Haters: Individually Built ARs

[Bapak2ja]

Yeah, it's a frankengun. They're the only type of AR I own. I know I built them right. They run well.

When I sell.....I sell components. I wouldn't expect anyone to trust my building skills, even though I know what I'm doing.

And obviously there's going to be a stigma in an LGS. Most people that come in are idiots. I wouldn't trust some random guy off the street's home build. Heck no. And I sure as heck wouldn't buy one from a LGS. No freaking way.

Have you looked up "home gunsmithing fails?" I think that says it all.

Yep!

 

[SwingW/theWing]

I'm not hating on people because they bought a nice Daniel defense for xxx amount of dollars more than my rifle...my complaint is when said person uses his DD to say my rifle is crap. I've seen the same attitude in the 1911 department regarding Colts. I like all firearms especially when they have the lowest price tag possible for a quality weapon. I don't care what name is stamped on it. If I had more disposable income available I would probably buy a high end complete rifle from one of these companies. If I did though I would never bash another persons weapon because they built it with what they could get.

 

[223 Gunner]

I will also make the comparison of the guy that stipples his Glock, in my mind you just prevented me from buying it from you.
Maybe you are just learning how to stipple, you messed it up, and now trying to pass it off as "custom", I will only buy used guns that are un-molested and in their original factory condition.

I just don't trust people to do a quality job, and I don't want to buy your experiment.

 

[SwingW/theWing]

To add to everything already stated, my low opinion of parts guns comes from the time and money wasted while sitting in classes waiting on someone to help unf*** bubbas frankenAR put together with whatever was cheapest online or in the parts bin. I spend a lot in tuition, ammo, and travel, and it pisses me off when someone wastes mine and others' time and money with "just as good as"! I have and use several home built AR's, but they are put together correctly with the highest quality parts available. I'm also a big fan of factory rifles from QUALITY sources. NO, contrary to popular(on INGO) opinion, parts ain't parts, and not all ARs and AR manufacturers are the same! I have taken to carrying two ARs, to every class, just in case one goes down on me, but more importantly, in case Budweiser Bob's FrankenAR goes **** up, it's easier, faster, and cheaper, to loan him a spare than to diagnose and repair a poor quality build while on the line.

I've only taken 1 carbine course and agreed to bring a reliable rifle to get through the course. I say shame on Budweiser bob for wasting your time and money. Kick him to the curb and carry on...but that's just me.

 

[Vigilant]

I like all firearms especially when they have the lowest price tag possible for a quality weapon.

Lowest price tag and quality rarely go hand in hand!

 

[seedubs1]

This. I learned it the hard way. Parts is not parts. Even LPK's. My last build, I tried the "parts is parts" approach.....Got a Granite Ridge LPK. What a bunch of ****. I may as well have taken a $50 bill and lit it on fire. It's all in the garbage and replaced with BCM and Seekins parts now. Parts were sticky, didn't fit well, and didn't function properly.

Parts is not parts. And I don't care how many people on INGO say all LPK's are the same.....They aren't.

To add to everything already stated, my low opinion of parts guns comes from the time and money wasted while sitting in classes waiting on someone to help unf*** bubbas frankenAR put together with whatever was cheapest online or in the parts bin. I spend a lot in tuition, ammo, and travel, and it pisses me off when someone wastes mine and others' time and money with "just as good as"! I have and use several home built AR's, but they are put together correctly with the highest quality parts available. I'm also a big fan of factory rifles from QUALITY sources. NO, contrary to popular(on INGO) opinion, parts ain't parts, and not all ARs and AR manufacturers are the same! I have taken to carrying two ARs, to every class, just in case one goes down on me, but more importantly, in case Budweiser Bob's FrankenAR goes **** up, it's easier, faster, and cheaper, to loan him a spare than to diagnose and repair a poor quality build while on the line.

