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

NaOH said:
Those are making the rounds up here at $150 a pop. Not a bad price for us Canadians.

What do you think of it?
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i put the lowers in the safe and haven't had a chance to do anything with them yet.
 
another good option if you are interested in a compact adjustable power scope is the primary arms 1-4x. looks very similar to the millett 1-4 but only cost $110ish after shipping. just got mine a couple weeks ago and it is one of the brightest/clearest scopes i have seen in that price range.
 
building my first lower-

Noveske second lower-http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/detail&product_id=1462
DD lpk-http://www.palmettostatearmory.com/616.php

looking for a good place to get the tools i need to assemble the lower and butt
also looking for a good place to buy 30rd mags also is MAGPUL a good brand for mags?
http://www.palmettostatearmory.com/101.php ???

http://www.palmettostatearmory.com/396.php this replaces the stock "spacer"?


everything look ok?
 
Magpul Pmags are a leading brand, if not the leading brand of reliable AR magazines. Shop around for them as you shouldn't have to pay more than $12-$15 each.
I was at the range today and one of our guys was having trouble with one particular Pmag, causing the gun to double feed. We couldn't figure out if it was the gun or the magazine, as the problem was intermittent. The mag worked fine in another gun, so we told him to mark it and keep an eye on it. Even the best mags out there can sometimes be a problem.
All magazines should be marked to allow you to keep track of which is which.
 
Good tip. All of my mags get marked with a paint pen with a number that is unique to that specific magazine. It makes weeding out the problems much easier.
 
What's everyone's thoughts on single point vs two point slings. I'm having a bit of a real estate issue on my handguard. Once I have my illumination kit on my carbine length MOE handguard, if I put what appears to be the excellent Mount-N-Slot sling swivel on the same side, I ain't got no room for my hand. I could slap a rail and an AFG (very comfortable, BTW) below the handguard to give me a little more room for my hand, but that's a little more complicated than I was hoping for, or I could just go with a single point sling...
 
Nice project!

I've been meaning to this, but so far I've found two whole rifles that I liked enough to just buy them.


SP
 
wintermute said:
What's everyone's thoughts on single point vs two point slings. I'm having a bit of a real estate issue on my handguard. Once I have my illumination kit on my carbine length MOE handguard, if I put what appears to be the excellent Mount-N-Slot sling swivel on the same side, I ain't got no room for my hand. I could slap a rail and an AFG (very comfortable, BTW) below the handguard to give me a little more room for my hand, but that's a little more complicated than I was hoping for, or I could just go with a single point sling...
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Single points allow for quick transitions from shoulder to shoulder but do little to control the muzzle of the carbine when it is hanging from the sling. A well designed two point (mounted close to the receiver at the front and rear) still offers quick transitions but controls the muzzle a bit more. I am not a huge fan of single points except on shorter (SBR) carbines. They work but I think a good two-point (VTAC, VCAS, Emdom Gunslinger to name a few) is more versatile.

The Mount-N-Slots are excellent and you will be very pleased with them. You also won't find a more compact way to mount a sling on the MOE handguards. Anything else is going to require a rail which will take up even more space. That is the genius of the IWC Mount-N-Slots.

The AFG is great gear but it really designed to be run out toward the muzzle on a longer hand guard. You might not get the full effect on a short carbine hand guard.

Here are some options/ideas:
- Mount a Magpul MVG to the bottom of the hand guards. This will move your hand down and enhance your ability to drive the carbine and control recoil. Remember to use a thumb forward grip, not a hammer grip.

- Mount the light on the opposite side of the hand guard (around 1 or 2 o'clock on the dial). This is actually a preferred place for those who wrap their hand around the hand guard.

- You could move the light to a FSB mount like the one from Midwest Industries.

- Get a mid-length upper. The longer 9" hand guard will do away with your potential space issues.

Or, what I would do...

- Mount the light as far forward as possible (should be done anyway) and the sling mount as far back as possible (should be done anyway). Before you worry about having a problem get everything mounted and shoot it. It may be a non-issue. You might be surprised how well everything works together.
 
