NFOA MEMBERS FORUM
General Categories => General Firearm Discussion => Topic started by: abbafandr on October 17, 2013, 08:31:11 AM
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I'm thinking of venturing into AR land. Any thoughts on a decent starter weapon or would I be better building my own. My only preconceived notions are a right handed gun and 5.56 for ammo.
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Colt 6920.
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What are you wanting to do with it? Home defense, target, varmints, just to listen to it go "bang"? Do you want to make it tacticool (hang all kinds of crap on it)? All those could affect recommendations.
Actually, your timing is good as they are getting to be plentiful and no longer outrageously priced.
A lot of it is ford vs chevy. I'm not aware of any really bad ones out there. Some are really good but cost a lot more.
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It really varies. Like waltherfan said, if you have a specific idea of how you want it to look, build one. A lot of people I know who "buy then modify" always grump a bit on how they spent so much money. I have yet to spend over 1k on an 5.56 platform, and a lot of times it's less then $750.
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Palmetto State Armory. They are pretty much always the best price for an affordable but still good quality AR. You can buy a complete build kit from them with an assembled upper, stock, lower parts kit, etc (everything except the lower receiver) and have it shipped right to your door. The lower takes maybe an hour to assemble if you really take your time.
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If you have to ask the question should I build my own, or should I reload ammunition. Then the answer is no, no you shouldn't build your own.
Once you are familiar with the subject enough that you don't have to ask that question, then yes, you should do it yourself.
Rock River Arms rifles are the best value in my opinion.
Cheapest does not always mean best value.
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if you want to build...keep an eye out for PSA sales. they will have an entire build kit (everything minus the receiver) for sale. in fact, the MOE is on sale now. buy that, ship it to your house. then go find a $99 lower. DE had Spike's lowers for $99 last time i checked.
or just buy a complete AR and upgrade as you see fit.
in the end, do what you think is best for you and what will fit your needs/wants. but building is fun.
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You can buy a complete left handed upper half with BCG from Stag Arms if that is what you want.
The biggest thing people mess up when building a lower is when they are tapping the forward pin in for the trigger guard they don't support the lower lobe properly and end up busting it off. make sure you only use a pin in the front of the trigger guard not the rear. There are plenty of really good youtube videos on how to assemble a lower.
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Thanks for the input
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You know when you get an AR built you have to start shooting Multigun, right?
Multigun is even more fun than USPSA.
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+1 for Palmetto State Armory
Fly
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Palmetto State Armory. They are pretty much always the best price for an affordable but still good quality AR. You can buy a complete build kit from them with an assembled upper, stock, lower parts kit, etc (everything except the lower receiver) and have it shipped right to your door. The lower takes maybe an hour to assemble if you really take your time.
I still have a rec on hand I haven't built yet. Noticed this post and thought I would take a look and see if anything has changed with availability but have not found much. PSA is "temporarily out of stock" on just about everything except the most expensive items and not many of those. Seems things at least in the do it yourself category are still hard to come by off the shelf. No big deal as I am in no rush and have plenty of other projects to chase after.
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I still have a rec on hand I haven't built yet. Noticed this post and thought I would take a look and see if anything has changed with availability but have not found much. PSA is "temporarily out of stock" on just about everything except the most expensive items and not many of those. Seems things at least in the do it yourself category are still hard to come by off the shelf. No big deal as I am in no rush and have plenty of other projects to chase after.
Keep an eye on their website, the availability of many items(especially complete uppers) change from day to day and sometimes hour to hour.
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You know when you get an AR built you have to start shooting Multigun, right?
Multigun is even more fun than USPSA.
Man, I knew there was a catch :o Then for a decent shotgun :P
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Joe Bob Outfitters usually has things in stock and if you are former military or LEO you get a 5% discount. Use discount code THANKYOU at checkout.
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Keep an eye on their website, the availability of many items(especially complete uppers) change from day to day and sometimes hour to hour.
I also watch slickguns.com... lots of PSA stuff posted when it comes available on there, along with many other sites.
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I'm thinking of venturing into AR land. Any thoughts on a decent starter weapon or would I be better building my own. My only preconceived notions are a right handed gun and 5.56 for ammo.
Colt is regarded by many as the gold standard of AR's and they do make excellent ones if you want a top tier gun for about $1,100. Some Wal-Marts even sell them now.
