Building the Right Hand of Freedom - Part 1

This is the first of a multi-part series where I will build an AR-15 from scratch. I want to document the process as I go through for not only personal reflection but also help any one who may be considering taking this on. My goal is to build this without the help of a professional gunsmith and to do it with no completed assemblies. So I will be assembling my lower and upper assemblies myself, not buying completed versions and snapping them together. God help me....

Let me clarify that I am not a gunsmith. I have never done any "smithing" on any gun ever. I've never built any kind of gun before. Heck, I have never even fired an AR15 before. So this will be an COMPLETELY new experience for me. The reason I have decided to do this is two part. One, I wanted to be able to have a custom AR15 the exact way I want. Normally you would buy an off the shelf model then spend extra money to swap out parts for the ones you really want. That leaves you with a whole bunch of parts you didn't want to begin with. Building you own will actually save money by reducing the extra unneeded parts as well as you aren't paying someone else to assemble it. The other part of it is i want to be able to completely understand how it operates and fix any problems my rifle may have. My goal is to be completely self sufficient with the rifle's assembly, dis-assembly, use and maintenance.     

The type of AR15 that I will be building is a 16" Direct Gas Impingement Hybrid M4 style AR15. If all of that sounds like gibberish, don't worry, I plan to get more in depth with what all of this is an more as I go through the build. It is, after all, a learning experience for me as well. I chose the AR as my first rifle because it is the standard issue rifle of the US Military (dubbed M16) and is the most popular rifle of the American people. It is the modern day M1 Garand. To start my build, and the basis for all AR15 builds is a lower receiver. My wonderful wife got me this Spike's Tactical Stripped Lower as a Christmas gift. The one she got has the spider logo with bullet markings (versus saying safe/fire) and has the engravings color filled (cause its cool). I had been hinting for her to get that specific one for months and she did good! This particular lower is forged and is completely stripped meaning no internal parts.In my research, I have seen several builds start with this particular lower with no complaints.

In the coming articles we will building this bad boy piece by piece. The next article will showcase adding the Lower Parts Kit (LPK) which includes trigger, mag release, trigger guard, pistol grip, safety selector etc. to make a functional lower. Just so you know, the lower receiver is considered the "gun" and is the only part you have to complete paperwork for (Form 4473). The rest of the parts can be shipped directly to your home. Obviously when you are building a rifle like this you have to be aware of your own federal and local laws. If you build a rifle that falls under the National Firearms Act then you must contact the ATF and complete their required paperwork and pay the $200 fee. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to comment to this blog.