Do I really need the special tools?

[Artery]

I don't want to say its easy and have you go and try and screw it up, but I did it in about 20 minutes with a small hammer, piece of plywood, needlenose pliers, and duct tape. I've never built an AR lower before and honest to goodness it took less than half an hour. It's not hard. I recommend having a friend over to watch while you do it, makes it half as likely to miss things.

[SJgunguy24]

Masking tape,a 16oz sheet metal hammer, a couple of small nails, a Leatherman tool and an old plastic stock for an SKS are all the tools I used for building my lower.

[MILLITIAof1]

I've built the past 9 with a hammer and leatherman and spanner wrench.
no special tools are needed.

[gcvt]

I assembled my AR with no special tools and didn't screw anything up....nor did I scratch my receiver.

[Ballistic043]

roll pin punches are the most essential thing you need here. standard punches work, but may deform the pins from the impact. an armorers wrench is good as well, because it allows you to tighten the castle nut and barrel nut if necessary.

as far as using the whole vise grip method to push pins in, i prefer using pins and a hammer.

a nice trick i have found, for installing the front pivot pin detent, is to use a flat blade or similar flat piece of plastic to wedge and keep the spring down, so you can drop the detent and slide the pin over it. this is the trickiest part of installation! because the spring will catapault the detent across the room if you arent careful

another good trick is to use a dry cleaners suit bag when you install the lower. put all the pieces inside and assemble it looking through the bag. that way if anything flies out you wont necessarily lose it

[hitman13]

You can tighten the nut on the carbine tube with a hammer and punch, though the special wrench is much easier.

I like to use a small rubber strap wrench

works good for me...

[bombadillo]

I'd say get a castle nut wrench or the DPMS multi tool. Its a solid piece of equipment that I just got from ADDAX and its awesome. Other than that, I didn't use a hammer at all, just a cheap 5 dollar punch from harbor freight. I will say though, that the punch put a tiny tiny little scratch in the receiver from me not being cautious and not taping the receiver when it came to the bolt catch pin. It was a gnurled edge on my punch and just brushed it ever so slightly.

This is the punch, its a spring assisted center punch that you can change the tension on:

[Ballistic043]

dont worry, many builds have some kind of dimple around the bolt catch pin/hole. another reason to use roll pin punches though. they are round at the tip so they dont deform the pin, but also they keep it from sliding off and damaging your receiver.