any disadvantage in assembling my own AR ??

[throttletony]

Hi guys -

after looking around, I realize I can save a decent amount if I buy an upper and lower separately for a new AR-15. Are there any major disadvantages to this? This is not a competition gun, it's for shooting coyotes and home defense.
I can find complete lowers (RRA, DPMS, Bushmaster) for $225-300, and then I can find uppers that would be enough for me (from same companies, I'm looking at 18" or 20" hunting type uppers) for $450-$650.

So my question is why NOT build my own? Feel free to give advice on brands and personal experience with brands. "Sounds like Bushmaster's QC is slipping, etc."
Thanks in advance.

 

[RichardR]

No disadvantages, it just saves you a few bucks.

 

[OZZY.40]

Mine is 2 different companies and it shoots just fine.

 

[sgreen3]

No down sides that Ive herd of

 

[ncthorn]

No downsides at all, unless you are mechanically challenged or use sub-par parts. I would actually say that you will be at an advantage because you will know your rifle that much better should any issues pop up down the road.

 

[jd4320t]

If you are just talking about buying a complete lower and a complete upper you may not save that much.

You can save a lot if you have an idea of what you want and you build it that way...lower..trigger..stock and so on. Changing things to what we want costs us a lot.

 

[Mr. Habib]

If you know what you are doing, no problems. It may affect the resale value depending on the buyer and your skill. If you are just slapping one brand of upper onto another lower, then go for it.

 

[racr28]

They are very simple to assemble with a few specific tools, I don't see any disadvantages.

 

[samrothstein01]

No disadvantage whatsoever. In fact, I view it as a strong advantage because of how much knowledge is gained in the process. Even if something get's a little quirky, it can be fixed and provide even more lessons learned.

 

[dpzj96]

I don't see it as a disadvantage at all. When the funds become available I plan on picking up one the Del-Ton rifle kits and building my first AR.

 

[RGriff69]

Only disadvantage is if you plan on selling it.

I'm building my own AR for the first time now. I bought the stripped lower at one place and my build kit and stock from another. I will be buying a complete upper from another company though.

Building the lower was cool. Did it by myself just reading directions off the computer. Pretty easy once you do it the first time.

 

[Fordtough25]

Only disadvantage is if you plan on selling it.

I'm building my own AR for the first time now. I bought the stripped lower at one place and my build kit and stock from another. I will be buying a complete upper from another company though.

Building the lower was cool. Did it by myself just reading directions off the computer. Pretty easy once you do it the first time.

In the bold, I don't care myself but it seems like most people are picky when it comes to buying one that isn't factory assembled. But I say go for it, it's a fun experience and helps you learn the inner workings of your rifle.

 

[throttletony]

Thanks all for the great input. I'm leaning towards assembling the lower completely (from stripped) and then buying a complete upper. Thanks again and keep the comments coming.

 

[hotrodtba]

The only disadvantage is you realize you paid too much for your factory built, or should I say assembled, AR's.

 

[ryknoll3]

In the bold, I don't care myself but it seems like most people are picky when it comes to buying one that isn't factory assembled. But I say go for it, it's a fun experience and helps you learn the inner workings of your rifle.

The problem with someone's home build is you sometimes can't verify that the parts are actually from where he claims to have sourced them from.

 

[dl1911]

Only disadvantage (to your wallet) is its a sure fire way to catch BRD.

 

[revsaxon]

Be warned if you end up picking up an OLD colt lower, some of them were done with an enlarged front retaining pin/trigger pins.

Besides that warning the only downside is if you ever choose to sell it. Some people like all one manufacturer, some don't. Personally all mine are mixes at this point (spike, colt, gemtech, daniels defense, magpul, rock-river, dpms, are all represented), and I love it. Couldn't get the upper I wanted from anyone but gemtech, but they don't make a lower, so I had to go with a spikes, but their trigger kinda sucks so I needed one from rock river.... Never ends!

 

[Destro]

Couldn't get the upper I wanted from anyone but gemtech, but they don't make a lower, so I had to go with a spikes

they make uppers?

 

[Mechy]

You would definitely get a better understanding of the system if you build it yourself. I'd see that as a benefit, you might even save some money in the process.

 

[parkerj112]

Parts

Quote "The problem with someone's home build is you sometimes can't verify that the parts are actually from where he claims to have sourced them from."

I had an idea along the lines for this above problem. If I were to keep all my reciepts in say my safe in an envelope with ser # for the AR (just in case I catch the bug and build more... BUHAHAHAHA). I know that if I go to sell the AR to someone they could question the reciepts and say that I could have replaced X with junk Y and so on. But on the flip side I would still be better off then the next guy saying hmmm, I think I put trigger Z in from company Z, bolt from company R and so on. What do you guys think??

Parker