A discussion of build quality…………

[MorphCross]

Build your own rifle, but don't ever expect to be able to re-sell it for anything close to what you put into it. You are better off not taking the loss and selling a rifle built by known manufacturers.

There are a lot of poorly built ARs from manufacturers, there are also a lot of well built ARs from manufacturers. There are a lot of poorly built ARs from home assemblers, there are also some weill built ARs from home assemblers. I would trust my life to ARs built by skilled longtime armorers as well as some select manufacturers. I would and do trust my life to an AR I built for my self. I wouldn't ask anyone to trust their life to it however as I'm not in the business of building ARs professionally.

[RMiller]

The only real advantage is making a rifle with every single aspect that is to your taste.

Really, its less expensive/less of a risk to buy a quality rifle. Especially now. There's some insane deals on Colts and complete BCM uppers are shipping with free bcgs and comps.

[T2C]

In my opinion, the bolt, bolt carrier and barrel are the heart and lungs of the AR-15 platform. Everything else just hangs off the three components and are not as critical.

I recently retired a Tier 4 or Tier 5 hated upper receiver that had multiple barrels mounted on it for shooting High Power rifle matches. It got the job done reliably out to 600 yards for years. I am still using the hated lower receiver.

With good quality parts, I believe the devil is in the details. Buy a good barrel, bolt and bolt carrier in that order. You can experiment with the rest of it and get good service life.

[Iraqgunz]

Yes, it can be done assuming that the builder knows what he is doing. I do not own any factory guns, with the exception of a factory 13" KMR ELW upper with a BCM lower. All of my AR's have been built by me. The main advantage is that you can get EXACTLY what you want, without waste. For example- I have one upper that uses a new SIONICS LW melonite barrel, set into a MUR upper with a 14" CMR rail.

I have another upper that is a Colt upper, with a Colt 6920 barrel with Geissele low profile gas block and 13" MKI rail. Another upper is a FN 20" with an M5 RAS, Vltor A5 buffer in the lower, etc... I have no wasted components at all.

The same goes with my SBR uppers, etc...

[T2C]

With good parts and know how, I believe you can build a solid rifle on par with one built by a manufacturer. You may have to reach out to someone who has seen a lot of AR parts and ask them for guidance. An experienced AR builder will know what works, what parts last longer than others and how to properly assemble the rifle/carbine. As time progresses, new parts are developed. Take a close look at the inside of a M-16 built in the 1960's and compare the machine work to that in a rifle built in the past 10 years.

I am also a firm believer that a person can purchase good parts and jack up a build if they don't pay attention to detail. I have been doing my own AR work for 20 years, but I am not afraid to ask an experienced person when I come across a new part or process I have not seen before.

[markm]

Agreed... it can be done. I also don't own any factory completes.

The AR is both easy to build, and easy to screw up.

[C4IGrant]

Through the reading of countless threads and never ending Google searches, I have developed a question that I just cant find a clear answer to…….. Using ONLY premium parts, can you build an AR-15 that matches (or surpasses) the reliability/quality of an off the shelve Colt, BCM, Daniel Defense, (name your pinnacle brand)?

Before your answer, let me give you some background information. For arguments sake, the assembler would be someone who is mechanically inclined and knows their way around a workshop. They’re a gun enthusiast but experience is limited to shooting and routine maintenance. Lastly, all of the correct tools would be used in the build process.

So what are your thoughts? Can a self-built rifle match the expectations of the highly regarded brands or is there a “secret sauce” that will always be missing?

Can you? Yes, but in the end you will most likely just be buying the parts from Noveske/BCM/Colt/Etc.

Mechanically inclined really doesn't matter. What matters is someone that is going to check the receiver trueness, fit a bolt to the barrel extension, know all the torque values (and use shims to ensure that you stay at the bottom numbers), crown the barrel, check the trueness of the barrel, ensure a tight fit between the barrel extension and receiver, etc, etc. The above is the "secret sauce" IMHO and what separates a hobbyist and a professional.



C4

[Duke2424]

Awesome responses everyone. Thank you all for your time, I really appreciate it!

As many of you have stated, this question was developed while searching for my next AR. There are a ton of great guns out there but every off the shelve gun was a compromise for me at some point. Im an engineer by trade and a tinkerer at heart so you guys have convinced me to give it a go. Thanks!

@C4

Your correct that every part will be Colt, BCM, Noveske, DD, etc. So my question is, will a novice end user be able to notice those differences such as receiver trueness, etc.? Playing the law of averages, will those thing mainly effect accuracy? Thank you in advance for your insight.

[C4IGrant]

Awesome responses everyone. Thank you all for your time, I really appreciate it!

As many of you have stated, this question was developed while searching for my next AR. There are a ton of great guns out there but every off the shelve gun was a compromise for me at some point. Im an engineer by trade and a tinkerer at heart so you guys have convinced me to give it a go. Thanks!

@C4

Your correct that every part will be Colt, BCM, Noveske, DD, etc. So my question is, will a novice end user be able to notice those differences such as receiver trueness, etc.? Playing the law of averages, will those thing mainly effect accuracy? Thank you in advance for your insight.

Accuracy at distance.



C4

[markm]

So my question is, will a novice end user be able to notice those differences such as receiver trueness, etc.? Playing the law of averages, will those thing mainly effect accuracy? Thank you in advance for your insight.

One of the Subject Matter Experts here (SMEs) posted that 99% of shooters won't appreciate that. Probably the Camp Perry competitors, and maybe a few boring accuracy nerds like Pappabear and I might realize a gain from it.

I plan to buy the tool at brownells at some point to use in the future.