Assembling my own AR15

AR/M4 AR Technical Discussion
1

Looking into building my own AR, and wanted to make sure of two things.

  1. Verify that I have the skills required to accomplish the job and
  2. make sure I understood the process.

1. Verify that I have the skills required to accomplish the job.

I have worked on all portions of the AR15 except for two major areas. The area where the barrel connects to the upper receiver and replacing/installing the trigger group. I have zero experience in this area of the rifle system and I THINK I will be more than capable to work in these to new areas. However, I know I have some limitations to my mechanical abilities and I don’t want to get myself in a position where I can’t complete the job. In my shop I have a properly anchored vice, normal household tools, barrel vice blocks, and one of these sturdy tools:

Does it appear that I have adequate tools and knowledge to accomplish the task? I don’t want to be over-confident here, and I am certain a lot of guys started like me doing some of their own work… so I am wondering about that next leap into assembling my own AR15.

2. make sure I understood the process

I see that there are stripped lowers for sale as well as lowers in various stages of completion. I understand that there is some kind of “line” where a stripped lower can be sold without it being a “firearm.” I have no interest in those. I would be looking for lowers that are already registered and require shipment to a local FFL.

I also understand that there are lowers registered as pistols and others registered as rifles. I would likely be purchasing lowers registered as rifles.

Am I missing anything or not considering something here?

I have no interest in selling AR15s, becoming a manufacturer, gunsmith, or doing anything that requires a license. Just my own stuff, one or two builds, no SBR or other NFA items.

How did I do, am I on track here?

2

You’re going to have a tough time getting the barrel to connect to the lower receiver.

Try the upper.

I’d suggest doing this under some experienced supervision.

3

:sarcastic::sarcastic::sarcastic: classic

4

Watch some youtube videos…a spanner wrench can be bought on Amazon for $10, and it will even double as a flash hider remover. It’s really easy, and other than the spanner wrench and a punch you don’t need any other tools.

5

Whoops! lol. Thanks for the corretion. Fixed.

6

I beg to differ.

In addition to the appropriate Barrel nut wrench… A vise and some kind of action block at a minumum… Some Moly grease too.

Plus an unexperienced builder should use a torque wrench.

7

Sorry- I thought he was just assembling the lower. The upper is a little more involved yes, and a torque wrench and a vice would be much helpful.

8

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I do have a punch.

I checked out one of the $10 wrenches… it was so flimsy I could see it twisting easily. The Tapco seemed a lot more hearty so I purchased that one a long time ago to remove the castle nut on my factory AR.

9

Now that is the kind of information I am looking for, awesome. Thanks.

I do have these for my vice…

10

Why don’t you read some of the knowledge based threads and look at the tools? If you have never done this before right now is the wrong time to experiment.

11

before you assemble anything do a ton of reading and watch the AR videos on Brownell there are step by step Info out there you want to make sure you have all the Basics down before you start torquing on that barrel
Here are some great videos to send you down the right path

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/avs

12

Thanks for the input, I will do some additional reading.

No big rush on this. Pricing is out of control for the time being anyhow…

13

also a lower regardless of wether it has parts in it or not is the firearm- the lower has to be bought through an ffl unless you find a private seller where you live for face to face sale. beyond the lower, everything else can be bought shipped and trade without limitations. for a first basic build it makes more sense to buy a complete upper- you don’t save much money buying it in parts and assembling your self,and this is where the challenges are in the build. a lower can be completed by anyone with basic tools and basic mechanical knowledge. I have put together a lot of ar’s and consider myself less than mechanically inclined

14

Post some pictures once its all done.

15

I think I am going to get my hands on a registered stripped lower at some point in the future and start there… as was suggested above.

Now all I have to do is wait for the hysteria to temper… for people to start getting their Christmas credit card bills… and then I can probably find a reasonably priced lower.

16

OP,I just assembled my first AR Lower Receiver today. It only took about an hour and i’m sure i could have finished it sooner but i went slow since it was my first. I bought some tools from Brownells, a couple roll pin holders and punches, bolt catch pin punch, pivot pin detent tool and the rifle bench block and M4 stock wrench.

I’ve heard you really don’t need the tools but i an a perfectionist and wanted to do it right so i spent about $100. on the tools, besides they made it alot easier. The hardest part for me was the pivot pin detent installation. Even with the Brownells tool i launched the spring and detent several times but with my set up they bounced off a wall and landed by my hands. I did notice my receiver extension moved just a bit when i torqued on the castle nut but i can fix that.

I watched the Brownell and ITS Tactical videos a couple of times before i went to work. I can’t believe how simple it was to assemble a lower. I’ve owned ARs since the mid 1980s and currently have a few BCM carbines but if i would have known how easy it was to put a lower together i would have never bought a complete one.

17

Hello all. First post here. Looking forward to future visits. Here is a series of videos I recently watched and found to be very informative. He performs an AR-15 build and shares some good personal tricks along the way. Worth watching while waiting for prices to fall.

http://m.youtube.com/#/results?q=AR-MPR%20build%20gavintoobe

18

Hey everybody. My name is Justin. i’m new to the forum, and I’m looking to buy an AR-15. I have a handgun, but I’m new to rifles, and I’m trying to do research first and learn about the gun, and the parts and pieces that make up an AR, so I have a better feel for what it is I want to buy. Also, whether or not I should build my own or not. A local dealer told me that AR’s are like legos for adults, and that it’s not that hard to build. That being said, I have a question: what is the difference between a stripped upper and lower, and a complete upper and lower? As a beginner, am I over my head trying to build my own? Or, should I just buy my first one (whenever supply catches up with demand)?

19

Complete upper and lower means they are already pre-assembled by someone else. Stripped means you have to buy the parts to finish and assemble it yourself or pay someone to do the work.

As a beginner your best bet is to buy a complete carbine/rifle if you can find one. If you really want to build it the lower is the easiest to assemble. Right now finding any parts to make a complete carbine/rifle would be like winning the lottery. If you can buy a quality assembled upper like BCM etc. and a stripped lower and parts then by all means do so at once. Borrow or buy some tools and watch a couple of videos or get hands on experience from an old hand and put it together.

20

Thanks! Given how new I am to this, I will most likely buy the complete rifle, however I’d love to learn to build one up in the future. I’m already searching for videos and this forum seems to be a great place to start too. Appreciate the advice! I’m sure I’ll have more questions as I go along.