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Posted: 3/31/2008 7:13:59 PM EDT
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How many of you have built an upper or just purchased an already complete upper? I'm debating which way to go, right now I have finished my lower which is DPMS lower w/ LPK and a Mil-spec Magpul OD Green CTR and tube. I'm not sure I get the gas staking stuff so I don't know if building a upper is something I want to tackle. What advantages are there from building versus buying complete? Save money or just better parts to make a more superior upper? Thanks jtcannonball |
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You have to consider a couple things... A complete upper will save you some money, and a complete kit will save you a lot more... You will learn a lot about your rifle doing a piece by piece build though. But... you will need to buy a few tools (vise block and barrel wrench immediately come to mind) unless you have a buddy who has them, and it will cost you more to round up all the parts you will need to complete your build... Building this way does allow you to get exactly the components you want. If you are new to AR's though, it might save you a bundle to buy a complete upper, shoot it, tinker with it and learn what you like before doing that piece by piece build... The only staking I can think of is staking your bolt carrier key to the carrier body,and I would just buy a complete BCG if I were you. You won't save much assembling your own, and then you SHOULD be assured it's assembled and staked correctly. As far as installing a BCG, as long as the bolt lugs and the barrel extension have similar amounts of wear you should be fine. With a new barrel extension and a new bolt, you should be good to go. I wonder, have you been talking to one of those gunsmiths that tell you this is rocket science in order to discourage you from attempting it? AR's are fun and easy to build! If you get in trouble, we are here to help you, ok? :) |
Thank you for your help, I actually have been reading a lot of posts on here in the building section and the black rifle club at glocktalk.com. What freaked me out is the instructions on here about building a rifle, the lower didn't phase me one bit but the instructions and the lack of pictures in different angles got me nervous. I think I will buy a upper without the bcg and purchase an enhance bcg, is it difficult to make sure the bcg is properly gauged first? Or are they just plug and play? Thank you again jtcannonball |
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As long as everything is new or close to new it should be plug and play. I'm actually considering the same thing myself. I had to sell off all my AR's a couple years ago, and I'm just now getting back into building them myself, and I'm weighing the pros and cons of just going the kit route and getting a lower cost AR quickly vs. the piece by piece route and getting exactly what I want. I plan to do at least 3 of them this year though, so I might just get a kit so I can get shooting again and then swapping parts later. The fun part of that is it's amazing how fast those swapped out parts can pile up towards either another build or to raise money towards another build. |
You don't have to worry about the headspacing when putting the BCG in? |
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NO Almost ALL AR barrels are shipped with the barrel extension attached and headspaced to mil-spec. On the rare occasion you would ever see a barrel without a barrel extension, you would need to have a competent gunsmith install it and headspace it. I would not waste my time with that. The only time I could see messing with such a thing is if you wanted a very unusual configuration that required starting with a barrel blank. |
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I've bought the YHM quad rails, and if you can get one installed with your kit for under $120 or so it's a good time to get one. You can buy a carbine length YHM quad rail free float tube for under $100. It might not be the lightest one out there but it looks good and it works. You will need an action block for your vise and an armorer's wrench to install one though, so you would still be money ahead paying a bit more to have it installed on your kit. I have the tools, so it's pretty much a wash for me. I will probably NOT get one because that's something I can add later as funds allow. |
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I built mine. With an eye to the future I started picking up tools. Action block, armorer's wrench, pin punches... stuff not normally in the home tool box. Then I started hitting the EE here and picked up a 20" HBAR barrel assembly. Found an upper reciever. Reread the threads about torque values assembly tips and all that. Then go for it. Everything is covered and if you hit a stump, there's about 35,000 people here to help out so you're not exactly winging it. I put that stuff together and had my base assembly. Add flip sights, free float rail, GTS/Denny's bolt control group and other goodies... and you get this  Word of caution: If you do pick up the fixtures and build one, you're hooked |
| I think I'm going to buy a complete upper minus BCG and get a enhanced BCG and later purchase a quad rail later. Mainly because I don't know when I would have money to purchase anything for a rail, after the upper I want to save money for a optic of some sort, either eotech or aimpoint. |
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