Question for the 2024/2025 Ar-15 builders

PSA Products
1

The last rifle I built, I put together in 2020.

It was a dissipator (mock) PSA build and it was going for cheap. It was just at or under $200 and I think I bought mine during a flash sale for $175.00.

It was well under $1,000 completed, with shipping , tax, etc maybe even $650-700.

My question for the guys building budget set-ups now, is the new “budget” tier rifle ANYTHING sub $1,000?

Inflation has hit everything, and what for me used to be outrageously priced now seems like a poverty tier rifle, mainly the accessories.

Another question is what the trend is now. I’ve seen tons of set-ups over the last few decades, but I’m really not seeing AR-15s being in vogue despite their immense and enduring popularity .

With PDWs being so popular, it seems like many have forgotten what one does. Short barreled AR15s in 5.56/300 blackout etc do practically everything better than other PCCs or PDWs, but maybe everyone really wants something next generation, something different than we’ve had for a long time now.

So the second part of the question is, what other type of gun do you wish (as a builder) was just as popular as the AR-15?

It seems like no one wants a upper they can just put on a lower and have a new gun, practically everyone just wants another entirely new gun. Is the Jackyl the next platform to become a mainstay for DIY gun enthusiasts, if not, what is?

2

You can put together a good AR for 5-600. I think foldable ar’s are the future for the platform, at least for the time being.

3

I, for one, like PCCs because I can get cross mag and ammo compatibility with my handguns. In an indoor self-defense fight, 9mm will suit just fine and saves the trouble of building an entirely new gun, getting new mags, and stocking up on .300blk which isn’t exactly cheap.

Is .300blk out of a short barreled AR “better” than 9mm out of a PCC? Sure. Will it make a difference in a 3-15m defensive shooting? Doubt it. So personally for me it isn’t worth the investment in a new firearm, new mags, and new ammo stock.

Which means I’m not a big fan of short barreled ARs in general because that isn’t where 5.56 shines unless your goal is to make a lot of noise and shoot fireballs, so I stick to 14.5” and up with ARs. Your opinion may vary.

That all being said, I don’t buy into a ton of the “premium” stuff the gun market tries to push when it comes to ARs. Uppers, lowers, and hand guards are whatever. Get yourself a decent BCG (Toolcraft has always been great for me,) a trigger you like and are comfortable with (honestly don’t need to spend more than $50-90 for that,) and you’re pretty much ready to rock.

4

no, i believe you can still build a sub 1000 dollar budget build quite easily. psa routinely sells the full upper and lower combination for 399 roughly if you buy just an upper and lower together. that said, if you wish to build from the ground up on both, it would of course run you a bit more, but if you are still attempting to keep to a low budget you can probably build a complete custom build for sub 500. I personally would not go that cheap. I would go to around 800 or so in my budget, as i would use many higher end parts instead. Fact is, we’re in salad days currently due to most recently the election of trump again, among many other things.

i’d say the most en vouge thing is to build yourself an AR pistol. at least that is all that i like // want to build these days. A good free floated handguard, with high end parts, bought as inexpensively as i possibly can find. I also sometimes like to go with the shortest collapsable brace i can find.

as for what gun i wish was just as popular in the ar15 format is the 5.7x28 AR setup. so i’d try to figure out if there is any way i could build a short pistol version of that. if for some reason i didnt want to, or couldnt get it done, i would build a pscc in .45acp.

i’ve had a issue with just building or buying uppers to swap out on lowers. To me its a waste as i want a gun i can grab and go, swapping uppers to me is a waste of time especially as inexpensively as it is for me to build lowers… the uppers is where all the money usually is at. its much like the “modular” sig p320. its a waste, to me, as yeah sure ill swap out the grip setup for say a wilson combat, but i’ll never ever swap it back to another once i find what i like. so then im off trying to build another complete 320… see what im saying? i guess its a form of my ocd about having things laying around incomplete .

I own 2 jakls, and both are full on jakls. the lowers are nice cause they have a jakl image on the reverse side of the magazine well so you can tell its a factory assembled full on jakl.
I can hope the Jakl will come to be the next mainstay for diy enthusiasts, but with PSA coming out with diy shotguns that are configurable to build from the ground up, as well as a 10/22 setup possibly and the definately announced remington 700 style bolt gun tht is also diy, well im gonna be building a lot of different guns than just ar’s or jakls. i look forward to it alot… especially since i’ve built all the compact daggers that i can stomach for now. lol.

5

I wouldn’t even bother building budget at this point. I’d ust buy a complete PSA rifle outright.

