This AR belongs to a guy over in Afganistan. I lovee it not because it so practical but because it is so [censored] well proportioned. It just looks fabulous.
I also like the sights.

AR vs. ????

I've argued long and hard with myself on this. I shoot a lot of IDPA and for a brief period played at local 3 gun (one of maybe two using iron sights). I bought the cheapest AR I could find at the time (an Olympic Arms Plinker for $480 plus shipping & transfer fees). I sold it when I needed the cash. I'm considering buying another, mainly because I'm afraid I won't be able to soon.

If I were in a combat zone, I'd stick with .308. For home defense, I'm sticking with my .45 or a 12guage. I'm considering the AR for shooting paper in local 3 gun matches & IDPA side mathces (I usually bum one) but still think I should just save up and buy the .308 (M1A Socom). Cost of ammo is another factor for me.

GregB

One a year is when you "make" the receiver from a 60% forging.

If you buy finished receivers, you can make as many as you want.

The ATF might get pissed that you are only paying tax on the lower but how would they know?

A couple years ago you could build a FAL for about the same cost as an AR, but now that we can't import receivers, it's more expensive.

Surplus 7.62*51 was also cheaper than 5.56. If you were not worried about weight, the FAL was a whole lot more bang for the buck.

One thing that the FAL has over the AR15 is reliability. Dirt, mud, water, sand, a well built FAL will shake it off and keep firing.

This AR belongs to a guy over in Afganistan. I lovee it not because it so practical but because it is so [censored] well proportioned. It just looks fabulous.
I also like the sights.

KnifeParty,
Wow this thread filled up fast!

In Nov 1999 i decided to build myself a Y2K rifle <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

$155 Olympic Arms lower receiver
$500 Bushmaster kit: preassembled upper w/ 16" heavy barrel, all furniture
----
$655 my total out-the-door, back in 1999.

My goal was carbine-length, 30-rnd mags.. just something handy for suburbs & shooting people/cars "down the street". In retrospect i shoulda got the Light 16" barrel.. for lighter overall weight. So now i wanna trade my 16" Heavy for a 16" Light barrel.




If you can completely disassemble/reassemble a 1911, you shouldn't have any problems w/ building your own AR.

Buying a pre-assembled Upper Receiver w/ Barrel helps a lot. That way you don't have to mess w/ torquing barrel, headspacing, gas port stuff, blah blah.

As someone above said, www.AR15.com forums has lots of tips, how-to's, & nice exploded diagrams.

Anyways, g'luck with that.


> stansbrew,
What's the bad news about Olympic Arms? i only have their lower receiver, so don't know about any other parts they might make/sell.