 

[223 Gunner]

I'm not hating on people because they bought a nice Daniel defense for xxx amount of dollars more than my rifle...my complaint is when said person uses his DD to say my rifle is crap. I've seen the same attitude in the 1911 department regarding Colts. I like all firearms especially when they have the lowest price tag possible for a quality weapon. I don't care what name is stamped on it. If I had more disposable income available I would probably buy a high end complete rifle from one of these companies. If I did though I would never bash another persons weapon because they built it with what they could get.

Completely agree, I don't "bash" or belittle anyone for what they own. I would much rather you be armed and "with me" mentally and pro 2nd amendment, than to give anyone the impression that gun owners are A holes. And it seems some of us gun owners come off that way to people that are new to the hobby.
It's very disappointing to say the least.

 

[Vigilant]

I've only taken 1 carbine course and agreed to bring a reliable rifle to get through the course. I say shame on Budweiser bob for wasting your time and money. Kick him to the curb and carry on...but that's just me.

Unfortunately, you are in the minority, as a lot of people believe mediocrity is the American way, and just as good as is good enough!

 

[17 squirrel]

Lowest price tag and quality never go hand in hand!

I fixed it for you Sir..

 

[SwingW/theWing]

Lowest price tag and quality rarely go hand in hand!

Maybe I said it wrong. I built my rifle like other people have mentioned...the way I want. I imagine I would have spent $1,000 more to buy a stock weapon off the wall and make it the way it ended up. So, the weapon I want with the lowest price tag for a quality weapon. That make more sense...lol?

 

[seedubs1]

Exactly. For example, when I was looking for BCG's, I was looking for BCM, DD, Youngs, LMT, etc... I got the one I could find for the best price when a sale happened. It's not about buying the cheapest possible BCG. It's about buying the best quality for the best price.

Maybe I said it wrong. I built my rifle like other people have mentioned...the way I want. I imagine I would have spent $1,000 more to buy a stock weapon off the wall and make it the way it ended up. So, the weapon I want with the lowest price tag for a quality weapon. That make more sense...lol?

 

[Vigilant]

I haven't noticed it so much here but I hear it at gun shops and with friends of friends...why do people not like a AR that somebody built outside of a big name manufacturer. The other day my rifle was referred fans a frankengun. I didn't really care but I was curious if this was an elitist type attitude of just ignorance. My rifle has BCM barrel and BCG, VLtor A5 setup, Midwest Industries hand guard, and Mag Tactical upper/lower. This is not some rifle that I tossed together after I found a bunch of spare pieces. So what do you guys say about this kinda of attitude?

I would look into Mag Tactical a little more, I've seen very bad reviews, and read somewhere they are out of business. Their FB page hasn't changed since early 2015. Many catostrophic failures available online. I have no experience with them, and hold no opinion other than cast receivers are generally not very good. Add to that cast from a proprietary magnesium alloy, and...

 

[gregkl]

I trust my builds more than any factory built AR. I buy quality components often the same as the factory guys do. (I am surprised no one has mentioned yet in this thread that the factory built AR's are built with parts from various manufacturers. They don't make every part themselves.)

I look over every part closely and usually smooth the edges and wear surfaces, if only with a little steel wool. I check and triple check fitment of each part. I don't slap them together in a hurry since I am not in a hurry.

The couple I have sold, I have made money on because I build a rifle that out performs factory build rifles that cost much more.

Warranty? I don't care so much about the warranty as I do the quality. A good product will not need to use warranty. I am with CM on this one. I'll take care of my own issues if they appear. This applies to firearms and home renovation, vehicle repair, whatever.

See my sig line below.

A lot of guys who build rifles or do anything themselves are trying to save money over hiring someone else to do it. If I am going to do it myself I buy the best materials I can. I save money on doing the labor.

 

[seedubs1]

I have also heard second hand that their magnesium alloy is not holding up well.....

I would look into Mag Tactical a little more, I've seen very bad reviews, and read somewhere they are out of business. Their FB page hasn't changed since early 2015. Many catostrophic failures available online. I have no experience with them, and hold no opinion other than cast receivers are generally not very good. Add to that cast from a proprietary magnesium alloy, and...

