Thinking about building my own...talk me in/out of it?!

I have a BHW TYPE 1 .264 LBC Barrel 20" P 3 with matching bolt that I got from Ritch. I have nothing but good to say about it. It really shoots great. The only negative I had was the wait time and they tell you this upfront . It was worth the wait though. Don't be in a hurry to buy. Make sure you get the one you want or you will never be satisfied .
 
for $2500 you can build one heck of an AR and still get the tools necessary to complete the assembly easily within your budget.

i'm talking about features like...

woa or nicer, with fluted barrel
timney class trigger
billet upper and lower set or a side charging upper
premium quality free float handguard
adjustable gas block
NiB bolt carrier group
silent capture spring

if you shop well, you can probably even leave enough in your budget for a custom color profile too.



the bonus is once you have the tools and have done a built, putting the next one togther is ez
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Originally Posted By: Plant.Onefor $2500 you can build one heck of an AR and still get the tools necessary to complete the assembly easily within your budget.

i'm talking about features like...

woa or nicer, with fluted barrel
timney class trigger
billet upper and lower set or a side charging upper
premium quality free float handguard
adjustable gas block
NiB bolt carrier group
silent capture spring

if you shop well, you can probably even leave enough in your budget for a custom color profile too.



the bonus is once you have the tools and have done a built, putting the next one togther is ez
thumbup1.gif
grin.gif

Plus, it's a sickness. Once you start doing it you you'll want to build more and more.
 
Originally Posted By: yotekiller47Plus, it's a sickness. Once you start doing it you you'll want to build more and more.


shhh! you're not supposed to mention that part!
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Originally Posted By: Plant.Onefor $2500 you can build one heck of an AR and still get the tools necessary to complete the assembly easily within your budget.

i'm talking about features like...

woa or nicer, with fluted barrel
timney class trigger
billet upper and lower set or a side charging upper
premium quality free float handguard
adjustable gas block
NiB bolt carrier group
silent capture spring

if you shop well, you can probably even leave enough in your budget for a custom color profile too.



the bonus is once you have the tools and have done a built, putting the next one togther is ez
thumbup1.gif
grin.gif



Thanks for the reply. I will look into all the suggestions. I knew about the NiB upgrade. That's something I'm looking for after knowing the struggles of cleaning a bolt/pin without a quality finish!

Do you prefer billet over forged?

I would love to have a custom color. Who do you recommend?
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.OneOriginally Posted By: yotekiller47Plus, it's a sickness. Once you start doing it you you'll want to build more and more.


shhh! you're not supposed to mention that part!
grin.gif
grin.gif


i've already accepted it
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If your going to build one expect to have some kinks to work out. Took me a little while to get my build sorted out but I went large frame which is a little more slippery IMO. If you build go with quality parts and an adjustable gas block, that should alleviate 90% of your potential problems.

With that kind of budget i'd go factory, weather it be a complete upper or complete rifle. Not that it will be better performance wise but at least you'll get the piece of mind if you have any problems with it, considering how much you're willing to spend.

If you're going to hunt with it i'd go 6.5 grendel (assuming your talking deer), but if your going to spend range time with it (or predator hunting) .223 is going to be much more economical. In PA i'm pretty sure you can't use semi-auto's though, right?

For that kind of money i'd buy a Larue
 
Originally Posted By: LARUEminatiIf your going to build one expect to have some kinks to work out. Took me a little while to get my build sorted out but I went large frame which is a little more slippery IMO. If you build go with quality parts and an adjustable gas block, that should alleviate 90% of your potential problems.

With that kind of budget i'd go factory, weather it be a complete upper or complete rifle. Not that it will be better performance wise but at least you'll get the piece of mind if you have any problems with it, considering how much you're willing to spend.

If you're going to hunt with it i'd go 6.5 grendel (assuming your talking deer), but if your going to spend range time with it (or predator hunting) .223 is going to be much more economical. In PA i'm pretty sure you can't use semi-auto's though, right?

For that kind of money i'd buy a Larue

Thanks for your reply, Larue.

I pretty much have my mind set on a 6.5 Grendel, but everything else is up in the air at this point. I'm just trying to figure out all my options for the various parts.

Semi-autos are legal recreationally, but not for hunting (at least for now ;))

As I mentioned previously, I may relocate, and, in that case, would love to use it for animals like deer and maybe even hogs. For everything else, I plan on getting a .375 H&H.
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Originally Posted By: B. Miller

Thanks for the reply. I will look into all the suggestions. I knew about the NiB upgrade. That's something I'm looking for after knowing the struggles of cleaning a bolt/pin without a quality finish!

Do you prefer billet over forged?

