[cigarmonkel]

Originally Posted by Mark C

I've built three AR lowers on my kitchen island, you don't need a bench. If I remember right, the only tools necessary are a few punches, a hammer, an AR-15 armorer's wrench, a screwdriver or hex wrench (depending on grip choice), and a block of wood. The last one only took an hour. You're right about the springs. Not a bad idea to buy an extra detent pin & spring, or two or three. If you have to buy it after your parts kit, paying $8 shipping on a $2 part will drive you mad, but it's not so bad if it's all together.

You won't really save much money building a lower, maybe $100 at best (full disclosure - it's been at least 6 months since I checked prices). What you will get is the opportunity to build exactly what you want. No sense buying a basic lower and then swapping out the grip, stock, trigger, etc. Build it yourself and you're not buying parts you won't use.

If you're in one of the soon-to-be 'ban states', make sure you at least get your stripped lower ASAP.

Yea the tools are very minimal and I thought you would need a lot more. If I build my own I'm definitely going to build exactly how I want. Some of the premade upper kits though don't look too bad and are exactly what I want. I'm thinking 1-8" turn with a 16" barrel definitely want rails too.