antique hunting rifle that he had fun with, knocking over Mountain Dew cans.