AR Build Help

I’ve never had much of a fancy for a rifle based on the AR platform. However, something inside me finally changed and I’ve decided I need to build one. I’ve done some basic research on the WWW but many of my Google searches for specific questions like “AR15 Upper Reviews” have yielded primarily old/stale data.

I’m looking for a couple sources of relevant information. I’m going to rely on IDO as always but alternate opinions are also welcome.

My build requirements… Ford/Chevy class weapon in 5.56. Primary use will be shooting prairie pups and coyote hunting. Probably shoot more paper than anything. I want something moderate weight. My experience with some buddies weapons has left me very disappointed. I’ll put some middle of the road optic on gun so a flat upper. What else would you want to know about my needs in order to give me some advice?

I am also interested in this. I am planning on building one also.

I found the book

The NEW AR-15 Complete Owner’s Guide
by Walt Kubeck

extremely helpful

after looking through the Shot show last year, I found that there are so dang many good and high quality component builders out there now. My head was spinning with the number of manufactures I looked at/talked with. Which is why I think you see so limited information on current reviews. Plus the demand has been slowing down, and they are doing cross over work with other rifles platforms.

I’m not an AR guy and far from what I know a lot about. Two things I would investigate and review before building 1. heat dissipation and 2. reliable ejection for the cases. These are the two most common things I listen to guys gripe about.

I continue to hear good things about Rock River and Minnesota’s own DPMS.

Are you more interested in the building side of it or open to either purchasing a full or partial kit from a reputable mfr? For reliability reasons maybe purchasing a group that includes a very high quality bolt an upper receiver only. That way you can still do a ton of customizing with the lower, rail, stock, barrel, etc.

Do a search here for “dARk side”. Famous Grouse had similar questions earlier this year. Can’t remember what he purchased but seemed pretty happy.

I’m not a build your own kind of guy. Went with Daniel Defense due to very high reputation of reliability. So far about 500 rounds and flawless. I also keep it cleaned and lubed. I’m a for fun, punching paper kind of shooter lately.

Kooty,
As suzuki mentioned, DPMS and Rock River are known for being solid units. If your looking to do a “build”, here is one of the dealers I work with for parts. They have to have nearly 1000 different uppers in that place. I know they do builds for Dept. of Defense and law enforcement

http://rguns.net/

Kooty I can help.

Buy a good barrel and BCG. Those are the most critical. Budget is the biggest thing. $500-$4000+.

Personally go with a 18″ for Yotes. It makes is easier to carry and that is the hot barrel length right now.

Triggers are a hot topic as well. Buy a good one or live with a mil spec one.

Feel free to email me questions too. I used to put together a few a year and I work for a gunshop for years.

AR15.com or Predatormasters.com Both are great resources for ARs. I have some components for sale. If interested PM me.

I plan to buy an Upper BCG complete kit so I don’t have mess with all the technical specs. Maybe semi-build what I’m really doing.

I had pretty much the same list of needs and wants.

Totally agree with PatK. Unless you’re REALLY into the “building” part and that’s the big appeal, you’re essentially reinventing the wheel at a higher cost by building vs just buying.

I ended up with a Mossberg MMR Hunter. See article here: Confessions of an AR Virgin.

BTW, read my Observations for the Bolt Action Convert at the end of the above article. All of them are completely true and will almost certainly apply in your case.

From my experience and subsequent reading, I’ll say that with any low to mid-priced AR you’ll still get PLENTY of “build” opportunities because:

1) The trigger will be totally crap, you will hate it, and it will need to be modded or replaced to make it even remotely acceptable.

2) You’ll probably want/need to change at least one other item, which will produce another opportunity for working on it without doing an actual build. With me, it was the ka-poooooooingggggg of the recoil buffer spring. Dammit, that’s really annoying. So I’ve been toying with various ways of quieting that spring. Also, I hate the orientation of the latch on the charging handle.

3) You still have to mount all your accessories. This is actually more difficult than it sounds because in AR Land, these are all going to be different than what you’d have used with a standard bolt action.

But overall, they ARE a lot of fun. I was not able to fit in a p-dog trip last summer due to work, but I WILL be taking the AR and an extra 750 rounds with me on the next trip.

