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2021-08-09 -Land of the Free

Building Your Own Rifle Is the Perfect Family Project

[Reason] I remember one of my mother's uncles, at a picnic, responding to a comment about a proposed gun ban with a laconic "Doesn't matter. We'll build our own." Building rifles was his hobby, I learned during that day of grilling and shooting on his land in long-ago rural New Jersey. His comment has come back to me over the years, especially after, for Christmas, my wife gifted my son and I a jig for completing an unfinished AR-15 lower receiver. Like my great uncle, we built our own. We recommend the experience.

Making personal firearms is perfectly legal under federal law, if that matters to you, though states and localities may have their own rules. To that end, finishing "80 percent" receivers has become a popular pastime since the roughed-out blocks, shaped like the part of the AR-15 rifle that contains the hammer, safety, and trigger, but with solid material where those parts should fit, can be purchased without the legal rigmarole required for buying a firearm (the privacy offered by a DIY gun is somewhat compromised if you then write an article about your activities). It's a modern version of my uncle's hobby, simplified by the use of jigs that guide drill bits and end mills for finishing the project.

Posted by Besoeker 2021-08-09 08:02|| || Front Page|| [11131 views ] Top

#1 Built several AR's. Easy. Anyone can do it. Do several and you know more than that Mr. Knows Everything you encounter at any range or gun show.

Posted by M. Murcek 2021-08-09 11:58|| 2021-08-09 11:58|| Front Page Top

#2 You can say whatever you want about 5.56 vs bigger rounds. In the field, I'd rather get an AR back into battery than a Garand or M14. And, yeah, I have those too.

Posted by M. Murcek 2021-08-09 12:00|| 2021-08-09 12:00|| Front Page Top

#3 I suspect 20-30 years from now it might be something else, but logistically speaking 5.56 is a safe bet for you and your neighbors.

Posted by Besoeker 2021-08-09 16:27|| 2021-08-09 16:27|| Front Page Top

#4 Well, I'm sitting on several thousand rounds for my M1A, Garand and SA-58 pistol, but I'm well stocked for the ARs too...

Posted by M. Murcek 2021-08-09 17:18|| 2021-08-09 17:18|| Front Page Top

#5 Built a Hawkins .50 cal with my dad many many years ago. It currently hangs in a place of honor in my home bar.

Posted by Rex Mundi 2021-08-09 17:30|| 2021-08-09 17:30|| Front Page Top

#6 Had that kit, never built it, passed it along. I have several cap n ball pistols, but no flintlock.

Posted by M. Murcek 2021-08-09 17:39|| 2021-08-09 17:39|| Front Page Top

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