And so it begins... "All done! That's all!"

[Rekrab]

DPMS LPK and BB are bought and waiting at home.
TM .308 lower started DROS today.
Picked up a DPMS 16" complete upper.
Eyeing irons and butt stock...

Soon my pretties, I will have a nearly home built rifle! Muwahahaha~

Sorry >.>


Pics!

Everything



TM Lower Receiver






Test fit

[epic4444]

congrats, ill be looking out for the pics tomorrow.

[Jpach]

Sweet brotha. Hurry up with those 10 days!

[Rekrab]

Hey weird question, any way to lessen or eliminate that horrid "SPROING!" noise that ARs make? I think I saw a special spring that was designed to change that but I couldn't find any info when searching.

Man I'm excited. This has taken a different direction from what I originally intended. Originally I was building a bench gun, now I'm building something for all around use. Kinda funny how that works out.

Of course it helps that I got a screaming deal on my upper assembly from a fellow calgunner. >.>

[powderedtoastman]

Hydrolic buffer? I've never owned one, but I THINK I heard that they're quiet

[timdps]

Hey weird question, any way to lessen or eliminate that horrid "SPROING!" noise that ARs make?

LOL! It was like "WTF is that noise?" when I fired my AR for the first time.
Sounds pretty tacky after RPD, SKS, AK, G43, SVT40 etc. They all have distinctive sounds, but the AR is the worst.

Tim

[Rekrab]

Tax return came in earlier than expected so it's time to order the last bits for my rifle.

Next up is butt stock and carry handle. This build has gone from long range bench toy to a KISS carbine.

Can anyone recommend an affordable, quality carry handle? The only one I've seen is the .308 DPMS for $140~. Is this a good carry handle? Are there better options available? My upper already has a free float tube and A2 front sight so I'd like to keep the look pretty basic.

After my carrying handle comes the stock. Either going with a standard A2 stock or Magpul MOE. Still going back and forth. I've shot the MOE on a .556 build and I liked how solid it felt compared to the A2 stocks I've shot before. It also doesn't act like a big resonance chamber for the buffer tube and spring. >.>

[pyro3k2]

Why would you want to get rid of that noise? thats a huge part of the AR experience.

[Rekrab]

Not trying to get rid of it, just reduce it. The one AR with an A2 stock I shot had an extremely loud spring and it bugged me every time I shot it. Possibly, it's just because the AR was older. When I shot one with a Magpul stock the noise was still present but significantly lessened.

Edit: Saturday just can't come any faster...

Double Edit: Went cheap and ordered the Pardus stock from DPMS. The way I see it, if I don't like it I'm only out $40ish thanks to the fact that it comes with a spring, buffer and tube with the stock.

[Rekrab]

The receiver is out of jail! Pics have been added to the first post, here's some close ups of the overall test fit.

Close-Ups

[Rekrab]

So after some hiccups I started the build on Saturday and realized I needed a tiny allen wrench to put in the bolt catch.

Tonight, I was able to drop into Home Depot and pick up a set. When I get home I start start screwing in the screw when I hear a loud SNAP! I look carefully and realize that half of the screw has actually broken off!

So, to sum it up, I now have a lower receiver with a bolt catch partially screwed in and completely unmovable.

I'm frustrated and wondering if I'm going to need to buy a new lower thanks to this wonderful little development.

[Spyder]

Nah, you should be able to get it out of there.

Similar to my build...but I got the 24" stainless DPMS upper...didja get it from the gunbroker guy that has a crapload of em for really good prices? I got the same lower, but I picked up two of them 'cause I'm going to build a second rifle similar to yours but in .243!

[pyro3k2]

I would much rather have the pin than the set screw, bad design on dpms's part. I would suggest ordering some more from dpms they are cheap parts (90% of the problem). Order around 3 to 5 of them incase it happens again. Ot you could try another company that dealsin DPMS pattern .308 ar's like fulton armory or POF maybe they didn't go cheap on small parts.

[Rekrab]

The bolt catch is actually secure, but only held in by about two or three threads at most. Not sure how well it would hold up to actual firing. I'll look into getting a bolt catch screw from a company that doesn't cheap out on the small parts I guess.

[CHS]

Hey weird question, any way to lessen or eliminate that horrid "SPROING!" noise that ARs make?

It's a REALLY simple hack actually. Just shoot without hearing protection. The sproing goes completely away!