I just had it out to the range back in October and the MMR produced 10 sequential 5 shot groups of <1 inch. While nothing to write home about for a quality bolt gun, this to me was impressive performance from an AR of this price range and it will certainly whack varmints with impunity at ranges of 300 and less.

Grouse

Head to Element Arms in Becker. It’s close to you if I remember right. Talk to Paul Huber or Andy Freehan or Dustin Emholtz. They will take care of you and even help you pick out your parts for what you want. They can even help you put it together if you need some help.

Element is a great place to go to.
Very knowledgeable staff and very good place to find parts.

I have the Rock River Coyote special 5.56 16 inch barrel with a Plum Crazy lower flat top. I wanted it as light as possible for carrying Yote hunting. With a 4X16X40 scope she comes in at a little over 6.5 lbs. For accuracy I will put it up against any normal hunting rifle out to 300 yds. It will hold 5/8 inch groups at 100 yds if I do my part. Last Yote I shot with it last year after shooting I Ranged it at 278 yards and that Yote did not make a move after.

He was so dumb he deserved to be killed. About 9:30 in the morning I was coming out of the house and seen him out in our hay field. Looked like he was digging up a Pocket Gopher, as an after thought I should have waited until he was done digging him up D–m it any way.

My Vote if we have one is Rock River.

Good stuff men. Sounds like a trip to Becker is in order.

After buying my Finnwolf and Marlin 444S. Both levers. I bought an AR in 5.56 NATO. For hunting the basic gas operation is fine. If bench shooting with its slower rate of fire gas is still OK. If also wanting to use for rapid fire offhand then moving up to piston operation is cleaner and cooler running. My fist and now sold was a Bushmaster varmint flat top with 24″ barrel, very accurate but awkward shooting offhand. Now I own a Bushmaster XM15 M4, 16″ barrel, removable carry handle with open sights. Pop the handle and throw a scope on the pictanny rail if desired. I love shooting this offhand with open sights. My only mods are replacing the flash hider with a Precision Armament M4-72 muzzle break. It takes recoil from 9lbs to 2lbs and eliminates muzzle rise. The other mod is a Timney 3 lb trigger. While for me a piston operation would have been a better choice, the gas keeps me from blowing through ammo at a rate that would cause me to file bankruptcy. Letting her cool down saves ammo in the long run. Happy build.

This is great info!!

castle-rock-clown wrote:

After buying my Finnwolf and Marlin 444S. Both levers. I bought an AR in 5.56 NATO. For hunting the basic gas operation is fine. If bench shooting with its slower rate of fire gas is still OK. If also wanting to use for rapid fire offhand then moving up to piston operation is cleaner and cooler running. My fist and now sold was a Bushmaster varmint flat top with 24″ barrel, very accurate but awkward shooting offhand. Now I own a Bushmaster XM15 M4, 16″ barrel, removable carry handle with open sights. Pop the handle and throw a scope on the pictanny rail if desired. I love shooting this offhand with open sights. My only mods are replacing the flash hider with a Precision Armament M4-72 muzzle break. It takes recoil from 9lbs to 2lbs and eliminates muzzle rise. The other mod is a Timney 3 lb trigger. While for me a piston operation would have been a better choice, the gas keeps me from blowing through ammo at a rate that would cause me to file bankruptcy. Letting her cool down saves ammo in the long run. Happy build.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I have shot both and don’t understand the great discrepancy in speed you mention between gas a piston?? In semi mode how could you possibly be saving ammo using one over the other? The military has used full auto gas operated forever. I know the difference and benefit of piston over gas but would like to hear your interpretation in case I am missing something. Thanks.

In a nutshell, piston are more expensive, but run cleaner and cooler after firing long closely placed strings. Some say gas are more consistent and are slightly more accurate. This I don’t personally know. What I was describing on my shooting was that due to heat buildup when I shot my AR is that when I could feel the heat coming off of it I would take a nice long break, the gun was not compromised, I just didn’t like the heat. Piston operated guns run cooler…I might not stop and that means gobbling up ammo which isn’t free. There are multiple articles on the web addressing what I am trying to say here, and they do it better

Also, my bad on the muzzle break figures. The results are not in pounds. It was how far an AR mounted in a sled moved back on a smooth table in inches. 9 inches with just a flash hider, 2 inches with the M4-72.