I would love to have a custom color. Who do you recommend?

for most of what i've built - forged is the answer. lap front face of the barrel nut threads to true it, slide a nice barrel in and go to town. i've got builds on anderson and aero uppers and lowers and they all run well. although i'm not putting the kind of dollars into builds you are either. my side charger is a billet receiver - and billet builds tend to have a better fit/finish than a forged receiver will - but you generally pay for that with some weight.

my experiences have shown me that the primary points of squeaking accuracy out of an ar come in the following areas

1) a quality free floated barrel
2) optic
3) trigger

beyond that you can fine tune with the AGB, truing the receiver face, and some ergonomic furniture (pistol grip and stock). and of course using high quality ammo
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i personally wouldnt know who to recommend to send a gun to for a custom paint job as i've never bothered to send one out. i dont build safe queens. and black is beautiful and all that
grin.gif


im sure more than a few folks will help point you in the right direction though - although i will say this, the guy who does the color work on the egg shoot gun is a freaking artist!

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3089483
 
Do NOT over look APF (Alex Pro Firearms) if you are in the market for a complete rifle. Especially in the AR-10 platform.

I have a APF 6 Creedmoor, I have about 100 rounds through and the thing is amazing. Nearly half the cost of a JP. There is a 6.5 Creedmoor option also available, I bought the Target model. Call them if you are interested in the 6 Creed

http://www.apfarmory.com/6-5-creedmoor-target/
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.OneOriginally Posted By: B. Miller

Thanks for the reply. I will look into all the suggestions. I knew about the NiB upgrade. That's something I'm looking for after knowing the struggles of cleaning a bolt/pin without a quality finish!

Do you prefer billet over forged?

I would love to have a custom color. Who do you recommend?

for most of what i've built - forged is the answer. lap front face of the barrel nut threads to true it, slide a nice barrel in and go to town. i've got builds on anderson and aero uppers and lowers and they all run well. although i'm not putting the kind of dollars into builds you are either. my side charger is a billet receiver - and billet builds tend to have a better fit/finish than a forged receiver will - but you generally pay for that with some weight.

my experiences have shown me that the primary points of squeaking accuracy out of an ar come in the following areas

1) a quality free floated barrel
2) optic
3) trigger

beyond that you can fine tune with the AGB, truing the receiver face, and some ergonomic furniture (pistol grip and stock). and of course using high quality ammo
smile.gif



i personally wouldnt know who to recommend to send a gun to for a custom paint job as i've never bothered to send one out. i dont build safe queens. and black is beautiful and all that
grin.gif


im sure more than a few folks will help point you in the right direction though - although i will say this, the guy who does the color work on the egg shoot gun is a freaking artist!

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3089483

Wow, that is gorgeous!I don't necessarily need/want a fancy paint job, though. I like the OD/Matte Black combo (see link in first post), but that can be done down the road.

Also, I agree that money should be spent on the barrel, optic and trigger. I also have to add the Bolt/BCG after doing my research.


Originally Posted By: BWBDo NOT over look APF (Alex Pro Firearms) if you are in the market for a complete rifle. Especially in the AR-10 platform.

I have a APF 6 Creedmoor, I have about 100 rounds through and the thing is amazing. Nearly half the cost of a JP. There is a 6.5 Creedmoor option also available, I bought the Target model. Call them if you are interested in the 6 Creed

http://www.apfarmory.com/6-5-creedmoor-target/

I'll check out the link, but as of now and looking forward to project of building one myself
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if you're goin to be building on the ar-308 platform - one thing i cant suggest strongly enough


find a manufacturer and buy pretty much EVERYTHING from them.


there is no such thing as "mil spec" standard on the ar-308 platform like there is in the ar-15 world.



there are at least 3 different "standards" out there depending on who's base equipment you get into (and maybe more!) that use different combinations of ar-15 parts, ar-308 specific parts, and completely proprietary parts - and thats not even discussing the major components like the upper/lower/barrel.


not that its impossible, just something to be aware of.


make sure you do your homework 150% before you start clicking the "buy now" button to help avoid the worst of the confusion.





also when it comes to tools, the upper receiver vise blocks for an ar-15 and an ar-308 are completely different. otherwise most of the tools will cross over.

from someone who's been there - i cannot stress enough just how critical a set of roll pin starter punches are to keeping your sanity with any ar-platform build. you dont need fancy ones (a $7 set from squirrel daddy will do just fine) but they might be the difference between 'hey that wasnt so bad' and an hour or more of ' where did that (#$*%&#@($%&#($%*7(#$*&%(*$^#%(*^#$&*%&(@#&%(*&@$^#&)(#&$(%*&^$)% roll pin go this time!'
grin.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.Oneif you're goin to be building on the ar-308 platform - one thing i cant suggest strongly enough


find a manufacturer and buy pretty much EVERYTHING from them.


there is no such thing as "mil spec" standard on the ar-308 platform like there is in the ar-15 world.



there are at least 3 different "standards" out there depending on who's base equipment you get into (and maybe more!) that use different combinations of ar-15 parts, ar-308 specific parts, and completely proprietary parts - and thats not even discussing the major components like the upper/lower/barrel.


not that its impossible, just something to be aware of.


make sure you do your homework 150% before you start clicking the "buy now" button to help avoid the worst of the confusion.





also when it comes to tools, the upper receiver vise blocks for an ar-15 and an ar-308 are completely different. otherwise most of the tools will cross over.

from someone who's been there - i cannot stress enough just how critical a set of roll pin starter punches are to keeping your sanity with any ar-platform build. you dont need fancy ones (a $7 set from squirrel daddy will do just fine) but they might be the difference between 'hey that wasnt so bad' and an hour or more of ' where did that (#$*%&#@($%&#($%*7(#$*&%(*$^#%(*^#$&*%&(@#&%(*&@$^#&)(#&$(%*&^$)% roll pin go this time!'
grin.gif


I agree, buying everything from one manufacturer does make sense to avoid headaches down the road. As of now I'm still pretty convinced on a 6.5 Grendel.It serves my needs well.

