1st post.
Off to a bad start.
It is ill advised to build your 1st AR.
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Also, I couldn't agree more with the guys talking about doing the research on your own. There is nothing wrong with asking questions but until you gain enough knowledge to attain an opinion of your own, you'll only be following the opinions of others. Maybe they know what's best - maybe not. Although I am a new member, I have been reading on this site since about early 2009. I didn't build until late 2010. This is the location for 'valid' info but there is an awful lot to take in.
Good Luck
You spent over a year researching. That is commendable but not typical. Most folks who chose to build or assemble their first AR end up with a box of crap that didn't end up working out because something that "looked cool" inspired them to drop a was of cash.
Being that you are in Virginia, I say give Robb Jensen at Virginia Arms a call.
To the OP,
Your original post is actually very jumbled and goes in different directions. Your goal of seeking a good carbine/rifle has nothing to do with NFA laws (as I understood your post). So it's obvious you are mixing stuff up.
There is nothing here that is ground breaking or revolutionary and nothing we tell you is going to make you change your mind. You have already made a selection of parts without explaining why or what advantage it will give you.
Get a Colt 6920. Buy some ammuntion, magazines, sling and cleaning kit. Practice and seek out training. That will make you more formidable then some hobbled together build.
Unless you really have an itch to scratch as far as building a weapon you may not have built correctly, then trying to sell it on EE after not being able to debug it when it becomes a jammamatic, just buy a quality built production gun from Colt, Daniel Defense, BCM or LMT an save you some ass pain.
Yeah, I've seen a lot of his posts/threads and the fact that he has been around this site for a long time and in the firearms industry even longer. Definitely plan on talking to him in the future, especially since Manassas is right down the road.
Also, just to clarify, I don't consider this my first AR necessarily. I do have quite a bit of experience with my service M4 with thousands of rounds through (that's not mentioning my other firearms I have owned). I have no qualms admitting that I never disassembled the lower or removed my barrel or other more technical aspects of building an AR but I am confident, that with my experience and information located here and elsewhere, that I wil be able to accomplish a good build. And not something that just looks cool and has lights and lasers and flames painted on the sides.
But, again I will keep the colt mentioned in mind as a complete platform that I can later add to as I see fit for my needs. I don't want to limit my options right at the onset.
The NFA laws aspect applied to my lack of knowledge if I would need a form 1 to build a rifle and what the minimum barrel size I can use in a build without filing applications. I also thought that not having the fixed front sight/gas block fell into NFA rules as well because the sites I was looking at them at all mentioned NFA rules whenever they were not attached, or said "Front sight gas block included per NFA rules." I believe now that those statements were due to barrel length and not related to the gas block itself. So what am I mixing up exactly?
I was making an initial attempt at gathering information I could not find so I felt it was unnecessary at that point to explain my selection of parts. First off, none of my "selection of parts" is anything set in stone. The free float system was a generalized question because I do not know a lot in regards to the differences of them. In terms of stating that I would probably stick with DD or BCM for many of my parts, well, they seem to be very reputable around these parts and in a quite affordable range. For example, the BCM BCG seems to be well made, well priced, and well supported on M4C. It has proper staking and I have not read about any issues people have had with it. Mostly it was to passively statement that I will be staying away from Del-ton, RRA, and a few others that I have read about since finding this site. With my choice of Magpul parts, I have used a few of them on my service M4 and I was very happy with them. I also know that I am not very fond of the standard collapsible stock and the way my cheek rests against it when it is extended. I like the style in the Magpul UBR where the cheek-weld is stationary, but the lower portion extends and collapses. I want to use a low profile gas block, because as I said, I would like to use some sort of folding front and rear sights and again the Magpul MBUS system seems very nice (as well as troy and a couple of others). I plan on continuing to use them as a back up system when the time comes to add an optic to the rifle, again, like my service rifle.
I know people's tones can get lost in the internet, so just to clarify, I am not trying to be argumentative. I am just clarifying what I had said originally and responding to your (ond others') comments.
Cheers.
I would avoid the magpul rear BUIS and lean towards a Matech. They lock p nicely, have a great sight picture and are a small, durable package. For the front I've always had a FSB so I can't really help you there.