Sounds like a fun project! I'll help all I can.
Going to do an 80% lower build as I can do all the milling and drilling. Make sure to comply with Federal law & the law of your State when you have a finished lower. Note that it's the finished Lower that constitutes a firearm even if there's nothing else attached to it. Law abiding citizens can get themselves in criminal trouble by inadvertent violations of firearms laws.
Billet upper. That's fine but quality uppers & lowers may be either machined or forged.
Anodized or cerakote? Personal choice. Try to come up with a total design, including appearance, so the metal finish and "furniture" choices match and look good. If you get it wrong, don't worry. The extra parts will just have to go to the next build.
Barrel. This is a significant choice in terms of performance, appearance and price. You have to decide if you want a serviceable rifle, or match quality. For top accuracy you need a barrel that's designated Match, Varmint, or a custom or semi-custom barrel.
AR-15's are accurate. For more accuracy the rules are to upgrade: barrel, floating rail, optics, trigger. You have to decide if you want iron sights, scope or both. There are upgraded iron sights and numerous choices all around.
If you intend to shoot offhand I recommend a tapered, lightweight barrel. My son's first AR-15, before we started building, was a Rock River Arms. Good rifle but too forward heavy & too heavy overall.
If you will be shooting from a rest, then: i) weight is far less important; ii) maybe consider a beavertail (flat bottomed) for-end.
Still unsure of twist? You have to decide on bullet weight first, which in turn requires a specific twist rate. 5.56/223 bullets come in weights measured in grains such as about 35; 55; 65 - 70; 80 - 90. Stay away from the 80 - 90 at least for now - very fussy & demanding to shoot well. Those different weight ranges each require their own twist rate; info available on-line.
15" floating rail. As stated a floating rail is required for better accuracy.
Magpul lower and stock furniture. Good stuff.
Nickel boron bolt carrier. Good stuff.
Got a question on triggers. Are single stage Timney and CMC - type really necessary? This question indicates that you need to get a clearer picture of your build. There's no point in a top quality trigger, paired with, say, an AR Stoner barrel. E.g., no sense putting an $800 tone arm on an ordinary record player.
Personally I'm a 2-stage guy, but this is a personal choice. Remember you can always upgrade later. My son & I wound up building a run of the mill AR with most of the parts left over from other builds and mods.
A little stone and polish on a stock mil spec might be good enough maybe? Should work, but be careful & checkout video's. Always be concerned about runaway fire. Google that if necessary!
Want to do an economy build, but with some quality parts where needed. Design concept again. No "quality parts" are needed to build a good serviceable AR-15 rifle. I.e., standard parts are way good enough. Isolated quality parts here and there cannot deliver on their promise without all the other quality components. So for an economy build, I would recommend buying the standard barrel, and upper & lower kit components. It's cheaper to buy the kits, and you'll have all the parts.
Topic: AR15 Build II (Read 7988 times)