My cousin said he has all the tools for building ARs, so hopefully I don't need to buy anything! That being said, I've watched plenty of videos over the last week and that's one tool that seemed to immediately pay for itself (roll pin punch set).
 
Originally Posted By: B. Miller
I agree, buying everything from one manufacturer does make sense to avoid headaches down the road. As of now I'm still pretty convinced on a 6.5 Grendel.It serves my needs well.

My cousin said he has all the tools for building ARs, so hopefully I don't need to buy anything! That being said, I've watched plenty of videos over the last week and that's one tool that seemed to immediately pay for itself (roll pin punch set).


if you're going 6.5 Grendel - thats ar-15 platform, not ar-308. so thankfully there you'll be mostly dealing with mil spec platform stuff.

the two components you'll have to worry about mating up well are going to be bolt and barrel. otherwise feel free to shop for $$ on parts - even with high end stuff price shopping is going to get you good bang for your buck.

one thing to consider - make sure you're very conscious of the landed price (cost + shipping) of the stuff you're ordering.

often you can blow a budget by ordering parts from TOOO MANY vendors because shipping will kill you. if you're already ordering parts from a vendor and can add on other items on your list to the order, often you'll still come out well ahead even if the listed price is a few bucks more than another vendor due to stacking the shipping together.

this can be especially be true for small parts (pistol grip, LPK, buffer/spring, etc) that you would end up paying $10 or $12 each to ship if ordered from separate vendors. adding stuff like that into the box with your bigger parts often = free (or almost free) shipping for them.

it'll add a little extra time to your shopping venture doing the cost comparison calcs, but in the end its the way to make sure UPS and fedex arent taking you to the cleaners.
 
Everyone is giving great advice. I would suggest a matched set upper and lower. I've only built one and I used an anderson lower with an upper I bought pretty cheap at Midway, and there is just enough wiggle to be annoying and noisy. I have a Palmetto State Armory rifle that I bought already completed and it is a snug, silent fit.

Others here have way more experience and may be able to discount my situation as abnormal, but it's something I will pay closer attention to next time.
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.OneOriginally Posted By: B. Miller
I agree, buying everything from one manufacturer does make sense to avoid headaches down the road. As of now I'm still pretty convinced on a 6.5 Grendel.It serves my needs well.

My cousin said he has all the tools for building ARs, so hopefully I don't need to buy anything! That being said, I've watched plenty of videos over the last week and that's one tool that seemed to immediately pay for itself (roll pin punch set).


if you're going 6.5 Grendel - thats ar-15 platform, not ar-308. so thankfully there you'll be mostly dealing with mil spec platform stuff.

the two components you'll have to worry about mating up well are going to be bolt and barrel. otherwise feel free to shop for $$ on parts - even with high end stuff price shopping is going to get you good bang for your buck.

one thing to consider - make sure you're very conscious of the landed price (cost + shipping) of the stuff you're ordering.

often you can blow a budget by ordering parts from TOOO MANY vendors because shipping will kill you. if you're already ordering parts from a vendor and can add on other items on your list to the order, often you'll still come out well ahead even if the listed price is a few bucks more than another vendor due to stacking the shipping together.

this can be especially be true for small parts (pistol grip, LPK, buffer/spring, etc) that you would end up paying $10 or $12 each to ship if ordered from separate vendors. adding stuff like that into the box with your bigger parts often = free (or almost free) shipping for them.

it'll add a little extra time to your shopping venture doing the cost comparison calcs, but in the end its the way to make sure UPS and fedex arent taking you to the cleaners.

Excellent point! I have to admit that I didn't take that into consideration, and I'm usually all over the shipping stuff. Thanks for bringing it up

Originally Posted By: CountryWildcatEveryone is giving great advice. I would suggest a matched set upper and lower. I've only built one and I used an anderson lower with an upper I bought pretty cheap at Midway, and there is just enough wiggle to be annoying and noisy. I have a Palmetto State Armory rifle that I bought already completed and it is a snug, silent fit.

Others here have way more experience and may be able to discount my situation as abnormal, but it's something I will pay closer attention to next time.

Hi CountryWildcat. Thanks for chiming in. I plan on it as of now. I just sent an email out to DTech tonight to check on pricing, wait times, etc.
 
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