I already have a complete AR that I purchased. I am wanting to build one from the stripped lower on up to finished firearm. Have any of you done this? Was it worth the time/money? Personally I know I will most likely not save money, because I will need to buy the necessary punches, etc. I am not looking to be cheap and get out for less than what I can buy one, as this one will be a work in progress for sometime.

I have not built one from scratch, but I do have the tools to do it. Just be sure and buy quality tools, read the reviews on them at Midway and Brownells when you're looking to buy. It will save tons of time and cursing at scratches on your new gun. Good luck with it.

Check out this tool for starters:

http://hammerheadrifletool.com/

The lower can be done with one punch and a rubber mallet. If you really want to build the upper then it gets expensive. You have to have an assortment of expensive tools to build the upper.

In my case, I built my lower and then bought a complete upper. You save a TON of money that way. I will never buy a complete firearm because of this.

Thanks fellas. And Ryan, I was looking at going that route also. It would be hard to justify all the tools for the upper when a completed one is cheaper

I built mine from the lower to complete.


It won't save you money, but it is really satisfying knowing that you built it. I also appreciate it because you have a better understanding of the weapon in case you ever need to fix/replace anything on it. I have two more lowers that I plan on building up. Definitely worth the extra money.

I built mine. I bought an upper to begin with but sold it shortly after and bought the tools and components to build the upper too. I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed it and I know every piece in the gun and where it came from. I certainly could have bought one cheaper but it wouldn't have had the quality parts I put in mine.

Building your own upper really isn't any more than purchasing a complete. Yes you have to invest in some tools but if you are going to be playing with AR's and changing components, your going to end up buying the tools anyway.

The real expense of an upper is if you decide to start getting into precision shooting or better components. If you are looking to save the money, then save yourself the time and just go buy a complete gun. Really, you can get a complete AR these days for cheap.

Be truthful to yourself and what you want to accomplish. Come to terms with what you are willing to spend and build your weapon accordingly. Shooting AR's can be fun if your just plinking but when you start stacking shots on top of each other several hundred yards out from an AR platform, the satisfaction factor really changes.

Here is a couple of my last builds.......

You don't need any special tools to build an AR.

Step by step with no special tools

Essential arms standard lower plus transfer fee - 93.00

Stag upper kit and lower parts kit - 614.00

707.00 plus 20-30 in shipping and you've got a good rifle for less than 750 bucks.

they are not hard to do. i did one for the wife that shoots 1 to 1.5 MOA out to 300 (carbine) for about 725