Things to Consider When Building A Reliable AR-15 Rifle

Things to Consider When Building A Reliable AR 15 Rifle?
By RAR Guns

Castle Rock, CO –-(Ammoland.com)- I often see articles and post explaining how to assemble an AR-15 rifle. While I find many of these articles very informative, most don’t touch on the details required to build a reliable, accurate rifle.

First, let’s examine what a reliable AR15 must be able to do. A reliable AR-15 must first and foremost fire every time you pull the trigger. Whether in a life or death situation, competition shooting, or just plinking, your weapon must work properly. It must also hit what you are aiming at.

One of the main reasons an AR-15 will miss fire is that poor-quality parts were used. Saving a few dollars on a bolt assembly can mean the difference between a reliable rifle and one that consistently has problems.

When building a rifle from scratch, you should have a sort of blueprint. You should know what parts you will use from the outset instead of just buying parts as you find them on sale. This is not to say you must buy all your parts simultaneously. But instead, know what you will buy and why you’re using that particular part.

I have seen several instances where someone bought AR rifle parts because they were cheap. This later caused problems in the rifle. One guy bought a lightweight buffer and buffer spring because they were on closeout. Upon completing the rifle, he went to the range only to find that he couldn’t get two rounds in a row through it because it was short cycling. The buffer and spring did not match the rest of the parts he used.

You should know how and what you will be using your rifle for. This will affect what parts you use to build the rifle. For instance, if you plan to shoot steel-cased ammo in your rifle, you will have much more success with a 5.56 NATO chambered rifle than a .223 chambered rifle.

You will also need a heavy-duty SOPMOD-style ejection spring kit. This will ensure that you get a successful shell extraction each and every time you fire the weapon.

Consider AR Rifle Accuracy when Building A Reliable AR-15 Rifle

Another thing to consider is how important accuracy is. AR-15s vary in accuracy by quite a bit. They can range anywhere from ¼ MOA to 3 MOA. A lot of the accuracy obviously has a lot to do with the barrel you choose. A barrel does not have to cost $500.00 to be a good, accurate barrel. You can achieve a sub 1 MOA with a mid range cost barrel. And contrary to popular belief, a longer barrel is not much more accurate than a shorter barrel in most cases.

What you may gain in accuracy will be lost in mobility and weight.

Building Reliable AR15 Rifle Accuracy?

When thinking about how accurate your weapon needs to be, consider the mission of the weapon. If it is a combat or tactical competition rifle, you probably what something you can group a lot of rounds quickly in a small area as opposed to one shot at a time in a ¼-inch hole. Several things can help in this area. A gas piston system will help with faster target re-acquisition, as will a good muzzle brake/compensator. Several products are available to modify the receiver extension/buffer tube, reducing felt recoil.

A high-quality AR-15 trigger and enhanced lower parts kit can also aid in acquiring your target quickly. I don’t recommend a two-stage trigger for a combat or tactical competition rifle. Instead, I like a short pull single-stage trigger with about 4 lbs. or less resistance.

A reliable feed is another area that needs to be addressed. There are a lot of low-cost lower receivers on the market that are very good. There are a few that are only good for paperweights. A good AR15 lower should either be forged or billet. Never use a cast lower receiver. They are unreliable and weak.

A quality BCG or Bolt Carrier Group is very important to reliable feeding. This is what is going to push the round into the chamber and lock it into place. A poorly manufactured BCG will be unreliable and possibly dangerous to the operator and other friendlies in the area.

The upper receiver may or may not have M4-style feed ramps. I see no reason not to have M4 feed ramps in today’s market, at least in the chamber. One problem we see a lot is the fit between the M4 cuts on the upper receiver and the M4 cuts on the chamber matching up. An improper fit will cause miss feeds and jams. This can be corrected in a couple of different ways. If you’re mechanically inclined, you may be able to fix the problem yourself. If not, take your rifle to a qualified gunsmith or armorer to fix the problem.

These are just a few things that should be considered when building building a reliable AR 15 Rifle.

About:

RAR Guns. Home of the best AR-15s in the world. We don’t just assemble parts. We measure and test each part before it is installed. Then each part is function tested to ensure proper operation. We have several AR-15 models to choose from and build to your custom specifications. We warranty our AR-15 rifles for workmanship for a full year, no questions asked. Our AR-15 rifles will even perform with most Russian, steel-cased, and polymer-coated ammo. If it breaks or malfunctions within one year of purchase, we will correct the problem for free.

Editors Note: RAR Guns has closed for business.