whats a bcg?

also in the future can i install a aftermarket trigger myself or is that a gunsmith job?

Bolt carrier group. And yes, Triggers are extremely easy to put in, just pop out trigger and hammer pins and drop in the new parts.

i've got just about everything picked out now just having trouble deciding on optics. im only planning to shoot to about 300 yds but i have bad eye sight so im thinking either a compact 3-9x40 or bsa's sweet .223 3-12x40. that and im not sure on mounts. im told i'll need a high rise mount for my a3 flat top upper but all i see are aluminum ones and i prefer steel. any of you have any problems with using aluminum mounts for scopes on these?

Yeah, they can't put a barrel on an upper to save their life. Even their own site tells you to check headspace when there's almost nothing you could do to fix a headspace problem without taking the barrel off and putting it back on yourself. If you have to do that then why have someone else make the upper?

Or the fact that once you have an issue they have lousy customer service.

Or the fact that during the panic buying earlier this year they pulled their stock from their retail website and started listing it at Gunbroker in auctions to increase their profits.

Or as I said before changing their company name so many times because their reputation tanks rapidly every time they switch it.


All that says one thing. They would much prefer you just sending them a check and let's just all forget about giving you something of value for it. These guys are pure mercenary with no pride in craftsmanship. Remember that these guys don't actually make anything. They are just assemblers of overstock parts they buy. That's all these kit makers do. If kit companies just assemble these uppers from parts then how can one company be so much cheaper when everyone's fixed parts costs are about the same? They do that buy using the cheapest labor to assemble they can find and cut the customer service to the bone.

Go read online about the Vulcan and the Hesse companies, which were their prior names. You'll see.




bfausett84, if you buy premium parts then you don't need an accuwedge until the gun has many thousands of rounds through it. My S&W has over a thousand rounds through it and there's no way you could a heavily shaved accuwedge into mine. Also, a little wiggle never hurt the AR. Military has been issuing rattle boxes for years and they still shoot well. The wiggly lower doesn't affect the upper that much.

ok so i've been studying a little bit and it seems like this thing that goes in the clip spot to hold the lower in a vise would be a nice thing to have when putting this lower togather. where can i find one and how much should i expect to pay? are there any other little things like this you'd recomend to make this go smoothly? im hoping to pick up my stripped lower monday and pick out a kit so im getting kinda close to crunch time..

Least expensive is the Promag lower vice block. Runs $10-15. Cheap enough that you might as well order something else to justify the shipping. You can find more expensive ones but I've never seen them being any better. The $50 one from Brownells looks exactly the same. I have the Promag and it works fine for me.

Hope you have a nice mounted bench vice too. Really comes in handy.


As for other tools I recommend reading this whole thread: http://www.ar15armory.com/forums/Tools-needed-t66348.html

Not long and lots of comments on handy things to have

guess i underestimated those springs. on the videos i was watching last night they did'nt look like a problem. as for a vise i have access to one but no computer near it for video so im going to just have to watch the video's a couple times to prepare then use the instructions while im there .

Exactly. I went to go use the search and wtheck i've gotta get 10 posts to look for something?

Beyond that I don't know of many kit suppliers who have them in stock ready to ship.

We want you to engage the membership here a little bit instead of just lurking and searching. We are here to help you. Sometimes search doesn't get you the answer fast, but we sure will.

Btw, J&T has kits in stock.

wish other forums would follow suite. they act like your lazy if you ask a question without searching for months first lol. guess its time to check j&t out again

If you don't see exactly what you want then call 888-736-7725 on Monday. Their website has been ignored for a few months while their web team focuses on their sister company, Double Star.

But they can make just about any combo you can think of.

My vote would be to go with J&T. I bought a kit from them several years ago and have had good service from it. Last year I had a friend who went to their armorers class, he was very impressed with J&T / Doublestar instructors as well as their products.

went to pick up my cold stripped lower today but they sold it already. good news is i picked up a new smith & wesson M&P15 lower going to decide and order a rifle kit tomorow.

S&W makes good gear. That lower should work great.

I just recieved my kit from Del-Ton last week took north of 6 months. I called the week before and the order was held up due to them waiting on a rail system I had selected. I chose one they had in stack and got the rifle in 5 days.

I called them today about a kit and unfortunately, they do not provide complete rifle kits Like J&T but nonetheless were kind and courteous, almost apologetic. Wish I could say the same about the jerks at Model 1 Sales. Arrogant, could care less. Told them what I wanted to do and after a few minutes of asking questions (had to ask "are you still there" a couple of times) the nonchalantly told me "22 weeks, period". Asked them where it said that on their web site and was told "I could care less about what the web site says, I'm telling you 22 weeks". Well I kindly thanked them and told them for FOAD and hung up. Guess I'll either go with J&T or maybe just build a complete lower and order an assembled upper. Kind of a waste since I bought all the tools needed to build the upper but theres always ebay.

This post has been edited by progun: November 3rd 2009 12:20 AM

Yeah Model 1 has insanely bad service.


Keep the tools for the upper. If NObama ever gets his way later then repairing your rifle with just components may be your only option. Keeping a supply of AR tools and more commonly broken small parts as a reserve may pay big dividends later.

It may not even be the libtards who throw a wrench into AR ownership. If the military finally moves to a different gun platform the number of options available for AR will logically reduce. Perfect example is looking at the options available to an AR owner and a M1A owner. Sure, you can get aftermarket products for the M1A, but not nearly in the variety that the AR gets. If the military obsoletes the AR then getting certain parts you really want may only come from cannibalization. You might not need those upper tools for 15-20 years, but they might be worth their weight in gold when obsolescence finally gets here.

Ya know you got a good point......Will hang on to them...I got a nice S&W M&P 15 Magpul MOE config that might need some TLC in the future Beeing toying with the idea of getting a 450 Bushy upper and "collecting" parts for the lower...little bit here, little bit there. Bushmaster has the 450's on sale for $580 something.... dunno about the availability of the components though....I did see some reloading dies and the bullets should be available......gonna do some checking.....

JSE Surplus has some rifle kits in stock. I ordered one from them a few weeks back and they shipped it the same day. And I even opted to have the upper assembled ($25)... So they seem to be on top of their game so to speak.

http://www.jsesurplus.com/riflekits.aspx

ok so for a little update. i ran out of cash and had to go with the blackthorne rifle kit that i posted about earlier in the thread. i also got 2 clips and a cheap set of mounts so i could test it before the 3 day period was up. ordered tuesday arrived thursday, assembled thursday. today i took it to the range with a tasco luminux 3-9x40 and put 2 boxes through it. took me about 15 shells to walk it to the bullseye including the first 5 that werent even on the paper, i then shot 2x 3rd groups at 100yd refilled clip and emptied it as fast as possible. results were great for me. no jams, misfires or anything and groups were very predictable. if i would have gotten to the range sooner i could have probably closed the groups in quite a bit but it was getting dark fast and i was rushing to get it dialed in a bit before the range closed at dusk.

i am very happy with this purchase and would buy anotehr kit from them anytime. didnt have any fitment issues at all. the only negative part of the experience was that my barrel had some rub marks on it but i can dremel them right out