Ar 15, good brands and best places to buy parts?

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sawtoothscream

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Looking into adding a AR 15 to my collection. Due to the NY safe act only certain guns are legal and any builds would have to comply with the laws (basically no muzzle break, no pistol grip, no adjustable stock, no bayonet lug, and worst of all no grenade launcher :( all the scary features).

So around here gander mountain carries NY compliant Stag arms ar 15's. The cheapest they have is $999 and that is just a plain as can be gun with a 16" barrel. Also carry a varmint version with a 24" barrel at $1200

Another shop had one for $875 but didnt see the brand of it.

Thinking building would probably be the best option if im going to spend near or over $1000. Looks like I could get more bang for the buck.

I want this gun for hunting yotes for the most part and being able to use for self defense would be nice as well.

Any tips would be great, so far the only draw back im seeing is finding a compliant stock, non threaded barrel and will have to find a place that will let me order a lower or ship to them.
 
I just ordered a few stripped lowers from Buds Gun shop for about $50 each. The lower parts kits actually cost me more then the receiver. I've assembled several uppers but had not kept up with the lowers and am getting tired of constantly swapping.

Actually right now people are starting to panic again so prices and availability is sporatic.

I am patient and only buy parts when I find good deals. I just assembled a 300AAC BLK upper including optics for $507. The build consisted of about a years worth of parts accumulation. The optics were a red dot plus magnifier.

I order a lot of parts from JoeBobOutfitters, Ares Armor, Midway USA, PSA. I just get on the mailing lists and keep my eyes open for deals, closeouts etc.

Im not too familiar with the specifics of the NY laws. Can you get a threaded barrel and tack weld the flash suppressor or thread coller so it cant be removed. Given your restrictions some parts may be harder to find deals on
 
MI_Bowhunter said:
I just ordered a few stripped lowers from Buds Gun shop for about $50 each. The lower parts kits actually cost me more then the receiver. I've assembled several uppers but had not kept up with the lowers and am getting tired of constantly swapping.

Actually right now people are starting to panic again so prices and availability is sporatic.

I am patient and only buy parts when I find good deals. I just assembled a 300AAC BLK upper including optics for $507. The build consisted of about a years worth of parts accumulation. The optics were a red dot plus magnifier.

I order a lot of parts from JoeBobOutfitters, Ares Armor, Midway USA, PSA. I just get on the mailing lists and keep my eyes open for deals, closeouts etc.

Im not too familiar with the specifics of the NY laws. Can you get a threaded barrel and tack weld the flash suppressor or thread coller so it cant be removed. Given your restrictions some parts may be harder to find deals on

its kinda fuzzy, if you remove the gas system you can have all features and I believe its the same if the mag cant be taken off. But since i want to be able to swap mags I dont think I can have the muzzle break at all even if welded on. Will have to research it more. Need a lawyer to help me build it, hate NY.
 
When I was researching the AR15 I was looking at a LOT of different brands. The thing I found is the barrel twist. Some are 1-9 others 1-7. Like the Colt and the Sig Sauer are 1-7 meaning they probably shoot the heavier 62 grain bullet better then the 55 grain bullet which is made for the 1-9 I was told. I personally with a rifle like that narrowed my choices down to the Colt or the Sig Sauer. I figure if I am dropping close to a grand for a rifle, I will put a few hundred more and get a top of the line. My friend shot a lot of deer with that 55 grain bullet. But I always thought the heavier bullet would be great for target but better for hunting.

I like the longer barrel in the varmint feature. And the funny thing was, as I was just about to purchase one, the shop owner got me started with an AR10 instead. The 7.62-51mm or technically a .308 caliber. He said they are a better hunting rifle that will take anything out there. And a better long distance shooter. Although I have seen that 5.56 do some impressive shooting at distance too. So I didn't purchase either. Maybe this year the bug will bite again and I will start searching all over again.
 
the long bull barrel looks cool, if I lived out west I would grab one for sure. But in NY most shots will be under 100 yds and probably pretty fast given that the woods are so thick. Not much for options in my area, probably will haven't o call around and see what shops have a few hrs away that are NY compliant. Kinda just want a multi purpose gun that will be fun for the range, kill yotes out to 100yds and if needed self defense. Thinking a 16" barrel .223 should do all I need it to.