6

Time Value of Money is a thing. 200 hours scouring the inter-webs for a bargain on a piece by piece basis. 2 hours scouring PSA for a good bargain.
What value do you place on your time for a bargain build?

7

well if its something that im doing when i should be doing something else thats bad…
but if its me scouring the internet cause im bored watching tv at night like i do every day here… well then i say its a hell of a discount and worth every penny.

8

Even further, if you factor in today’s shipping costs, you’re likely paying more scouring around for individual parts even if all those parts are cheaper.

It wasn’t always like this and may not always be, but right now, buying the complete rifle is a better deal.

9

Or even a lower and an upper separate.

10

Complete parts kit (railed 16") minus lower, $400 range
Locally sourced lower (saves transfer fee), ~ $40
Optic, $50-300 on average for red dot to LPVO with some hunting scopes well within that price.

$400
$40
$280 last LPVO I bought, sig tango msr 1-6 out the door.
+tax & sometimes shipping
Add on stuff…
Sling, I have 6-7 that bounce beween rifles & shotguns.
Light if you want a dedicated one o the gun + $28 delivered. While I got one this year to test out fromy a shooting bros advice, mostly I move some streamlight options around as needed.

$720 ~ ish and I’ve run it out to 500 yards on a known distace range.

11

That’s definitely what I’m talking about, a completed gun with optics and all the accessories to make it ready to use in any situation is often way more than it once was. But I do love hunting for deals, it makes me giddy

12

I don’t disagree, but as a hobbyist that’s exactly where I like to spend my time. Scouring the web for deals, and finding unconventional ways to build interesting rifles is what keeps me going.

13

Just looking for something cheap as a backup was what I thought you were discussing.

14

the hunt for parts is half the fun. so is designing the gun i.e. deciding what parts you want to put on it… then you look for parts cheap, then yopu assemble. its like a 3 part 3 x fun

a cheap backup i would buy the PSA completed lower for 149 (moe lower) and the psa railed 16" nitride upper for 269. so its like almost 400 by the time alls said and one

15

Killer deal

16

I was thinking of building a cheap and ultra light Marauder for mainly shooting .22LR, but I was asking if it would be worth it to build out a 5.56 and just use a conversion or go with a dedicated 22 upper.

My question was about less conventional setups like the stupidly short 5.56 7" barrel uppers, which I’ve always dismissed as being silly, but I started wondering if all that extra gas would be wasted as a close quarters weapon (like muzzle directly against something type of close), currently,the Europeans at the EWA Show are unveiling tons of new 7" 5.56 guns at the moment, apparently because.300 BO is hard to get in Europe, maybe the logic is heavy subs for the 7" 5.56 guns.

Anyway I was just wondering what a Marauder would do on ballistic gel at point blank, I’ve never seen any videos on it online. Curious if the gas tube would rupture, etc. but as stated I was planning on a short and lightweight AR-15 pistol for MAINLY .22LR, and 5.56 in the case of defense use if need be. I backpack, and love the outdoors, so the flexibility seemed like it could d be great. But, now I’m thinking more about a dedicated upper in .22 on a light polymer lower, no buffer tube, maybe even a 4.5" CMMG upper? Not sure yet. Probably not going to happen for a long time.

17

During the presidents day sale You could build a basic rifle for 400 ish shipped (a basic 16 inch 5.56 or 8.5 inch .300BLK) I’ve seen basic pre-builts for 350 in the last 30 days. You can then change the furniture,trigger,bcg etc and spend another 300-350 there and have a good rifle, you could choose a better barrel for 100+ more dollars, better furniture (how have spent 20$ more on the PRESDAY sale and gotten the b5 ept lower, I mean for less than 600 you can make a custom/upgraded rifle, for 50-150 bucks you can get a nice cheap scope, and at that point you’re still below 800$ and you have a solid platform.

18

Right To Bear has dedicated.22lr uppers as well, for less than CMMG.

19

I was thinking the same a few weeks ago. I picked up a $49 Lower a few months ago. and just found a Upper kit that I “had” to take home for $349 So $400 so far I’ll use it like that for a few months and probably add Optics/Light maybe… I’ll be happy with it for a while.

20

Since you backpack and love the outdoors a Ruger 10-22 takedown rifle or the Charger pistol 8 to 10" barrel. Be a light packer, choice of mags and ammo. Grand Thumb has a video " Is a .22 deadly"
I have 2 dedicated AR22’s and it was a learning experience to make them run faithfully. One pistol one rifle and the weight is almost the same as a centerfire.
You mentioned polymer lower because of less weight I’m guessing? Pending the maker l found FCG and pins were poly! Not me no.

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