I am completely new to ARs and builds. I was thinking of just buying a quality prebuild and I really like the Daniel Defense company. However I have read that building an AR platform yourself can be better. After a lot of research obviously. What should I go for in your opinion with my first AR?

DD. You can't get much better than that.

DD. You can't get much better than that.

I agree that DD makes top notch parts. I don't know if they make lower parts kits, bolt carrier groups, and misc part though. What's your budget?

I agree that DD makes top notch parts. I don't know if they make lower parts kits, bolt carrier groups, and misc part though. What's your budget?

I said DD because if I went the prebuild route it would be from them.

 

I am looking to spend a max of 2,000 (sights will be added later). However this will be happening around spring. I am just starting research now so I can get right into it when I have the money

Personally, I would build it myself. 

Daniel Defense makes good stuff, but IMO you can build a quality rifle that will perform just as well for less money.

 

Just something gratifying about building something yourself too.  

 

Plus that and the knowlegde of being able to work on the rifle yourself...is priceless.

+1 build

love DD but at that price, I'd buy another LWRC although DD has several options at different price points.

 

agree on the build, you get exactly what you want the first time around

DD. You can't get much better than that.

 

+1. You are welcome to try my DD MV3 at Central Jersey Rifle and Pistol. Great lightweight gun. Only thing I changed was the stock to an A1 and to a rifle buffer, tube and spring. Very soft shooting.

My bolt is marked DD.

If you can find what you want in a premade DD upper get it. All the parts are top notch and may be better quality than you can buy.

I have been seeing dd v5's and v1's sell on gb around $1400 in the last couple weeks. Imo for that price even after paying to neuter it they are a fantastic rifle.

 

I have been seeing dd v5's a d v1's sell on gb around $1400 in the last couple weeks. Imo for that price even after paying to neuter it they are a fantastic rifle.

 

 

Yes they are Blake...

I took a factory tour of Daniel Defense last summer. It used to be in Savannah, but moved out to suburban Georgia. I was in Hilton Head and it was a 1 hour drive. Totally worth it. You have to see the cool NFA stuff they have in the walk-in vault. The guys were teasing me how I would never have one in Jersey.

 

 

That's cool....I wanted to stop by Kel-tec in Florida but didn't get a chance.

+1 on build it yourself. You will get more satisfaction knowing you made every choice on every part of the gun.

Hmm, well I am leaning toward purchasing a pre-build... but the idea of building my own is awesome sounding... if I build my own I would want to go in depth.

 

Lunker maybe one day I'll take you up on that offer! Thanks for it, I'll send a PM if I decide to.

I guess first off, you need to define what you want your AR to do.  HD, lightweight, precision, how accurate are you looking for it to be, etc.....  How handy are you?

 

Also, how do you define a build?  Is it buying a "done" upper and mating it to a "done" lower?  Is it getting a stripped upper and lower, stripped barrel, etc., and then drilling the barrel for the gas block, attaching barrel to upper, pinning muzzle device, etc....?

 

I've pretty much done all armorer functions on an AR, minus drilling gas block to barrel.  Having the correct tools is a must.

 

While there is a certain satisfaction in building (which I define as buying all the parts and assembling yourself), you might be better off finding an upper that is preassembled and mating it to a lower w/ parts (trigger, stock, etc.) of your choice.  Lots of great uppers already assembled in a variety of configurations already out there.  This will get you a carbine that would meet your criteria w/out having the additional expense of some tools and will get you out to the range quicker.  Also, you may not know what you parts you want on an AR w/out having had one for a while and doing some shooting with it.  Experience is the best teacher.  Do LOTS of research on quality parts.  IF you decide you still want to build an AR from the ground up, you have already have a carbine you can use to dissemble / reassemble to practice on.

 

If you decide to build, I believe the only thing to really take into consideration right off the bat is anything related to a barrel nut / gas block w/ a pinned muzzle brake.  Once the brake is welded on, it will be very involved to have it removed to allow the barrel nut / gas block to then be removed.  This really pertains to hand guard choices.  Some hand guards use a proprietary barrel nut.  Some require either removing a front sight base to be replaced w/ a gas block, or shaving down the front sight base to fit under the hand guard.  After that, replacing any parts are considerably less of a hassle.

 

You could a lot worse than a Daniel Defense.

 

Good luck and keep us updated on what you do.

Build your own with daniel defense parts 

Rauchman has made some excellent points...That being said, this is how I got into it, and trust me, I am still learning. First I bought a fully assembled Stag. Getting this, I was able to shoot the next day and learn what I did and did not like. I was also able to learn the inner workings as I watched videos (with my gun as a resource as they went through the parts) and also learned a bunch from cleaning and talking to others at the range. Speaking of the range, I often got to try what others had put together while I was there, further educating me as to what I like and dislike personally. About a year after I purchased the complete Stag, I decided that I needed to build a gun based on my experiences of the last year. Well, I did that, and now I am working on my third build (again, I am not an expert). If you do decide to build, I must tell you that I truly agree with the others that have chimed in, you MUST buy the tools. Trust me, if you build one, you will build more, so the tools are not a waste.

 

My 20 cents (.02 isn't worth too much today :-)

More great advice thanks a lot guys.

 

I think I will buy a DD prebuild and do what you and others suggested Sharrie. Use the prebuild to give me a good feel of what I like and what I don't and allow me to get hands on experience. Then I can make my own build if I feel the need.