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Your cheapest AR build

$300 ish for pass outs. PSA or Anderson bargain lowers and LPKs. PSA uppers. Various BCGs. Flip up sights.
The ones I build from scratch end up costing more somehow. Mostly I get hung up on some part and don’t have enough patience to wait for a sale.
Case in point I found 7.62x39 barrels for $85 and bought two. Had lowers. Had LPKs. Had a spare side charging upper. By the time I bought the bolt, extended firing pin, extra power hammer spring, and MLok front end.
That all was $200. Still needed a muzzle device to get it test fireable and dropped $70 on an Epsilon just because I wanted to shoot it NOW.
 
frenchman said:
I don't even own an optic for the price some of you paid for a rifle. Hell, my scope MOUNTS are more than what you guys pay for your uppers. Honest question: what kind of performance (accuracy, ruggedness etc) do you guys realistically expect from these budget builds?
Click to expand...

I do not buy into the marketing hype of brand names.....period.

I can equip a platoon at a moment's notice if need be.......having one or two Gucci guns that's not happening.

I've had 0 ( zero ) malfunctions from any of my builds......admittedly some do not have high round counts but they have been fired enough to wear in ( 300-500 )rounds each on the low end and 2k-4k on the high end and considering the care and checking of the parts as assembled and proper maintainence, I have complete confidence in the products.
The accuracy is more than acceptable for what they are and exceed military spec.

I expect they will perform as well or better than any AR out there. I've proven it on the range more than a few times.

My question to you is what do you expect for performance from a gun that has some over marketed name engraved on it?
 
frenchman said:
Honest question: what kind of performance (accuracy, ruggedness etc) do you guys realistically expect from these budget builds?
Click to expand...
The exact same as the one you spent $2000 on?

You tell me, what's the difference? Are you 4x more accurate, reliable, etc?

I have builds that are spec'd nearly identical to high-end configurations. What's the performance difference between one AR lower to another? $50 vs $1500? How about barrels or BCGs? I've never spent more than $40 on iron sights. Handguards are the most overpriced item in any build. Search deep and you'll find exact-same design and quality for $50-$100 tops. $250+ handguards?? [rofl]

I have no issue with those that want to spend for brand-name everything, but I'm perfectly content with no-name items that get the job done, look great, and save boatloads of money.
 
frenchman said:
I don't even own an optic for the price some of you paid for a rifle. Hell, my scope MOUNTS are more than what you guys pay for your uppers. Honest question: what kind of performance (accuracy, ruggedness etc) do you guys realistically expect from these budget builds?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I own a bipod that cost more than my cheap AR build. And I have trigger packs in some of my high end ARs that cost almost that much. My idea was, for folks wanting to get into the Modern Sporting Rifle, how cheaply could it be done and still get a reasonably functional rifle out of it. As the posts show, a year ago you could easily get a functional AR for less than $500, in some cases quite a bit less. Now you’d be hard pressed to break the $500 barrier, but it looks like some folks, “frugal” shoppers that they are, can still do it. My point is, while you can spend a boatload on an AR build (and I have), you don’t have to. You can get in the game for some pretty reasonable coin.
 
If you are a Massachusetts person in the current times, where would you start?
I assume aquire a lower somewhere, but from what I know that will have you starting at about $250. How much do you think a budget build should or would run now?
 
Thetroutwhisperer said:
How much do you think a budget build should or would run now?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you're willing to skimp on, what 2nd/3rd tier brands/quality you'll accept, how ugly/mismatched is acceptable and how far you'll go searching for deals.
Cheaper lower receiver would be ~$50 for an 80% plus finding a friend with a jig + tools.

If it's me and I'm building the cheapest no-frill AR today that will hit body size target at 100 yards and not blow up, prob ~$300-400 for everything besides the lower. Quick search right now gets me:

$50 upper receiver
$115 barrel, bear creek arsenal
$120 BCG, AIM
$30 picatinny handguard, generic
$20 UPK, anderson
$40 LPK, anderson
$35 for generic buffer kit + buttstock (or $80 luth ar buffer kit + moe stock)
$35 flip up sights, generic
$35 charging handle + gas block + gas tube, generic
-----------------------------------------------
Total: $480 for most of the parts without hunting for deals and such

But I also easily find 2/3 tier complete Uppers for $250-300
 
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I'm Scottish so budget builds are right up my alley, I did an Anderson upper/lower a while back, probably weighed in just shy of $500.
 
schemingbunny said:
Depends on what you're willing to skimp on, what 2nd/3rd tier brands/quality you'll accept, how ugly/mismatched is acceptable and how far you'll go searching for deals.
Cheaper lower receiver would be ~$50 for an 80% plus finding a friend with a jig + tools.

