AR-15 Finished

Last time on AR15-Z!

Here's the AR-15.  Parts rundown:

• .223 bull barrel 24" - $200
• DPMS Bolt+Carrier+Charge handle - ~$150
• Del-Ton Lower - $225 (yes, I paid that much, dammit!)
• DPMS (and some Olympic parts) Lower Parts - ~$70
• DPMS Upper + Parts  - $145
• Float Tube - $50
• A1 Butt Stock - $30

Total - $870.  Not exactly saving money by building your own rifle during the current situation, but at least I learned how the thing functions.  I don't think it was possible to buy a complete rifle for less than $600 in the past nine months but that's how much much a mix-'n-match like this is supposed to sell for.   The 14X Scope (BSA) and Riser+5" Extension (Yankee Hill Machinery) cost $35 and $20 and I already had these two lying around so I didn't factor them into the total cost. I haven't had a chance to fire it and I don't think I want to.  I think I may end up selling the upper since I already have a nice .223 T/C Contender Carbine.  I didn't realize I wasted so much money on this 'till JUST NOW.

Building an AR-15

Bought a DelTon AR-15 stripped lower at a gun show back in January. It's been five months since I ordered a complete upper + lower parts kit from Delton's website and I'm about done waiting. Last I heard they were still on back order from December. What the hell is going on there? It seems customers are being put on a waiting list even though things are in stock. I canceled my order and just ordered the parts individually from Midway. DPMS seems to be the only company to have anything in stock. You may not be able to order a complete Lower Parts Kit (LPK) but you can order the pieces individually. I decided I wanted shiny buttons on my AR15 so I decided to add that to the shopping cart. The grips are Ajax 1911 pewter grips attached to a '1911 to AR-15' adapter. The left panel seems to get in the way of the safety selector so I guess I'll be going back to A1 grips. The Bling grips can be further adapted to an AK using an "AR-15 to AK-47" adapter, which I will be attaching to my previous AK project.

Anyways, here's the progress so far...

The barrel (not attached yet) is a 24" stainless steel bull barrel.  I found out the hard way that it is incompatible with the M16A1 handguards, which is too bad, because I like the A1 grips/handguards!

Next time on AR15 Build-Z - The un-remarkable conclusion.