The idiot's guide to the AR-15 rifle (or an idiot building one)

pitbull592 said:
Nice AR, I cheated and just bought one complete:D
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good looking taurus! i have a pt 140 what is that? 9mm?
 
Captain Spaulding said:
The wife just gave me the go ahead to start my build. Given that I have no specialized tools, how difficult will assembly be Shotty? Do I need to purchase anything specific in the tool department? If so I may just buy a complete lowere firts and then save up for the complete upper.

I haven't even started yet but the Magpul Dynamics dvds have already made me a whore...now I just need the Dynamic Handgun dvds.
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Ya know Capt., I priced and priced and priced and any way I looked at it, getting the complete lower was cheaper than building it.

I bought a complete lower and then redid it with a different LPK and had a friend redo the trigger for a cleaner pull.

Now that said, I then took off the stock and grip and replaced them with the Magpul units so I guess I could have done it for close to the same price in the long run.

As for tools, for the lower, all you really need is a castle nut wrench. That is if you have a basic tool kit to begin with (screwdrivers, needlenosed pliers, some punches).

The upper is really where the specialized tools come in. I can't really comment on that as I bought a complete upper but I know there's quite a few thing's you'll need.
 
nice i have a 40 also and yah that price is pretty in beat able. how are you doing at the range with it?
 
Nice gun shotty. Happy to see that it turned into something, hehe. To think, you were actually considering buying a Mini-14 to begin with :)
 
texastonydobbs said:
this AR15 stuff will make your head swim :confused:
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I hear ya. Luckily I found a Colt 6920 in a local shop for a good price on Saturday. Unfortunately couldn't pick it up at that time. Hopefully it's there this weekend. Then I don't have to worry about this part by that manufacturer, etc. I'm DONE. Except for switching out the stock for a Sully or A1, which holo sight and BUIS to get, sling, etc. Guess I'm not really done.
 
shotgunner11 said:
Ya know Capt., I priced and priced and priced and any way I looked at it, getting the complete lower was cheaper than building it.

I bought a complete lower and then redid it with a different LPK and had a friend redo the trigger for a cleaner pull.

Now that said, I then took off the stock and grip and replaced them with the Magpul units so I guess I could have done it for close to the same price in the long run.

As for tools, for the lower, all you really need is a castle nut wrench. That is if you have a basic tool kit to begin with (screwdrivers, needlenosed pliers, some punches).

The upper is really where the specialized tools come in. I can't really comment on that as I bought a complete upper but I know there's quite a few thing's you'll need.
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All I really want to do to a complete lower is add the Magpul ASAP sling attachment. My concern is that the lower comes with the castle nut staked and I am not able to get it off or I dame it or I can't re-seat it properly...not being a gun smith but being smart enough to know what I don't know is the issue.
 
Captain Spaulding said:
All I really want to do to a complete lower is add the Magpul ASAP sling attachment. My concern is that the lower comes with the castle nut staked and I am not able to get it off or I dame it or I can't re-seat it properly...not being a gun smith but being smart enough to know what I don't know is the issue.
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Take this with a grain of salt, since I only read it over at m4carbine.net and haven't done it myself, but supposedly you can get the castle nut off with a proper wrench and a little muscle.
 
Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Fancy me!!!!!!!!!!!
I just ordered a custom engraved lower from Harford Engraving...should be here in a week or two...pics forth coming. Thanks Shotty for putting more ants in my pants.
 
Captain Spaulding said:
All I really want to do to a complete lower is add the Magpul ASAP sling attachment. My concern is that the lower comes with the castle nut staked and I am not able to get it off or I dame it or I can't re-seat it properly...not being a gun smith but being smart enough to know what I don't know is the issue.
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If you ever need any help or advice feel free to PM me, I built my baby from a stripped lower, and have an older Bushmaster that I have taken apart and swapped parts many times. The sling attachment is pretty easy just watch for the retaining spring and pin that hold in the rear pin. And there is a simple wrench that is used to take off the castle nut, I say go ahead and do it, and if you mess up we can help you fix it.
 
I JUST put on my ASAP the other day.

My castle nut was not only not staked, but only about hand tight. Not cool.

The staking isn't really a huge issue, if it's staked, a dremel will remove the protrusions pretty easy and you'll be relpacing the plate anyway.

The ASAP is pretty easy to put on but I warn you, it makes the use of a standard castle nut wrench tough as it gets in the way.

I chewed up my castle nut a bit on reassembly but this gun isn't destined for beauty contests.

That said, if I can do it you can to.
 
Shotty, gotta watch those castle nuts. Some guys will loc-tite them, but I prefer not to. If you put pressure on the stock and rotate the stock and buffer tube a little bit, after you do that enough it's just like a ratchet, it will eventually walk loose. Snug it up a bit and it should be g2g.
 
hey mr. shotty, have you gotten a sling yet, I was going through my shop and found a mamba sling in foliage green new in the bag, if you want it let me know and i'll send it to you.

take it easy
cricket
 
I just got the first piece of the puzzle...my Magpul MS2 sling. Working on the graphic for my engraved lower. Will likely be the graphic in my sig.
 
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