Quote Originally Posted by Creeky73 View Post
Put me in the group that advises you to pass on building your own. If you don't already have the tools, figure another $200 or more acquiring those tools. Then also figure in exactly what it is you expect to build. Most people don't elect to build a "budget" AR. The main advantage to building your own is that you get to hand-pick your components, and I have no idea why you would hand-pick the cheapest parts to build from. I bet you would be hard-pressed to build a decent AR for less than you could get one from Spikes, Palmetto or other places. Also, if you don't plan on building several AR's, then I would say that acquiring the tools and knowledge to do it just once is a waste of time and money. If you plan on making building black rifles a regular thing, by all means, buy up all the tools and have fun. I wish someone would have given me this advice when I started out; instead I have a whole bunch of tools laying around collecting dust, all for my one AR build. I sure would like a do-over on it, I would just buy a Daniel Defense set up the way I wanted from the beginning, and still save money over how I did it.
I can understand your point, Creeky. For some though, like myself, the allure to build is not solely based in saving money or building a cheap gun. I decided to build because I knew I would enjoy it and also would likely build another. For me, I get my first AR at a cost that doesn't hurt. I can spread the purchase to keep the CFO off my tail, and I can learn from the first what I really want in the next one. Since I started, I've been building up a parts bin of things that I know will wear and that too is attractive. Regardless of building or purchasing, it's simply good to be in the game so to speak.