Firearms Friday: ‘Tis The Season For Deals

This time of year it seems that everything is on sale. While some deals are better than others, you are pretty much guaranteed to receive some kind of discount on whatever you order. And these sales are not just limited to the national retail chains or products with general consumer appeal, there are even deals to be had for those of us that enjoy the shooting sports. Having written about this before, in one form or another, you can basically consider this as the annual lock and load post.

As many of you have experienced, especially over the last few years, some retailers have better deals than others. While I won’t call out any websites or stores, we all know which ones to avoid. However, there are always great prices on a variety of items with some being sent to email subscribers, Facebook followers, and others exclusive to club members or existing customers. There are also great sites such as Slickguns that make it easy to find the prices that are just too low to pass up. Keep in mind that these sites usually don’t include local gun shop deals.

Over the past couple of months there have been a number of deals that caught my attention with the majority of them being discovered first in my email. Here are a few examples of the tempting products with retailer, item, and sale price included for reference:

• Palmetto State Armory (Daily Deal) - 7.62 x 39 Complete 7.5” Upper (with BCG and Charging Handle); $269.99

• Sportsman’s Guide (with Double Discount coupon) - S.W.T 30 Round AR15 Magazines: $5.59 - 30 Round Beretta 92 Magazines: $11.99

• Delta Team Tactical (Black Friday / Cyber Monday) - Crosshill Tech / Davidson Defense Right Side Charging AR15 Upper Receiver (with BCG): $239.99

• Damage Industries (50% off sale) - AR15 Short Barrel Muzzle Break and Sleeve: $34.95

• Amazon (Flash Sale) - Stack-On PDS 500 Drawer Safe: $31.99

Basically, anyone who is looking to build an AR has had a heck of a time and saved a lot of money recently. Some of these are more recent than others but not all of them were Black Friday / Cyber Monday prices and that is the most important point that I can make in this post. Sometimes the best prices are not during the holidays, they can really happen at any time. The key to finding a good deal is waiting (and getting to know your local shop owner) but sometimes, especially recently, the deals seem to just happen and if you’re paying attention, and didn’t spent too much somewhere else, you can take advantage of them.

Firearms Friday: Lower Receivers

Over the year I have come across a variety of lower receivers. Some of them have been high quality while others have been more along the lines of a basic lower. However, in my experience, I can’t say that I have ever had a bad receiver. Doesn’t mean that they don’t exist but maybe, based on the experiences of others, I have just been lucky.

Today, if you go online or walk into a local gun shop, you can usually find a wide variety of receivers to choose from. Just in my area, there are at least a couple of dozen different brands that I can chose from by visiting just a handful of stores. And they vary greatly in price ranging from around $40 all the way up to around $250. This is just for the stripped lower and nothing else.

Of course, this is in stark contrast to the environment that we faced a couple of years ago. For those of you unfamiliar, with the legislative battle raging in Washington, all of the lower receivers dried up and the prices (at most but not all places) on the ones that you could find went through the roof. Basically, you were lucky if you could find one at three times the current price.

But that ebb had given way to flow and there are countless options on the market. However, these movements are cyclical which is why I recommend going to the local shop now and picking up at least one. $40 plus transfer/pics is a heck of a lot better than $120-200 during a panic. If you can, pick up a bunch of them. Not only is it a good item to get while you can but it is a heck of a lot of fun to build a rifle.

The first thing you need to do is get a stripped lower. While you can find polymer ATI lowers for around $40 and Tennessee Arms hybrid lowers for around the same price it is well worth the extra $5 to pick up either an Anderson or Palmetto State Armory forged lower. Polymer and hybrid lowers have their place in light weight builds and sometimes there is some money to be saved during sales but for general builds, especially the first few times around, forged is the better way to go.

Anderson and PSA are quality manufacturers that provide the no frills lowers that just work. The same can pretty much be said for those made by DPMS and Spikes Tactical… which are slightly higher quality but are about double the price. While there many billet lowers on the market I don’t have any direct experience with them so any opinion would be useless. However, given the quality and precision machining of the billet class I would reserve them for higher end builds and those looking to but tens of thousands of rounds through their AR annually. Forged would suffice but billet is made for these roles.