 

[SteveM4A1]

I would never sell my built AR, so I don't care what others think. It was built to my exact specifications, by me for me. That is something you can't get out of a mass produced AR. Plus, you learn SO much when doing your own build. You can call me or my gun whatever you want, because I wouldn't let you shoot it anyway

 

[KG1]

I trust the builds I do because I take care to do them the proper way. It's things like proper torquing and indexing to checking head spacing and proper gas block/tube/gas port alignment installation among other things on every build that I do using proper tools and quality parts that insures a possitive outcome but it's one thing for me to trust in my own abilities and another thing to ask someone else that doesn't know me to have that same kind of confidence.

 

[SwingW/theWing]

I read some bad things on some of their lowers after I put my rifle together. I've only got a little over 3k rounds on it but seems to be holding up just fine. A lot of what I read was people just being pissing because their mag well blew out from some catastrophic failure. I didn't dig to deep into it. But it seemed to me people that were butt hurt because they failed to pay attention to their rifle while firing it and something bad happened. So they had to blame something.

 

[WarJunky91]

I would look into Mag Tactical a little more, I've seen very bad reviews, and read somewhere they are out of business. Their FB page hasn't changed since early 2015. Many catostrophic failures available online. I have no experience with them, and hold no opinion other than cast receivers are generally not very good. Add to that cast from a proprietary magnesium alloy, and...

I can give you first hand knowledge of a Mag Tactical lower. I bought it from Rural King on Black Friday for like $35 after all the discounts. It is absolute garbage. I wasted so much time and effort on that lower. Every single hole had to be drilled or had emry paper run through it. They did not clean up after painting the thing. I had to completely drill out the holes for the take down pin detents and the fire select detent because they were filled with paint. The holes for the fire selector and the trigger group pins were also caked in paint and had to be drilled and scraped free so i could even have a chance of fitting them in. I had to do the same for the take down pin holes, my front one still needs more work done to it as i basically need a hammer to get the pin to move. The pistol grip threads were bad after the first 3 threads. I went and bought a tap and re-tapped the threads thinking it was just more paint again, by the end of it i had a pile of chips that filled the palm of my hand (as a layer, not a pile). And of course they have the receiver molded so that the trigger group pin holes have "warts" on them and you need the longer pins they thankfully included with the lower. And the paint finish they have on the lower is just so easy to scratch and wear away, i have a half moon around my fire selector hole on the non functional side where i just barely touched it with emry paper when cleaning that hole and it shaved it completely off like taking acetone to a foam cup. I cannot say enough bad things about this lower.

 

[Vigilant]

I can give you first hand knowledge of a Mag Tactical lower. I bought it from Rural King on Black Friday for like $35 after all the discounts. It is absolute garbage. I wasted so much time and effort on that lower. Every single hole had to be drilled or had emry paper run through it. They did not clean up after painting the thing. I had to completely drill out the holes for the take down pin detents and the fire select detent because they were filled with paint. The holes for the fire selector and the trigger group pins were also caked in paint and had to be drilled and scraped free so i could even have a chance of fitting them in. I had to do the same for the take down pin holes, my front one still needs more work done to it as i basically need a hammer to get the pin to move. The pistol grip threads were bad after the first 3 threads. I went and bought a tap and re-tapped the threads thinking it was just more paint again, by the end of it i had a pile of chips that filled the palm of my hand (as a layer, not a pile). And of course they have the receiver molded so that the trigger group pin holes have "warts" on them and you need the longer pins they thankfully included with the lower. And the paint finish they have on the lower is just so easy to scratch and wear away, i have a half moon around my fire selector hole on the non functional side where i just barely touched it with emry paper when cleaning that hole and it shaved it completely off like taking acetone to a foam cup. I cannot say enough bad things about this lower.

I guess they are out of business for a reason!

 

[JollyMon]

Hmmmm.... so one of the many times I built a rifle.... I bought a CMMG lower and used only parts I could buy from CMMG, paired that with a CMMG upper, etc, etc, etc..... Now in my opinion that is still a frankenAR.... so how will you all know if it is factory or not...... the plot thickens.