The Crusader Build

While I have done several builds before, none of them were ever complete enough to shoot. I have to say, building your AR-15 the way you want is a joy all its own. That love began when I was in the army and I had the side duty as being the unit armorer for my company (someone upstairs thought I was smart enough for the job.) My buddy JD showed me the small little things it takes to put an AR-15 really together and after some practice, I got the hang of assembling the weapon to spec.

Anyhow, back to Project Crusader. It began with the purchase of the stripped down lower receiver from a local tactical/gun store in Clarksville, TN while I was stationed at Fort Campbell, KY. That was back in January 2016 and I did not fully complete the project in Texas and in August of the same year. There is a local gunstore called Modern Elite Firearms in the San Antonio, TX area that hosts quarterly AR-15 building classes. It's free. Just bring your stuff and reserve the space. The class walks you through it, and while I knew what to do, I got to help others build as well.

Gathering the materials took time, money and my wife being generous on Father's day. Thanks to her, I was able to get my barrel, rail system and flashider in one swoop, instead of spacing it out between paychecks and luck. The reason it took so long to, was a lot of parts were pretty exotic to begin with. My LMT stock was what I had in the Army, an old GEN 1 LMT stock and the company Double Tap where I got my lower receiver from did the Cerakote job. Since I always dropped in and talked shop, I got it at discount. The other LMT related parts came from Quantico Tactical in Clarksville. The barrel is part of the well spoken of Mountain Cold Hammer Forged series with the mil-spec 1:7" twist. I was planning on running 62gr through it with the option of heavier grains. Other odds and ends come from Seekins and Noveske. My small parts are purchased from Tactical Sh*t.com and just as when I was an armorer, I always stocked up on more small parts.

https://s26.postimg.org/x9xk7va3p/Broken_Down.jpg

https://s26.postimg.org/3w1tsa7dx/Completed.jpg

LOWER
-Stripped Spikes Tactical Crusader Lower (with enhanced trigger guard built in)
-SOPMOD Stock LMT 1st GEN (Cerakote)
-LMT H2 Buffer
-Carbine length Buffer spring
-LMT Buffer tube
-LMT Castle Nut
-Magpul MOE Grip (Black)
-Mil-spec Selector
-BCM PNT Trigger assembly
-Noveske Take-Down Pins
-Mil-spec Bolt release
-Seekins Precision Billet Mag release button

UPPER RECEIVER
-Spikes Tactical Forged Upper stripped
-Rainier Arms Mountain Series Cold Hammer Forged 16.1” Barrel, 1:7”
-Giessele Super Modular Rail System MK 8, 13” w/Gas Block
-Silencerco SPECWAR/Trifecta Flashider suppressor adapter
-Magpul Pro MBUS Front Sight
-Magpul PRO LR BUIS
-BCM Gunfighter MOD 3 Medium Charging Handle
-M16 Fail Zero Bolt Nickle Boron Bolt Carrier Group

ACCESSORIES
-Eotech 553
-Magpul MS1 Sling