Building an AR, could use recommendations for parts

[CLYA]

If you think a Geissele (some models anyway) has a long and heavy trigger pull... You are crazy...

Ah...………….what he said....

[kymasabe]

Even the ALG ACT trigger is only 5.5lb, no creep, is as low as I'm comfortable going on a self defense/field rifle.

[brian33x51]

Go to any gun store in CO and buy magazine *kits*. You'll be good.

[kymasabe]

I'm pulling all my nickel Teflon triggers and my alg ACT trigger and replacing them all with hiperfire edt's.

[Nathan]

I'm pulling all my nickel Teflon triggers and my alg ACT trigger and replacing them all with hiperfire edt's.

Why? I found my edt 3 to be basically an ALG ACT, but with more creep. Was mine a rare case?

Of course, I see Giesselle as triggers which are good, but over hyped and have nothing in their design to reduce total pull length. I only tried their most expensive hi speed model...are the cheaper ones better?

BTW, I NEVER said Giesselle = heavy.

Trigger safety can be done with sear engagement, but it can also be controlled through tolerances, spring force and design.

Don’t forget Rise Armament! I run the ra140 in 2 short range AR’s and they feel great!

[44caliberkid]

Get on the emailing list for Palmetto and for Primary Arms. They both run good sales, especially Primary, on name brand stuff. Some other places I use are discountar15parts.com and righttobear.com. I do searches for ar parts and save them in my bookmarks. Lots of places offering more color options now or engraving. Fun, fun, fun.

[JeepHammer]

WOW!
Now, from a professional builder.

Ignore anything that doesn't have a milspec and/or MPI stamp.
Do a little research into MPI, verification of provenance of materials.
Don't jump on whatever the latest fad part is...

Spend money on barrel. A milspec, MPI National Match barrel or better.
It won't be junk in 2,500 rounds like a lot of 'Super Duper' fancy color or cut barrels will be.
Without a good barrel, you have zero chance of having a consistent, long lived rifle.
If you screw up with fad parts, they can be replaced relatively cheaply, but a good barrel isn't cheap, and it's the heart of the rifle...

Second, and again, get an MPI bolt.
People that make junk don't get it MPI tested.
And, you don't want a cheap bolt trying to hold back chamber pressures.

Bolt carriers get seen, so they get way more attention than they require.
Black, chrome, gold etc doesn't make the rifle function or consistent, a properly made bolt carrier does, and people that make proper bolt carriers have no issues with proper inspections, and other than that, no skills, flags, colors will make the rifle function any better.

For a builder, the single best piece of advice is to buy, beg, borrow, or steal an upper receiver lapping tool and lap your upper square & true before you attempt to install a barrel.
Uppers are RARELY square in the front where the barrel seats. Without a square face on the receiver, your barrel is forever going to be cocked sideways, or up/down from the receiver where your sights mount.
That means it's NEVER going to shoot on the line of sight at different ranges.

The second part, the internal bore of the upper is most times not lapped smooth, and it's not consistent in size front to rear. Anodizing doesn't form evenly, you have to smooth it out yourself.
A lapping bar and lapping compound is just a few bucks and does both jobs at the same time.

Once the upper is true & square, your barrel can install true with the upper, and your optics/sights have a CHANCE (not guaranteed) to shoot stright with the bore.
The BCG has a smooth, consistantly sized bore to ride in, and with barrel lined up with the BCG, the bolt has a better than average chance to lock up correctly, all lugs engaged correctly.

This is where 99% of 'Would-Be' builders screw up in the worst possible way...
*IF* the upper has a sight rail or mount machined true with the BCG bore,
AND your barrel lines up true with the upper/BCG bore (barrel bore aligned with upper bore),
This is a BIG *IF* !!!

Since common manufacturing process leaves the front of the upper out of square with the bore,
And 99% of 'Would Be' builders DO NOT square the front with the bore, then sights, BCG/Bolt won't line up with the barrel bore either.
Keep in mind the bolt MUST be aligned directly true with the bore or the bolt gets cocked sideways, and not all bolt lugs make contact with chamber nut lugs.

So, just that one lapping procedure lines the barrel bore up with the upper bore, that let's the locking lugs make proper contact, the BCG is driven directly backwards through a properly sized bore in the upper,
And your optics mounts or rear sight has a chance of lining up with the bore.

There are about 100 other things that need attention during building, but the upper square & bore lap is the most important...

[Bartholomew Roberts]

So, in practical terms, how much of a difference does lapping the upper receiver make at say, 300m?

[rickyrick]

I double ordered lapping tools, so I just run them both.

I don’t know how much it improves the accuracy in the AR, but the tool is cheap and the general consensus seems to be the practice doesn’t hurt much.

[44caliberkid]

I goofed up a web address in my last post, shouldn't have gone from memory. It should have been www.ar15discounts.com