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Build sheet/range report for your cheapest AR build

Im trying to tempt a friend to start a build or slap something togeher

Nfa complete lowers are $119 now and i bet free ship

And a certain dealer i wont publicly name has lowers for $56 that are in the white but machining is 100% : ) you could put a metal complete lower together for likely under $120 that route. And ive seen complete uppers for sub $300 at many places
 
There are plenty economy builds on ODT.......they're just priced to sell at $800.00+ :D

lol. I know thats right

You in? Let's buy some $49 Anderson lowers and see what we can build. Receipts required.

Every review I've read about them is good too. I've been checking those out as well.

I'm positive everyone has seen this rifle by now and is probably sick of it, but it fits the bill, so here goes nothing.


Colt 6450 Complete lower
Colt 6921 14.5 inch m4 barrel
Troy flash suppressor pinned and welded to bring barrel to 16'' by me.
Bushmaster A1C7 upper
IDF sling and furniture bands

Built in January 2013 during the hight of the crazy. Total invested is less than 400. I had to search forums all over the country for each individual part. In fairness, I found the Colt lower here on the ODT for 350 after I had already bought and built a GAAD lower. I bought the Colt lower and sold the GAAD lower for 350. The Colt lower is actually worth more than I paid for the whole gun.

I don't think i could ever get sick of this rifle but when I read your total investment I did get a case of the Holy ****s!
 
Pretty much the entire build came from PSA during their Christmas email bonanze

  • Anderson Mfg Lower Receiver: $60.00, bought local from Fourth Armory
  • Palmetto State Armory Premium Classic Lower Build Kit: $84.99
  • PTAC 16" 5.56 NATO 1/9 Carbine Heavy Profile Upper with BCG and Charging Handle: $299.99
  • PSA Aluminum Flip Up Rear Sight - Same Plane: $39.99
Total shipped to my door: $506.97 ($484.97 before shipping)

It's not chrome lined or anything like that, but for under $500, for a non-fraken-gun...I'll take it. I seriously doubt that I'll ever be running it enough to where the lack of a chrome lining will ever bother me...
 
Actually my recent AR pistol qualifies as well I suppose.

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PSA Lower with PSA LPK $85.00 (I bought two PSA lowers with two PSA LPK for 170 last week here on the ODT)
JSE Surplus M4 Upper reciever and free float handguard. $Free ( I bought a complete upper for $300 and then sold the barrel, BCG, gas tube, gas block, etc. for $300)
4.5" Colt 1/12 Barrel $50 (I was given the barrel for free as somebody had cut it at 18" with a hacksaw and it had pitting about 12" into the bore. I paid Dobbs Defense $50 to cut, crown, and thread it)
Atchison ciener 22 LR Conversion kit $100
Pistol Buffer Tube $50
Sig Brace $110


Total build cost $395. Not bad when you figure $110 of the build cost is for the unnecessary Sig Brace. Without the Sig Brace my build cost would be $285.00


I did order a set of Troy sight for it to but they aren't here yet. I paid $39 for a used rear and $49 for a new front. That would bring the total cost to $483.
 
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So I built this one over the last year, trying to make it as cheap and as light as possible...

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Palmetto stripped blem lower + LPK - $69
Palmetto stripped blem upper - $39
Palmetto BCG + Charging handle - $89
Palmetto Buttstock + RE kit - $39
Model 1 Sales "ER Shaw" Lightweight contour barrel (.223 chamber) - $125
A2 Flash Hider - FREE (thx DV8)
Colt detachable carry handle (ebay) - $45
Carbine gas tube (gunbroker) - $8
Silent sling (eBay) - $4
Umbrella Corp pistol grip - Christmas Gift


Had stuff like the forward assist assembly and dust cover assembly laying around..other take off parts like the carbine hand guards and magpul trigger guard laying around..delta ring assembly another take off from a different rifle...same with front sight post, detent and spring..dunno if you can tell but the RE castle nut is properly staked..gotta love harbor freight $3 spring loaded center punches!

So the total over maybe 3-4 months of buying parts...around $420 if my math is close...and that's what I was shooting for..a $400 AR lightweight "KISS" plinker...maybe one day I'll get the chamber reamed to 5.56...but so far, this is the AR I'm most accurate with..so nvr know...I only bought that cheap barrel in .223 because it was the only one I could find in my price range that had the LW contour.
 
oh, and here's a picture of me shooting it at Wilson Shoals...I had a problem the 1st time with it because I hadn't threaded in the buffer tube over the buffer retainer deep enough...the buffer retainer popped out and got lodged in the trigger assembly..was quite a catastrophic failure..fixed it up (thats when i decided to stake the castle nut) when I got home and have ran it a few more times.. (200 rds or so) and it's been great.

img.tapatalk.com_d_14_01_10_je2e8yzy.jpg
 
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