A bit of advice, for those of you who have considered building your own AR-15 lower, but were feeling a bit nervous about taking the plunge....
GO FOR IT!!
I finally got around to doing my first one last night, and wish I'd overcome my stupid procrastination gene a month or so ago! Took about an hour, and the finished product gave me a real sense of accomplishment (yeah, I know....big deal! LOL).
Just find yourself a good Youtube video (
this is the one I used), lay everything out, start the video, and be prepared to hit pause (and, perhaps, a little "rewind" action, too!) while you do each step. Take your time, lay everything out, pay attention to the video, and you'll feel amazed at how relatively simple it really is, like I was, once I finished.
Here's the tools I used:
small brass-faced hammer (you can get away with a small ball-peen, if you tape the face, or use your pin punches on ALL the pins!)
set of pin punches (mine were a cheap set from Harbor Freight)
needle nose pliers
large flat-tip screwdriver (for the grip screw)
painter's tape (electrical tape would be okay, too)
vice and vice block (while it's not necessary to have, it seems it would require much more juggling, and maybe even a 3rd hand, if you didn't have it)
AR-15 spanner wrench or armorer's wrench (for the buffer tube castle nut)
Pinning the bolt catch was the only part where I had an OH SHIT!! moment (around 7 to 8 minutes into the video I linked), but was extraordinarily lucky, and didn't lose any parts. :thumbsup:
Best of all, I didn't have any parts left over when I was done!