Good advice Matt. Do you have a personal preference between the VTAC and VCAS? I'm trying to decide which one to get. I think what I'm going to do is this:

-Move my light from the 10ish o clock position (non ejection port side) to the opposite side and drop it using a Vltor offset mount (have you heard any reviews on those by the way?) so i can go under the handguard with my left thumb to activate the light.

-Use a Mount-n-slot QD slot mounted near the front of the handguard at the 10 o clock position, and run the rear of the sling through the slot on the MOE stock.

what do you think?
 
I have got the ASAP on two of my AR's and LOVE them!!! They are a PITH to install but well worth it IMO.
 
jforbush said:
I have got the ASAP on two of my AR's and LOVE them!!! They are a PITH to install but well worth it IMO.
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AIM has a SALP single point sling mount. siilar to the ASAP, but it's one peice of steel, with the loop folded out instead of welded on. it's also about 2/3 the price. ok, not a huge savings over the Magpul version, but it's a clean design and worth a look.

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=XIKHSLAP&groupid=56

and Leatherman has their MUT multi tool. it's intended for AR maintenance.

http://www.leatherman.com/product/MUT

that tube tool that Shotgunner posted above looks interesting. they just need to make the expansion case in Coyote/FDE and OD and not just black.

and Gerber has an AR maintenance kit too.
 
Jake Bauer said:
Good advice Matt. Do you have a personal preference between the VTAC and VCAS? I'm trying to decide which one to get. I think what I'm going to do is this:

-Move my light from the 10ish o clock position (non ejection port side) to the opposite side and drop it using a Vltor offset mount (have you heard any reviews on those by the way?) so i can go under the handguard with my left thumb to activate the light.

-Use a Mount-n-slot QD slot mounted near the front of the handguard at the 10 o clock position, and run the rear of the sling through the slot on the MOE stock.

what do you think?
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On the sling, I prefer the VCAS. I like how simple it is. The padded version is great.

I don't prefer that position for the light because I don't wrap my thumb around the vert grip but lots of people do that. I think the VTAC guys do it that way and they certainly know what they are talking about.

I prefer to mount my sling as close to the receiver as possible. It gives a fuller range of motion with the rifle. At the rear I usually use some kind of end plate like the DD Burnsed Loop, SLAP, or Novekse QD. At the front I use a sling mount on the handguard or a BFG UWL around the delta ring.
 
I agree completely with both of Matt’s last 2 posts.

The single point sling’s only advantage in my opinion is the ability to transition rapidly from one shoulder to the other. The down sides are that the gun pretty much has no where to hang but straight down like a plumb-bob. It’s not too bad when standing still, but when moving, if you’ve transitioned to a pistol is much less controlled than with a 2 point sling. The single point crowd (which I was part of) will say “Well if you’re running, you’re just going to leave your rifle hanging there? No, you’ll hold on to it as you are running/moving.” Well I’d rather have 2 hands on my handgun and what do I do with that other hand when I want to reload, drop the rifle, reload, then pick it back up again? We’re getting to tactics/methods over gear now, but I digress. Also, there are lots of times I’d just like to take a walk in the woods with my rifle and let it hang. A 2 point is much more comfortable for that.

You have to find that point of preference for sling mounting. As Matt said, the closer the 2 ends of the sling are together, the better the ability to transition from shoulder to shoulder. E.g. worst case is having the sling attached near the front sight and to the rear of the stock, best case is a mount at the rear of the receiver and slightly in front of the receiver, but the down side is as you get closer to the front of the receiver, the gun will want to roll when hanging sometimes. See why there are 400 AR slings out there? So much personal preference out there.
 
matthewdanger said:
Or, what I would do...

- Mount the light as far forward as possible (should be done anyway) and the sling mount as far back as possible (should be done anyway). Before you worry about having a problem get everything mounted and shoot it. It may be a non-issue. You might be surprised how well everything works together.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the recommendations Matt! Especially this one about not putting the cart before the horse!
 
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