Gun Show Experiences

what i did when i bought/built my AR: bought a Rock River Arms assembled lower with collapsable buttstock and their two-stage "national match" trigger group at the local show in Houston (high-caliber gun show) for around 380 mainly to get the background check over with, but the complete lowers were actually reasonably priced, complete uppers were all marked at retail+.

then i ordered a DPMS 5.56 NATO carbine complete upper from midwayusa.com for around 400, pinned it to the lower and mounted an A2 style BUIS, and went to the range to break it in.

far as i can tell, if you want a budget build, its actually cheaper to buy a complete upper/lower online than to build a complete rifle from parts, unless those parts come in a complete kit. you might be able to get an upper receiver, bolt carrier group, and barrel for less than a complete upper, but then once you buy gas block, gas tube, forearm/handguards, charging handle and flash hider, you're going to be 100 bucks+ over what you could have bought a similar complete upper for.

i've recently starting thinking about a 6.8 remington spc upper for my RRA lower, and for the 500 bucks or so that they start at, i'd still be short quite a few odds and ends that are needed to complete the build. it's only when you are building a high end gun that you can really save money building a gun piece by piece.

I'll second Del-ton for AR's...I built mine from a lower I had laying around and one of their kits.

Gunshows can be hit and miss. Sometimes, you find some good deals. I've seen an original 3-screw Ruger Single Six that was worth about $300 at the time going for $175...came back 2 hours later and the guy had raised the price to $325. At another, I picked up a Glock 35 in good shape with about $200 in aftermarket adjustable sights, trigger/striker parts, and a mag well for $350...that was a steal.

You can often find good deals on parts, accessories and used guns more than new guns. It used to be that local dealers might have some good deals, or even if they didn't, they were worth going to for their knowledge or service. Sadly, my experiences in the last 10-15 years are that a lot of the gun store owners are no longer as knowledgeable as they should be and don't seem to be as concerned about repeat business.

Strizzo, did you know the DEA uses RRA ARs exclusively now?

For most people I recommend buying a stripped lower and LPK. You really don't save any money, but putting the lower together is easy and can help you understand how some things work. And with companies like Aero precision, Surplus Arms, etc making sub $75 lowers (before shipping or transfers) it's not a bad option.

But buying a complete rifle kit a la Del Ton Inc or Palmetto State Armory is the way to go. When I pieced my AR together it ended up being more expensive because I had to pay for various shipping costs.

Drewsifer wrote: When I pieced my AR together it ended up being more expensive because I had to pay for various shipping costs.

I initially spent more money when building mine too. But when it was all said and done I got what I wanted the first time around instead of replacing a bunch of parts on a stock gun. In the long run I'm pretty sure I saved money.

Drewsifer wrote: Strizzo, did you know the DEA uses RRA ARs exclusively now? For most people I recommend buying a stripped lower and LPK. You really don't save any money, but putting the lower together is easy and can help you understand how some things work. And with companies like Aero precision, Surplus Arms, etc making sub $75 lowers (before shipping or transfers) it's not a bad option. But buying a complete rifle kit a la Del Ton Inc or Palmetto State Armory is the way to go. When I pieced my AR together it ended up being more expensive because I had to pay for various shipping costs.

did not know that. mine has been problem free, and mates up tight to the DPMS upper.

i was originally going to go the stripped lower and lpk but i was told that assembling the two-stage trigger can be tricky and if you don't do it right it can cause a lot of headaches. after trying the two stage i couldn't settle for a standard, the break is so smooth and clean.

i agree on the complete rifle parts kit if you're just looking for a plinker or budget gun, the individual parts add up quick when you have to pick a bolt, then bolt cam pin, then firing pin retaining pin, then the actual firing pin, ejector, ejector roll pin, etc. etc.

just saw bison armory recommended for 6.8 setups, anyone had any experience with them?

Yeah for a fancy trigger getting it per-assembled makes sense. I just got a normal trigger so it was easy.

I didn't go that in depth, but I bought my upper, bcg, charging handle, rear sight, furniture, and LPK separately. In my hunt for the lowest price I bought all of them from different places, but I realize now it would have worked out better just paying a little more per item to buy it from one spot.

I've never heard of Bison Armory and I don't have an experience with 6.8 builds.

Just did a store check. The fancy one at Wally World is a Sig Sauer. It was $917. The M4 clone is BFI, I think, and was like $897.