If it's me and I'm building the cheapest no-frill AR today that will hit body size target at 100 yards and not blow up, prob ~$300-400 for everything besides the lower. Quick search right now gets me:

$50 upper receiver
$115 barrel, bear creek arsenal
$120 BCG, AIM
$30 picatinny handguard, generic
$20 UPK, anderson
$40 LPK, anderson
$35 for generic buffer kit + buttstock (or $80 luth ar buffer kit + moe stock)
$35 flip up sights, generic
$35 charging handle + gas block + gas tube, generic
-----------------------------------------------
Total: $480 for most of the parts without hunting for deals and such

But I also easily find 2/3 tier complete Uppers for $250-300
Click to expand...
I'd certainly be willing to skimp on any parts, and ugly or mis matched is more than acceptable, hopefully stick with ones made in the USA. Thanks for the reply. I'd like my second build to be a budget build.
 
Is 240$ for a brand new Daniel Defense DDM4A1 cheap enough?
I won it in a raffle, but it's still my cheapest AR.
[rofl]

It got a bit more expensive after that:
Cloud Defensive Rein weapons light with remote switch - with code applied - 277.51
AMD red dot from the box of parts, about $200, and I'm looking for a quality replacement

Other than that, my cheapest AR is probably one of my pistols. 80% lowers, generic lower parts kits, magpul stocks and grips, PSA uppers - maybe 500 or so; never tracked them, just put them together.

My 3Gun was cheap. I bought a noveske barrelled upper from a friend for 150, put it on an 80%, added magpul furniture, generic BCG & LPK and called it a day. It shot well, so I replaced the trigger with an American Gold, and I just replaced the upper, BCG and furniture with Daniel Defense parts I traded for. "Was" cheap. Not so much any more.
 
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allen-1 said:
Is 240$ for a brand new Daniel Defense DDM4A1 cheap enough?
I won it in a raffle, but it's still my cheapest AR.
[rofl]

It got a bit more expensive after that:
Cloud Defensive Rein weapons light with remote switch - with code applied - 277.51
AMD red dot from the box of parts, about $200, and I'm looking for a quality replacement

Other than that, my cheapest AR is probably one of my pistols. 80% lowers, generic lower parts kits, magpul stocks and grips, PSA uppers - maybe 500 or so; never tracked them, just put them together.

My 3Gun was cheap. I bought a noveske barrelled upper from a friend for 150, put it on an 80%, added magpul furniture, generic BCG & LPK and called it a day. It shot well, so I replaced the trigger with an American Gold, and I just replaced the upper, BCG and furniture with Daniel Defense parts I traded for. "Was" cheap. Not so much any more.
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I'll give you 280 right now for that dd lol
 
I don't actually own an AR, so maybe its time. No matter what I build it will be my "cheapest"
 
I spent about $550 on the one I built last winter, my 1st.
$25 - blemished 80% (I can't find the blemish)
$325 - milsurp barreled upper
$60 - PSA lower parts
$110 - BCG (blemished)
$30 - generic A2 with buffer

My next builds will be cheaper as I scored two complete uppers in a storage room clean out from a pissed off wife (not mine).
There was over $500 just in ammo and the optics are probably worth $1000. And bubble wrapped in a cardboard box were two complete uppers.
I have four more of the 80% blemished lowers as I bought a 5pack. Looking for sales on LPKs and stocks /buffers.
Global Ordinance often has deals as does Cheaper than Dirt.

ETA I paid the disgruntled wife $500 for the contents of the room as that is what she asked for. Her wasband owed her $500 and he told her to sell something from storage to cover his debt.
 
Thetroutwhisperer said:
If you are a Massachusetts person in the current times, where would you start?
I assume aquire a lower somewhere, but from what I know that will have you starting at about $250. How much do you think a budget build should or would run now?
Click to expand...
Suckers pay $250 for a lower because "Pre-Maura OMG!".
 
I intended for my first build to be cheap.
It ended up more expensive because tooling and such.
Would been cheaper to source a stripped lower. And go from there.
I mean I guess I could make more now, but I still need practice.
 
Let's see, I bought a registered Stag blem lower for $70 , I think I paid $90 for a pair of no-name mutt stripped upper recievers , bought a complete Colt 20" A2 upper for a ridiculous pricey $400 and rummaged through boxes of used / free / i don't have a clue where I got them type of misc parts . So call my Franken-blem A2 mutt $300 ?
 
Road_Clam said:
Let's see, I bought a registered Stag blem lower for $70 , I think I paid $90 for a pair of no-name mutt stripped upper recievers , bought a complete Colt 20" A2 upper for a ridiculous pricey $400 and rummaged through boxes of used / free / i don't have a clue where I got them type of misc parts . So call my Franken-blem A2 mutt $300 ?
Click to expand...
Whats the deal with the blemished lowers? How bad can they be?
 
Thetroutwhisperer said:
I'd certainly be willing to skimp on any parts, and ugly or mis matched is more than acceptable, hopefully stick with ones made in the USA. Thanks for the reply. I'd like my second build to be a budget build.
Click to expand...
Take a look at Bear Creek Arsenal, Delta Team Tactical and Davidson Defense. Definitely nowhere near top tier and sometimes sketchy QC, but should work fine if you inspect the parts first. I have a BCA barrel + upper with DTT buffer/stock kit. <0.5 MOA at 100 yards, with std 55 gr 223.
 

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