11-24-2017, 02:38 PM
As with most anything that can be bought as a whole or built by the piece, the process can get as expensive as you allow it to. Many of us here have built a lot of AR's / MSR's and the final assembled costs have run from "really cheap" to "painfully ouch"! It depends a lot on your tastes and style requirements and what your goals are.
Some years ago, the company I was working for had a "toy day" and everyone brought all their thundersticks. We lined 'em all up on tables along the wall and stood back and collectively said "WOW". Some time later that day I was walking thru the room, admiring the collections and realized that they all looked the same, hard to tell who's was who's. After that, I had a massive "redecorating" effort and since then, all of my keepers have a unique pattern to them. It makes them a little more expensive, but I know which ones are mine.
My days of shooting bug holes are long past but I still want to be confident that what I am shooting with is always better than I am capable of. So I make a greater effort at selecting major components that will satisfy that requirement. That also costs money. And I am willing to do that as it is only painful once.
And, I have accumulated all the tools along the way to do a better job of that assembly. And it only hurt once ( at a time ).
For your first build, remember that you can always change things. Over time, you will develop a comfort factor with certain manufacturers of key parts and your collections of toys will slowly morph to that group of manufacturers. The important thing early on is to read across the various chapters in this forum what works and doesn't work. We have all been down that same road and learned the same lessons. There are things that just gotta be done during assembly to yield a quality result.
Then make the cost / component compromises that your budget permits, get the best parts ( especially barrels and bolts ) that you can justify and go put holes in things with a lot of satisfaction knowing that you made it all happen. And, if something goes amiss along the way, you have the knowledge of how to diagnose and repair. And, when you are satisfied with the results, please post pictures and prizes so that we can all enjoy the successes with you.
Enjoy!
Some years ago, the company I was working for had a "toy day" and everyone brought all their thundersticks. We lined 'em all up on tables along the wall and stood back and collectively said "WOW". Some time later that day I was walking thru the room, admiring the collections and realized that they all looked the same, hard to tell who's was who's. After that, I had a massive "redecorating" effort and since then, all of my keepers have a unique pattern to them. It makes them a little more expensive, but I know which ones are mine.
My days of shooting bug holes are long past but I still want to be confident that what I am shooting with is always better than I am capable of. So I make a greater effort at selecting major components that will satisfy that requirement. That also costs money. And I am willing to do that as it is only painful once.
And, I have accumulated all the tools along the way to do a better job of that assembly. And it only hurt once ( at a time ).
For your first build, remember that you can always change things. Over time, you will develop a comfort factor with certain manufacturers of key parts and your collections of toys will slowly morph to that group of manufacturers. The important thing early on is to read across the various chapters in this forum what works and doesn't work. We have all been down that same road and learned the same lessons. There are things that just gotta be done during assembly to yield a quality result.
Then make the cost / component compromises that your budget permits, get the best parts ( especially barrels and bolts ) that you can justify and go put holes in things with a lot of satisfaction knowing that you made it all happen. And, if something goes amiss along the way, you have the knowledge of how to diagnose and repair. And, when you are satisfied with the results, please post pictures and prizes so that we can all enjoy the successes with you.
Enjoy!