Ar-15 build

Looking to do my first build, I own a delton 5.56 rifle that I’ve change things on myself and now I’m looking to build a pistol looking for insight.
Open to different caliber’s but I want a fun range gun any help is appreciated

A lot is going to depend on your preferences. Are you looking to buy a complete upper/lower, or go completely from scratch? You could go really short with a 7” barrel, but my personal recommendation would be 10.5-11.5”. More of a carbine feel and more distance from your face to the muzzle. If you go less than 10.5”, for a muzzle device, use one that directs the gas forward instead of sides/up. I like the can style flash hiders for these.

For caliber, again depending on your use/preference I would stick with 5.56/.223 Wylde. More options, less problems, and cheaper ammo.

Decide what you want before you start buying! If you want simplicity, you could do an A1/A2 upper with a pinned front sight base and have iron sights, or go flat top and have the flexibility of sights/optics.

Know the rules before you break them. No stock, no vertical foregrip, etc.

Did my first pistol in 5.56 and the second in 9mm. Both fitted with a 10.5" barrel and flash forwarder and are great shooters.

I would recommend a flat top upper with a reflex type sighting system. For those times when shouldering is not feasible and you really need to hit the target, a good laser is nice. It is also fun to shoot using it.

Don’t go shorter than 10.3 with the 5.56.

If you have no plans to suppress, I’d recommend an 11.5 or maybe even a 12.5. Keep in mind that any barrel under 16’, it must be a pistol and therefore you must use a brace.

Based on your experience and what you have currently I’d take a look at Aero Precision and build your parts list from there.

The devil is in the details but at the end of the day building a basic, decent quality AR15 is not rocket surgery.

Having the right tools and work bench set up also makes a huge difference.

SkiPatrolDude said:

Based on your experience and what you have currently I’d take a look at Aero Precision and build your parts list from there.

The devil is in the details but at the end of the day building a basic, decent quality AR15 is not rocket surgery.

Click to expand...

+1 for Areo. Good quality, good price, and can find some fun ones sometimes (I love my huckleberry lower). I’ve done ok with Anderson’s and quiet a few others, but hard to beat Areo for the price and quality.

19smiller said:

A lot is going to depend on your preferences. Are you looking to buy a complete upper/lower, or go completely from scratch? You could go really short with a 7” barrel, but my personal recommendation would be 10.5-11.5”. More of a carbine feel and more distance from your face to the muzzle. If you go less than 10.5”, for a muzzle device, use one that directs the gas forward instead of sides/up. I like the can style flash hiders for these.

For caliber, again depending on your use/preference I would stick with 5.56/.223 Wylde. More options, less problems, and cheaper ammo.

Decide what you want before you start buying! If you want simplicity, you could do an A1/A2 upper with a pinned front sight base and have iron sights, or go flat top and have the flexibility of sights/optics.

Know the rules before you break them. No stock, no vertical foregrip, etc.

Click to expand...

So I want to start from scratch picking a lower that is ambidextrous so I can do some training
Not sure what brands to stay away from or if there all the same

I think I’m going run another hyperfire trigger

I also want to run a suppressor later down the road

GuitarmanNick said:

Did my first pistol in 5.56 and the second in 9mm. Both fitted with a 10.5" barrel and flash forwarder and are great shooters.

I would recommend a flat top upper with a reflex type sighting system. For those times when shouldering is not feasible and you really need to hit the target, a good laser is nice. It is also fun to shoot using it.

Click to expand...

Definitely going flat top upper planning on running a really nice red dot but trying to figure out barrel lengths I want it to be accurate but not to long something that will be nice between 50-75 yard and close range

SkiPatrolDude said:

Don’t go shorter than 10.3 with the 5.56.

If you have no plans to suppress, I’d recommend an 11.5 or maybe even a 12.5. Keep in mind that any barrel under 16’, it must be a pistol and therefore you must use a brace.

Based on your experience and what you have currently I’d take a look at Aero Precision and build your parts list from there.

The devil is in the details but at the end of the day building a basic, decent quality AR15 is not rocket surgery.

Having the right tools and work bench set up also makes a huge difference.

Click to expand...

I have a nice work bench and tools also not worried about buying the tools I need because I’ll be using them more than once

Is there something I can do so I don’t have to use a brace

Bornwinner said:

I have a nice work bench and tools also not worried about buying the tools I need because I’ll be using them more than once

Is there something I can do so I don’t have to use a brace

Click to expand...

Yep. SBR it. Since you are in Merryland, there is a 29" minimal overall length for centerfire SBRs. That measurement is taken with the stock fully extended.

Bornwinner said:

So I want to start from scratch picking a lower that is ambidextrous so I can do some training
Not sure what brands to stay away from or if there all the same

I think I’m going run another hyperfire trigger

I also want to run a suppressor later down the road

Click to expand...

As far as picking a lower, I’ve used polymer, billet, and forged. Billets look nice, but for the money and simplicity, I’d go with a traditional forged lower. I’d stay away from polymer, they’ll only save you about $20 in the long run and have more disadvantages than aluminum. Any name brand lower will do well.

outrider58 said:

Yep. SBR it. Since you are in Merryland, there is a 29" minimal overall length for centerfire SBRs. That measurement is taken with the stock fully extended.

Click to expand...

Ok but if it’s a pistol there is no overall length just have to use a brace?

19smiller said:

As far as picking a lower, I’ve used polymer, billet, and forged. Billets look nice, but for the money and simplicity, I’d go with a traditional forged lower. I’d stay away from polymer, they’ll only save you about $20 in the long run and have more disadvantages than aluminum. Any name brand lower will do well.

