AR15 Build Series #2: the Good, the Bad, and the Badass

By Andy 2nd Amendment, AR15, AR15 Building Series AR 15, ar15, build ar, build ar-15, build ar15, building ar, building ar 15 0 Comments

Choosing the Right AR15 for Your Situation, Your Budget, and Your Level of Badassness

This is the 2nd part of the most amazing, intelligent, special, genius, brilliant–

Okay, okay, sorry. Sometimes I get a bit carried away.

This is the 2nd part of my new AR15 Building Series. Since I’m not the “macho man” gun guy that some AR15 guys are, I’m in a good position to teach you the in’s and out’s of AR15s with an unbiased view.

I want to make this an interactive AR15 Building Series – so make sure you subscribe for notifications of future blog posts, and comment below with any public questions you’d like answers to.

My goal for this AR15 Building

Before you begin your AR15 build: Pick your poison… because indecision is super lame!

What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?

I can think of two hilariously horrible dates that I’ve been on. One involved lobsters, scratch tickets, cops, calculus. (But that’s a story for another time.)

The other hilariously bad date was with a girl who was so marvelously indecisive that she was 35 minutes late up because she couldn’t decide which blouse to wear, and she took over 45 minutes to choose what she wanted for dinner. McDonalds doesn’t even have that many choices on their menu!

All jokes aside, there’s no room for indecision when you are planning an AR15 build. Indecision in this area of your life will lead to loss of money.

Before you run out and start spending your hard earned money buying AR15 parts, pieces, and tools for building your AR15 – its imperative that you know exactly what you want.

Don’t be indecisive.

Knowing what you want is much more cool.

The Good: The first step to building your AR15 is super easy!

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Except getting in trouble. That’s easy. Too easy. (Morgan and Morgan suing me comes to mind!)

But the first step to building your AR15 is pretty easy: Decide what you want.

AR15 Building Step #1: Decide the primary purpose for your AR15: Self defense or long range precision?

The good news about AR15s is that if you can dream it, you can build it. But you first need to decide if you want to build a rifle for self defense or if you want to build a long-range precision range rifle. Knowing which type of AR15 you want will determine every step for your AR15 build from here on out.

Self defense rifles have the following attributes:

Shorter barrels
Lighter weight
Outfitted with accessories and options for shorter range self protection

Range rifles have pretty much the opposite features than what I just listed above, but you can build some pretty amazing rifles that are great for long-range precision.

The Bad: Money is the root of all evils… and AR15 building woes.

Dun dun dunnnnn. Money stuff.

Don’t let money discourage you from building an AR15. Save up $100 here and $100 there – and before you know it, you’ll have a full AR15 that you built with your own two hands. If you’re working on a budget, you should be able to build an AR15 with about $600 bucks.

For most people, its less about money and more about getting the best “bang for your buck.” (Pun intended.)

Here’s what you need to budget for:

AR15 building tools ($40-$150 bucks)
Your AR15 lower receiver ($100-$500 bucks)
Your AR15 lower receiver parts kit ($100-$200 bucks)
Your upper receiver ($100-$200)
Your barrel ($100-$450)
Your AR15 bolt ($100-$350)

The Badass: Your new AR15 will be your baby. Choose your elements wisely.

Meet Baby Blue.

This is the AR15 pistol I built years ago. Baby Blue is within 10 feet of me at all times. Literally… all times.

The reason I built Baby Blue:

Shorter barrels are easier to maneuver in tight spaces – or to get in and out of a vehicle (which I do every day)
The reflex sight allows me to keep both eyes open while engaging (rather than closing one eye to aim)
The single-point sling allows me to have both hands free and still have the gun readily accessible if need be

On the opposite side of Baby Blue is my no-named night vision setup. The reason I have this is pretty simple – I live on a 28 acre piece of land with coyotes, bobcat, and the like constantly attacking my livestock.

The longer barrel of this AR15 makes for a more accurate shot placement, and since I have a night vision scope mounted, I certainly don’t need a quad rail on the front. You can’t tell, but it also has a 22LR conversion kit – there’s no need for a loud 5.56 round waking up my neighbors in the middle of the night.