There are lots of reasons to go ahead and build your own AR-15. Cost savings is a big one, or better yet known as getting the biggest bang for your buck(pun not intended). The fun of building a functional gun, you get to enjoy for years to come. Best is the gained knowledge of the functionality and quality of the firearm you own. Not to mention the cost savings of not having to customize a gun you already paid for.
Cost Savings
After you build your own AR-15 you may disagree on building an AR-15 actually saves you money. However, let’s look at the cost of building an AR over just buying a cheap one. If you go out and buy a $600 DPMS Oracle . You have a functional AR-15. One you can go out the day you get it and shot it. However, you will eventually want to upgrade it. Then you are left with parts you’ve paid for that you aren’t using. Thus, wasted money.
The first thing people do is get a new barrel guard. Depending on what you want that’s anywhere from $50-$300. Then you upgrade the trigger. Triggers are anywhere from $50-400. Of course once you have a new barrel guard and trigger you are going to want to upgrade the buttstock and pistol grip to match. Most people go with Magpul for this which starts out at $40 for the stock and goes up usually costing around $60, with the pistol grips costing around $20. Then there’s getting a better barrel, a matched upper and lower, and all sorts of things. I’ll leave those out of cost because you go that far and you’ve built a new gun. Which some people end up doing. Leaving only the original lower they bought with the gun.
With all the standard upgrades people usually want. A person can turn the cost of that $600 gun into $1200 or better gun, with spare parts they don’t like. This is a waste of money.
Knowing the quality of the gun
When you buy a gun from the store you get what you pay for. The question is did you pay more for the hand guard, than the barrel? Did the manufacturer cut corners on the stuff that really matters, like the BCG (bolt carrier group)? Just because it says it’s mil spec doesn’t mean it’s high quality. Mil spec is a size and shape spec, not a quality spec. When you buy from a highly regarded manufacturer you still don’t know if it was made at 5 O’clock on a Friday. This is why you should build your own AR 15.
Building your own gun gives you control over the quality of each part. If you want to save money you can buy the cheapest parts around. Even when you buy cheap you still have a say. Unlike when you buy a complete rifle you don’t get a say in what parts are cheap. You may get great furniture but a cheap barrel and BCG. Personally the I’d want it the other way around if it was me.
How the rifle is assembled
We have all bought something that wasn’t put together right. No matter what the reputation of a company there is always that one that got past quality control. Do you want to chance that your AR-15 is one of those?
Aside from knowing how the rifle was assembled. You also gain the knowledge of exactly how your rifle works. There is nothing better than being able to see how something works and knowing when there is a problem you can fix it easily. It also takes away that fear many people have of disassembling their rifle to clean it.
Legalities
Some people maybe asking is building your own gun legal. Yes completely legal. The only part of an AR rifle that has a serial number is the lower receiver. This part is considered the whole firearm by definition of the law. Thus if you buy the stripped lower with a serial number you have bought a gun. Everything you put on it to make it function isn’t considered building a gun, under the law. Of course if you put these guns together and sell them for a profit on a regular basis. Then you become a gun manufacturer. That falls under a whole different set of laws.
Conclusion
Putting together an AR rifle is like Legos for the gun enthusiast. As kids we all loved building and playing with Legos. Adult gun owners love the same things. A person can save money building their own AR. You also get to build a better rifle than you can afford to buy. The best part is you have the knowledge of exactly how your rifle functions, and it’s all legal. So go out and start building the rifle you want today.