I just turned 18 and i am going to purchase a AR 15 i am in the range of 700.00 after i get rid of a couple firearms that i got i have been trying to figure out which AR i want to buy i live in Oregon (gresham) and i have been thiking of buying a complete rifle from Keiths 699 for a DPMS A3 flattop upper 223 pencil barrel brand new in the box but then again i would also like to make one although i have never worked on anything like that before i am pretty sure if i build one i have to buy a complete upper and a complete lower althogh i would like to save some money and put the lower together what i just recently came across is this
16" CAR AR 15 upper half with lightwe16" CAR Upper Half with Lightweight ER Shaw Barrel - .223
Complete 16" barrel assembly with E.R. Shaw manganese phosphate finish chrome moly lightweight barrel with 1 in 9 twist. Features a forged front sight base, a CAR handguard with heatshield, hardcoat anodized upper with mil-spec Teflon coating. Also features a gas tube, ejection port cover, forward assist assembly, aluminum delta ring, and a threaded muzzle with attached flashider.
A2 Carry Handle Upper Receiver includes flashider, bayonet lug and rear sight
A3 Flattop Upper Receiver includes flashider and bayonet lug.
Upper half is fully assembled, gauged and headspaced. Mil Spec - Manufactured by current military contractor. E.R. Shaw Barrels.
Easy installation--remove 2 pins, insert upper and replace pins.
No FFL Required. AR-15 Bolt Carrier Assembly and Charging Handle sold seperately the bolt is 125 charging handle 15 so 460 for a complete upper any help?
Also would a double star lower complete with A2 stock for 210 fit on the upper that i have chosen? so 670 for everything minus shipping and ffl transfer of the lower how much do u think that would be?
I think ur lookin at this a little wrong, if I were you I would get a Smith&Wesson AR-15 they start at 675 in MD for the COMPLETE gun that way you know you got all the parts... and the one I shot holds .5 MOA at 100 yards. just my $.02
Cheers.
AK. if you can get a SWMP15 for $675 that would be hard to beat.
A couple of places on line sell Stag rifle kits for $633 shipped to your door, all you would need is a stripped lower from your local gun shop, put the LPK in and the stock and you got a whole gun.
same stores have complete stag uppers for $485 shipped to your door.
good luck
well for a starter gun the S&W is well wort the money and if you want you can buy the alexander arms uppers and have the 6.5 grendel and the 50 beowulf they both drop into the S&W and even if the S&W is a little more you're already putting 700 dollars into it what's another 50 or even 100 for a complete gun that you can pick up go to the range and shoot instead thinking you got all the parts try to put it together and "oh dam I don't have X-part" buying one in whole is normally cheaper than buying parts and having a Frankenrifle
Thanks alot guys i really like what you guys are saying its just that where i live the m&P 15 is 850-899 thats a big diffeence up what do yall think about pencil barrel and can someone correct me if im wrong someone the only rifle in my price range right now is a DPMS flattop pencil barrel in 223 or it could be the ak 74 round but remember i already have an ak and i am familiar with how far the rounds go 200 yards i thought that an AR 15 223 round goes up to to 800 yards doesthe pencil brrel change everything what i like the most about AR's is the idea of a charging handle straight to the back what about complete upper and complete lower
AK
take your time and look at all your options. The only thing we can do is give are opinions, but the bottom line is get what you are comfortable with. Getting an upper and lower is always cheaper than a complete rifle. The gov't taxes complete rifles to the tune of 10% +/- 1%. You can buy a complete upper or rifle kit on the internet and save sales tax (almost 9% for me in NY)
All (except Colt) uppers and lowers go together. Remember that in some cases you are paying for a name. My FFL sells Double Star stripped lowers for $105 and Charles Daly for $149, they are the same Double Star makes their lowers.
Don't get to caught up with the SHTF gun and Tier 1 and 2, I am not saying that there is no difference in a LMT vs SW but if your not in LE or going to the sandbox you have to ask yourself if there is a $500 difference.
Do a couple weeks worth of research and save up another $100 and you will be alot better off and the owner of a nice black beauty.
^+1 You already have 700 bills save a little more and get a quality black gun at 700 you can get a good AR but for 800 to 850 the options open up, b/c if you get a gun now and rush you will say later after you bought an "OK" AR "But if I just saved an extra X-Dollars, I coulda got that one!" Think before you buy then when you are done thinking re-think you thoughts and then re-think your re-thinking!!!! You Just don't want any regrets!!!!!!!!!! Heck man I wanted the same as you, a great AR to be happy with, but I used my 3 stage thinking system and now I almost have enough for a Alexander Arms AR-15 which is one of the best made (plus they have the cool grendel and beowulf rounds) ;-) HAPPY SHOOTIN'
i turned 18 last month and what i decided to go with was a model1sales complete kit, that is everything but a stripped lower reciever ($460 starting price). then i ordered a vulcan arms reciever, which is what my local ffl dealer recomended ($130 cost and transfer since he doesnt stock any he had to order it). so that was $590, then all you need is a mag and some ammo. although i did buy a dpms lower parts kit which is what someone on this site recomended to me. for me it was all i wanted, its proving to shoot better than i with iron sites, although im still learning how to use them.
One thing I forgot to mention is to keep asking questions. There are a lot of people with valuable knowledge on this site (I am not one of them)
They have always helped me and they will help you too.
I have built seven ARs, two for myself and five for people who payed me to do so. You will save a lot of money by building it, but more importantly, you will get to know the internal working of the rifle intimately and have fun doing it. You start off with a stripped lower receiver and get yourself a lower parts kit, that is step one. I like DPMS lower receivers, they are a great value, built to mil specs, and hold up great. There are a lot of great lowers out there and depending on your budget you can get a good one for under $120. Aimsurplus.com has CMMG lowers for $100 and free shipping and CMMG lower parts kit for $55. I personally use RRA lower parts kits with the optional national match trigger upgrade. I highly recommend Stag parts for your budget. Military quality parts for a decent price. The upper on my rifle below is Stag, I am shooting less than 1'' groups at 100 yards without one problem. I can't say enough good things about Stag. You can get a Stag lower for $100 bucks and their lower kit for around 50-60 bucks.
Here is my last build
I have ran this rifle through 2 carbine classes, one was a three day class and I went through over 1200 rounds without one problem, jam, or miss fire, all without cleaning it, just keeping it WELL LUBED. The other was a one day class that I burned though 500 rounds without any problems. Building it is one thing, gaining the knowledge to keep it running and lasting for years to come is another topic and real of info in itself.
I started out with a DPMS lower and the RRA lower kit wit national match trigger and just went from there. Then you get a stock assembly, I recommend getting a mil spec buffer tube, you have a lot more stock options.
It is a Millet DMS-1 1-4X. I love this scope and it is a great bargain at $200 to your door. Mounting it with the proper eye relief is the key to getting good results.
__________________
Paramedic/Firefighter
sks forever
FMF Corpsman
Proud Father and Husband
Proud American!!