If you want a solid mid tier AR look at Armalite. If you look around you can find many in the $8-900 range and they come with a lifetime warranty and excellent customer service.
Avoid Doublestar, Olympic Arms and Delton like the plauge. Far too many QC issues and they cut far too many corners. Sadly, Bushmaster also seems to have really fallen in quality since they moved production to New York from Maine.
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A good starting point would be to buy one of the Palmetto State Armory blemished lowers + LPK. They are on sale right now for $99 with free shipping. You would just have to pay the transfer fee to a local FFL.
http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/psa-safe-fire-lower-moe-black-lower-parts-kit.html (http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/psa-safe-fire-lower-moe-black-lower-parts-kit.html)
You have until the end of today (October 30th) to make a decision. ;D
Fly
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A good starting point would be to buy one of the Palmetto State Armory blemished lowers + LPK. They are on sale right now for $99 with free shipping. You would just have to pay the transfer fee to a local FFL.
http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/psa-safe-fire-lower-moe-black-lower-parts-kit.html (http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/psa-safe-fire-lower-moe-black-lower-parts-kit.html)
You have until the end of today (October 30th) to make a decision. ;D
Fly
Wow that, is a great deal.
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PSA is moving warehouses, and they are having some really killer deals lately. Keep a close eye on the sales. They have stripped blem uppers for $40 right now.
Just one of many deals/sales.
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you guys and PSA are going to get me in trouble with the lady of the house here with these build ideas and PSA's awesome sales that they are having! Bought a stripped lower blem for $59 + $7 shipping and $15 to my FFL. Then they had their Magpul LPK and CTR Stock assembly in FDE for sale for $119 + $7 shipping...
Now you post that they have stripped upper blems for $40... SMH, these are almost too good to pass up... almost! This will be my first build as well and I'm going to try to stretch out my purchases as best I can for when I get "freed" up cash.
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The weaponry is the cheap part - wait til you start emptying 30 rd mags at the range, even if you reload ...
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September/November before the election/panic I bought my first AR (A Sig M400 with the A3, railed gas block, aftermarket quad rail and 2500 rounds of .223/5.56 :) :) :) :) BEST. DECISION. EVER.
even at those clearance prices a 30rd mag dump was still like: $10, $10, $10, $10... oh crap!
Now I am wanting to build one like the OP.
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Abbafandr,
So with all these great sales going on at PSA, have you finally taken the leap into the world of EBRs?
Fly
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Do a little research and build your own, IMO...once you realize all the things that you will want to change from most factory completes you will only be saving $$$by not paying for components you will replace anyway - a few examples include trigger, forearm/handguard, flash hider, stock, sights or optics, etc and that's just the beginning.. It is surprisingly simple to build and requires few special tools ....just built my first with quality components and even bought the tools I needed (roll pin punch set, upper receiver vise block, stock wrench and a couple others) and all said and done total, I'm in less than $800 with the exact rifle I wanted. Most of the tools you need are inexpensive or can be borrowed from auto zone or maybe even benevolent guys here or your own buddies.
Check out ar15.com for lots of helpful tutorials, etc...I really enjoyed building my own and - for me, anyway. - I feel better knowing where all my components came from...
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P.s., PSA is also selling a lower parts kit/buffer tube/spring/buffer/stock kit PLUS a full auto profile bolt carrier group (critical component) for$179.00 + $7 shipping - the bolt carrier group is $144.99 alone! Just bought one, see link in good deals II thread...
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Abbafandr,
So with all these great sales going on at PSA, have you finally taken the leap into the world of EBRs?
Fly
Sadly, no. I had to take a leap into the world of new furnaces since the heat exchanger on my old one went to heat exchanger heaven and started to fill the house with carbon monoxide. But the detector warned us before anything bad happened. ;D The tab for the new pretty one kind clipped my discretionary funds temporarily. :(
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Sadly, no. I had to take a leap into the world of new furnaces since the heat exchanger on my old one went to heat exchanger heaven and started to fill the house with carbon monoxide. But the detector warned us before anything bad happened. ;D The tab for the new pretty one kind clipped my discretionary funds temporarily. :(
This winter is not supposed to be THAT bad. Heat is optional. Guns are a MUST. ;D
Fly