Late to the AR game help...
Maui-diver-
I found a barrel company recently called Ballistic Advantage and their barrels are affordable and REALLY good. I have all sorts of high-end expensive barrels and my BA barrels are every bit as good, at a lot lower price. They're not "budget" barrels but they will free up a little extra money in your budget for an upgrade somewhere else in your build. For example, put the savings towards a Geissele trigger.
If you want it to shoot, your most important components will be your barrel, trigger, upper receiver and bolt carrier group. Focus your attention there - everything else is merely personal preference/cosmetic choice. If you're ultimately going to use a suppressor, I'd highly suggest using an adjustable gas block (I like SLR) from the get-go. You WILL want one when you go suppressed and it's a PITA to swap gas blocks. So, you might as well build it with one. Someone earlier mentioned the importance of deciding WHAT you want you AR to do and building it for that purpose. I want to second that piece of advice and encourage you to do some thinking before buying. That's the great thing about the AR- it can be configured specifically for YOUR needs. You can save yourself a lot of money by determining exactly what you'd like to have and, then, building that exact rifle. The choices are overwhelming but, if you come back with what you want in your rifle, you'll get plenty of help here that's tailored to what YOU need. Otherwise, you're just getting a bunch of personal preferences of other people, for rifles that suit their needs.
I would encourage you to build (assemble) a rifle if you can rein in your excitement. As your friend said, you'll learn a lot from putting it together. You'll find lots of help on here and YouTube. It's not hard, AT ALL! I'm sure you can find someone closer to help you but, if you can't, I'll volunteer to help you if you can make the 2.75hr drive down here. To truly assemble your own rifle, particularly your upper receiver, you'll want some tools that you may not fit in the budget. If you can find someone that has them, that can help you, you'll save money a bunch of money. To me, assembling a lower receiver and buying a complete upper doesn't constitute "building" an AR; and it puts the most accuracy-critical components into the hands of some unknown builder. But, to assemble your own upper, you do need some tools that are not just laying around in a common shop.
Feel free to PM me if I can help you in any way - I'll give you my phone #. Welcome to the addiction!! Lol!
Nick
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Maui-diver-
I found a barrel company recently called Ballistic Advantage and their barrels are affordable and REALLY good. I have all sorts of high-end expensive barrels and my BA barrels are every bit as good, at a lot lower price. They're not "budget" barrels but they will free up a little extra money in your budget for an upgrade somewhere else in your build. For example, put the savings towards a Geissele trigger.
If you want it to shoot, your most important components will be your barrel, trigger, upper receiver and bolt carrier group. Focus your attention there - everything else is merely personal preference/cosmetic choice. If you're ultimately going to use a suppressor, I'd highly suggest using an adjustable gas block (I like SLR) from the get-go. You WILL want one when you go suppressed and it's a PITA to swap gas blocks. So, you might as well build it with one. Someone earlier mentioned the importance of deciding WHAT you want you AR to do and building it for that purpose. I want to second that piece of advice and encourage you to do some thinking before buying. That's the great thing about the AR- it can be configured specifically for YOUR needs. You can save yourself a lot of money by determining exactly what you'd like to have and, then, building that exact rifle. The choices are overwhelming but, if you come back with what you want in your rifle, you'll get plenty of help here that's tailored to what YOU need. Otherwise, you're just getting a bunch of personal preferences of other people, for rifles that suit their needs.
I would encourage you to build (assemble) a rifle if you can rein in your excitement. As your friend said, you'll learn a lot from putting it together. You'll find lots of help on here and YouTube. It's not hard, AT ALL! I'm sure you can find someone closer to help you but, if you can't, I'll volunteer to help you if you can make the 2.75hr drive down here. To truly assemble your own rifle, particularly your upper receiver, you'll want some tools that you may not fit in the budget. If you can find someone that has them, that can help you, you'll save money a bunch of money. To me, assembling a lower receiver and buying a complete upper doesn't constitute "building" an AR; and it puts the most accuracy-critical components into the hands of some unknown builder. But, to assemble your own upper, you do need some tools that are not just laying around in a common shop.
Feel free to PM me if I can help you in any way - I'll give you my phone #. Welcome to the addiction!! Lol!
Nick
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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