The cool thing about ARs is that there are a ton of them out there and people are sharing ideas on how to build, use and maintain them every day. This series of blog posts I just wrote shows my current take on how to assemble lowers. I will continue to improve my techniques over … Continue reading Assembling an AR Lower – Step 11 of 11: Other Resources To Leverage & Learn From
We’re in the home stretch. You can buy completed AR uppers from many sources. I’ve had very good luck with Palmetto State Armory (PSA), Ghost Rifles, White Oak Armory (for precision uppers), Del-Ton, and Rock River Arms. I bought a few Hardened Arms uppers with bolts and simply was not impressed – they seemed gritty … Continue reading Assembling an AR Lower – Step 10 of 11: Installing the Upper Receiver Assembly
There are three types of buffer tubes for ARs and the one you pick depends on what you are building. There is the traditional long A2 fixed stock style buffer tube, the 6 position M4-style telescoping stock tube and lastly the pistol buffer tube. Since I am building a pistol, that will be our focus. … Continue reading Assembling an AR Lower – Step 9 of 11: Installing the Buffer Tube and Arm Brace
In this step we will install the selector spring and detent along with the pistol grip. As you can imagine, I am a grip snob. I do not like the Mil-Spec grip much at all but do like the MagPul MOE and MIAD grip. For me, the lower-cost MOE grip is just fine – it … Continue reading Assembling an AR Lower – Step 8 of 11: Installing the Pistol Grip, Selector Spring and Detent
The selector assembly is what allows a regular AR to either be on “Safe” by blocking the trigger’s movement or “Fire” my allowing the trigger to pass. It’s actually a very straight forward design and I like those. Now I like ambidextrous selectors and they are just like a normal one but have a small … Continue reading Assembling an AR Lower – Step 7 of 11: Installing the Selector Assembly
The hammer assembly includes the pin, spring and hammer itself. In the next photo, the hammer group is to the right. This is an enhanced trigger group from Palmetto State Armory (PSA) that I really like and recommend for people wanting a decent low-cost trigger for a basic build. It’s straight forward to install with … Continue reading Assembling an AR Lower – Step 6 of 11: Installing the Hammer Assembly
An AR trigger assembly is four parts not including the pin that holds the assembly in the receiver. I like Palmetto State Armory’s Enhanced Trigger Group that has a polished nickel boron finish for my basic AR builds. My favorite trigger manufacturer is Geissele and have used a number of their models over the years … Continue reading Assembling an AR Lower – Step 5 of 11: Installing the Trigger Assembly
The AR is a modular rifle system wherein the upper half connects to the lower half via two pins. The front pin is known as the “pivot pin” because when the rear pin is opened, the upper half can pivot up allowing for maintenance or to allow the operator to open the pivot pin also … Continue reading Assembling an AR Lower – Step 4 of 11: Installing the Pivot Pin Assembly
