Get a chrome lined barrel.....

Did I mention ambi safety?.....its easier to re engage the safety if your right handed and use your trigger finger....that way also keeps your right hand grip correct.

Ambi charging handle is also a good thing.....the Bcm gunfighter Ambidextrous Charging Handle (5.56mm/.223) w/ Mod A44 is the one I like the most.

Night and day difference to a stock mil-spec charging handle.

MI Dirthole what is the next level up from milspec? Thanks I was thinking the 1:9 should be good
Marty I'll look up the BCM ambi charging handle.

1:8 or 1:9 are good from 55-69 gr may be good at 50 or 45 gr also

bulk 55 hornady soft points if you reload are hard to beet 9 cents each and I have 400 yard groups you can cover with a dollar bill using them.

I have a 1:7 5.56 nato and a 1:8 223 wylde

the wild and the 5.56 can shoot either 223 or 5.56

I was told to get a chrome line barrel also , and I did I went with a FN made PSA barrel it is very accurate till I sling up then because it is not free floated it strings shots from the pull of the sling , less when I mount the sling to the middle of the handgaurd than when on the sling loop off the front sight ,it was my first build and it is getting free floated this year , they are adding material with chrome some places do a very good job of getting smooth even chrome but it costs , the technology has advanced and spending the money on chrome to get added life , sometimes at the expense of accuracy is not necessary any longer the Nitride process hardens the steel to as hard as it can go making it a near equal with chrome for life without sacrificing any accuracy to get there.

many match barrels are going Nitrided now

that is good to know thanks.
Which is better a flutted chrome lined barrel or a regular one?
How do muzzle breaks affect the overall performance?

You really need to define the expected use for this rifle.

GCP, thanks for the info on nitride.

all around; Defense, varmint, target etc...

https://www.shootingillustrated.com/arti...arrel-finishes/

a good article on it

Have you owned an ar before?

16 inch , mid lenght gas , direct impingment , free float ligth weigth handgaurd , don't waste weight with a HBAR in 5.56 or 223wylde


technically this is a 300black out in pistol length gas , but the only thing I would change from this is a M-Lok handguard instead of keymod and maybe a different but stock if I found one that felt better I could use a little more length and that has a 0.70 inch pad on the back to give me more length but if your a normal sized human it wouldn't be an issue.

this picture was taken at the 200 yard line where the 300 was holding a little under MOA I have replaced the paracord with a paraclip mount.
when my 5.56 with an FN barrel A2 contour is free floated it will look like this with a m-lok

the scope is a 2-7x32 power Vortex crossfireII , it has the caps removed in that picture but the turrets are covered normally but very easy to adjust and zero , it is the BDC-hash reticle
it is mounted with Nikon P series mounts they are a 2 piece but give you the most adjust-ability possible , you can turn them forward or back or one forward and one back they are symmetrical in the way they attach to the rail , they slide on from the end and then the cross bolt goes through to tighten them also just about the perfect height at 2.6 inches above the center of the the barrel to the center of the scope.

For defense a 1x optic that you can get off easily and good flip up front/rear sights might be best.

No matter how you do it there will be some compromises if you go the 'all around' route.

A good carbine set up well for defense is not going to be a great 300+ yard bench rifle.

A good bench rifle is not going to be set up the best for defense.

When I think 'defense' I think fast, light, quick close range shooting....1x red dot with a 50 meter zero...JMO.

With the cheap cost of parts now you can build 2 uppers for the same lower and have that "all-around" rifle for not much more cost than what a single rifle used to be. I would spend more money on the hunting upper and just build a basic upper for defense purposes. my home defense upper for me is as short a barrel is as legal and a standard MOE handguard with iron sights, no need to get fancy but you could put a holotype sight on it if you aren't comfortable with iron sights, I do close quarter drills with mine to keep me in tune with my sights. my varmint upper will be the 18 inch .223 Wylde barrel with a free-float rail. my .308 has a 15-inch free-float rail with a 4.5x16 Mtac Burris and it prints MOA at 100 yards with off the shelf loads and basic trigger, when I upgrade the trigger and start loading it should easily print sub MOA but I put it together for 800 yard shooting (when fully finished). It is a great deer rifle as she sits though.

My wifes is a standard 16 inch 1:7 twist 5.56 that looks almost exactly like GREENCOUNTYPETE's picture but has a 4x12 Nikon coyote special with step-down ring reticle and a flip up front sight/gas block combo, I haven't shot it yet since upgrading the rail and scope from the basic mil-spec forearm and 3x9 scope but it would still print everything in the 7 ring at 100 on a small bore target from sandbags.