Heard good things about the sig model though.
 
There are lots of directions to go, brand names and features. Many good choices, then one has to mesh in the NY laws. I have a Stag, solid brand, as is Sig and others mentioned.

As long as you stay 'mid tier' or so with quality, you would be fine.

Getting into features, I prefer a shorter barrel for hunting, 'HD', and they are even workable at the range. To me that means 16" or 18" barrels. My longest is 22", which is just fine for a SD prairie dog town. A 24" would be a handful in thick cover.

BCM, Rock River, and others make a nice mid-weight 18" complete gun or 'upper'. Some of mine were bought in components, a few complete. Primary Arms and Palmetto State Armory are more good net sellers.
 
Smith and Wessom M&P is also a good one if looking for a complete gun.

My first gun was build arojnd a DPMS upper and have never had a problem with it. Del-Ton is another that wont break the bank.
 
Being a resident of NY also I have been looking into building one since prices are outrageous in my opinion. It looks like you can buy a stripped lower and that is the only component that needs to go through a FFL. Once you have that ( I found a blemished one for 59.99 from PSA ) The rest of the parts come straight to you. Just a thought. I could also be wrong but from talking to my local FFL and such it seems very doable inside the confines of the law. You can purchase kits that include all the parts needed to complete the assembly including the upper for mid 3's to sky's the limit. Only problem I see is I not found a kit that include a NY compliant stock yet, however they can be bought locally.
 
Im in NJ, so very close to the same draconian laws. Ive built several now piece by piece. I usually get 99% of everything online. The first one I built cheapo. Polymer lower, very few upgrades. built military style for under $700 pretty much. Still a decent gun. The last one was ALL upgrades, built flattop and varmint/ "new sporting" style.. (20" 1-7 twist match grade) I like to start with a lower. (Ive found a lower is a lower, they all function well, its a name/prestige thing...maybe milled IS better than cast. but im more into function over glamour...usually :) )
 
There was a list of mods you could do to make an AR NY compliant. The big thing is and this applies to any rifle. If it is semi automatic and accepts a removable magazine it can not have any other military style options. That is why the new funny style stocks. Eliminate the pistol grip and adjustable stock and it becomes legal. I believe muzzle brakes are ok but threaded barrels are not, so welding a brake onto a threaded barrel is ok. After the UN-Safe act was passed people that already owned AR's had two options register them with the state police or modify them to be compliant. Once a non compliant gun is registered it CAN NOT be passed down to a family member or sold in the State of NY it must be sold outside of the state.
 
White Oak Armament has some great barrels for relatively reasonable prices. If your at all handy with a paint gun, PSA sells their upper/lower blemished for very reasonable-I've purchased a few, blemish is usually only in the anodizing and then I cerakote 'em. Also, AR Performance has some very nice stuff! AIM surplus has pretty good deals on BCG'sa-I've a couple and they served my purpose.
 
thanks, still havent been able to find a NY compliant stock online. Want one like the ones that come on the NY compliant ones like stag and sig have. Seems like the best option over some of the other things i have seen online.
 
found the stock online.

How does the Ordering lower part go? Just find an FFL shop and have them order it or see if they will allow the transfer and have it shipped to them ?
 
Selling vendor (like cheaper than dirt) will require a current copy of your gun dealer's ffl, some vendors already have a list on file that they routinely send to. Once they have that, they will ship to that dealer, you will fill paper work out at your dealer and he will do transfer, some dealers charge a fee usually in the area of 10-30$ depending on state laws/business policy. I always alert my dealer that i've got something coming.
 
If I lived in NY, I would strongly consider an ARES SCR:

aers_scr.jpg


This design uses a proprietary lower assembly that has a regular rifle stock (slightly modified Remington 1100 I believe). It will mate with any upper. I believe as long as you have a NY compliant upper (no flash hider I think?) and make sure magazines are SAFE act compliant :)x ) then it would be NY compliant. Obviously you'd want to verify that.

It's an interesting idea to go around the "no pistol grip" laws in some states.

I have seen some user mods online where they adapted a wooden stock and handguard, and they look really nice. Basically, you can have a Mini-14 that takes AR magazines. :D
 

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