It depends. I had successfully built a Para FAL prior to building my first AR. The FAL was simple even with needing to be head spaced and the AR simpler still. (I found the assembly of the AR upper to be easier than the assembly of the lower, contrary to popular opinion). I have been working with my hands since I can remember, modifying, assembling, building and fabricating things since a child.
For me, it's easy and it should be easy for others as well. But that's not always the case. I can tell someone "all you gotta do is torque it to 30 inch/pounds and see if it lines up" only to discover they do not even know how to turn a wrench! Not being able to turn a wrench is beyond my mortal comprehension. It's so simple, anyone can do it, right? Yet there are folks who cannot turn a wrench.
For example, last Friday, I helped one of my pilots repair a lawn mower. Part of the linkage to lower the cutting blades had come loose. While he fiddled with it I thought "no big deal, all he had to do is loosen a couple bolts, reposition the bar and retighten." Instead, he digs out a big hammer and proceeds to attempt to beat the parts into place!
ARs are easy to build if you use parts of known specifications and are building to a known configuration and have some idea of what you are doing. Beyond that, all bets are off



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This is what I think of when I think of "no skill". But the guy is hell on a soccer field. He keeps up with guys half his age. I wish I was as fit as he is. Don't have time. Too busy fixing and building shit.

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