Honestly building right now is hit or miss as far as being cheaper, but I still build my own that way I get exactly what I want and there is a bit of satisfaction as well. I babysit the forums for deals and I'm lucky if I save $50 on an upper when it's all said and done. I regularly save $75-100 on a lower build.
That said, IMHO I would save your money and forget the books. All of the torque and staking requirements are in the forum for free with great pics, and between Brownell's build-your-own AR videos and youtube I think you'll be fine. I was/am and I'm on my 5th build. It really is not difficult with the correct tools and your computer.
Just my limited experience and personal opinion.
"We prepare, so we don't end up at the superdome"- unknown
"IMHO, if you wanted to shoot crap ammo, you should have bought a crap upper. It makes baby Jesus cry when he sees crap ammo put through a nice upper."- C4IGrant
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