Build An AR15 (Updated 9/13/03)

I said I was going to do my part to support Bushmaster.

Then I went to the recent gun show and realized that the dealers jacked the prices up. So, I decided to build one.

I went out and bought one of these:

Then I bought these:

Notice that only that thing on the bottom (a lower receiver) is the only portion considered to be a firearm. It had to be registered.

Then I laid the parts on out my sophisticated workbench (the wife always calls it the dinner table, what does she know).

This is where I got scared. I’m not mechanically inclined at all. But I assembled those little parts into the lower receiver using only pliers, an allen wrench, a small phillips screwdriver, and a large flathead screwdriver. It’s a good thing I bought that duct tape, because here you can see me using it cover the lower receiver so that I don’t scratch it when I’m hammering in a pin:

Then I put it all together and it looks like this:

Now, I still need one of these:

And one of these:

So far, this has been a real fun project. I'll finish it by the next gun show and take it out for a shoot. Hope it works!

The folks at J&T Distributing were real helpful about answering my questions. And I bought the upper receiver (the first picture) from them. So, I'm not supporting Bushmaster as much as I wanted to since the dealers are jacking the prices up, but I plan on buying their parts (just not a full gun).

Also, I learned about all this stuff from those wonderful people at AR15.com. They have a build your own forum and a manual for assembling the lower receiver.

Update: Be sure to have the headspace for the bolt carrier and assembly check professionally. If you purchase a kit (such as provided by J&T Distributing (mentioned above) this is already done for you.

Posted by SayUncle

---