Grodd help me, I wrote 49K about the AR-15.

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I mean, it is a 20th century design and thus now counts as 'historic'...

I had to sell my LE-marked Colt AR-15 (featured in this article) during the ongoing financial crisis that was my 4½-year disability battle. Now that that battle is won and some funding has arrived, I decided that rather than just buy another one, I'd round up the parts and build one. This is a fairly common and popular activity in black-rifle circles these days; the AR platform's aftermarket is so huge, there's a near-infinite range of configuration options and details to choose from. It's like the 1962 Chevrolet of guns.

The process so far is... well, it's processing. "Mr. Fumbles Builds a Rifle" might be a fun series to watch, but it's... a different experience when you are Mr. Fumbles. Still, I think I'll be able to get it done, assuming I don't manage to lose any of the tiny springs or pins.

Scott, the guy who runs my semi-local shooting range, is being very supportive of the project. He's built a bunch of rifles himself, and offered a lot of tips when I bought the lower receiver (the part that is legally a firearm and requires the dealer paperwork) from him. He even loaned me this cool armorer's multitool:

Note the labeled functions, particularly the one in the lower left. (I have in fact used the labeled hammer surface; it's not just a joke. There are quite a few roll pins in one of these things.)

I'm sort of too busy going through the process itself to bother taking a bunch of photos, and anyway, in stills it just looks like a bunch of parts. I'll give you an update once the thing is finished, though.

I'm looking forward to testing it out once it's built, although I do keep thinking of the time they assembled a Caterham Seven kit on Top Gear and Clarkson opined that it would have no resale value: "Would you drive a car I built?" :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

My son and his friends build their own guns and those tools are priceless.

We went to the range on Sunday and lemme tell you somethin'... I fired everything from a Desert Eagle, (I am now the proud owner of a casing stamp on my forehead that bled like the dickens. I was not told that the casing like to eject STRAIGHT BACK AT YOUR FACE) some guns with silencers, an old Henry from 1902, and FRT AR weapon platforms.

One of the old co-owner RSOs on range came hauling ass back in his side by side. He said "I thought a damn war was starting up, had a guy with a .50 BMG on the 1000 yard range, and you guys over here with FRTs, didn't know what the hell was going on there for a minute." A great time was had by all.

DaemeonX

Well... it looks like a rifle... and the bits move around like a rifle's... but it's not quite finished. Going to need a little professional help to finish it off.

A) I managed to lose the tiny pin that fixes the gas block to the barrel. I was trying to hold it with tweezers and tap it into place when it pinged across the room and vanished into oblivion. So that's a problem.

B) The little detent that holds the safety lever has somehow managed to jam in an inextricable way. I know I didn't put it in upside-down, but somehow, it's stuck in its little channel rather than riding up and down on its spring. Which means the safety setting can't be changed, which effectively means the rifle doesn't have one. Which is... not ideal.

C) Nothing is torqued correctly or Loctited or anything. This one is on purpose, since I'm not sure what we'll need to take apart when I take it in to have it investigated by someone who's built more than one.

D) The sights aren't installed, for the same reason.

So... all in all, not terrible for a first effort, but not a 100% success either. Watch this space, I guess.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Took the new rifle over to the range today. Scott scrounged up a replacement for the pin I lost, checked over the installation of the other stuff, and torqued everything to spec. He also had a bore laser we could use to make sure the sights were zeroed once we installed them. The selector lever detent problem was a new one on him as well, but he was able to persuade it to come out, and when reassembled it... worked normally. Neither of us has any idea why it didn't just work the first time. Maybe a burr somewhere in there that got knocked off when he put it back together? No idea.

Once those finishing touches were taken care of, I repaired to the range and did a little test firing. It went pretty much perfectly! I only had 20 rounds of ammunition, so I started with a magazine loaded with only two, the theory being, if something was wrong with the fire control group and it ran away, I'd only get a double tap instead of a 20-round bullet hose, but if some less catastrophic feed or fire problem happened, I'd just get one shot and not the second one. Either would be useful diagnostic information.

In the event, I needn't have worried. The only problem I had in those 20 rounds was a failure to feed the first round after reloading, which a quick bolt cycling cleared up immediately. Besides that, the new rifle ran like a champ.

So hey, uh... ! I had a little help, but mostly, I built a rifle! And here it is!

This is the lower receiver as it appeared in its original packaging. This part is the bit that is, legally speaking, the firearm, and so has to be purchased from a licensed dealer on a standard Form 4473. Everything else can be bought over the counter or by mail, if you live in a state that allows the latter (which I do... so far).

I note that Ruger has moved; they were headquartered in Southport, Connecticut for many decades (although I thought they had moved to Arizona sometime in the '90s; maybe they just have a manufacturing plant there or something).

So yeah. The peculiarities of the AR-15's design are such that this thing is "the gun" by the ATF's lights. Everything else is accessories. So I bought some.

I considered going fully retro on this build, but ultimately decided to go with some relatively modern bits for reasons mostly of cost and availability. I'll spare you the nerding out about the specific brands of the bits, apart from noting that once again I have acquired a Hogue Monogrip instead of the hard plastic one that came with the lower receiver parts kit, because Hogue Monogrips are the bomb. (Unsolicited plug.)

I still think flattop ARs look weird. Some outfits actually make M16/M4-style carry handles that attach to Picatinny rail; I might get one just for appearances. Although if I do that I'll have to redo the sights...

The other major departure from the "classic" AR profile, apart from the accessorizable handguard, is the lack of the usual combination gas block and tall front sight assembly. Again, this was mostly a matter of cost; those assemblies cost more than a low-profile gas block that fits inside one of those rail-top handguards. They're also kind of a pain in the ass to install, not that all the other fiddly bits on this thing weren't. :)

You want to know the bit that I had the hardest time with? Apart from the pin that disappeared on me? The dust cover. That little aluminum flap was such a hassle. You've got a pin, and a spring, and the spring has to be in there a certain way and preloaded with a ¾ turn while you're putting the pin through, and... yeah. There are harder tasks involved in building one of these things, but I didn't find any that were more annoying.

If it doesn't look like the rifle has any sights in those photos, it's because they're folded down. This is what it looks like when they're up.

The sights I used are really intended to be backups in case your optic gets broken, which is why they fold down like that, but I can't afford a decent optic right now, so for the moment they're it. They seem to work well enough, once I figured out that you have to put the center post in the aperture and not one of the protective wings. Eyeroll. (I have this trouble with Lee-Enfields too...)

So, anyway. A project I decided to undertake more or less on the spur of the moment. A little present to myself for surviving The Bureaucracy.

Here's a fun thing about the AR platform: once you have the lower assembly, you can build multiple uppers for it. They swap out with two pins. So if I felt like having, say, a pistol-caliber carbine, I wouldn't need to put together another lower, and legally they'd be the same firearm. That would be an extravagance for another time, though.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.