Building my own AR???

[atomicjoe23]

Can any upper be converted to piston operation??? Replace the bolt carrier and the gas block and tube with the correct type of bolt carrier, and replace the gas block and tube with a piston-style gas block and piston assembly. . .right???

[atomicjoe23]

OK. . .I had to make a slight change in my build list. . .

. . .unfortunately the only way that LaRue will sell a billet lower to anyone who doesn't own a "complete" upper. . .meaning you have to spend close to $2K with them first. . .is to pay them double the regular retail of the lower. . .so they want $500 for a lower. . .sorry no dice in my book. That's insulting to expect a potential customer to pay double the advertised price for a part just because they think that some people will. . .those people that will pay double are also the people that will pay more than MSRP for a car. . .I don't car to joint that crowd. I let them know I would be taking my business and money elsewhere.

I will be getting a Mega Machine billet upper and lower set for less than what the LaRue parts would have cost me and they are also made here in WA, I am much happier with that than I would have been with LaRue.

[CastleRocker]

Keep us posted.  I've put together a few lowers, but haven't tackled my own upper (yet). 

One word of advice; get the best trigger you can almost afford.  I'm still looking for a trigger that makes me happy.  I'm looking at the one Jerry Miculek designed....but wow, they want a lot of $$$ for them!

Be careful of the "overload" you mentioned.  If left unchecked, it will become an addiction.  I started down the AR road about a year ago, now I have two lowers with four uppers.  They go from 204 Ruger to 25 WSSM.  I don't think it's my fault.  I keep telling my wife that they keep breeding in the safe!

[atomicjoe23]

I hear ya. . .I'll keep you posted. . .

. . .the local retailer is gonna be getting back to me on when he will be getting the new-style Mega billet uppers, right now he has the old style and if they are what I think they are I might want one of them anyway. . .especially if there is a price break when the "new" design shows up (basically Mega added their logo to the upper, I believe). . .

[Craig]

This guy is from kent and real good to work with. He has MEGA stuff most of the time.

http://www.rainierarms.com

[atomicjoe23]

I saw them as a retailer on Mega's website (I had a heck of a time finding their website. . .I could find retailers, but not the website at first which is why I hadn't really considered them at first). . .

. . .I'll have to check him out. . .I had contacted Carrico'z Armory initially because they are in Lacey which is decently close to me. . .Olympia is about a 3 hr. drive away. . .kinda far. . .

[atomicjoe23]

Hey. . .thanks for the link Craig. . .I just checked out the website and their price is a little better and they show the billet upper/lower combo on the website. . .I just sent him an email to see if he has any in stock. . .if he does I'll be getting one for my B-day this weekend (I hope. . .gotta wait for my B-day bonus to come in though).

Thanks again!

[atomicjoe23]

Hey. . .what's the difference between a standard upper and an M4 upper?

What about the option for with and without a side charging handle?

I still have to learn a few things about this platform.

[Jburke]

One thing that you might consider buying and watching before you start is a dvd that brownells sells, "how to build an AR."  I don't know how in depth it goes into the process, but it may make the build go a lot smoother.  Maybe it will help, maybe not.  I haven't watched it, just saw it on their website.

[atomicjoe23]

Good advice. . .I was planning on getting both that DVD and at least two other books that I had my eyes on.

I was gonna start collecting the main parts and then grab the book in a week or two once I am a little closer to ready to actual assembly time.

[actionshooter]

. . .I'll have to check him out. . .I had contacted Carrico'z Armory initially because they are in Lacey which is decently close to me. . .Olympia is about a 3 hr. drive away. . .kinda far. . .

  Lacey and Olympia are pretty much the same town. Clinton over at Carrico'z is a great guy.
 These goods have a lot of stuff also http://www.jsgunparts.com/store/

[atomicjoe23]

Well Auburn (Ranier Arms. . .and they have the matched billet upper/lower in stock too) is just across the water. . .I was just over there to pick up a 472 big block caddy engine this summer for a future hot-rod project.

[Fishhunt223]

M4 Cuts mean that the reciever and extension have a steeper feed angle.  They were designed to make full auto weapons feed more reliable in cold weather.  If your upper reciever has them, then you must get a barrel with them or you will have big feed problems.  You can get away with using a barrel with M4 cuts and a reciever without but not the other way around. 

[atomicjoe23]

Picked up my Mega Machine billet upper/lower set w/billet charging handle last week. . .

. . .take pic's and post tomorrow. . .

. . .VERY nice. . .fit very well, there is NO slop at all in the fit of these two pieces. I'll be ordering my lower parts kit next week and then the barrel/bolt assembly from AR15 Performance in 6.8 Rem. SPC hopefully at the beginning of Feb. Then the rear stock. . .

. . .I still have to decide on what front rail system I'm going to use and what trigger I'm gonna upgrade to as well though.

[atomicjoe23]

I just ordered my barrel/bolt/carrier assembly from AR15 Performance; it's a 16" PacNor stainless steel barrel with 12x3 button rifling and ARP's 6.8x43 chamber (have been shooting under 1" in 16" Recon barrels. . .so my PacNor should be able to beat that), a matching headspaced ARP 9810 SuperBolt and carrier assembly, abnd I also got the 6.8 etched ejection port door.

Now I have to save some more cash to grab a MagPul PRS stock, a railed foream and low profile gas block, muzzle device, lower parts, and a scope and I'll be set!!!