Building the Right Hand of Feedom - Part 2

It's been about 2 months now since I showed you guys my hunk of metal that will one day be my first AR15. In those 2 months, I have accomplished a few things on it and the lower receiver is about 90% done. I want to go over what parts I chose to add and why.

The first half of this build has been amazingly simple. Doing research, I thought I had gotten in way over my head. But so far, I have yet to hit a real snag of any type. So, probably one of the biggest factors to build the AR is the tools needed. You do need some specific tools, but nothing outrageous by any means. We'll start first with my vise.                                                                       I picked up this Pony 4" bench vise at my local Sears. It won me over for 2 reasons. 1) It was cheap. 2) It could rotate 180 degrees. I felt like that may be a useful feature in the future, so I ran with it. I have used it for this project and for other projects and it has been great. Along with my bench vise, I picked up a Promag Vise Block. The vise block acts like a magazine and fits into the magazine well of the lower receiver. The other end you clamp down in the vise. This allows you two free hands to work on your receiver.



Up next in the tool line up are all the punches. Specially you need roll pin punches. If you have never seen a roll pin before, it's basically a piece of metal that has been rolled into a cylinder shape, hollow in the middle. What makes a roll pin punch unique is that it has a little ball or rounded edge on the tip. This fits into the hollow middle of the roll pins to prevent deforming the roll pin while driving it in. In addition to the punches, it is recommended you get roll pin holder (aka starters). These basically wrap around about 1/3 of the roll pin to assist in getting the pin started. Once it's started, you finish with the roll pin punches.

In the picture above, you will see on the left the set of Schuster Roll Pin Starters. Each end of these 2 starters is for a different size roll pin (3/32", 1/8", 1/16" and 5/64"). On the right side of the photo you will see the Lyman Roll Pin Punches. These 4 punches will do pretty much all the roll pins on your AR15. The middle punch is optional, but I do recommend it. Its a AR15 Bolt Catch Punch, and you will notice it is flat on one side. This is to allow more clearence to drive the pin that the colt catch pivots on. Having this will reduce the chances you may scratch your lower. Finally, the bottom item is a non-marring hammer. This one in particular has a nylon head and a brass head. This, obviously, is to prevent marring your receiver as well. Another advantage is it's a lot lighter than the normal framing hammer everyone has, so it way easier to use it on the small punches. 


 On to the fun stuff, the actual parts. I went with a Stag Arms Lower Parts Kit w/ Ambi Safety. The picture you see to the right is actually all the parts that come in the kit. This LPK includes: trigger, hammer, bolt catch, safety selector, magazine release, grip, trigger guard, front pivot pin, rear take down pin along with all the associated springs, detents and roll pins. I promise, once you build one, all those parts make sense and it's really easy to put together. I went with the Stag Arms for two reason: from my research they were highly regarded and said to have one of the best factory triggers; and I wanted an ambi safety. Now, I am not left handed. But I like the ability to use my index finder to put the gun on safe, or if I ever needed to, use my left hand if my right one was injured for some reason.
 I would have loved to do an instructional on how to put all the parts together, but since it was first first time too, I figured it best not to have the blind leading the blind. I will tell you that I used ITS Tactical for all my info on how to assemble the lower assembly.

Now, you'll notice the LPK came with a grip, but I do not have that grip on my receiver. I decided to run a Magpul MOE K2 grip in FDE (Flat Dark Earth). What makes the K2 grip better than the A2 grip that comes in the LPK? I'll tell you... it's the angle . The K2 grip (and several other grips coming to market) have a steeper angle so they allow you to hold your rifle in a way that is more suited to today's stance. The A2 grip was designed with the old school "elbow up" shooting style.

You'll also notice that my trigger guard is FDE as well, and not the black one that came in the LPK. The Magpul MOE Trigger Guard is curved, giving your finger a little more space inside the guard. It is also helpful when you are wearing gloves. but honestly, I just wanted it in FDE to match my grip, I'll admit it.

So that's where we stand as of right now. I am currently working on getting a stock and buffer tube kit in, but with my most recent purchase (Oops I did It Again), it has set my finances back a little. Once the stock is on, It will be a 100% complete lower receiver. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please put them below.