I have heard and read countless opinions from a variety of sources of one company being better than another but, honestly, for the enthusiast there aren’t enough differences to justify the price jump. Polymer has its place and billet lowers have their place, for everything else a basic forged lower will do just fine. No matter what you decide, enjoy the process of building, of creating something with your own hands, and learn from the process. There is no better way to learn about a platform than building a rifle from the ground up. And while you’re at it, pick up a few extra lowers and put them aside for later.

Prepping For Black (Rifle) Friday!

In honor of the Eugene Stoner’s birthday (the engineer behind the AR-15) which I mentioned yesterday in my post about the assassination of President and NRA member John F. Kennedy I have decided, after numerous requests, to post an AR-15 parts list. Not just a simple list of what you need to get but a list of some of the prices I have seen over the past couple of months in order to build a budget rifle. I will tell you the websites and the lowest prices I have seen but I am not going to link to the product page as many of the dollar amounts have changed.

Of course, there are a few things to keep in mind with this list. While these are sale prices that I have seen during different moments may not be available now, you must be patient and wait as these parts will go on sale again for the same price or lower (I have no idea what Black Friday will bring). The quotes below do not take into account shipping or transfer costs (I am not even going to try and calculate that in as a factor). In addition to this list, there are tools that you would need to purchase to build the firearm and certain things that you may want to have a trained gunsmith work on rather than doing it yourself.

Lastly, keep it legal. Don’t build something in such a way that it would be deemed illegal (if you don’t like the laws in your state move). Make sure you go through your local FFL when you purchase your lower receiver. And, generally speaking, don’t be an idiot. You are building a firearm and you need to respect that fact.

 So, without any further delay, here is the list:

1. Blemished Lower Receiver                                         $50 (PSA)
2. Blackhawk! Lower Parts Kit                                       $30 (PSA)
3. Blackhawk (Mil Spec) Buffer Tube Assembly           $30 (PSA)
4. Blemished Upper Receiver                                          $40 (PSA)
5. Upper Receiver Parts Kit (w/ barrel nut)                     $25 (PSA)
6. PTAC Bolt Carrier Group (w/ Charging Handle)       $80 (PSA)
7. 16” M4 Barrel (1:7 Twist)                                           $85 (SG)
8. A2 Front Sight / Gas Block                                         $25 (PSA)
9. A2 Flash Hider                                                            $8 (PSA)
10. Carbine Length Gas Tube                                           $8 (PSA)
11. Front Sight Post                                                           $8 (PSA)
12. Carry Handle / Rear Sight                                           $20 (AM)
13. M4 Hand Guard                                                           $10 (T)
14. 30 Round Polymer Magazine (No Name)                   $6 (T)

NOTE: PSA = Palmetto State Armory; SG = Sportsman’s Guide; AM = Amazon; T = Tanner’s Sport Center

For those of you keeping track that brings the total up to $425 compared to an off the rack rifle (new) which would cost you a minimum of $650 plus the additional tax put on complete firearms. This part list will complete the most basic of rifles but, if put together correctly, will function as good as or better than a basic AR that would cost you a minimum of $225 more. But, as I stated before, it takes patience both in waiting for the right price for parts but also in putting all the pieces together. It is not a complicated process but one that should be given your full attention.

However, be forewarned, I have seen people get carried away with their builds which is not that hard to do. Start with the basics. If you want to switch out parts later than go ahead. For now, you don’t need that $250 Geissele trigger in your first build. Keep it simple. Simple works. The last thing you want to do is build a FUBAR rifle.  

Finally, be a smart gun owner and support your right to own your firearm. Set aside time to train, enjoy, and appreciate what you have created in a safe and controlled environment. Know your rifle, become fluent in firearms safety, and make sure everything is locked up. And become a NRA member (or one of the following Gun Owners of America, Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership). Pick one or pick them all just make sure you show your support. This is your responsibility.