So many options now for your AR builds, you just have to have more than 5!

the 2-7 at 7 power does really well at 200 , really probably fine at everything inside 400, 360 is the farthest I have been out with with a 2-7x32 we were shooting unknown distance milk jugs that day in a corn field in early April before planting , I could spot my own impact in the dust , had a 1/2 value 12-15 mph wind had to hold 18 inches into the wind and 18 inches in elevation to hit at 360 with 223.

at 2 power you can see things just a few yards away , I have a nikon 2-7x32 on my slug gun an have shot a bunch of running deer at 15-50 yards it works well

if your thinking you really need in the house distances , get an carbine upper with irons and a light they are down in cost to around 200 dollars you don't need to free float a sub 50 yard gun

I have built a few and there are many things to consider. I would lean towards a BCM. It will be a little expensive on the front end but worth it. Look around and read forums, etc. picking out parts is half the fun. Also, you can build it to what you want. Example: I have magpul flip up sights and a aimpoint pro optic. It is all preference. Enjoy your build!

I finished building one a few months ago.
Odin works 223 wylde barrel 16”
CMC trigger
Aero Precision upper and lower
Daniel defense buttstock and M-lok free float hand guard
Magpul steel flip up sights
JP silent buffer spring
BCM pistol grip
Vortex Sparc red dot sight
Precision Armament AFAB Hybrid Muzzle Brake

I would also say don’t go cheap, get a good trigger, stay away from polymer lowers- I had one and it cracked near the rear take down pin and get a good barrel. I had time so I waited for all my parts to go on sale. Ordered mostly through Surplus Ammo and Optical Planet, they both have good sales and are good to deal with. Good luck

Had an AR57 lower Given to me. Bought a complete Radical Firearms upper for $189.00 with a sixteen inch skinny barrel in an aluminum free floating hand guard with a full length rail only on the top. Don't hang lots of junk off the sides or bottom It hangs on the front of my chest on snow machine trips of over 200 miles. Needs to be fairly light. Put a Burris 3-9 power on it that was on sale for $100.00. Bought flip up scope caps for $15.00. Put the cheapest non folding 45 degree sights that I could find on Amazon on it. $20.00. I like to carry it across my chest with the barrel up on the left side, so I bought a Blackhawk sling with a quick release near the barrel end for $30.00. I can see an critter while I'm on my snow machine, slam on the brakes, turn it off, throw my mittens off, unclip the sling with my left hand, chamber a round, flip the safety off, if it is 25 yards or less I twist the gun 45 degrees and use the open sights (That's why I use fixed: when I want them, I want them now, don't want to have to flip them up.), if it is more than 25, flip up the scope caps and use the scope. I don't shoot at targets other than to sight in, don't believe in zombies, and I'm not a SWAT wannabe, so I have no use for bipods, lasers, flash lights, flare launchers, chainsaws, etc., hanging off my gun. I have it set up for my use, not someone else's. Figure out what you want it for, and configure it to your specifications. That's the beauty of an AR.

Cheap works for me. But no plastic. Breaks in the cold. Have had no issues with it in the cold. Shot the above fox at ten yards running with open sights in -15 Temps with a wind chill of -33.This we after shooting it an hour earlier and having it cool back down. When you close up the ejection port and put a balloon on the barrel, the only place snow or mud can get in is where the trigger comes out. Have seen fellers tip their snow machines and their AK get full of snow and not function, have done the same with my AR with no issues. Snow machine rides and boat rides for hundreds of miles put a beating on guns, but my AR has always worked.

PSA has some AR-10 deals going on now a guy could build one cheap~

The one thing I will do on any AR I own is put offset open sights. They are amazing when varmint calling and you have a varmint appear at ten yards instead of the 200 yards you were expecting. I could see the same benefits on a self defense/end of the world apocalypse AR. You can put a higher power scope like a 3-9 on it to engage the bad guys further away, and have the offset sights ready for the one that pops up close. My offset sights are not back up sights, they are the primary sights for close, fast moving targets, while my scope is the primary sights for targets further away. Set up two targets at 200 yards, and two at 25 yards. Shoot at the ones at two hundred with your scope and high power, and then immediately shoot at the 25 yard ones with the open sights, it is a good feeling to be able to engage all of the targets in seconds without pausing to adjust you scope up or down.