How reliable are home built ARs?

[delta9]

I've read that a lot of problems with reliability come from home built AR's. I see a lot of home built AR's for sale in the marketplace with low round counts (many with just enough rounds to sight in) which makes me wonder why these "Bubba builds" are so common in the market place while used factory built AR's seem to be rare for resale.

[Mossy Man]

I've assembled 4 uppers so far and haven't had any issues with them....i have sold a lot of uppers too.

Mostly because I got bored of them and wanted to assemble a different one.

[Mossy Man]

I've never tried to sell a home assemble, though, since nobody wants it.

i have sold pre-fab uppers.

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

As reliable as the combination of parts quality and assembler skill/familiarity with the AR platform will allow it to be. It isn't rocket science, but it isn't always snapping Legos together, either.

[UberPatriot]

Home built can be as good as any factory build or they can be crap.
It depends on who builds them.
If quality milspec parts are used and the builder knows what they are doing you could end up with a better rifle than factory made.

[CoopsDad]

I've read that a lot of problems with reliability come from home built AR's. I see a lot of home built AR's for sale in the marketplace with low round counts (many with just enough rounds to sight in) which makes me wonder why these "Bubba builds" are so common in the market place while used factory built AR's seem to be rare for resale.

I've milled 5 80%'s and assembled them into complete lowers: 2 have factory uppers (Stag and S&W MP-15) on them and the other three uppers are pieced together from Armslist, Gunbroker and gun show parts. All work perfectly well, only had one problem caused by a stripped handguard screw.

I would probably pass on a franken-upper built by someone else unless it was chock full of premium parts and cheap enough to merit disassembly, inspection and reassembly.

[rromeo]

Mine are all reliable, that must be because I built them at the shop, not my home.

[West9319]

There as reliable as you can make em. If its your first go around watch a lot of how to video's read articles from various sorts, and ask a lot of questions if you are not sure.

The best advice to give is start off small and buy a pre-made parts kit or assembled upper (one that has been headspaced for you) form a good reputable vendor. Minimize any chance for error and keep your first build simple. Also take the time to understand how it all works and how to tackle any issues that can arise. Once your comfortable with the platform then start venturing forward with more complex build. Again the less variables you give yourself to go wrong the less issues you will likely encounter.

And as always, ask on this site for help if you need it. Yes your going to get the one or two trolls who will snark at you with "not this again", "google is your friend" and various other d*ck phrases. But you will always find someone who is willing to help you out here.

[Calico1404]

I build then drop them off for inspection and tunning to a smith. I require 100% function or as close to it as possible. Its worth having someone double check your work. How many of us have skipped a question on a dros form on accident or forgot to spell out California etc... Lol

[FIREBALL_BRIAN]

Mine, better than production

[CSACANNONEER]

I've heard of lots of problems with commercially produced ARs too. It really depends on the quality of the parts and the abilities of the person doing the work. There are many commercially produced ARs for sale with low round counts too. So, does that mean that all commercially produced ARs are crap?

[John Browning]

The only problems I've had are with uppers built by other people, commercial or otherwise.

If you know what you're doing, building your own is awesome. I love my latest, and probably last, 5.56 AR build. Every single part is exactly the one I want, and it's ran with zero problems in everything from sub zero to 100 degree plus temps.

[helpfuljack]

It depends on whether or not you use quality parts for your build and quality ammo.

(I have yet to have any level of luck with Winchester white box (in either .223 or .22LR, to the point that it's making me question the quality of the company as a whole, but PMC X-tac has been pretty reliable in my build, once I got the adjustable gas block properly sorted.)

[delta9]

I've heard of lots of problems with commercially produced ARs too. It really depends on the quality of the parts and the abilities of the person doing the work. There are many commercially produced ARs for sale with low round counts too. So, does that mean that all commercially produced ARs are crap?

Commercially produced rifles come with a warranty

[steelholder]

Commercially produced rifles come with a warranty

This is probably the biggest reason new buyers go with new factory built rifles.
Most of us though, know an ar can be built at home and work just as good.