Is this possible or a dream

[Informed Decision]

I could definitely do the work. Just don't want to buy tools for a one shot party ! I've been looking in the want adds, it's seems the home made AR's made by well knowns on INGO have sold quick where those made by lesser knowns seem to take longer or not at all... Not sure if it's cause of who did the build or what parts they made the AR with. As a general rule can I buy the tools & create the AR for a lot cheaper than I can purchase a good quality AR, with good accys . Is a good quality firearm going to run about $8-1000? Plus accys? Are factory made all military spec ?

 

[Jeremy1066]

I could definitely do the work. Just don't want to buy tools for a one shot party ! I've been looking in the want adds, it's seems the home made AR's made by well knowns on INGO have sold quick where those made by lesser knowns seem to take longer or not at all... Not sure if it's cause of who did the build or what parts they made the AR with. As a general rule can I buy the tools & create the AR for a lot cheaper than I can purchase a good quality AR, with good accys . Is a good quality firearm going to run about $8-1000? Plus accys? Are factory made all military spec ?

For a short answer, no, you will not build an AR for a lot cheaper than you can buy a quality AR. There are threads on here from people that built an AR for ~$500 (using the cheapest parts they could possibly find) but you can buy a good entry level factory-built AR for ~$600 (S&W Sport comes to mind). In my opinion the only reasons to build your own would be:
1) experience/fun of doing it
2) to build it slowly over time so as not to exhaust all of your funds at once
3) to build exactly what you want per your intended purpose (but this usually seems to get even more expensive)
I wouldn't worry about resale value.

Remember..."mil-spec" just means the parts fall into certain tolerances. I think all major manufacturers produce "mil-spec" rifles but some companies keep tighter tolerances and charge more for them due to higher quality control standards. I have a Spikes Tactical rifle that I put together after ordering a complete upper and a complete lower separately from two different distributors. The fit between the upper and lower is so tight that you can not make them wiggle. At all. That, in my opinion, is what the extra cost pays for and it's worth it (to me).

 

[johnwhite]

For a short answer, no, you will not build an AR for a lot cheaper than you can buy a quality AR. There are threads on here from people that built an AR for ~$500 (using the cheapest parts they could possibly find) but you can buy a good entry level factory-built AR for ~$600 (S&W Sport comes to mind). In my opinion the only reasons to build your own would be:
1) experience/fun of doing it
2) to build it slowly over time so as not to exhaust all of your funds at once
3) to build exactly what you want per your intended purpose (but this usually seems to get even more expensive)
I wouldn't worry about resale value.

Remember..."mil-spec" just means the parts fall into certain tolerances. I think all major manufacturers produce "mil-spec" rifles but some companies keep tighter tolerances and charge more for them due to higher quality control standards. I have a Spikes Tactical rifle that I put together after ordering a complete upper and a complete lower separately from two different distributors. The fit between the upper and lower is so tight that you can not make them wiggle. At all. That, in my opinion, is what the extra cost pays for and it's worth it (to me).

i build mine for reason #2 i dont have a whole bunch of money lying around so buying one part at a time just makes sense for me. also i have discovered you dont need all the fancy tools and gadgets to build one most of the tools in a decent tool box will work. may not be as easy as with the ar armorers tools but it can be done

 

[Excalibur]

I would build one as a hobby project since I already have an AR.

 

[Psode27]

I try to tell myself I'm saving money piecing things together .

 

[mattyd]

Don't forget YouTube can be your friend in figuring out what you want it to like in the end.