i had my eye on a custom mini14 but after reading a lot on the internet and talking with a friend at work i decided i should just build myself an AR15. this is my first one, and it was quite a bit of fun, it reminded me of building stuff with legos when i was a kid. i bought a stripped sun devil lower which came with a free dpms lower kit. i used a standard stock and an ergo grip. of course here in cali we have to have a bullet button and 10 rounds mags. so i bought a regular 10 round and a “pinned” 20. i’ll see which i like better and buy a couple more of that type. i put the lower together in about an hour and a half, if i build another one i figure i could do it in about a half an hour. but i took my time and was careful as this was my first one.
there is the lower all together.
i picked up the upper today after work, a stag 6H, and put a scope and leopold hi rise rings on it. for now i’m using a redfield 3-9x40, it was just laying around so i might as well use it til i can save up the money for what i really want. i’m going to go with a 6-18 with turrets. i’ll eventually put in a timney trigger or send off the one i have to get the pull cleaned and lightened up. i also need to get a bipod for it, but i have to make due with what i have for now.
all in all this has been a fun project, i know i could probably have bought better stuff, but this was what i could do with the budget i have. i’d also like to get a 7.62x39 upper for it so i can use it as a brush gun. i started the camo paint job on it tonight, just waiting for it to dry. tomorrow i’m taking it to the range to sight it in and break it in. thanks for looking! any feedback or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.
Not a bad looking verminator. One thing you may end up changing is the way your scope is mounted. I mounted mine the same way as yours on my Les Baer .204 and put up with it for a year. Problem is that my face was so close to the scope that I had to constantly pull my head back to get a good field of view through the scope. I tried moving the scope as far foward a possible but even that wasn’t enough. I ended up getting a YHM rail riser/extension and using medium hight rings. This let me move my scope far enough that when I put my face on the stock every thing lines up perfect. If you want to spend $200 you can get a really nice mount from LaRue that will gain you all the eye relife you can handle.
You will have to get out and stretch out a few jack rabbits to see it will be a problem.
cool thanks man! i just got back from the range and everything is working pretty good. i will have to change my rings, but i used them for now so i could shoot the darn thing. i was pretty happy with the accuracy of the rifle. i was shooting 5-7 shot 1MOA groups at 100 yards. not great, but definitely not bad. the trigger needs to be smoothed out and lightened. i’m sure it’s okay for “tactical” use, but not for long range precision stuff. the scope is passable for now also, i’m saving up for something nicer. so far i really like it, it’s a pretty nice gun. i might change some other things on it, but it works for now and i’m happy with it.
Nice rifle. Built much the same for my old man. I like the stag 6H over a bull barrel. With my hand loads my old man was shooting consistent 1/2 moa @ 100 yards and got a few 3 shot 3/8" groups. Granted he is an excellent shot. That said, you have a good combination. May want to look into a timney or other trigger to get better accuracy out of it. Nice build.
I am glad its working good for you and 1 moa will let the air out of alot of varmints. Hands down the best part of my les baer is the 1.5# two stage trigger it makes long shots seem easy. With a good trigger I would not be suprised to hear that your groups get even smaller. Good looking rifle you got there.
thanks guys. yeah, once i get the trigger fixed up and nice i know those groups will shrink down. like i said, i was shooting 5-7 shot groups, not 3 shots.
here’s the last group i shot, with tula ammo, the 5 dollar per 20 box. the 2 flyers to the left are after it jammed and i reloaded those into the mag and shot them. 10 shots with super cheap ammo? i think this is doing pretty good. this was also after 100 rounds with no cleaning or cool down period. 55 grain fmj bullets by the way.
local range is only 100 yards, it’s okay for sighting in and getting familiar with your gun but not much else.
i dropped my rifle off to my gunsmith and am having him lighten the trigger pull to about 3 lbs and smooth it up. it’s pretty bad for precision work, 6lbs, lots of creep and gritty. it’s a standard dpms trigger assembly. it wouldn’t be so bad for other things but made it a real chore to get this gun to group well. when i get it back i’ll take it again to shoot some of the better ammo i have laying around. i wanted to break in the barrel a little bit and get familiar with the gun as this is my first AR. i know the groups should tighten up after the work is done.
i have a friend though who has a silhouette range that goes out to 500 yards. we should be going out there pretty soon.
just another update for those following along. i sold one of my guitars recently and had a couple extra bucks to spend. i picked up the gun from the smith today and am loving the trigger, it’s set at about 3.5 lbs, not super light but man is it smooth and crisp. one day i’ll get something nice to put in its place. i swung by bass pro on the way home from work and got a bipod and a couple boxes of hornady v-max bullets. i might go to the range tomorrow to burn some more rounds, hope i make it there.
so here how she sits until i get a new scope for her. i’m pleased with my gun.
i took her out today and shot out past 100 yards with it. i shot 150 and about 180 with it. i tried out some federal, remington and hornady vmax. all 55 grains, and for real world (not punching holes in paper) all the bullets were hitting to the crosshair. now i’m sure i could have re-zeroed for each load but they were close enough for me to hit the targets i was shooting at.