Click to expand...

Ok so any brand forged lower are all the same

Bornwinner said:

Ok so any brand forged lower are all the same

Click to expand...

Not necessarily the same, but close enough. Safe to stick with a name brand like Anderson, Areo, Stag, etc.

Bornwinner said:

Ok but if it’s a pistol there is no overall length just have to use a brace?

Click to expand...

ETA:Braces are not required

I have a 9mm AR SBR build. It has an 11" barrel(soon to be changed to a 10.5" thanks to Vltor).

I have two AR9 pistols both sporting 5" barrels. Guess which ones get shot all the time...

19smiller said:

Not necessarily the same, but close enough. Safe to stick with a name brand like Anderson, Areo, Stag, etc.

Click to expand...

Andersons can be problematic(though rare). That's why they're call Poverty Ponies.

Spikes, New Frontier, SOGW, to name a couple more good manufacturers.

Bornwinner said:

Ok but if it’s a pistol there is no overall length just have to use a brace?

Click to expand...

A brace is not required! It is optional and what most will choose.

As for distance and accuracy, my 5.56 build is zeroed @ 50/200 yards, and the 9mm @ 100 yards. Both have fairly flat trajectories within those parameters.

I am also working on some reduced power loads for the 5.56 to reduce the muzzle blast and improve the accuracy.

GuitarmanNick said:

A brace is not required! It is optional and what most will choose.

As for distance and accuracy, my 5.56 build is zeroed @ 50/200 yards, and the 9mm @ 100 yards. Both have fairly flat trajectories within those parameters.

I am also working on some reduced power loads for the 5.56 to reduce the muzzle blast and improve the accuracy.

Click to expand...

My bad. I didn't read it that way. You are correct.

I love the Aero M4E1 receivers, really well made, a few nice upgrades, unique "billet" look, but actually forged and stronger. I've built a lot of stuff on the EPC(glock mag PCC), M4E1(AR15) and M5E1(DPMS AR308), and have never had an issue with anything. For SBR/braced pistol builds, main considerations are purpose, a suppressor, and caliber. I like at least a 7" handguard, any less and it gets cramped, 9" is plenty of room, and 12" allows pretty much any support or position technique.

You can calculate how much barrel you need by figuring a rifle cal barrel length = handguard length, 9mm barrels will be .5" shorter, CMMG pattern 22 barrels will be 1.25" shorter. The muzzle threads are usually about .5", so subtract that from the muzzle device length, and make sure a can or linear comp is at least flush with a handguard, flash hiders need about 1/2", brakes need 1" or more to avoid eroding the handguard or hitting your support hand with muzzle blast.

22 or 9mm run great at really short lengths, no gas system, and the short barrels have a better pressure drop and less residual gas for function in blowbacks. I have a 4.5" 22 and a 5.25" 9mm that are 2 of my favorites, I run them supressed or with flash cans to clear 7" (AR22) and 9" (AR9) handguards. For rifle calibers, 300blackout is much better in short barrels, less blast/flash, and better performance. 6" with a 2" linear comp will clear a 7" handguard, 9" barrels are good all around, 12.5" can clear a 12" handguard and can usually get within 100FPS of the max velocity the round can produce. 5.56 gets extremely rude and looses a ton of velocity under 10.3", you can add up to 100fps for every inch above that, and 12.5" builds with a 12" handguard are getting really popular as a great all around compact size.

For other components, I like to use a basic LPK for pins(same brand as receiver if possible), springs, and detents, then choose my own trigger, grip, and selector. I like the Magpul MOE K2 grip on SBR/pistol builds, and usually buy a Radian Talon/Raptor combo for each one. I'm a trigger snob, and outside of testing, never build with mil-spec. I love the Larue MBT2, and usually order a couple to have on hand, they are unbeatable for the price, well made, durable, reliable, and have a great 2 stage feel. Use a decent mil-spec buffer tube(5.56 can benefit from A5), and appropriate buffer/spring setup. Use a decent BCG, and UPK to finish the upper, i'm not a fan of Aeros 5.56 BCG, and hate their 9mm BCG. Ballistic advantage and Faxon are my go-to for decent mid-grade 300/5.56 barrels, but their 9mm barrels suck, use Taccom or Macon Armory for 9mm blowback. Righttobear.com has CMMG or their slightly cheaper house brand(still made by CMMG) for AR22 barrels and BCGs.

Bornwinner said:

Ok so any brand forged lower are all the same

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If you're near Rockville then stop by Engage and get an Engage lower. They're good quality and assemble nicely. I just ordered SOLGW parts to assemble another.

The Machine Gun Nest carries Aero if you're near Frederick. They also started carrying 17 Design which is a smaller US manufacturer. I was thinking of picking one up to try it out.

My favorite AR builds are SBRs. I like 11, 12.5, or 14.5" barrels for 5.56, and 10.5" barrels for 300 Blackout. Aero is a GREAT suggestion for upper and/or lower receivers. I personally like a fixed front sight tower and a red dot or holographic optic. I also think (if you can swing it) running a 30 caliber suppressor is just more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

You can do this in phases; start with a pistol and iron sights. Then get a red dot or hollographic or LPVO scope. Then apply to SBR. Then get a suppressor. Take your time, you don't have to do it all at once. You can even start with an HBAR 16" rifle and get a shorter barrel after the SBR is approved, which is what I did. I got this rifle pictured below in 2017 and it was not until this past year 2021 that I had it decked out to what you see below.