why don't people build their own uppers?

[mongoosesnipe]

I am not exactly active on the forum anymore (med school so i don't have as much free time as i used) but it seems like there are a lot of post asking about the quality of so and so uppers that no one has heard of... when i first got into the grendel there was not nearly the supply of barrels and god help me the bolt shortage.... but now there are numerous barrel options all of which seem to be in stock at this point

the brownell barrels shoot lights out and can be had for under 300 and though the 18 inch is over gassed and it is a grendel 2 chamber it still shots not to mention the umpteen other barrel options depending on your budget

which harks the questions of why don't people build there own upper, the ar is pretty much the most home gunsmith friendly gun there is and the ar specific tools are not very expensive and even if you had no tools you can get everything you need to build an ar for about $100

plus its fun and it "saves" money assuming you don't build multiples

[Rugerfan.64]

Well gee Doc,,,,,, I am trying just give me a little time

[stanc]

Speaking purely hypothetically, since owning and shooting a Grendel is currently not feasible (and I dislike the AR15, anyway ), I have no interest in building my own.

My only reason to have a Grendel AR15 would be for ammo test and evaluation. For those purposes, I would want a genuine Alexander Arms upper, not one I assembled.

[Rainman]

From my perspective it depends on where you are in the life and economic cycles. You are at the front end, I'm on the backside. I may need/want one or two more uppers or complete ARs or not. Over my life time I've accumulated boxes full of unused special purpose tools, concealed carry and field holsters, revolver and pistol grips, scopes, hand gun and rifle parts,bicycles and street rod goodies, etc. Now I'm trying not to accumulate more stuff someone else may have to deal with. I don't mind paying a little more to have a professional with a track record build one I know is good to go. On the other hand I appreciate the appeal and challenge of building your own so my hat is off to those of you who do.

[Drift]

Funny you should ask

[Cornbread]

Personally I get satisfaction in doing things for myself. Building an ar is not rocket science. Use quality parts mainly a good barrel and you will have good results. I've built several and they all shoot 3/4 moa or less with handloads.

[Drillboss]

Economy of scale. I suspect manufacturers can buy in bulk for quite a bit less than we can buy barrels, handguards, gas blocks, etc. on a one at a time basis (along with paying shipping from each supplier we select). Based on what I've done, I'm just guessing an upper could be assembled in a factory in about an hour or so. There seem to be a lot of uppers out there that are priced lower than what I can piece one together for. Add to that the cost of the necessary tools.

However, I do get a kick out of building my own and that allows me to select exactly the components that I want.

[LRRPF52]

I was just looking over AA's complete upper list and asking myself why I am building my own uppers. I can't get the components for what they are selling for.

Complete fluted barrel uppers for $680 (16") and $760 (18")?

Where were those deals when I was putting together my uppers?

http://www.shopalexanderarms.com/6_5_Grendel-Uppers.html

[1075 tech]

For myself, my first AR, I bought a complete upper. When I found the Grendel, I realized that buying what I wanted in a factory completed upper was not financially feasible. That said, I probably could have bought a complete upper close to what I ended up with for about the same $$. Maybe less. Laying out that much $ at one time was not going to happen. A little here and a little more there was doable. I learned what I needed to do (mostly from the great minds here) to build my own. I bought an AR wrench, a lapping tool, and the ALG handguard came with the barrel nut wrench. I had the upper together in less than an hour. For myself, I will probably build most of my own should I do anymore.

[1075 tech]

I was just looking over AA's complete upper list and asking myself why I am building my own uppers. I can't get the components for what they are selling for.

Complete fluted barrel uppers for $680 (16") and $760 (18")?

Where were those deals when I was putting together my uppers?

http://www.shopalexanderarms.com/6_5...el-Uppers.html

That figures. Looks like they lowered their prices and gave more options. Great. Looks like I have to find more overtime. I have a 20" Entry on lay-a-way at LGS for my brother. It was less than what AA had it for. Now AA is cheaper.

[1075 tech]

I was just looking over AA's complete upper list and asking myself why I am building my own uppers. I can't get the components for what they are selling for.

Complete fluted barrel uppers for $680 (16") and $760 (18")?

Where were those deals when I was putting together my uppers?

http://www.shopalexanderarms.com/6_5...el-Uppers.html

That figures. Looks like they lowered their prices and gave more options. Great. Looks like I have to find more overtime. I have a 20" Entry on lay-a-way at LGS for my brother. It was less than what AA had it for. Now AA is cheaper.

[mongoosesnipe]

pricing out comparable upper parts comes to around 600 for an 18 inch fluted without really shoping around but then again when i started my grendel adventure there were not near the about of uppers out there choices were pretty much AA and JP and a 8 month wait so if i was starting now i would probably just buy one....or actually probably just get a grendel bolt since that is a viable thing now as well i don't love ar15s either

[ah1whiskey]

in my decades of dealing with the ar-15/m16 i think i have bought one ar-15 hole and bought three uppers , all the rest i rolled myself including two of the three 6.5s uppers i have.

i prefer to build myself-- that way i know if it is right before i pull the trigger. back during some of the ar- buying panic people would come over and bring their "problem" ars for me to look at-- i've seen a few prize winners too--lol

the AR-15 is so easy i really don't know why more don't build.

one rule of thumb that is all ways true-- good parts= good AR-- it is a simple and reliable system but it don't pay to skimp on parts--

[Jakal]

I bought 1 whole S&W MP 15 and 2-- 458 Socoms, the other 5 AR's I have, I have built. I find I can build a quality AR upper for as little or as much as I want to spend. The Lilja and Bartlien barrels for my 6.5's are over $400.00 each. The 300 BLK barrel I have was $140.

Each gun has a mission and each mission is different. I wanted quality and precision in my 6.5's but the 300 BLK, as long as I got MOA out to 300 I called it good.

[LRRPF52]

I ordered one of those 16" AA fluted barrels for my neighbor's lightweight build. When we went to put it together and I got ready to do my normal tweaks to the barrel extension, they had basically been done from the factory. The ramps matched perfectly with a random Keyhole forge code upper I used. It just made my job that much easier.

I really like the fluting AA does. There are twice as many flutes as the other fluted barrels I normally see. He showed it to his friend, who is now looking for a 5.56 barrel with the same profile and fluting, but I couldn't find one. Love these little 16" Lightweight barrels from AA. I'm thinking about replacing my first one with one of these, they just look and handle so well.